Ep. 499 — David Chalian

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

CNN

News

4.6 • 7.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2022

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When David Chalian was in first grade, he memorized the names of all the US presidents—in reverse chronological order. His interest in politics was second only to his love of theater. Chalian later found the intersection of his two passions as a journalist covering the larger-than-life characters and intricate storylines in politics. Now the political director at CNN, and host of the CNN Political Briefing podcast, Chalian joined David to talk about losing his father at a young age, how working for playwright and performer Anna Deavere Smith inspired his career in political journalism, the challenges of covering the 2016 Trump campaign and presidency, and the political climate today—and what it means for Biden, Trump, and the 2022 midterms.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Music
0:06.0	And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN Audio, the Axe Files, with your host David Axelrod.
0:18.0	I had a chance this week to sit down with one of my favorite people, David Chalien, the political director of CNN, and the host of his own podcast, the CNN Political Briefing.
0:29.0	David's one of the smartest political journalists around, but as you'll hear, he also has an incredibly interesting personal story.
0:36.0	Here's that conversation.
0:39.0	Music
0:45.0	David Chalien, first of all, let me say, Happy Birthday.
0:49.0	Thanks.
0:50.0	It's their indipity that I should be here with you on this auspices.
0:53.0	I can't think of another way I'd like to celebrate my 49th birthday.
0:56.0	That's a sad commentator.
0:58.0	I know.
0:59.0	Happy to spend time with you.
1:00.0	We're starting off lying, too.
1:01.0	Not true, not true.
1:02.0	No, but it's really great to see you.
1:04.0	And, you know, one of the great blessings of this show is that you end up learning about people who you thought you knew well.
1:14.0	And, you know, I didn't know a lot about your personal history.
1:19.0	So, let's start there.
1:22.0	Okay.
1:23.0	And your family, Armenian Jews.
1:27.0	Yeah, which is an odd combination.
	...

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