Ep. 551 — Lawrence Wright

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

CNN

News

4.6 • 7.7K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2023

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As a child, journalist and writer Lawrence Wright cherished his summer visits to the library with his mother when he would load up cardboard boxes with books to devour. His love of reading evolved into a love of writing, and he has since written deeply reported books, novels, plays, and screenplays, as well as working as a staff writer for The New Yorker. Lawrence joined David to talk about the Texas of his childhood and what the current state of Texas portends for America; writing about faith, from Islamic extremism to Scientology; his concerns over political violence; the type of Texas he would like to see in the future; and his newest book, “Mr. Texas: A Novel.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Music
0:06.0	And now from the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and CNN Audio, The Axwiles.
0:13.0	With your host, David Axelrod.
0:16.0	Lawrence Wright is a national treasure.
0:19.0	The author of fourteen nonfiction and fiction books, six plays and several screenplays
0:24.0	and documentaries.
0:25.0	Wright is a master's storyteller.
0:28.0	He won the Pulitzer Prize for his riveting work The Looming Tower, which traced the evolution of al-Qaeda
0:34.0	and the U.S. government failures that led to the 9-11 attacks.
0:38.0	Every piece he writes in the New Yorker is a must-read.
0:41.0	His latest book, a novel called Mr. Texas, is a rollicking satire about politics in his home state.
0:48.0	We sat down in Austin last week for a conversation I hope you'll enjoy as much as I did.
0:54.0	Music
1:00.0	Lawrence Wright, it's great to see you.
1:02.0	I have to say I've done this for eight years now, 570 or whatever podcasts.
1:10.0	And I don't do a lot of fan-boying, not the way I roll, but it's really a thrill to be with you
1:16.0	because I think you're as good maybe the best journalist of our generation.
1:22.0	And I so appreciate you.
1:26.0	And I'm in awe of the volume of your work.
1:30.0	So it's great to be with you.
1:32.0	Well, I'm honored by your remarks, David.
1:35.0	It means a lot to me.
	...

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