Ep. 573 — David Plouffe and Karl Rove

Mick Mulvaney knows a lot about the central players in the Republican nominating drama. With a background as the former budget director and acting chief of staff to Donald Trump, Mulvaney played a crucial role in the political landscape. Serving in Congress alongside Ron DeSantis and co-founding the House Freedom Caucus, he offers a unique perspective on party dynamics. Sharing anecdotes from his time as a South Carolina legislator alongside state representative Nikki Haley, Mulvaney joins David in a reflective conversation on the current state of the Republican race and the twists and turns of his own political journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11 Tammi 20241h 2min

This week The Axe Files team is sharing a special episode of Anderson Cooper’s extraordinary podcast All There Is. It’s a conversation about grief with President Joe Biden, who has faced more than his share in life. In it, he offers moving memories, lessons, and insights that are well worth hearing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4 Tammi 202439min

This holiday season, we are revisiting a conversation from March 2017 with Madeleine Albright, the trailblazing American scholar, diplomat, and Secretary of State. She passed away in 2022, but her inspiring personal story and her extraordinary insights into this complicated world are timeless. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28 Joulu 20231h 5min

Before June 28th 2022, few Americans knew of Cassidy Hutchinson, the young former White House staffer. But that all changed that day when she appeared as a surprise star witness at a hastily called televised hearing of the House Select Committee on January 6th to share what she knew about the events leading up to and following the storming of Capitol Hill by a pro-trump mob. But her own life story is worth hearing and compellingly told in her new book “Enough”. Cassidy joined David to talk about her book, her time in the White House, her relationship with the Republican Party, and her life now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21 Joulu 20231h 1min

Although author Sara Paretsky grew up in Kansas, she said it was her summer in Chicago volunteering during the civil rights movement in 1966 that marked the “defining experience” on her life. Second wave feminism similarly influenced Sara, culminating in the creation of V.I. Warshawski, a stereotype-smashing, hardboiled, female private eye, who leads 22 of Sara’s crime novels. Sara joined David to talk about her family history, the recent rise in antisemitism, using her writing to give voice to the marginalized, the creation of V.I. Warshawski, and Sara’s work on abortion and women’s rights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

14 Joulu 202357min

Journalist Tim Alberta grew up in the evangelical church and has watched with both concern and interest as some factions of the faith have changed over the years. Following the death of his pastor father, Tim decided to take a closer look at American evangelicalism. He published the book “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism” in December 2023. Tim joined David to talk about his new book, the profitability and politicization of the evangelical movement, the Moral Majority and the history of evangelical victimization, Donald Trump’s threat to religious freedom, and the real Nikki Haley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

7 Joulu 20231h 1min

Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow always wanted to design cars. While that didn’t quite pan out—although she did spend some time working for Mattel on Hot Wheels—she has made a name for herself as a legislator after a speech she gave on the Michigan Senate floor rebuking GOP culture wars went viral in 2022. Sen. McMorrow joined David to talk about her Catholic upbringing rooted in service, her journey from industrial design to politics, the war in the Middle East and her disgust over politicization of human suffering, Michigan politics, and why she thinks Democrats need to prioritize good candidates at all levels of government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

30 Marras 20231h 1min

Dr. Walter Massey is a uniquely accomplished and fascinating American. Raised in the segregated South, Walter became one of only a handful of Black physicists in the 1960s and went on to hold leadership roles at laboratories, universities, and briefly Bank of America during the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis. He joined David to talk about his work bringing more minorities into the sciences, his involvement in civil rights as a professor, nuclear energy and scientific research, and Covid-19’s effect on trust in the scientific community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23 Marras 202359min