Adam Frankel
The Diplomat
People, composure and the difficult conversation held well.
Adam Frankel is an author and speechwriter who draws on his family's experiences to explore themes of trauma and identity. This interview reveals his ability to mediate difficult conversations and foster connections through shared narratives.
“So shortly before joining the Obama campaign in 2007, I learned that my dad is not my biological father and nobody came out and told me. I just started asking some questions fairly innocuously of my mother when I was living at home after the Carrie campaign asking, why did you and dad split up and quickly realizing that the answers didn't…”
“That the tone of his voice would change just like that, and nobody would know this except the two of us, but that he would be able to sense that he somehow didn't see me as his son anymore and that just the thought of it just broke my heart.”
“And he was afraid that he would not be able to immigrate to the United States if there were an arrest warrant out for him. I see. And so he bought somebody's or stole or I don't know exactly what happened. He was always very shady with the details.”
“It's good. Thanks for asking. I mean, it's good now. She is, you know, her reactions have been have run a spectrum from I'm proud of you for writing it, which I thought was very gracious of her to say to a very long conversation where she detailed some of the things she wasn't crazy about in the book.”
The Axe Files with David Axelrod — Ep. 371 — Adam Frankel
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