PODCAST · news
Rediscovering
by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com
SEASON FOUR: Arizona is less than 3% of the nation’s population but often plays a prominent role in American radicalism, like the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol on January 6th. This podcast asks why? Over four episodes, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl trace the history of Arizona’s brushes with extremism. It goes beyond outlandish acts and isolated criminal behavior. It’s a story of disillusionment, distrust of government and outright rebellion that have mixed into the state’s culture and politics. From Confederates drawn to Arizona to Ground Zero for election denialism, this is Rediscovering season four: The Roots of Radicalism. SEASON THREE: Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz responded to a drug smuggling attempt, leaving his assigned post at a Nogales port of entry on Oct. 10, 2012. The night would end with 16-year old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez dead on the Mexican side of Ambos Nogales. The event would begin a nearly dec
Episodes
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S4 EP04: It Never Ends
After Sept. 11, 2001, Americans across the country saw enemies and wanted security. In Arizona, the terrorist attacks ushered in a new era focused on the border with Mexico. From self-appointed border patrols to a newfound focus for “America’s toughest sheriff,” Joe Arpaio, nativism took hold in...
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S4 EP03: The Enemy Is Us
The upheaval of assassinations, antiwar protests and civil rights advocacy helped define an era that began in the 1960s and included flourishing political and social fringe movements. In Arizona, far-right guerilla groups like the Minutemen and Posse Comitatus challenged long-accepted ideas of…
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S4 EP02: The Goldwater Era
After World War II ended, Arizona boomed as modern comforts made life in the desert more palatable. The state’s growth brought political upheaval and largely reinforced a social obliviousness to civil rights. As the state grew, it shed its loyalty to Democrats in favor of a conservatism marked…
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S4 EP01: An Unsettled Hellscape
Even before Arizona was a state, it was a hotbed for extremism. Images of gunfights and brothels were thrust upon it by writers back East, but it wasn’t far from the Wild West mentality adopted in the territory. Settlers, some looking for an escape from government control, found haven in the hot...
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Coming Soon - Rediscovering: The Roots of Radicalism
Face-painted, shirtless and wearing bullhorns, Arizona resident Jacob Chansley became the face of the January 6 insurrection. Meanwhile President Donald Trump used Arizona as ground zero to try and over turn the results of the 2020 election. Arizona lawmakers leaned in. While this was happening,...
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S3 EP04: A continuing quest for justice
After two criminal trials against Lonnie Swartz wrapped up in Tucson, Jose Antonio’s family turned to their civil lawsuit against the agent. Swartz’s attorneys argued that the agent had qualified immunity from prosecution in the case because he was carrying out work for the federal government.…
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S3 EP03: A historic legal showdown
In a historic move, U.S. federal prosecutors charged Lonnie Swartz, a Border Patrol agent, with three separate charges in the shooting and killing of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez. The most severe of the charges was for second degree murder, that meant prosecutors believed Lonnie had...
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S3 EP02: An identity revealed
It did not take long for the family of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez to start putting pressure on U.S. authorities. They demanded that the U.S. Border Patrol release the name of the agent who had fired his gun from Arizona into Mexico in Ambos Nogales. In July 2014, attorneys for Jose...
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S3 EP01: A metal cross and a painful memory
A U.S. border agent shot 16 times through the gaps in the border fence in the span of 34 seconds on the night of October 10, 2012. Ten bullets struck and killed 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was standing on the Mexico side of Ambos Nogales, a binational community. The border agent...
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Coming Soon - Rediscovering: Killed Through the Border Fence
It’s been almost a decade since a boy in Mexico was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent in the United States. His family couldn't believe it. And federal prosecutors didn't let it pass, even though Border Patrol agents rarely are scrutinized for excessive force. Recorded and retold in Spanish and...
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S2 Epilogue: How did SB 1070 shape the 2020 election? Two politicos weigh in
Season two of Rediscovering, a podcast from The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, explored the events leading up to and following the passage of Senate Bill 1070 in Arizona. The 2010 “show me your papers” law was met with pushback from Latino organizers, grassroots activists, DACA recipients…
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S2 EP05: Nothing lasts forever
Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 took years of effort that culminated in a moment when the Legislature, the governor and the public — pushed by a terrible slaying agreed — to do something about illegal immigration, even if the White House and Congress couldn’t. Closer to the time of its passage, SB…
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S2 EP04: That's their image of us
While national leaders weighed in on the passage of Senate Bill 1070, on the ground in Arizona, it was already emptying neighborhoods. The grim exodus played out quietly all over the state. To the rest of the country, the law served as a laugh track and spectacle. The images of Arizona as a…
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S2 EP03: Burn that Capitol down
For two decades and through three administrations, Arizonans waited for the federal government to solve the issue that many felt was right at their doorstep. They were left without a solution. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all tried to move the needle on immigration...
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S2 EP02: They think they can survive without Mexican labor?
The 1993 North American Free Trade Act, or NAFTA, put an estimated 2 million Mexican farmers out of business. Food prices in Mexico went up, while wages, after adjusting for inflation, declined. The consequences of NAFTA and spiking unemployment from the peso currency crisis incentivized many...
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S2 EP01: You're not welcome here
In the early 2000s, Arizona’s rapid population growth and investor speculation fueled a homebuilding binge in the state. Contractors took advantage of a lax employment-verification system and hired undocumented workers at a cut rate, often from Mexico, in droves. At its peak, Arizona...
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Coming Soon - Rediscovering: SB1070
In April 2010, Arizona enacted the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, better known as Senate Bill 1070. The state law required police officers to inquire about the legal status of anyone they thought might be in the country illegally. But what would make an officer think...
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S1 EP06: Legacies
Three men faced charges in the murder of Arizona journalist Don Bolles. But to this day, it’s unknown who put the hit out on him. For years, the lead investigators on the case would gather at the Clarendon Hotel at 11:30 a.m. every June 2. No grand ceremony. Just a moment of silence. As the years...
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S1 EP05: It started as a routine day
June 2, 1976, was Don Bolles’ wedding anniversary. He’d planned on celebrating with his wife Rosalie by seeing the movie “All The President’s Men.” Bolles had been off investigative reporting for three years, although people still fed him tips. One came from a man named John Adamson. Bolles went…
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S1 EP04: Legal recourse and revenge
Enraged by the stories about the wiretaps, the Funk family sued Don Bolles and The Arizona Republic. They sought damages of $20 million. Bolles filed a countersuit, but the resulting process would air the newsroom’s dirty laundry. Ultimately, the suits were settled without Bolles facing financial...
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S1 EP03: The Menace Within
There were two threats brewing for Don Bolles in 1970, at least in his mind. And one was coming from inside the newsroom. Bolles had begun to suspect that his reporting partner had Mafia ties. Despite a lack of evidence, his partner was taken off the beat. The Arizona Republic would go public…
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S1 EP02: Wiretaps and wild allegations
After discovering that the Funk family may have wiretapped his phones, Don Bolles was put in a unique position. He wasn’t so much a reporter as he was trying to solve a crime. Helping him in this endeavor was his reporting partner, Dom Frasca. Frasca was a Pulitzer prize-winning investigative...
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S1 EP01: Shattered naiveté
The murder of investigative reporter Don Bolles shocked what was then a much smaller, sleepy Phoenix. He was a reporter killed for doing his job. It was — and still is — a rare incident in the United States. In the years before his murder, Bolles was known for his tenacity, like a character out…
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Coming soon - Rediscovering: Don Bolles, a murdered journalist
Don Bolles was an investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic in the 1960s and '70s. After years of reporting on corruption in the racing industry, he was killed by a car bomb in 1976. Decades later, we found cassette tapes of his phone calls from the '70s. Thanks to those tapes, we're…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
SEASON FOUR: Arizona is less than 3% of the nation’s population but often plays a prominent role in American radicalism, like the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol on January 6th. This podcast asks why? Over four episodes, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl trace the history of Arizona’s brushes with extremism. It goes beyond outlandish acts and isolated criminal behavior. It’s a story of disillusionment, distrust of government and outright rebellion that have mixed into the state’s culture and politics. From Confederates drawn to Arizona to Ground Zero for election denialism, this is Rediscovering season four: The Roots of Radicalism.
SEASON THREE: Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz responded to a drug smuggling attempt, leaving his assigned post at a Nogales port of entry on Oct. 10, 2012. The night would end with 16-year old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez dead on the Mexican side of Ambos Nogales. The event would begin a nearly dec
HOSTED BY
The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Rediscovering have?
Rediscovering currently has 24 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Rediscovering about?
SEASON FOUR: Arizona is less than 3% of the nation’s population but often plays a prominent role in American radicalism, like the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol on January 6th. This podcast asks why? Over four episodes, hosts Ron Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl trace the history of Arizona’s brushes...
How often does Rediscovering release new episodes?
Rediscovering has 24 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Rediscovering?
You can listen to Rediscovering on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Rediscovering?
Rediscovering is created and hosted by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.
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