Who's the most influential person in Arizona history?
State of play: We're constructing a March Madness-style bracket with 32 entries.
There will be five rounds of voting over five days. Each morning, we'll reveal the prior day's winners and ask you to vote for who advances.
🗣 You tell us: Axios Phoenix needs your help. Who should be on the list, and why?
Zoom in: Any list of influential people from Arizona history will be heavy on politicians and business figures, but we don't want the entire bracket filled with them.
We want influential Arizonans from all walks of life — arts and culture, religion, sports, and anything else you can think of.
Think of folks who may not be traditional historical figures but were nonetheless influential in Arizona, like Linda Ronstadt, Frank Kush, and Wallace and Ladmo.
Many people haven't received the credit they deserve, so make sure to include important women, Latinos, Native Americans and others who have been underrepresented in Arizona history.
Between the lines: Here are a few things to keep in mind as you consider the bracket.
I'm trying to steer clear of people who may be from Arizona, but didn't have any significant influence on the state. For example, Steven Spielberg grew up in Phoenix, but he had no impact specific to Arizona and didn't make his mark until after he left.
Be mindful of recency bias. We tend to think of people who are still around today, or were active in recent memory, as more significant than those who have been gone for decades.
It's OK to pick someone who predates statehood or even the United States' acquisition of the region.
Between the lines: This idea was inspired by a bracket about the most influential Americans who never became president, compiled by Columbia University political science professor Michael G. Miller.
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San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
From 'Crossfire' to 'CeaseFire': C-SPAN executive launches program that promotes common ground
For several years when he was at CNN, Sam Feist was in charge of 'Crossfire,' the show that set a template for televised political combat. Now that he runs C-SPAN, Feist is going in another direction. The public affairs network debuts 'CeaseFire' this fall, described as an attempt to bring political opposites together to find common ground, and on Wednesday announced that Dasha Burns of Politico will be its host. 'At the end of the day, Americans and members of Congress agree more than they disagree,' said Feist, C-SPAN CEO. 'We just never see that on television, and you rarely see that on the floor of Congress. And I wanted to change that.' 'Crossfire' aired on CNN from 1982 until 2005. It featured a conservative and liberal host, with guests, debating a contentious issue. It often got loud — and sometimes personal. Conflict sells, and as cable television evolved into more often talking about the news than reporting it, the formula was widely imitated. It arguably influenced politics as well. Being argumentative and taking no prisoners were more effective ways of getting attention than trying to find common ground and get things done. That was the view of comic Jon Stewart, who effectively killed 'Crossfire' with a 2004 appearance where he told then-hosts Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson that they were hurting America. Begala later called it a 'disemboweling.' Three months later, CNN canceled the show. Losing the 'sugar high' of partisan conflict From traveling the country reporting, Burns said she also feels there is a disconnect between how people think of politics and how it is portrayed on television — a dissonance, she suggests, that 'CeaseFire' can tap. 'I think there is a secret yearning for this among a lot of people,' said Burns, Politico Playbook author and chief White House correspondent, who will hold onto those roles. 'Obviously there is a reason why shows that have a lot of conflict get a lot of views, but I also think there is a part of the country that is really tired of the sugar high from conflict and polarization.' Burns said she works hard to cultivate a nonpartisan approach in her job so she can report equally well on what is happening with Democrats and Republicans in Washington. 'My moderating style does tend to be very personal and conversational, and I want to bring some fun and charm and levity to the show,' she said, 'but also really push people and get people out of their comfort zones of partisan acrimony and into a zone that may be less comfortable for them in the public eye.' Feist said Burns was chosen for the job because she's both a good interviewer and a good conversationalist, as well as being plugged into the Washington scene. He said he got the idea for 'CeaseFire' years ago from Michael Kinsley, a former 'Crossfire' co-host, and is hoping it can become a signature show. A time slot, premiere date or early guests have not been announced yet. Friends from across the aisle Since getting the job at C-SPAN, Feist said he has talked to more than 100 members of Congress about whether they had friends across the aisle and, to a person, each one gave him a name of a political opposite they enjoyed spending time with. If only half of those pairings agreed to come on 'CeaseFire,' he said, he'd have enough programming for a year. C-SPAN takes pride in appealing in equal numbers to Democrats, Republicans and independents. They are people who want to watch politics and government in action, and not just people talking about it, he said. Still, there's a need to show something during the nights and weekend when Congress is not in session. 'When I got here we started talking about new programming and what we could do that was different, where there was a need in the television landscape,' Feist said. 'Over and over, I heard from people on the inside and the outside: 'Can't you even have a civil conversation in Washington?'' ___
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
From ‘Crossfire' to ‘CeaseFire': C-SPAN executive launches program that promotes common ground
For several years when he was at CNN, Sam Feist was in charge of 'Crossfire,' the show that set a template for televised political combat. Now that he runs C-SPAN, Feist is going in another direction. The public affairs network debuts 'CeaseFire' this fall, described as an attempt to bring political opposites together to find common ground, and on Wednesday announced that Dasha Burns of Politico will be its host. 'At the end of the day, Americans and members of Congress agree more than they disagree,' said Feist, C-SPAN CEO. 'We just never see that on television, and you rarely see that on the floor of Congress. And I wanted to change that.' 'Crossfire' aired on CNN from 1982 until 2005. It featured a conservative and liberal host, with guests, debating a contentious issue. It often got loud — and sometimes personal. Conflict sells, and as cable television evolved into more often talking about the news than reporting it, the formula was widely imitated. It arguably influenced politics as well. Being argumentative and taking no prisoners were more effective ways of getting attention than trying to find common ground and get things done. That was the view of comic Jon Stewart, who effectively killed 'Crossfire' with a 2004 appearance where he told then-hosts Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson that they were hurting America. Begala later called it a 'disemboweling.' Three months later, CNN canceled the show. Losing the 'sugar high' of partisan conflict From traveling the country reporting, Burns said she also feels there is a disconnect between how people think of politics and how it is portrayed on television — a dissonance, she suggests, that 'CeaseFire' can tap. 'I think there is a secret yearning for this among a lot of people,' said Burns, Politico Playbook author and chief White House correspondent, who will hold onto those roles. 'Obviously there is a reason why shows that have a lot of conflict get a lot of views, but I also think there is a part of the country that is really tired of the sugar high from conflict and polarization.' Burns said she works hard to cultivate a nonpartisan approach in her job so she can report equally well on what is happening with Democrats and Republicans in Washington. 'My moderating style does tend to be very personal and conversational, and I want to bring some fun and charm and levity to the show,' she said, 'but also really push people and get people out of their comfort zones of partisan acrimony and into a zone that may be less comfortable for them in the public eye.' Feist said Burns was chosen for the job because she's both a good interviewer and a good conversationalist, as well as being plugged into the Washington scene. He said he got the idea for 'CeaseFire' years ago from Michael Kinsley, a former 'Crossfire' co-host, and is hoping it can become a signature show. A time slot, premiere date or early guests have not been announced yet. Friends from across the aisle Since getting the job at C-SPAN, Feist said he has talked to more than 100 members of Congress about whether they had friends across the aisle and, to a person, each one gave him a name of a political opposite they enjoyed spending time with. If only half of those pairings agreed to come on 'CeaseFire,' he said, he'd have enough programming for a year. C-SPAN takes pride in appealing in equal numbers to Democrats, Republicans and independents. They are people who want to watch politics and government in action, and not just people talking about it, he said. Still, there's a need to show something during the nights and weekend when Congress is not in session. 'When I got here we started talking about new programming and what we could do that was different, where there was a need in the television landscape,' Feist said. 'Over and over, I heard from people on the inside and the outside: 'Can't you even have a civil conversation in Washington?'' And that, he said, is precisely what 'CeaseFire' will try to do. ___ David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and .
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bernie Sanders puts Senate Democrats on notice over Gaza – and on the record with vote to block arms to Israel
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is now forcing Senate Democrats to reckon not only with the images of starvation and suffering in Gaza but also the tectonic shift within voters in their own party. Sanders – the democratic socialist independent, former presidential candidate and gadfly-turned vanguard of the left-wing – will force two votes to pressure the Senate to block arms to Israel in response to civilian massacres in Gaza and the impending famine. The votes are similar to those Sanders held in the weeks after the election, when many wondered whether President Joe Biden's outspoken support for Israel's war in Gaza after a surprise assault by Hamas may have cost Kamala Harris votes in Michigan and with young voters. 'What polling shows is the American people are sick and tired of supporting a racist extremist government in Israel, which is now starving, starving children to death with U.S. taxpayer money,' Sanders told The Independent. Sanders has some polling to back up his claim. A Gallup poll shows 32 percent of Americans support Israel's military action in Gaza and 60 percent oppose. The Democrats' divide is much starker. While 25 percent of Independents support Israel's actions only 8 percent of Democrats are in support. For those wondering, Marjorie Taylor Greene is firmly in the minority of Republicans who think the war is a 'genocide,' as 71 percent support Israel's actions. Unsurprisingly, Sanders's fellow progressive, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) supports his push to block arms to Israel. 'The Prime Minister has instead created a humanitarian catastrophe, and every day that goes by, the world sees it more vividly and makes clear that they want Netanyahu to stop, stop starving little babies,' Warren told The Independent. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told The Independent early on Wednesday that he hadn't seen Sanders's amendment, but given his outspoken support for Israel, he likely will not vote for it. The next generation of Democratic Senate leaders is clearly angry. On Tuesday, before Sanders announced his votes, Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who like Sanders is Jewish, unloaded on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 'There's nobody that can credibly claim that one of the most capable militaries in the world is unable to do basic food distribution, they've been doing this in war zones for decades,' he told The Independent. Many expect Schatz to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the first senator to support a ceasefire, as Democratic whip in the Senate. So his condemnations speak volumes, specifically, his critique of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israel and U.S.-supported group which supplanted United Nations food distribution. 'They kicked out all the organizations that know how to do this,' Schatz said. 'They stood up a new organization that's never done this before, that's mostly comprised of military contractors, and it is flat and freely and people are dying so we're all furious, and there's some bipartisan fury.' The same can be said of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a potential candidate to succeed Schumer when he eventually retires. When Klobuchar ran against Sanders and Warren, in the Democratic presidential primary, she occupied the moderate lane and has earned a reputation as an consensus builder who can pass legislation. But last week, she delivered a floor speech excoriating the Netanyahu government's treatment of Gaza. Many on social media pointed out how a few weeks ago, she joined a bipartisan delegation that met with Netanyahu when he came to Washington. Klobuchar told The Independent on Tuesday that she specifically went to the meeting to ask Netanyahu about Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz's proposal to create a 'humanitarian city' for displaced Palestinians. 'In fact, the reason I went to the meeting, I was invited as number-three in Democratic leadership, and I went,' Klobuchar said. 'The reason I went was to raise the lack of humanitarian aid into Gaza and that they had to have more access point.' Klobuchar's fellow Minnesotan Sen. Tina Smith said she would back Sanders's amendment and has voted for them in the past. 'I think it is just very important that we show these votes our strong disapproval of the way the Netanyahu government is the prosecuting this war,' she said. Smith, who is retiring at the end of next year said the 'horrible images' out of Gaza have signaled a change. Smith has often been mistaken for Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who just won re-election last year, despite Harris losing the Badger State. Baldwin did not say whether she had read the legislation, though she denounced the treatment of Gazans. 'The situation in Gaza is a humanitarian crisis and action must be taken,' she told The Independent. 'We need to send a strong message to our president, as well as Netanyahu, and I expect to support them.' A swing-state Democrat who narrowly won re-election, a future whip and a potential majority leader's critiques shows Democrats no longer see opposing Israel's treatment of Palestinians as a politically verboten topic. The Democratic Party clearly has seen how it no longer sees Israel's actions as acceptable, and regardless of how the vote will go, they will have been woken up by Sanders: the Jewish son of Polish immigrants who fled antisemitism and lived on an Israeli kibbutz in his youth.
