Stay ConnectedHelping you keep up with what matters in Arizona’s political news. Each week we interview politicians, public figures or journalists to break down one local issue and how it affects your life in Arizona.
Coming to you every Wednesday morning, The Gaggle is hosted by The Arizona Republic’s national political reporters Ron Hansen and Stephanie Murray, and is produced by Amanda Luberto.
Despite its contradictions, Historian and author Joseph Ellis calls the Declaration's phrase "all men are created equal" the most important sentence in American history.
In this Outspoken conversation, Ellis argues that the American Revolution really was a revolution, a “total reversal of the tectonic plates of Western political thought,” in which power flowed upward from the people instead of downward from God to kings.
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Most of us picture the Declaration of Independence as a faded parchment under glass, guarded in the National Archives and summoned for big speeches every Fourth of July.
how the news of its signing actually reached the people it was meant to redefine.
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50 years ago, a bomb exploded underneath the car of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles outside the Clarendon Hotel, where he was set to meet a source.
He was mostly known during his life for exploring and excavating corruption in Arizona through his reporting on the state's ties to the mob.
This week on The Gaggle, we are joined by author and journalist Jeremy Duda and Republic reporter Richard Ruelas. Together, they share the famed story of the Bolles assassination.
Later in the show, Trevor Timm, the co-founder and the executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, talks with us about the status of the free press and violence against reporters today.
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Guest: Jeremy Duda, Richard Ruelas, Trevor Timm
Hosts: Ron Hansen, Stephanie Murray
Producer: Amanda Luberto
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The words removed from the Declaration of Independence show just as much as the ones left in.
Historian Holly Brewer argues that the deleted clauses in Thomas Jefferson’s draft are essential to understanding how the revolutionaries thought about slavery, equality and the reach of human rights.
In this Outspoken conversation, we discuss how the British Empire used slavery to fund its power, and how postwar legal fights over debts and treaties helped stall efforts at gradual abolition.
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Republican Congressman David Schweikert has held his seat in Congressional District 1 since 2010, but this year, he's leaving the seat open to run for Governor. Republicans are desperate to keep it for their party.
A few Republicans are in the running to represent the right in the 2026 CD1 election.
In this bonus episode of The Gaggle, we walk you through the similarities and differences between the people on your primary ballot.
Email us! thegaggle@arizonarepublic.com
Leave us a voicemail: 602-444-0804
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Host: Laura Gersony
Producer: Amanda Luberto
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For some, the words on the Declaration of Independence can only be described as "radical."
Rev. Byron Williams argues that the promise of a sovereign government is still reshaping global politics and moral imagination 250 years later.
In this Outspoken conversation, we talked about why he believes the Declaration remains a revolutionary document, what it demands of us now, and why he calls himself a “prisoner of hope” about its future.
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Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes are supposed to be on the same team. They're both Democrats in Arizona seeking reelection this November, trying to not only keep their seats but also keep Arizona's purple-state status alive.
But a look into Hobbs' connection to a state contractor has placed them at odds yet again.
This week on The Gaggle, we are joined by the Republic's state politics reporter to discuss what the latest beef between the governor and the attorney general is about and why it's a messy political risk to take in 2026.
Email us! thegaggle@arizonarepublic.com
Leave us a voicemail: 602-444-0804
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Guest: Stacey Barchenger
Hosts: Ron Hansen, Stephanie Murray
Producer: Amanda Luberto
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Editor's Note: Since this podcast was recorded, candidates Victor Weintraub and Mark Robert Gordon have withdrawn from the race.
Arizona Democrats have spent much of the past 16 years plotting how to oust Republican Congressman David Schweikert from Congressional District 1. 2026 is their best opportunity with Schweikert leaving to run for governor.
Six Democrats are in the running to represent the left in the 2026 CD1 election.
In this bonus episode of The Gaggle, we walk you through the similarities and differences between the people on your primary ballot.
Email us! thegaggle@arizonarepublic.com
Leave us a voicemail: 602-444-0804
Follow us on X, Instagram and Tik Tok
Host: Laura Gersony
Producer: Amanda Luberto
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The first page of the Declaration of Independence gave the world a vocabulary for liberty that Americans still identify with.
Near the end, though, he denounced "merciless Indian savages" whose undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions” supposedly justified colonial fears and violence.
In this Outspoken conversation, we sit down with Arizona State University Professor David Martínez to ask how that language helped define U.S. policy toward Indigenous peoples, and what it would mean to face that legacy honestly on the Declaration’s 250th anniversary.
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Sen. Mark Kelly isn't just an Arizona name. He's a NASA astronaut, a veteran, a gun rights activist after the assassination attempt on his wife Gabrielle Giffords, and as recent as 2024, a vice presidential option.
He's always been a critic of Trump and his allies, but eye-catching fundraising and avoiding questions about his future have politicos wondering if Kelly is interested in the White House for 2028.
This week on The Gaggle, we discuss what Sen. Mark Kelly's future could hold.
Email us! thegaggle@arizonarepublic.com
Leave us a voicemail: 602-444-0804
Follow us on X, Instagram and Tik Tok
Hosts: Ron Hansen, Stephanie Murray
Producer: Amanda Luberto
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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