What Makes Arizona Tick
On this episode of See How They Run, Sasha Abramsky and Amy Littlefield on the chaotic, complicated, high-drama prize of the Southwest.

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
On this episode of See How They Run, DD Guttenplan is joined by Sasha Abramsky and Amy Littlefield to discuss the chaotic, complicated, high-drama prize of the Southwest.
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Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, his wife former Rep. Gabby Giffords, Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, stand together on stage a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena on August 9, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona.
(Photo by Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)On this episode of See How They Run, we’re continuing our series of deep dives into the swing states that will decide the presidential election. Today, we’ve moved southwest to Arizona, a state that had been slipping away from Democrats under Joe Biden but has moved back into contention under Kamala Harris. How she does there will be a crucial test of her ability to navigate some of the trickiest issues in American politics—from immigration to abortion to plain old MAGA hysteria. Throw in a blockbuster Senate race and a robust election-denial movement and you have a recipe for fireworks.
We’ll be speaking with Amy Littlefield, The Nation’s abortion access correspondent, about Arizona’s upcoming referendum on abortion, and with Sasha Abramsky, The Nation’s Left Coast correspondent and the author of the new book Chaos Comes Calling: The Battle Against the Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America. Sasha’s recent story, “Will Arizona Be MAGA’s Last Stand?” led our July issue.

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
In its heyday, the Bush Terminal industrial complex spanned several city blocks along Brooklyn’s waterfront and employed more than 35,000 people. Built by Irving Bush in the late nineteenth century, it was an "early intermodal shipping hub." Goods arrived by water and left by rail. Bananas, coffee, and cotton came in through doors on one side of the warehouses and were loaded onto trains on the other.
But after World War II, as trucks replaced rail and shipping patterns changed, the Terminal’s purpose faded and the vast complex slipped into disuse.
Today, Bush Terminal is again at the center of New York’s vision for urban reinvention— and a debate around development, displacement, and the future of work in the city.
Joining us on a deep dive into Bush Terminal is veteran architecture critic and writer Karrie Jacobs. Her essay, “On the Waterfront,” appears in our December issue of the Nation.
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