Arizona Talks
Arizona’s civic arguments, essays, and commentary in one place.
New writing from people across business, government, culture, and community life.
Get the new essays first
Sign up for new essays and invitations to upcoming conversations.
Recent contributors: Joe Pitts, Rudy Cota III, and Analise Ortiz
Arizona Talks Voices is produced in partnership with the Arizona Local News Foundation.
Latest essays
A running publication of essays from across Arizona civic, cultural, and business life.
RSS Feed
American cities stopped building up and started building out. Joe Pitts argues that the Sun Belt's suburban boom doesn't have to mean the end of great cities, and lays out what it would take for Phoenix to become the proving ground for a new kind of American city.
Rudy Cota III argues that ranked choice voting and jungle primaries are a seductive but false fix for Arizona's political frustration, and that the real work of better politics happens inside the parties, not by rewriting the rules of the ballot.
State Senator Analise Ortiz argues that the ICE detention facility planned for Surprise is being imposed on the city without the consent of its residents. Local leaders, she writes, have the legal tools and the responsibility to stop it.
Nivea Krishnan, Tara Cosentino, and Richie Glover
After learning to disagree well through high school speech and debate, Nivea Krishnan and two fellow Arizona Talks leaders make the case for expanding an activity only 48 of the state's roughly 560 high schools can offer.
Leaders of Save Our Schools Arizona and the Arizona Education Association make the case that universal ESA vouchers are draining the public schools most families still choose—and lay out the ballot measure to rein them in.
An Arizona entrepreneur and community-development leader argues that mail-in voting and accessible polling places are how working parents, seniors, and tribal and rural voters actually get to participate.
A mother of three kids with dyslexia on what Arizona's ESA scholarship made possible, and why she's worried about the ballot measure that would change it.
Former state senator Steve Kaiser argues that the most powerful influence on a politician is an informed constituent. He walks through how voters can build real civic relationships with the people who represent them.
The bipartisan town hall has all but disappeared from Arizona politics. A freshman legislator decided to hold three anyway, and found that civility still holds when voters get room to be heard.
Education doesn't start in kindergarten. If Arizona wants stronger schools, a stable workforce, and a healthier economy, we have to take the years before kindergarten seriously.
A transplant from Iowa reflects on how Arizona's culture of freedom and accountability transformed his understanding of opportunity—from personal advancement to a calling to build, serve, and become.
“The strength of our nation depends on our ability to see ourselves—and others—as more than who we vote for. Our country needs you and me to be more than our political identities.”
We welcome thoughtful commentary from contributors across Arizona.
Become a Contributor
