The Starโs Opinion staff has some groovy news โ and we need your help.
Weโve launched a podcast.
Thursday afternoons, cartoonist David Fitzsimmons, editorial writer Luis Carrasco and I get together around a conference room table near the Star cafeteria and spend about a half hour chatting. With microphones. Luis puts it all together and a podcast is born.
The goal is to open up the Starโs Opinion pages and share how and why we do what we do โ and to also share what you have to say.
So far weโve talked about immigration, President Trumpโs visit to Phoenix, the Tucson City Council Ward 3 Democratic primary, Trumpโs decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Tucson Unified School District superintendent search and selection, Pima County Supervisor Ally Millerโs ill-advised remarks about her white pride, and more.
We confab about what weโve editorialized about that week in our Star editorials and columns.
Iโm not going to pretend we donโt go off on tangents โ we talked at some length recently about Fitzโs quest to make the perfect pot of refried beans.
Fitz talks about his favorite cartoon of the week, and how he created it.
In a recent episode, Fitz explained how he comes up with ideas for his cartoons. Itโs something Iโve often wondered, because Iโm definitely a word, not a visual, opinion person.
It turns out he makes lots of lists and looks for connections. Some hit like lightning bolts, others morph. Some fizzle.
Fitz also shares an email or voicemail heโs received that week โ we call it his air-quotes fan-mail.
Luis handles letters to the editor submissions and many guest-opinion pieces submitted to the Star. These contributions are at the heart of the Opinion pages. Even if people are writing about national or international issues, itโs a local conversation.
The music we use is local, too. Itโs a new, unreleased song by The Marshmallow Overcoat called โWait For Her.โ
Luis interviews letter writers and guest-opinion authors for the podcast. Itโs great to hear a letter to the editor read by the person who penned it, and to hear them share what moved them to write.
Have a letter writer youโd like to hear from? Let us know.
Luis, Fitz and I also share things weโre interested in each week. Sometimes itโs another podcast, or a book or a board game. Or beans.
So hereโs where weโd like your help. Our podcast needs a name. Weโve been calling it the Arizona Daily Star Opinion Page Podcast โ descriptive, yes, but it makes me think of those plain label groceries, with no photo or design. Just a can with PINTO BEANS in black lettering on a white label. PODCAST.
We have a couple names we’re kicking around, but we’d like to hear from you. Ideas? Send them my way at sgassen@tucson.com.
In the meantime, check out our latest podcast below.
01:00 โ The rescission of the DACA program and plenty of questions: What does this mean? Was the program legal? Will Congress act? and Was this racist?
19:15ย โ Fitz's cartoon of the week.
20:00ย โ Not one, but two Fitz "fan" letters of the week.
21:45ย โ Hot topics on letters to the editor
22:55ย โ Sunday's editorial on AzMERIT scores and the challenges of public education.
28:36ย โ What is a guest opinion and how are they chosen for print?
31:05ย โ Bean update: Last week Fitz was making refried beans for the first time. How did that work out?
32:02ย โ Our groovy recommendations for the week:
Guess what? Luis is a Star Wars nerd, too. He recommends Star Wars: Jedi Challenges.
Fitz is working on a book.
Sarah's into "Swedish Dicks."
