Listen to the full season of The Arizona Republic's 'Rediscovering: The Roots of Radicalism'

After the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and after digging into Arizona's prominent role in the plot to overturn the 2020 election, Republic reporters repeatedly heard questions we couldn't quite answer.

What is going on in Arizona?

Why does this state seem to have people willing to push the political envelope further than almost anyone else?

This series looks at Arizona history and Arizona extremists dating to the state’s time as a U.S. territory after the Civil War. It makes stops in the Barry Goldwater/John Birch Society era and the Arizona stories of impeached Gov. Evan Mecham and federal building bomber Timothy McVeigh.

The series concludes with a look at those who attempted to overturn the state’s legitimate 2020 election results and Arizona’s QAnon shaman, the man in a fur hat and horns who became the face of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

It's called: “Rediscovering: The Roots of Radicalism," and it launches season 4 in the "Rediscovering" series.

Episode 1: An unsettled hellscape

1860s to 1940s: The Southern migration to Arizona and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in early statehood days.

Even before Arizona was a state, it was a hotbed for extremism. Images of gunfights and brothels were thrust upon it by writers back East, but it wasn’t far from the Wild West mentality adopted in the territory.

Settlers, some looking for an escape from government control, found haven in the hot deserts of early Arizona, clashing with the Native Americans already living here.

Arizona teemed with residents sympathetic to the Confederate cause, and when the Civil War ended, an outsized share of Southerners settled in the territory.

Another group made its way to the sparsely populated land. Brigham Young urged Mormon families from Utah to Arizona to broaden the church’s reach at a time of sometimes violent resistance to polygamy sweeping the nation.

With these groups came divergent ideas about race, religion and politics. Arizona was positioned to be an unsettled hellscape from its beginning.

Read the transcript for episode 1.

Episode 2: The Goldwater era

1940s to 1970s: Post-World War II boom brings the Communist scare, the John Birch Society and a radical conservative: Barry Goldwater.

After World War II ended, Arizona boomed as modern comforts made life in the desert more palatable. The state’s growth brought political upheaval and largely reinforced a social obliviousness to civil rights.

As the state grew, it shed its loyalty to Democrats in favor of a conservatism marked with anti-Communist zealotry. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wisconsin, held the nation in a grip of fear over alleged communist infiltration at the highest levels in the U.S. government and military. He found a reliable ally in Arizona’s Barry Goldwater.

He came to define a new brand of politics and governance that culminated in Goldwater’s 1964 presidential run. His supporters included fringe groups such as the John Birch Society and a willingness to ignore the call for civil rights at a time when it was a rising national movement. Arizona offered a mixed record on civil rights that left Goldwater unmoved.

His presidential run ended in defeat, but it also helped plant ideological seeds for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 triumph. Back home in Arizona, voters sent Goldwater back to Washington for another three terms.

Read the transcript for episode 2.

Episode 3: The enemy is us

1970s to 2000s: A far-right governor is impeached, extremist sheriffs take root and the Arizona desert nurtures the Oklahoma City federal building bomber.

The upheaval of assassinations, antiwar protests and civil rights advocacy helped define an era that began in the 1960s and included flourishing political and social fringe movements.

In Arizona, far-right guerilla groups like the Minutemen and Posse Comitatus challenged long-accepted ideas of who exactly held power.

Political tumult in Arizona opened a path for a perennial election gadfly with anti-government leanings to win the governor’s race. Evan Mecham served 15 months as governor before being impeached and convicted, but the fallout from his time in office reverberated in the state’s politics for decades.

The conspiracy-minded held forth in law enforcement in Arizona and in extralegal groups distrustful of government. Arizonans had ties to the Ruby Ridge standoff, to the Oklahoma City bombing, and planned mayhem in Arizona as well.

Read the transcript for episode 3.

Episode 4: It never ends

2000s to present: Immigration and other polarizing issues tilt extremists toward election denialism and insurrection.

After Sept. 11, 2001, Americans across the country saw enemies and wanted security. In Arizona, the terrorist attacks ushered in a new era focused on the border with Mexico.

From self-appointed border patrols to a newfound focus for “America’s toughest sheriff,” Joe Arpaio, nativism took hold in Arizona. Initially, it drew support from people with serious personal problems and morphed into a broad, national political movement that helped propel Donald Trump to the White House.

The often-angry politics that characterized the ascendent right took a darker turn when Trump lost Arizona in the 2020 presidential election. Arizonans helped play a central role in the effort to sidestep the results, culminating in their involvement with the riot at the U.S. Capitol and a monthslong indulgence in partisan conspiracy theories. It kept the state in an unflattering spotlight.

Read the transcript for episode 4.

Behind the series

This project was edited and produced by Amanda Luberto and Kaely Monahan, with additional support from Katrina Michalak.

Hosts were Ronald J. Hansen and Mary Jo Pitzl. Hansen, Pitzl, Dan Nowicki and Ryan Randazzo contributed reporting.

Social media: Arizona Republic audience team

Web production: Arizona Republic production desk

Episode oversight: Kara Edgerson

News director: Kathy Tulumello

Executive editor: Greg Burton

Music: Universal Production Music

What is going on in Arizona?

Arizona's brushes with extremism: When the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a Civil War-era near-total ban on abortion this spring, many were stunned that the 19th century still cast a shadow over everyday life here. But in some ways, Arizona has always kept that hard-edged social and political bent.

More in the 'Rediscovering' podcast series

This podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com is part of the "Rediscovering" series. It's a good way to connect with important moments in Arizona history that otherwise could be lost to time.

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Stitcher Radio or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Previous seasons in the series told the story of murdered Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles through never-before-heard audiotapes; revisited the history of SB 1070: how it happened, who advocated for it and why it still matters; and the legacy of a Mexican boy in Nogales, Sonora, killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent through the border fence.

Don Bolles: Listen to the full season of 'Rediscovering: Don Bolles, murdered Arizona journalist'

SB 1070: Listen to the full season of 'Rediscovering: SB 1070'

Killed Through the Border Fence: Listen to the full season of 'Killed Through the Border Fence'

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Listen to the full season of The Arizona Republic's 'Rediscovering: The Roots of Radicalism'