About this episode
The episode explores a local fight against a luxury apartment development in Scottsdale, revealing deeper issues of democracy and surveillance.
When a 77-year-old Vietnam vet and former city councilman takes on a luxury apartment development in Scottsdale, Arizona, it sounds like classic NIMBY politics. But this fight isn’t just about height limits or desert views — it’s about who gets to decide the future of a community. The developer, Axon, isn’t your average builder. It’s one of the most powerful policing tech companies in the world — the maker of tasers, body cameras, drones, and AI-driven surveillance systems now being used by police departments and border agencies across the country. As the fight over zoning unfolds, it exposes a deeper question about democracy in the age of data: when private companies control the tools of public safety, who’s really watching whom? From Scottsdale city hall to the Arizona statehouse, and from real-time crime centers to school surveillance systems, this episode traces how a battle over apartments reveals the hidden architecture of America’s growing surveillance state — and the quiet ways local democracy is being rewritten in its shadows. GUESTS: Bob Littlefield, Former Scottsdale City Council member; president of Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAZE); Barry…
People in this episode
Guests: Bob Littlefield, Barry Friedman, Susan Wood, Betty Janik, Detective Julie Smith, Representative Alexander Kolodin
Topics covered
- local democracy
- surveillance state
- community activism
- zoning laws
- policing technology
- NIMBY politics
Keywords
- Scottsdale
- Axon
- NIMBY
- surveillance
- zoning
- community
- policing technology
- democracy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Axon
Products: tasers, body cameras, drones, AI-driven surveillance systems
Places: Scottsdale, Arizona, Arizona statehouse, Scottsdale city hall
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