  We will review the latest physics developments from PHENIX concentrating on
cold nuclear matter effects, the initial state for heavy-ion collisions, and
probes of the earliest stages of the hot-dense medium created in those
collisions. Recent physics results from p + p and d + Au collisions; and from
direct photons, quarkonia and low-mass vector mesons in A+A collisions will be
highlighted. Insights from these measurements into the characteristics of the
initial state and about the earliest times in heavy-ion collisions will be
discussed.
