Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world where people constantly shared and consumed video content, for an unknown real larger purpose? Hmmmm… Well EM Forster imagined this world, in 1909. Join me for the restart of the Five Minute Book Review series on the banks of the White […]
From the Hanover Happenings podcast: In Hanover, we care a lot about making sure people have information about what’s happening in their community. It’s part of the reason we started this podcast and why the Selectboard does business the way it does. But government is only one piece to the puzzle of informing, engaging, and […]
From the Hanover Happenings podcast: In this episode I sit down with Associate Professor of Business Administration Adam Kleinbaum at Dartmouth’s Tuck Business School. Adam and colleagues have recently completed a study where they used FMRI technology to measure brain activity of people as they have conversations and build consensus (or don’t), which appeared in […]
From the Hanover Happenings Podcast: In this special spotlight episode, I host newly elected Secretaries of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas (Vermont) and Dave Scanlan (New Hampshire) in Hanover to talk about civic participation, elections and voter confidence, public trust, building consensus in polarized climates, and practical ways that people can engage in government. Both Secretaries […]
Do you remember Netscape, AOL Instant Messenger, and loud dial-up? Well in this episode of Rethinking, we drink some cool refreshing millennial nostalgia and talk about the values and assumptions built into different social communication technologies, and how much those have changed over the last 25 years. We trace some important differences between things like […]
Join former mayor, municipal manager, professor, and consultant Alex Torpey as we explore some of the dynamics behind how leaders vet (or don’t vet) their ideas. And what do they do when faced with negative feedback? In this episode, we’ll talk about some of the traps that people in leadership or influence fall into, such […]
This episode: Returning from my trip across the country in the fall of 2020, and before I moved up to New Hampshire to serve as Town Manager in the Town of Hanover, I have had the incredible fortune to get to participate in some really interesting experiences. This includes teaching outdoor education with adults and […]
While millions of Americans are in debt or behind on high-interest credit card payments, many trillions of dollars is owed by governments at various levels for money they have already borrowed. At the same time, we know that debt can be a way to way build wealth, or it can help more fairly finance important […]
On Wednesday, March 9th, I hosted a workshop and discussion with the New Jersey Municipal Management Association entitled “How to use the internet to build public engagement and trust.” In that webinar, I shared this episode’s topic, along with some other conceptual and more tactical level ideas to help members navigate the increasingly complex issues […]
Join Alex for a new episode in the 5 Minute Book Review subseries of Rethinking! This is Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It was filmed/recorded in South Orange, New Jersey. You can find it online here, on YouTube, Instagram or wherever you listen to podcasts, such as Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Castbox, […]
Join Alex for a new episode in the 5 Minute Book Review subseries of Rethinking! This is Semiosis by Sue Burke. It was filmed/recorded on Kittatinny Ridge in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, in Sussex County, New Jersey. You can find it online here, on YouTube, Instagram or wherever you listen to podcasts, […]
Increasingly, bad discourse is preventing communities from effectively addressing problems they face. Are online news paywalls contributing to this by exaggerating echo chambers and filter bubbles? In this episode of Rethinking, we look at some problems that might be caused by online news paywalls, and consider a solution that might help not only change the […]
Join Alex for a new episode in the 5 Minute Book Review subseries of Rethinking! This is The Stand by Stephen King. It is filmed/recorded somewhere in Stokes State Forest, in Sussex County, New Jersey. You can find it online here, on YouTube, Instagram or wherever you listen to podcasts, such as Apple, Spotify, Google, […]
Join former mayor, municipal manager, professor, and consultant Alex Torpey for another episode of Rethinking. This is a special episode. What follows is a discussion I had with Laura Sims at the South Orange Public Library as part of their Special Conversations series, that I am sharing here with permission. In the one hour zoom […]
Join Alex for a new episode in the 5 Minute Book Review subseries of Rethinking! This is Walden (And Civil Disobedience) by Henry David Thoreau. It is filmed/recorded somewhere in Stokes State Forest, in Sussex County, New Jersey. You can find it online here, on YouTube, Instagram or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check it […]
Join Alex for the inaugural new subseries on Rethinking – 5 Minute Book Reviews! Our first book is A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. You can find it online here, on YouTube, Instagram or wherever you listen to podcasts. Check it out and let me know what you think at alex (at) rethinkingwithalextorpey.com!
Join former mayor, municipal manager, professor, and consultant Alex Torpey for the latest episode of Rethinking, filmed in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, Montana. —As another so called progressive democrat begins their fall from grace, I wanted to spend a moment reflecting on why we seem to have so many politicians who don’t do the right things, but […]
Join former mayor, municipal manager, professor, and consultant Alex Torpey for another special Travels with Torpey episode. Recorded in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area on the Utah/Wyoming border, Alex reflects on three related topics: 1) The uncertainties of the legacies we leave 2) The duality (positive and negatives) innovations like modern commercial air travel, and […]
Alex reflects on the extreme heat waves in the Southwest and the environmental and community impact of redevelopment and building practices, and various other human behaviors, that are done out of balance with nature.
Join Alex for this Bonus Discussion with former Maine state senator Justin Chenette as part of the special series: On Running for Public Office. Justin is most recently a two-term state senator for Maine’s 31st legislative district. Previously he served two terms in the House in Maine, which he was elected to in 2012 as one […]