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Our nation’s public institutions at nearly all levels are failing to be the proactive, thoughtful, strategic forces for good that they were founded to be. As a result, our society is currently incapable of effectively identifying and addressing our most pressing challenges, threats, and needs. Rethinking aims to provide those who work in public institutions or whose work relates to community and public problems, access to a completely nonpartisan, thoughtful, and critical place to question everything and develop strategic and practical real-world solutions to some of our most pressing needs. From serving as mayor (non party affiliated) of his hometown of South Orange at age 23, a municipal business administrator, founder of a digital consulting firm, an emergency management director and volunteer EMT, and as a graduate level adjunct professor, management consultant, mentor and speaker, Alex Torpey brings together his uniquely diverse experiences to help provide us a platform to rethink the future of our communities, our republic, and ourselves.

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Check latest episodes from Rethinking with Alex Torpey podcast

Five easy ways to regain attention and agency amidst growing tech dependence

2026/06/16

After meeting Beth Malow at a Vermont Town and City Management Association Braver Angel’s workshop last month, we not only brainstormed some ways for me to get more involved with Braver Angels, but talked a lot about how people engage with what’s around them (Beth is a neurologist after all). This is a topic I’ve […]

A reflection on AI, tech, and dystopias from my own science-fiction books

2026/05/13

In this special episode of Rethinking with Alex Torpey (aren’t they all special though?), I read a chapter from one of my science fiction books “Be Present” to give us a platform to reflect on technology, media, AI, attention, and societal organization and governance. In this chapter, which I wrote in 2021 while driving across […]

The allure of Ted Lasso

2024/11/01

In this episode I want to reflect on three themes of the TV show Ted Lasso that I think make up part of how alluring I believe it is, and what’s happening in our culture and world right now that make it such a compelling set of stories for so many people. This is probably […]

5 Min Book Review - The Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

2024/10/02

In this month’s Five Minute Book Review, I give a strong recommendation for Aldo Leopold’s The Sand County Almanac. Leopold is an incredibly insightful naturalist/conservationist storyteller, and a Sand County Almanac is a really engaging read that not only drops you into stories of many of the dramas playing out in nature all around us, […]

Five Min Book Review - The Machine Stops by EM Forester

2024/06/07

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 […]

Repost: Conversation with Rob Gurwitt of Daybreak about journalism, media, community, and trust

2023/11/10

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 […]

Repost: Conversation with Professor Adam Kleinbaum on the neuroscience of leadership and consensus

2023/11/10

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 […]

Repost: Conversation with NH and VT Secretaries of State on civics, elections, and trust

2023/11/10

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 […]

Using AIM to reflect on always-on tech and social norms

2023/04/17

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 […]

How do leaders vet ideas? When should you listen to negative feedback?

2022/11/17

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 […]

A reflection on Youth and Civics

2022/07/12

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 […]

Municipal borrowing - is rising debt a problem in your community?

2022/05/31

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 […]

Problems with "perpetual adversarialism" and what we can do

2022/03/10

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 […]

Five Minute Book Review: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

2022/03/03

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, […]

Five Minute Book Review - Semiosis by Sue Burke

2022/02/01

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, […]

Podcast reviews

Read Rethinking with Alex Torpey podcast reviews

5 out of 5

20 reviews

★★★★★

Jayymf 2021/03/29

A Voice of Reason in this Moment

If this moment in time (pandemic, climate crisis, social justice) has you thinking, then this is the podcast for you. Alex Torpey matches thought pr...

★★★★★

Woolybooly2726383729 2021/03/18

Thought provoking

I studied some Philosophy in college and have always been interested in politics and governance. I'm sure almost everyone can relate by now after what...

★★★★★

Old man finkleman 2021/02/22

Much needed!

Alex is a deep thinker with much to offer to the current conversation around politics.

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