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 […]
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 […]
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 freaking […]
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 […]
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 […]
Join Alex for his special series: Travels with Torpey, as he travels across the country meeting different people, exploring communities, and learning about what’s happening all over the United States. —This episode is from my stop in Fargo, North Dakota. I reflect on a few discussions and meetings about various topics […]
This conversation part of the Special Series: On Running for Public Office is with Steve Schnall. Steve ran for a seat on South Orange’s governing body (a council seat) in 2013, and just finished serving eight years in that position. Much of his work in the position focused on developing […]
Join Alex for a few special episodes reflecting on and sharing photographs of some past travels as a lead up to an exciting announcement coming in May. — In January of 2017 I took an “offgrid” motorcycle trip for six days through Death Valley, the Mojave Desert and Joshua Tree. […]
Join Alex for another episode of Travels with Torpey – reflecting on a trip through the Irish countryside in 2014. — In 2014, after taking a bus from Belfast down to Dublin, I rented a car and drove across the country. I reflect on some of my experiences, including sharing […]
Join former mayor, municipal manager, professor, and consultant Alex Torpey for this bonus discussion with Merle Gordon as part of the Special Series: On Running for Public Office. Merle is not just a fellow alum of Hampshire College, but she first joined the City Council in Cleveland Ohio in 1997 […]
Join Alex as he provides an overview his “political” and professional background so you can get a better sense of the context he brings to this series and the ideas presented. From serving as mayor (non party affiliated) of his hometown of South Orange at age 23, a municipal business […]
Exactly seven years ago, In 2014, I was invited with some other mayors and others to speak at the Belfast Technology Conference. In this episode (First in a new Special Series), I reflect a little on my time in Belfast, learning about efforts in the City to bridge historic cultural […]
Join former mayor, municipal manager, professor, and consultant Alex Torpey as he briefly introduces the Special Series: On Running for Public Office, and investigates 12 common myths about running for office, such as myths related to balancing private/public life, public service being a thankless job, careerism in politics, and not […]
Join Alex for this bonus interview as part of the Special Series: On Running for Public office. This interview is with Lee Nave. Alex and Lee met while Lee was a student in Professor Torpey’s MPA course at Seton Hall University. Lee moved to Boston five years ago and began […]
In this episode, we will identify some of the ways that behaviors inherited from our primate ancestors got (largely) unintentionally built into our political (and other) systems over many centuries, and what the consequences of that are today.
In this episode, we will identify some of the ways that behaviors inherited from our primate ancestors got (largely) unintentionally built into our political (and other) systems over centuries, and what the consequences of that are today. We’ll look at a few examples of leadership and decision making structures among […]
In 2016 I was invited to speak at the Barnes Foundation, hosted by The Philadelphia Citizen, along with two other interesting mayors, John Fetterman and Lovely Warren about disrupting the status quo. Before the event, I also spoke with Nick Taliaferro of WURD about budget transparency and civic engagement in […]
Join Alex for this special interview as part of the nonpartisan series on running for public office. This interview is with Mallerie Stromswold, who was just elected to the Montana state legislature in 2020… At 19 years old! Mallerie (R) represents Montana’s 50th legislative district. She talks to us about […]
We will explore the concepts of self, free will, and consciousness to help better understand the common denominator of nearly every issue we face today – a fundamental misunderstanding of how our minds work. This is part one of two. First we will identify false assumptions about how we form ideas, […]
We will explore the concepts of self, free will, and consciousness to help better understand the common denominator of nearly every issue we face today – a fundamental misunderstanding of how our minds work. This is part one of two. First we will identify false assumptions about how we form ideas, […]
Conversations are incredibly divisive. Can we use a few strategies to have better conversations with those we disagree with?
In Episode 2.0 I give a brief overview of the special series “Nonpartisan Overview on Running for Public Office” (viewable below in full on YouTube), and talk about one of the most common myths about elected office – that politics must be a career and longevity is the only way […]
I joined, Vin Gopal, NJ State Senator 11th District and Robert Pallitto, Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, Seton Hall University to talk about civic engagement, polarization, and social media. We have some serious hurdles in front of us with regard to how we better structure the technology that […]
Our nation’s public institutions 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 […]
Our nation’s public institutions are failing to be the proactive, thoughtful, strategic forces for good that they were founded to be. Let’s do something about that.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
This is a special edition series from Rethinking. Based on the demand and interest right now from people who want to learn more about getting involved and becoming more influential, or a decision maker, in government, I decided to create this free, nonpartisan, totally open overview. This may be valuable […]
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.
