Each week, Speaking Municipally breaks down the events of the past week, gives you an informed take on them
dives into the context of how these decisions got made and why they matter to you.
All in under thirty minutes, without (we hope) being boring for any of those minutes.
Troy's take on local politics comes from the unique cross-section of his interests in bikes, policy, internet culture and a rabid and undying love of The West Wing. He tried to run for city council in 2017 and failed very, very badly. Now he has a podcast, so take that haters, I guess.
Mack is the co-founder of Taproot Publishing, the organization that backs Speaking Municipally each week. He's compiled "Edmonton Notes" on his blog for longer than humans have been keeping historical records which gives the podcast a unique flavour of having both hot takes and facts.
You can always pick up from the most recent (or first!) episode, but here are some other starting points.
Amarjeet Sohi is the new man in the big chair, and we sat down with the Mayor-elect to learn all about what he plans to accomplish in the upcoming term.
This week, the Groat Road bridge is front and centre. We’ll talk with Jason Meliefste about the successes, failures and why there’s no public art. Turns out it's both everyone's and no one's fault.
Council wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading Terwillegar Drive to a freeway or an expressway. But is it worth it? How did we get here? Troy and Mack do a deep dive on the history of Terwillegar Drive.
"Complaining is a summer sport in Edmonton" according to Don Iveson. Or is the new library just bad? We break down what happened, and whose fault it is (spoiler alert: cheap people are at fault)
What does a UCP win in the province, with only a single UCP MLA elected in Edmonton mean for the city? Thankfully, history is instructive and this is not the first time something like this has happened. Mack and Troy take a look at history and make some predictions.
Prarie Sky Gondola wants to build a sky-tram through the river valley. Troy and Mack have historically been very down on the idea. Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson from Prarie Sky comes on to try and convince them, and you!
Council unanimously rejects a proposed social media policy and Councillor Sarah Hamilton joins to explain why. Plus, Troy gets a letter in the mail from Mike Nickel threatening legal action unless Troy stops being mean.
In the first episode of what will become a holiday tradition: Troy hosts a game of Edmonton Jeopardy featuring Elise Stolte, Chris Chang-Yen Phillips and Mack Male.
The second holiday episode of Edmonton Jeopardy, featuring three councillors: Aaron Paquette, Andrew Knack and Sarah Hamilton
Year three of Edmonton Jeopardy with Ryan Jespersen, Stacey Brotzel, and Scott Johnston, now with video!
I make stuff and lose elections
© Troy Pavlek