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Big Towns

Big Towns

By: The Current Media Inc.
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About this listen

 You’ve heard of middle America. Big Towns is a conversation for mid-sized America: places too big to be small towns and too small to be big cities. A two-day summit in Lafayette, Louisiana, Big Towns brings together leaders from around the country, hosting conversations with big thinkers about mid-sized city stuff like housing, healthcare, work and quality of life. We help mid-sized cities find ideas that fit.© 2025 The Current Media Inc.
Episodes
  • Episode 3: Zoning, Banks and Goat Rodeos: What it takes to lead a Big Town

    Episode 3: Zoning, Banks and Goat Rodeos: What it takes to lead a Big Town
    Jul 17 2025
    In this third and final part of our Big Towns conversation between Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly and journalist Dean Baquet, we take more audience questions about the economic challenges faced by Chattanooga and how they're making progress. Kelly discusses the impact of losing Chattanooga's manufacturing base, which led to diversification efforts starting in the 1990s. He talks about the importance of local control and the differences between council-manager and strong mayor forms of city government. Kelly explores community banks, the need for more localized capital, challenges around affordable housing and how zoning reform is a double-edged sword. This final part of our Big Towns conversation emphasizes the need for creative local leadership to solve the problems that confound most mid-sized cities. Special Guests: Dean Baquet and Mayor Tim Kelly.
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    21 mins
  • Episode 2: It’s About Agency: Turning Coca-Cola into wine

    Episode 2: It’s About Agency: Turning Coca-Cola into wine
    Jul 17 2025
    This is the second of a three-part conversation between Dean Baquet and Chattanooga, Tennessee Mayor Tim Kelly at the Big Towns summit in Lafayette, Louisiana. In this episode, Dean Baquet and Mayor Kelly dive deeper into Tim's lightbulb moment re: executive vs. legislative leadership, why early childhood development is a really big deal and how the Coca-Cola legacy continues to shape Chattanooga's economy. Produced by The Current. (c) 2025 The Current Media Inc. Special Guests: Dean Baquet and Mayor Tim Kelly.
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    22 mins
  • Episode 1: Eye on the Sparrow: Why divided economies fail

    Episode 1: Eye on the Sparrow: Why divided economies fail
    Jul 17 2025
    This is the first of a three-part conversation between Dean Baquet and Chattanooga, Tennessee Mayor Tim Kelly at the Big Towns summit in Lafayette, Louisiana. In this episode, The Current's Executive Editor Christiaan Mader introduces Dean Baquet and Mayor Tim Kelly and Dean invites Mayor Kelly to riff on why the local stuff matters (a lot), what precipitated his choice to run for mayor and how the One Chattanooga plan is addressing the city's one big intractable problem. Produced by The Current. (c) 2025 The Current Media Inc. Special Guests: Dean Baquet and Mayor Tim Kelly.
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    22 mins

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