Granite Goodness

Today I talk to Steve Marchand. Steve is the author of the Politics of New Hampshire Substack and Chairman of Move The Goalposts, a NH-based organization dedicated to helping downballot Democrats succeed.

Formerly, he served as Mayor of Portsmouth, NH and has also been a candidate for US Senate and NH governor.

We talk about:

* What does it mean to have an optimistic message in politics

* What makes NH’s political environment so unique

* How political campaigning has changed over time, for better and worse

* What gives Steve hope for the future of civil discourse

And many other things!

Learn more about the Steve and his work at thepoliticsofnewhampshire.substack.com

This episode was recorded at Treeline Outfitters in Portsmouth, NH

Music provided by Sneaky Miles.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us, as well as our generous community partners:

Resilient Buildings Group

Green Wave Electric Vehicles

Northeast Delta Dental

Treeline Outfitters

Today we chat with Matt Shearer, a Massachusetts based journalist and reporter with WBZ News Radio.

Online he is known as Reporter Matt, where is videos sharing quirky, heartwarming, often hilarious stories about local people have attracted millions of view on social media. In the spring of this year Matt did a live show of his program to a sold out crowd at Boston’s Wilbur theater.

We discuss:

* How he finds and develops his stories

* What good journalism and reporting means to him

* Our shared love of all of New England’s weirdness

and much more.

Follow him on Instagram @reportermatt

This episode was recorded at the Christa Mcauliffe branch of the Framingham, MA public library.

Music provided by Sneaky Miles.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us, as well as our generous community partners:

Resilient Buildings Group

Green Wave Electric Vehicles

Northeast Delta Dental

Treeline Outfitters

Everyone wants more control over their electricity. People want it cheaper. People want it cleaner.

Some really smart people in NH figured out how regular ratepayers can get both through something called community power, and they’re lead by a wonderful guy named Henry Herndon, who we spoke to today.

We discuss:

* What community power actually is

* What makes it a true “win win” for consumers and the grid

* How NH is actually leading the country in some respects on this issue

* The future of this space locally and nationally

and more!

Learn more about the Community Power Coalition of NH at communitypowernh.gov

This episode was recorded at Treeline Outfitters in Portsmouth, NH

Music provided by Sneaky Miles.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us, as well as our generous community partners:

Resilient Buildings Group

Green Wave Electric Vehicles

Northeast Delta Dental

Treeline Outfitters

Today we chat with Jim Schachter, President & CEO of New Hampshire Public Radio. We discuss:

* How NHPR has navigated changes in public media funding

* Reasons for optimism amid a hollowing out of local news

* The extraordinary success NHPR has had in podcasting

* How NHPR balances informing readers and listeners about the world while not overly depressing them

* What makes New Hampshire’s media environment special

and more!

Learn more about NHPR at nhpr.org

This episode was recorded at the NHPR offices in Concord, NH. Thank you to Olivia Comolli for your help recording and producing the episode!

Music provided by Sneaky Miles.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us, as well as our generous community partners:

Resilient Buildings Group

Green Wave Electric Vehicles

Northeast Delta Dental

Treeline Outfitters

This episode is from our third ever live show, which happened August 12, 2026 at the Capitol Center for Arts Bank of NH stage in Concord, NH.

We collaborated with our friends at NHBSR to bring together:

* Ben Conniff: Co-founder, Luke’s Lobster

* Julianna Dodson: Executive Director, Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship (and past Granite Goodness guest!)

* Emily Warren: Director of People & Culture, W.S. Badger Company

* Cody Whelan: Co-founder, Treeline Outfitters (and past Granite Goodness guest!)

We brought all these people together to discuss about how business can do well while doing good. We covered a bunch of other stuff too, and it was a wonderful night.

I want to thank our evening sponsors

Claremont Savings Bank and Revision Energy

Who helped us provide:

* Catering from Laney and Lu

* Photography from Hutch Heelan

* Videography from Windwood Productions

* Music from Sneaky Miles

And an all around great time.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us as well as our generous community partners:

Resilient Buildings Group

Green Wave Electric Vehicles

Northeast Delta Dental

Treeline Outfitters

Link to all photos here!

This is a bonus episode, recorded partially in the pouring rain outside the Barn on the Pemi in Plymouth, NH. And it was kind of awesome. There is a huge thunder clap at 46:29, listen for it!

This conversation is from the 2026 Outdoor Industry Day Barn Raiser hosted by the Granite Outdoor Alliance, where we chatted with local outdoor industry entrepreneurs:

* Eric Hui (Terracea)

* Erika Halaby (Rooted Rose Recreation & Wellness)

* Rusty Talbot (North Country Climbing)

* Phillip Renton (Reklis Brewing Company)

…about why they love doing business + making impact in NH.

Thank you to the Granite Outdoor Alliance, Tyler Ray, Andrew Schuyler, Ericka Canales, the staff at the Barn on the Pemi, and everyone who helped make the Barn Raiser happen for this opportunity.

Music for this episode was provided by Sneaky Miles.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us as well as our generous community partners:

Resilient Buildings Group

Green Wave Electric Vehicles

Northeast Delta Dental

Treeline Outfitters

This conversation is from the 2026 New Hampshire Coastal Climate Summit, hosted by the NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup, where we chatted with local experts:

* Maeve Nolan (Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast)

* Annie Cox (Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership)

* Cory Riley (Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve)

* Brianna Hagan (Town of Hampton)

…about how they are helping people and wildlife in new Hampshire and beyond adapt to a changing coastline and climate.

Thank you to Kirsten Howard, Alex Maxwell, Lisa Wise, and the whole team at the New Hampshire coastal adaptation working group for having me!

Big thank you as well to Brian Yurasits for your camera help during this recording, and to Maeve, Annie, Cory, and Brianna for a great conversation.

JOIN US Wednesday August 12 for our next live show at the Bank of NH stage in Concord, NH.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us, as well as our generous partners Delta Dental, Resilient Buildings Group, Green Wave Electric Vehicles!

Thank you to NH Energy Week for having us! And to our excellent panelists:

* Tori Gerlt (Resilient Buildings Group)

* Jackson Kaspari (Community Power Coalition of NH)

* Katharine Cusack (Clean Energy NH)

Join us Wednesday August 12 for our next live show at the Bank of NH stage in Concord, NH.

Big thank you to our Optimists Club for supporting us, as well as our generous partners Delta Dental, Resilient Buildings Group, Green Wave Electric Vehicles!

Thank you Treeline Outfitters for hosting us!

On March 27, 2026 we brought together 6 local podcasts to record a show in front of a live audience of 100+ people at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth.

The theme of the evening was simple: we aren’t competing with each other, we’re all competing together against the giant media industry of conflict entrepreneurship pumping out cynicism 24/7.

It was a very special, very optimistic night!

THANK YOU TO:

* Green Wave Electric Vehicles for sponsoring the evening

* 3S Artspace for having us

* Hutch Heelan for the wonderful photos

* InFocus Media for the videography

* Haley Levesque for joining us at intermission to share about NH Community Media

* Ivo, Laura, Becky, Alison, Liz, Marissa, Emily, and Jenn for joining us!

Dr. Beewell explores holistic health, entrepreneurship, and wellbeing through wide-ranging conversations on mind, body, and modern living, hosted by Dr. Steve Ivanoski.

Creative Guts is an interview-style podcast exploring the roots of creativity and how it connects us to the world around us. Hosted by Laura Harper Lake, Becky Barsi, and Joe Acone.

Real Time Creator is a voice-note style podcast documenting the raw, real-time journey of creative reinvention after a career break, hosted by Alison Kinsey.

New Hampshire Has Issues is the podcast that dares to ask, how many issues can one state have? Hosted by Liz Canada, an advocacy director who helps people understand issues and take meaningful action.

One Quick Thing shares quick, actionable ways to connect with your community when it matters most, hosted by Marissa Emanuele and Emily Briand.

Telltalks Northeast features deep-dive conversations with small business owners, entrepreneurs, creatives, and makers across the Northeast, hosted by Jenn Bakos.

Martha Prybylo is Executive Vice President of the Alnoba Lewis Family Foundation, where she has worked with the Lewis family for more than 30 years across a variety of their organizations. She oversees charitable giving and serves as the institutional historian of Alnoba.

Sydni Collier is Director of Leadership Programs at Alnoba, where she coordinates leadership offsites for strategic partners and leads youth development programming.

This episode was recorded at Alnoba in Kensington, NH.

Learn more at alnoba.org

Music provided by Sneaky Miles

Thank you to our Community Partners Resilient Buildings Group, Green Wave Electric Vehicles, Delta Dental, and Treeline Outfitters for their support.