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A Slice with 'Dice

Corey Alderdice

A Slice with ’Dice is a weekly podcast exploring leadership, talent development, and the human side of high-performing systems. Drawing on decades of experience in gifted education and public leadership, host Corey Alderdice examines how institutions identify potential, navigate change, and create cultures where people can thrive. Each episode blends thoughtful reflection with practical insight for educators, leaders, and anyone interested in how talent and transformation intersect in real-world settings.

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S5 · E9
Today · 14 min
“Guy-Fi” Lit and the Joy of Reading Again
What if the next big reading trend isn’t a formal genre at all, but a certain kind of story built around competence, camaraderie, irreverence, and a surprising amount of heart? From Dungeon Crawler Carl and Project Hail Mary to Murderbot and The Expanse, “Guy-Fi Lit” may be giving new and returning readers a reason to get lost in fiction again. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores his wife’s theory of “Guy-Fi,” the earnestness concealed beneath the absurdity of these stories, and why we should be less precious about what counts as worthwhile reading. Along the way, he considers the decline in recreational fiction reading among men, the value of audiobooks as narrative experiences, and why anything that gets people away from endless scrolling and excited about characters, worlds, and what happens next is worth celebrating. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
Saturday · 22 min
Seeing the Whole School (Part 4): The Work of Translation
Healthy schools do not choose between the work closest to students and the work that sustains the institution. They learn how to translate between them within the Proximity and Purpose Continuum. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, concludes the Seeing the Whole School series by exploring the connective work that helps schools become less fragmented and more purposeful. This episode focuses on executive translation: the habit of carrying student experience into strategic conversation and carrying institutional purpose back into daily practice. Alderdice explains why school leaders must serve as interpreters between classrooms, families, boards, budgets, students, donors, public narratives, and long-term strategy. But he also argues that translation cannot belong only to formal leaders. In healthy schools, it becomes a shared discipline that helps every part of the institution understand the responsibilities others are carrying. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S5 · E7
August 26 · 8 min
Don't Mistake Uncertainty for Inability (Or, Morte Vampir Morte)
Uncertainty has a way of disguising itself as a verdict. At the beginning of a new semester—or any unfamiliar season—the fact that we do not yet know what comes next can make us question whether we are capable of meeting it. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, revisits some unusual commencement advice about watching out for vampires: the doubts, fears, and discouraging voices that drain our confidence. Drawing on his own season of transition, he explores why an unfamiliar beginning is an unreliable place from which to judge our abilities—and why we should never mistake uncertainty for inability. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S5 · E6
August 22 · 23 min
Seeing the Whole School (Part 3): The Work Beyond the Classroom
The work that sustains a school is not always the work people see first. Sometimes the relationships, resources, trust, and stewardship that make student opportunity possible are built long before they become visible. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, expands the Seeing the Whole School series by examining the stakeholder-proximate work that supports schools over time within the Proximity and Purpose Continuum. Families, boards, alumni, donors, civic partners, policymakers, community leaders, and the broader public all shape the conditions in which schools operate. In this episode, Alderdice makes the case that communications, advancement, governance, finance, admissions, facilities, public trust, and external engagement are not distractions from the mission. At their best, they are how the mission is protected, resourced, explained, and extended. The episode invites educators and school communities to see stakeholder work not as separate from student care, but as one of the ways schools become strong enough to serve students well. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S5 · E5
August 19 · 10 min
Michigan's Plan to Give Students Time to Land
The first semester of college asks students to master far more than academics alone. What if giving them a little room to land could ultimately prepare them to reach even higher? Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the University of Michigan’s decision to cover first-semester grades for students in its largest college. Drawing on two decades of working with talented learners in demanding residential environments, he considers how the pilot might support tightly wound high achievers, first-generation students, and others learning the unwritten curriculum of college. The goal should not be permission to do less, but permission not to have everything figured out from the moment students arrive. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S5 · E4
August 15 · 19 min
Seeing the Whole School (Part 2): The Work Closest to Students
Some truths about a school can only be learned through daily proximity to students. They live in the classroom, the hallway, the advising conversation, the residence hall, the practice space, and the quiet moment when an adult notices that something has changed. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, continues the Seeing the Whole School series by turning toward the work closest to students within the Proximity and Purpose Continuum. This episode honors the daily labor of teachers, counselors, advisors, coaches, mentors, and student support professionals whose proximity gives them insight that no report or dashboard can fully capture. Alderdice explores how student-proximate work gives schools their moral center, keeping institutional language grounded in lived experience. At the same time, he considers the limits of proximity when immediate needs become disconnected from broader institutional purpose. The episode challenges schools to listen carefully to those closest to students while also helping that insight become part of a larger, sustainable vision for the whole institution. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S5 · E3
August 12 · 10 min
The Most Telling New Product in Higher Education
A Facebook advertisement for a legal subscription service for college students seems like an oddly specific product—until you realize it makes perfect sense. Sometimes the newest products tell us less about the companies selling them and more about the institutions they're built around. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores what the emergence of "college legal insurance" reveals about the changing relationship between families and higher education. As colleges have become more expensive, more regulated, and more procedurally complex, trust has increasingly given way to policies, processes, and professional advocacy. Rather than debating the merits of one legal service, Corey examines the broader forces that made such a product possible—and what it suggests about the future of higher education. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S5 · E2
August 8 · 17 min
Seeing the Whole School (Part 1): The Work Outside Our View
Every person in a school sees something real. But no one sees the whole school alone. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, opens the Seeing the Whole School series by exploring how every role in a school comes with a distinct line of sight. Teachers, counselors, coaches, students, families, board members, advancement officers, civic partners, and school leaders each experience the institution from a particular vantage point. The challenge is that these views, while true, are also incomplete. In this episode, Alderdice introduces the Proximity and Purpose Continuum as a way to understand how schools must connect the work closest to students with the work that sustains the institution. At its heart, this episode invites educators and stakeholders to approach the new school year with humility, curiosity, and a renewed commitment to seeing beyond the part of the school closest to them. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S5 · E1
August 5 · 10 min
When Excellence and Opportunity Collide
Every summer, America seems to have the same argument about New York City's elite specialized high schools. But what if the real debate isn't about admissions at all—it's about asking one kind of school to serve two fundamentally different educational missions? Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the decades-long controversy surrounding schools like Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech through a different lens. Drawing on research in gifted education and his own experience leading a selective residential STEM school, Corey argues that identifying talent and developing talent are distinct organizational competencies that often require different institutional designs. Rather than forcing every specialized school to pursue the same mission, he proposes a broader ecosystem of excellence—one that preserves legacy institutions built to accelerate highly prepared students while imagining a new generation of opportunity-focused schools designed to cultivate extraordinary potential. In the collision between excellence and opportunity, perhaps the future of specialized education isn't choosing one over the other, but building enough pathways for both. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E43
August 1 · 20 min
College Before College (Part 9): Can Arkansas Become the National Model for Early College?
Arkansas may be emerging as one of the nation’s most ambitious laboratories for early college. Through the ACCESS Act, expanded concurrent-credit funding, a statewide goal for more students to earn associate degrees in high school, stronger transfer pathways, and performance-based funding tied to completion, the state is assembling many of the policy elements national researchers now recommend. In this bonus double-sized episode, Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, examines how Arkansas aligns with the Community College Research Center’s five recommendations for dual enrollment policy, where the state’s approach appears especially distinctive, and which challenges remain around advising, equitable access, institutional funding, faculty capacity, and long-term outcomes. This bonus episode asks whether Arkansas can move beyond expanding college credit to become a national model for postsecondary completion. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E42
July 31 · 3 min
Coming Soon: Seeing the Whole School
Each August, schools begin again. As a new year opens, it is worth asking not only what our own work requires, but how that work connects to the responsibilities carried by others. Corey Alderdice, a national voice in talent and transformation, previews Seeing the Whole School, a four-part August series about the interplay between student-proximate work and the broader institutional responsibilities that sustain schools over time. The series explores the Proximity and Purpose Continuum, moving from the work closest to students to the external relationships, public trust, governance, resources, and strategic translation that make school missions possible. Designed for educators, school leaders, families, board members, alumni, civic partners, and anyone who cares about how schools actually work, this preview invites listeners to begin the year with a wider field of vision. Because no one sees the whole school alone, the new school year offers an opportunity to better understand how care, stewardship, proximity, and purpose connect. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E43
July 29 · 9 min
Belonging Is Not an Accident (Part 4): When Belonging Became Political
Belonging may sound like one of the least controversial ideas imaginable. Yet in recent years, even the language of belonging has become politically charged in schools and institutions across the country. Why? Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how belonging evolved from a relational concept centered on connection and community into a broader cultural flashpoint tied to larger debates around identity, ideology, and institutional values. But rather than abandoning the concept altogether, he argues for a more durable vision of belonging rooted not in conformity or constant affirmation, but in shared purpose, contribution, accountability, and human dignity. Through reflections on school culture, student flourishing, leadership, and the tension between excellence and connection, this episode asks a timely question: can schools create communities where students remain connected even amid disagreement, challenge, and growth? In an era where many institutions risk becoming increasingly transactional, Alderdice makes the case that belonging still matters deeply — not as institutional theater, but as intentional culture-building that helps students know they matter. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E41
July 25 · 11 min
College Before College (Part 8): Not Faster—Fuller
Curiosity isn’t disappearing from higher education—it’s being squeezed by cost, structure, and the pressure to get it right the first time. But what if the very tools designed to accelerate students could instead give that curiosity room to breathe? Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how the argument that colleges have stopped rewarding curiosity intersects with the rise of early college experiences like Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, and concurrent credit. Rather than treating accumulated credits as a fast track to graduation, this episode reframes them as a form of academic margin—space that allows students to double major, study abroad, pursue internships, and explore disciplines without the constant pressure of efficiency. At the center of the conversation is a fundamental question: are we designing systems that push students to finish faster, or ones that allow them to experience more? Editor's Note: This is an encore presentation of an episode released earlier this season that fits alongside the bigger discussions of early college experiences. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E40
July 22 · 11 min
Cook Out, Chaos, and Why Students Need A Bigger Menu
A bizarre internet meme about Cook Out and its legendary tray menu sparks a surprisingly thoughtful reflection on schools, identity, and the environments that shape young people. What begins with the question “What if a main entrée was a side dish?” becomes a deeper conversation about possibility, belonging, interdisciplinary exploration, and why some of the most transformative parts of education are often treated as secondary experiences. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores what Cook Out’s “chaotic abundance” can teach us about the future of education, the importance of environments that grant students permission to imagine larger futures for themselves, and why the schools students remember most are often the ones that make life feel expansive rather than simply efficient. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E39
July 18 · 11 min
College Before College (Part 7): The Economics of Acceleration
As dual enrollment and concurrent credit continue expanding across the country, public conversations often focus on what students and families save through accelerated college pathways. But beneath the promise of affordability and access sits a more complicated question: who absorbs the actual cost of delivering college-level education at scale? Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the growing financial pressures that widespread acceleration places on colleges and universities — especially community colleges increasingly carrying much of the operational burden of concurrent credit expansion. Drawing on recent research and the policy implications of Arkansas’s ACCESS Act, this episode examines why sustainable funding structures matter not only for institutional stability, but for preserving the quality, advising, support, and meaningful learning experiences that make acceleration worthwhile in the first place. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E38
July 15 · 10 min
From Tiger Moms to “Beta Moms”
Parenting today can feel less like raising children and more like managing a complex, always-on operating system. Between achievement pressure, emotional labor, enrichment culture, and the invisible logistics of modern family life, many parents are beginning to ask whether childhood has become too optimized for everyone involved. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the rise of the “Beta Mom” conversation and what it reveals about burnout, parenting as performance, over-managed childhoods, and the growing search for balance in modern family life. Drawing connections to achievement culture, resilience, and the operational realities of parenting, this episode examines why many families are pushing back against the invisible parenting Olympics—and what young people may actually need most as they grow toward independence. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E37
July 11 · 11 min
College Before College (Part 6): Access Is Not the Same as Success
As dual enrollment and early college programs continue expanding across the country, educational systems often assume that academic readiness and institutional readiness are largely the same thing. But a recent WestEd report examining the “arc” of dual enrollment suggests that access alone does not guarantee students will successfully navigate the unfamiliar cultural, relational, and institutional expectations surrounding college-level learning. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the difference between opportunity and institutional fluency, why many students struggle even after gaining access to accelerated pathways, and how the future success of “college before college” may depend less on expanding enrollment and more on building the human infrastructure — mentorship, guidance, belonging, and institutional translation — that helps students truly thrive once they arrive. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E36
July 8 · 10 min
Intellectual Sparring: When Debate Skills Become Leadership Blind Spots
For many former speech and debate students, rigorous disagreement doesn’t feel hostile. It feels energizing. Collaborative. Even connective. But what happens when the communication instincts forged in competitive forensics collide with leadership, relationships, and real-world organizational culture? Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the hidden “shadow side” of debate and forensics culture through a deeply personal reflection on intellectual sparring, rhetorical intensity, and the challenge of recalibrating communication beyond the tournament room. Drawing on his own experiences in competitive speech and debate, Corey examines how environments built around critique, clash, and pressure-testing ideas can shape leadership habits long after the ballots are gone. From the difference between sharpening ideas and overwhelming people to the realization that not everyone experiences disagreement as collaboration, this episode explores the tension between rigor and reassurance, argument and trust, and the evolution from rhetorical skill to relational wisdom. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E35
July 4 · 11 min
College Before College (Part 5): Talent is Wider Than Opportunity
Dual enrollment and early college programs are often associated with already high-achieving students, but some of the strongest research findings suggest acceleration may have its greatest impact on students who historically have had the least access to advanced educational opportunities. As states continue expanding early college pathways, the more important question may not simply be how many students participate, but who benefits and why. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the relationship between acceleration and educational equity, why opportunity often changes trajectories long before it changes statistics, and how dual enrollment can either reinforce existing inequalities or become one of the most powerful talent-development tools available within public education. Learn more about how dual enrollment outcomes are increasingly being evaluated through predictive “momentum metrics” in the report Dual Enrollment Momentum Metrics: Leading Indicators for Program Improvement. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.
S4 · E34
July 1 · 11 min
The Debate Skills We Teach Are the Ones Society Is Losing
Americans still celebrate debate as a cornerstone of democracy, yet healthy disagreement feels increasingly rare in modern life. As algorithms reward outrage, certainty, and performance over curiosity and persuasion, the ability to thoughtfully engage opposing ideas may be becoming an endangered skill. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores the evolving role of debate culture in education and civic life, reflecting on his own background in competitive speech and debate while examining why the habits of inquiry, evidence, emotional regulation, and intellectual resilience matter more than ever in an age shaped by social media, polarization, and AI-generated persuasion. For additional thoughts from Corey, visit coreyalderdice.com. You can also follow him on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram, and Threads.

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