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Thatcher Rotenberry

Things Thatcher Says on Podcasts

Where to Find Them

Thatcher Rotenberry has been a guest on Marketplace (APM) , Marketplace and Marketplace All-in-One .

Recently: “A divided government could shift the bond market” on Marketplace (APM) (November 2026); “A divided government could shift the bond market” on Marketplace All-in-One (November 2026); “A divided government could shift the bond market” on Marketplace (November 2026).

What They Said

“The mayor signed a nondisclosure agreement, showed up to the first meeting, said you would be cut off from speaking if you said the words 'data center.' He said, 'This is not about data centers. This is about rezoning.' And we were all sitting there like, rezoning for what?” — Thatcher Rotenberry, Marketplace

In a Marketplace report from Brookwood, Alabama, where residents are fighting several data center projects, local student Thatcher Rotenberry describes how the city rezoned land without saying why. The mayor says the NDA only stops him leaking information to other developers.

Marketplace · 2026-11-04 Permalink → Listen →
Marketplace Around 17:19 into the episode
Speaker 4

If we do need to remove some of our coolant, you know, we truck that off site.

Speaker 1

The first time local native Thatcher Rotenberry heard about a possible data center was in June. The developer announced a new data center campus at an undisclosed location. Then in September, the city council voted to rezone a residential area, but wouldn't say why. The

Speaker 4

mayor signed a nondisclosure agreement, showed up to the first meeting, said you would be cut off from speaking if you said the words data center. He said, this is not about data centers. This is about rezoning. And we were all sitting there like, rezoning for what, Joe? What are we rezoning for?

Speaker 1

The answer to that question didn't come until September on the day of the rezoning approval, according to Brookwood Mayor Joe Barger. After that, the city passed a reported $314 million tax break for data center construction. He also says there are not three Brookwood data center projects in the…

Speaker 2

People don't know what they're talking about, and they get their information from incorrect sources, and they

Speaker 4

think they know everything and they're ignorant.

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
“The mayor signed a non-disclosure agreement, showed up to the first meeting, and said you would be cut off from speaking if you said the words 'data center.' He said, 'This is not about data centers. This is about rezoning.' And we were all sitting there like, rezoning for what, Joe?” — Thatcher Rotenberry, Marketplace (APM)

From a report on local opposition to data centers in Brookwood, Alabama. A resident describes how the city rezoned a residential area without saying what it was for.

Marketplace (APM) · 2026-11-04 Permalink → Listen →
Marketplace (APM) Around 16:45 into the episode
Speaker 1

…questions, and his answers were: no, the site won't be too loud or bright thanks to lots of forested buffer. No, it won't raise utility rates. No, toxic wastewater won't flow into the creek behind Schaefer's house. If we do need to remove some of our coolant, you know, we truck that off-site.

Speaker 2

The first time local native Thatcher Rotenberry heard about a possible data center was in June. The developer announced a new data center campus at an undisclosed location. Then in September, the city council voted to rezone a residential area, but wouldn't say why. The

Speaker 1

mayor signed a non-disclosure agreement, showed up to the first meeting, said you would be cut off from speaking if you said the words data center. He said this is not about data centers. This is about rezoning. And we were all sitting there like, rezoning for what, Joe? What are we rezoning for?

Speaker 2

The answer to that question didn't come until September, on the day of the rezoning approval, according to Brookwood Mayor Joe Barger. After that, the city passed a reported $314 million tax break for data center construction. He also says there are not three Brookwood data center projects in the…

Speaker 1

don't know what they're talking about, and they get their information from incorrect sources, and they think they know everything and they're ignorant.

Speaker 2

A second parcel of land has already been rezoned for a company tied to data center development. And the owner of a third parcel of land has an address tied to a company called Provident Data Centers. As for the non-disclosure agreement, Barger says that just prevents him from leaking info to other…

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

Collections They Appear In

Money & Markets