Democracy doesn’t disappear all at once — it weakens when people stop getting the chance to practice it. In this season finale, The Sidewalk Ballet closes with a conversation with Evan Weissman of Warm Cookies of the Revolution about joy, participation, and what it means to show up locally. It’s a reflection on why civic life needs more than expertise — it needs invitations, practice, and people willing to step in together.

Mara Mintzer is co-founder and Executive Director of Growing Up Boulder, a child- and youth-friendly city initiative rooted in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Community Engagement, Design, and Research Center. She leads efforts to embed young people’s voices into city planning, writes and speaks internationally about participatory planning with youth, and helped launch projects in Boulder that put children’s perspectives at the heart of policies, parks, housing, and public safety.