The Sidewalk Ballet Field Guide

The Sidewalk Ballet Field Guide is a growing collection of people, organizations, projects, books, ideas and ongoing conversations about cities and the people who shape them. It grows out of the podcast, but extends well beyond it—connecting the people doing the work, the places where it’s happening, and the ideas, experiments and resources worth carrying forward. Think of it as part reference library, part trail of breadcrumbs: a way to follow the conversation wherever it leads.

Explore by type, browse alphabetically or by date, or search for something specific. Follow the tags to discover connections—or explore the map to see where the people, projects and ideas in the Field Guide take us.

Chip Chip 10/28/26 Chip Chip 10/28/26

Sheila Foster

Sheila Foster is a leading scholar of cities, democracy, and the urban commons. Her work explores how communities share responsibility for the public spaces, institutions, and resources that shape everyday life—and how collective stewardship can make cities more equitable, democratic, and inclusive.

Chip Chip 9/14/26 Chip Chip 9/14/26

Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani is the Mayor of New York City. His administration has experimented with bringing organizing directly into city government, including the creation of the Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement to expand the ways New Yorkers participate in shaping public decisions.

Chip Chip 7/19/26 Chip Chip 7/19/26

Don Lane

Don Lane is a longtime Santa Cruz civic leader, educator, and advocate whose work spans downtown recovery, housing and homelessness, local government, and community development. A three-time mayor, his decades of public service reflect the unusually interconnected nature of civic life in Santa Cruz.

Chip Chip 3/10/26 Chip Chip 3/10/26

Evan Weissman

Evan Weissman was a Denver-based artist, organizer, and civic provocateur who founded Warm Cookies of the Revolution, a “civic health club” that used art, culture, conversation, and a healthy dose of playfulness to get people engaged in civic life. His work explored how democracy could become something people actively practice together—not simply something they participate in at election time.