What if democracy involved fewer town halls, and more dance parties? What if our civic engagement also brought us snacks, new friends, and creative joy? This week, Nora and Marcus speak with Evan Weissman, founder of Denver's Warm Cookies of the Revolution, about his wonderfully unhinged experiment in making civic life actually enjoyable. Think Tax Day carnivals, lucha libre, Hot Wheels-powered participatory budgeting, and the radical proposition that regular people should have some actual power over the places where they live. It's a conversation about joy as political fuel, why being right isn't the same as winning, and what happens when building a better world starts feeling less like mandatory homework and more like somewhere you'd actually want to be.

Mentioned in the episode:

Arturo Béjar and Trials against Meta | Zuck's boat not responding to an SOS | USS Abraham Lincoln | Death of Jason Arday | Vigil for Jason Arday | Claudine Gay | Warm Cookies of the Revolution | Librarians hosting how to resist AI workshops | Furious (TV Series) |

Related Episodes:

Laura Marquez-Garrett | Sen. Chris Murphy

Support the pod:

Donate here to support In The Meanwhile

Follow us:

Instagram | BlueSky | Website

Read Nora and Marcus's Books:

Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare | Readying to Rise

Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Used with permission.

Logo by Nikki Barron.

Transcripts are machine-generated and imperfect.

Nora and Marcus's work on the podcast is separate from their professional roles and does not represent the views of their employers.

Links to bookshop.org are affiliate links.

America is lonely, angry, unequal, and increasingly wondering whether democracy is still working or just buffering indefinitely.

This week on In The Meanwhile, Nora and Marcus sit down with U.S. Senator Chris Murphy to discuss his new book, Crisis of the Common Good, and his argument that beneath our political dysfunction is something even harder to filibuster away: a crisis of belonging, meaning, and human connection. We get into loneliness, capitalism, higher education, AI, faith, family, political tribalism, and the apparently radical proposition that billionaires maybe shouldn't get to purchase democracy wholesale. It's a conversation about what politics can fix, what it can't, and whether we can build a new social contract before the old one completely rage-quits.

Mentioned in the episode:

Crisis of the Common Good | Orcas at the Ballard Locks! | Trump's School Sports Day | LES Tenement Museum

Related Episodes:

Gina Baskin | Julie-C | Dean Spade

Support the pod:

Donate here to support In The Meanwhile

Follow us:

Instagram | BlueSky | Website

Read Nora and Marcus's Books:

Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare | Readying to Rise

Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Used with permission.

Logo by Nikki Barron.

Transcripts are machine-generated and imperfect.

Nora and Marcus's work on the podcast is separate from their professional roles and does not represent the views of their employers.

Links to bookshop.org are affiliate links.

In 2020, CHOP became one of the most debated protest movements in modern American history. Six years later, as calls for more policing and tougher public safety policies grow louder, artist, educator, and community organizer Julie-C joins the podcast to reflect on what that moment actually was and what lessons have been lost. Julie explores the myths that still surround CHOP, the rise of movement amnesia, the importance of relationships over rhetoric, and why investing in young people, artists, and community remains the strongest path toward real safety. It's a thoughtful conversation about organizing, conflict, creativity, and what it takes to keep building toward liberation when history feels like it's moving in reverse.

Mentioned in the episode:

On the Block | Black Coffee Co-Op | Read about Hidmo in Charles Mudede's piece honoring Rahwa Habte | Embedded S27: We Keep Us Safe | Erotics of Liberation | Gregg Gonsalves in the Nation |

Support Julie-C's work:

On the Block

Related Episodes:

Loretta J Ross | Emily M. Bender

Support the pod:

Donate here to support In The Meanwhile

Follow us:

Instagram | BlueSky | Website

Read Nora and Marcus's Books:

Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare | Readying to Rise

Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Used with permission.

Logo by Nikki Barron.

Transcripts are machine-generated and imperfect.

Nora and Marcus's work on the podcast is separate from their professional roles and does not represent the views of their employers.

Links to bookshop.org are affiliate links.