Burning Man LIVE

Tom Price - From the Playa to the Planet Nov 13, 2024

Tom Price co-founded Burners Without Borders, Black Rock Solar, and a company that gifts clean-burning kitchens to people in Kenya.

Tom talks about the weather, specifically hurricanes, and how Burners Without Borders started and grows despite extreme circumstances because Burners are extreme!

Tom’s tales of adventure include paperwork pranks and ad hoc Cajun catharsis. If Burning Man is a permission engine, giving people agency in their lives, he says the lesson of Burning Man is finding out what is too much and then finding the sweet spot.

Note: The company names they joke about in this episode are NOT sponsors, because if we don't have Decommodification, we don't have Burning Man!

Burners Without Borders

Black Rock Solar

Tom Price: Burning Man Journal

Burning Man LIVE: Tom Price and the Benefactor’s Dilemma (2022)

Burning Man LIVE: Creative Solutions to Mass Destruction (2020)

TEDx Black Rock City: Tom Price: Beyond Burning Man (2011)

ecosafi.com

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Burning Curiosity - The Study of Burning Man Oct 31, 2024

Academics from everywhere experiment, collaborate, and even interpret our stories of "This one time at Burning Man."

In this episode, Stuart talks with people from Burning Nerds, an annual gathering of academics in Black Rock City. They keep it light, though; not too many unnecessarily fancy words.

Dr Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä describes the technique used by the Burning Man Project that gives more power to the people.

Bryan Yazell and Patricia Wolf of the University of Southern Denmark use Flash Fiction in BRC to develop a new subgenre of sci-fi called climate fiction (‘cli-fi’), stories that are less dystopian, even less utopian, more protopian (fancy word) — not good or bad, but progress.

Professor Matt Zook of the University of Kentucky extols Black Rock City's unique aspects, from temporality to being a place apart. He and Stuart explore the interplay between digital and physical spaces, and what about community actually makes it good.

Then Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä returns with how the Burning Stories project, now in its 6th year of tracking tales, is a cultural repository and is training a gifted AI on how Burners be Burning.

jukkapekka.com

sdu.dk/en/persons/yazell

sdu.dk/en/persons/pawo

geography.as.uky.edu/users/zook

burningman.org/programs/philosophical-center/academics

regionals.burningman.org/european-leadership-summit

burning-stories.com

kk.org/thetechnium/protopia

sdu.dk/en/publications/enacting-hopeful-climate-futures-at-burning-man-2024

Bjørn S. Cience - Founding Board Member at Institute of Performative Inquiry

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Burning Man is Everywhere Oct 16, 2024

Everywhere?

Regional events actively align with Burning Man's 10 Principles. 85 official events happen in 30 countries, with collectively more participants and more art grants than the original Nevada event.

After 25 years, the combined regional presence is huge, diverse, and evolving, and it all started in one place: Black Rock City. Whether you're Burning in New York or New Zealand, all backroads lead back to BRC.

We called a bunch of the Regional leaders to see how things are going out in their other homes away from home. We heard from Argentina, China, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, and even the far-flung realms of Texas and Kentucky.

Play this mixtape of people sharing stories from everywhere in the world.

regionals.burningman.org

And here's a related episode from 2022:

burningman.org/podcast/burning-man-is-not-a-place

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Volunteer Voices Oct 03, 2024

Thousands of people volunteer each year in Black Rock City, for days, weeks, or months. Add to that the volunteers at the many Regional events around the world and it’s more than can be counted on fingers and toes.

Why do we volunteer?

Is it because we feel we received a gift and we want to pay it back, or pay it forward?

Is it the meditation of hard work in a hard place adding a dimension to our experience?

Is it the chance to do something different, for a pixel pusher to build an object, an engineer to cook for artists, a project manager to manage a different kind of project?

The answer seems to be YES.

We interviewed a few longtime citizens of Black Rock City about why they volunteer with the Greeters, with DPW, and with the Man Base to hear the stories of Topless Deb, Tamsin, Ruin, Terra, and a guy named Fuckyeah.

Listen to the stories of Topless Deb, Tamsin, Ruin, Terra, and a guy named Fuckyeah.

https://burningman.org/event/participate/volunteering/teams

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David Silverman: So That's How That Started Sep 18, 2024

Burning Man doesn't make itself. The people who share their time and treasure, they create this weird wonder. Each of these people have stories about how Burning Man influenced their lives and how their lives influenced Burning Man.

The Flaming Tuba Guy is one of these people. His name is David Silverman aka Tubatron. Andie Grace talked with him about how his animation career started, how his musical career started, how the Mansonian Institute started, how his career with The Simpsons started, and how that influenced his involvement with Burning Man and vice versa. He also volunteers at BRC with the DPW at the Man Pavilion.

They recorded this at Burning Man and you can hear in their voices the phonic patina of the playa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Silverman_(animator)

https://x.com/tubatron

David shares more of his story in Episode 27 from 2020:

https://burningman.org/podcast/holiday-special-santacon-from-home

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In Paiute Country: The Numa of Pyramid Lake Aug 21, 2024

Allow us to introduce you to the people who called the Black Rock Desert “home” way before we did. This is your backstage pass to the original Burners of the Great Basin: The Pyramid Lake Paiute.

Strap in for a road trip that's part history lesson, part cultural exchange, and essential listening for when you wonder, "Who lived here before we showed up in tutus?"

We're not just passing through, we're digging deep with…

Billie Jean Guerrero: Director of the Pyramid Lake Museum
Mervin Wright: Environmental Manager
James Phoenix: Former Chairman
Steven Wadsworth: Current Chairman
Dean Barlese: Elder and Spiritual Leader
"Double D": A tribal member at at the Golden Spike Ceremony

Helpful links:

Donate your leftover, non-perishable food to the Pyramid Lake Paiute. Drop it off at Bunny’s Tacos in Nixon! Here are Google Map Directions from playa to Bunny’s.

Camp or recreate at Pyramid Lake. Buy a permit here.

Volunteer at the Pyramid Lake Visitor Center and Museum. Help build out the new medicine garden or improve the museum’s new haba (traditional Paiute shade structure). Contact Billie Jean Guerrero at bjguerrero@plpt.nsn.us

Donate to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. Stop by the Pyramid Lake Museum and Visitor Center. You can donate in person! Gifting!

You can also write to the Tribal Secretary at tribalsecretary@plpt.nsn.us with which program, department, or tribal office you’d like to direct your donation.

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The Future of Burning Man Aug 07, 2024

Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man Project, talks with a lively audience as part of Robot Heart’s Residency in Oakland, California. She is joined by Candace Locklear (aka Evil Pippi), Erin Douglas of the Black Burner Project, and Robot Heart’s Justin Schaffer and Satya Kamdar.

It’s casual. It’s layered. It’s a room of Burners.

What constitutes culture jamming? Where does Burning Man bridge the divide to bring people together? How have pillars of our culture evolved from awkward beginnings?

They swap stories about the perks of unbranding. They joke about gifting and regifting, and the spectrum between talismans and swag. They go off the rails into how mainstream culture plays with Burning Man tropes.

Then they go beyond making a party in the desert, out into the world, to the Regional Network as a living embodiment of ‘Each One Teach One.’ They show how collaboration creates the community. They explore actually active inclusivity, and the question “Who are we?”

www.theother51weeks.com

Marian Goodell: Burning Man Project Board of Directors

Black Burner Project

The Future of Burning Man (video version on youtube)

Burning Man LIVE: The Evolution of Robot Heart

Burning Man LIVE: Candace Locklear on Culture Jamming and Welcoming

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I Was Just Leaving... No Trace Jul 24, 2024

Take a trip through the puzzle of porta-potties at a free-range event, highway happenings, and the new news about prep. This is deeper than “What is MOOP?” This is the ART of Leaving No Trace.

It’s part of the Burning Man ethos, and it’s why Black Rock City is the world's largest Leave No Trace event. Now nearly 100 other Burning Man events around the globe adhere to this attitude, this mindset. It’s an ongoing quest to leave less and less of a trace. As the principle is written, it invites us to leave spaces in better shape than we found them.

The 75,000 citizens of BRC pick up after themselves. It’s miraculous. And we can do more.

Those of us who take on the challenge, we see it as a process, a practice, a stretch goal. We look at ways to get closer to that zero point. Each of us is at a different point on the LNT learning curve. The next level is to develop techniques to do it collectively. It is a set of behaviors to be cultivated.

In this episode, we talk with some of the unsung heroes:

blue: DPW Logistics & Project Manager of Recycle Camp
Barbarella: Resto’s Highway Clean-Up Manager
DA: Playa Restoration Manager
Hazmatt: Associate Director of BRC Business Operations

We look at what gets left behind, so we can grok our cumulative impact, and make a better choice, a better cascade of choices, to teach good citizenship. Plus, eh, there may be a few poop jokes.

There’s an old saying in Black Rock City: “It was better next year.” Let’s leave no trace so that there will be a next year.

burningman.org/about/10-principles

Recycle Camp

2023 MOOP Map

DA on Restoration Destiny (Burning Man LIVE)

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Art That Inflames Jul 10, 2024

Burning Man culture brings people together across all kinds of divides, yet we’re seeing an uptick of intolerance toward art and experiences in our community. The default world is often divided by ideology, religion, and politics. Could that division seep into this culture that aspires to welcome everyone?

How can we navigate the turbulent waters between, say, Radical Self-expression and Radical Inclusion? How do we walk the line between free speech and hate speech? How do we keep our global community together in times of outright war?

Listen in on a roundtable discussion about concerns that don’t have easy solutions. A few folks explore how the act of conversation changes what might otherwise seem controversial or divisive:

• Stuart Mangrum is Burning Man Project’s Director of the Philosophical Center so he directed some philosophers to center around a microphone to discuss.
• Caveat Magister debated and discussed Burning Man philosophy, then wrote books about it.
• Kay Morrison is a veteran Black Rock City artist, active in the Global Network, and a Burning Man Project board member.
• Steven Raspa is Associate Director of Community Events for Burning Man Project, and a co-founder of the Regional Network Committee.

This conversation concerns art, yes, and behavior — as participants, as people. It’s about being open-minded and open-hearted, even when it’s difficult to do. What is a safe space? What is a brave space? How can jackassery be respectful? What’s with all the questions? Tune in for the answers that lead to more questions.

burningman.org/about/10-principles

Turn Your Life Into Art with Caveat Magister (Burning Man LIVE)

Kay Morrison and the Overall Wonderment Quotient (Burning Man LIVE)

Remember How to Burning Man with Steven Raspa (Burning Man LIVE)

Stuart Mangrum’s Serious Philosophy of Shenanigans (Burning Man LIVE)

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Live to Burn Another Day Jun 26, 2024

Tony “Coyote” Perez may be the best at thriving (and not dying) at Burning Man. He is the Black Rock City Superintendent, the Burning Man OSHA Instructor, and the 26-year Burner whose job it is to put himself in harm's way and then get out of his own way!

Sit in on a chuckling conversation between Stuart and Coyote. They put the wisdom in wise-crack. It’s not because they’re so smart; it’s because they’ve made every mistake and then asked why and how.

This is not a list of tips and tricks—those are in the Survival Guide. This is a refreshing penumbra of practices held by the one who is having the most fun.

They debunk fallacies such as "The Hero Factor" and "The playa provides."

They share stories about curious topics, including:

The culture of safety (Becoming involved in your own rescue)
Situational awareness (Choosing to immerse into your new world)
Serious self-care (and caring for your people)

You may find that the challenges of your campmates and your camp build (and camp strike) become easier, simpler, and special-er (new word). You may just find that you banish bad luck.

journal.burningman.org/author/tperez

burningman.org/news/books-about-burning-man/built-to-burn

burningman.org/about-us/staff/TonyCoyotePerez

survival.burningman.org

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Desert Arts Preview: Art of the Curious Jun 12, 2024

400 works of art don’t just appear as if in a desert mirage. Well, they do, but not without a lot of people, tools, and funds. Planners are planning. Makers are making. Art grants are granting! Crews all over the world are creating installations for Black Rock City.

Katie Hazard, Director of Burning Man Project’s art department curates some artist's tales for us. Hear their stories in their voices.

Hold onto your headlamp:

We’ve got an interactive Man Base that looks like an octopus or a fjord or both
We’ve got a larger-than-life omniscient prankster traffic cone
We’ve got the insider intentions of this year's temple builders
We’ve got artists sharing cultural riches from China, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the US.

Desert Arts Preview 2024 (burningman.org)

Desert Arts Preview 2024 (YouTube)

Introducing the 2024 Honoraria Burning Man Journal)

The Burning Man Theme: Curiouser & Curiouser

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¡El Pulpo Magnífico! May 29, 2024

“While there are many beloved mutant vehicles out there, El Pulpo, in both of its incarnations, is the most ‘beloved.’”

~Chef Juke, Communications lead for the Department of Mutant Vehicles

El Pulpo Magnífico is a 28-foot tall giant octopus, a demented windup toy, a mobile kinetic sculpture with articulating legs, eyes, and mouths. It spews fire from its extremities and has been stealing the limelight for a decade now, first at Black Rock City, then everywhere from LoveBurn to EDC.
It’s merely the newest and largest expression of artist Duane Flatmo and his team of engineer artists. Years ago, he gave up music to pursue art and pursued it from New York to London, China, and back again. Duane shares how his influences inspired his innovations and how his resourceful team creates surprises for people worldwide.

Hear the stories of El Pulpo’s predecessors, origins, and adventures!

www.elpulpomecanico.com

kineticgrandchampionship.com

Burning Man LIVE: Chef Juke’s Wild Art Car R.I.D.E.

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A People’s History of Burning Man - Volume 2 May 15, 2024

Back by popular demand, more stories from Burning Man's oral history project, an ambitious endeavor to track down and talk with people who helped shape the culture as we now know it.

Stuart and Andie remember to remember the most memorable parts. Here’s a fresh batch:

Chris Radcliffe, artist, con artist, prankster, and shadow founder of Burning Man (perhaps), shares stories of how the Cacophony Society would prank the media and how the Black Rock Desert drove up his fears, then dispelled them. He also hints at the larger-than-life impact of the Billboard Liberation Front.
Candace Locklear, aka Evil Pippi, a perturber and social experimenteer (new word) shares how she helped Burning Man manage the mainstream media in the late ‘90s. She also talks about cutesy culture jamming as a scary clown.
Summer Burkes was the DPW's media liaison. She sees the early days of Black Rock City as the love child of comically aggressive punk rockers and air-kissy techno industrialists, and she embraces their uneasy peace.
Steve Heck brought 88 pianos to Burning Man in 1996, stacked them in a tall circular “piano bell.” People beat it into a cacophonous soundscape until he burned it. That was after he almost died wandering the desert. Then he cleaned it up, and did it the next year, and the next year, and taught the BRC teams the art of packing and moving big stuff.
Dr. Hal Robins is a beloved Renaissance Man of stage and story, a Cacophonist, an Uber Pope of the Church of the Subgenius, and a mellifluous philosopher of sesquipedalians. He shares about the inventiveness and serendipity of Burning Man and why it matters in the world.

Part 1 of this series: burningman.org/podcast/a-peoples-history-of-burning-man

journal.burningman.org/category/philosophical-center

burningman.org/programs/philosophical-center

www.cacophony.org

The What Where When Guide is here.

The 1996 Helco commercial is here.

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Burning in Europe: Stories of Home May 01, 2024

Burners from around Europe gather to teach and learn and to conjure ideas for the future. Burning Man’s 7th European Leadership Summit just happened, and we recorded some conversations for you.

Passionate people from the corners of Europe share with Stuart and kbot what they get from Burning Man culture and what they gift back to it. Hear a cultural spice drawer of stories about how they persevere through politics and pandemics to bring their flavor of Burning Man to their homeland.

Baroch - Israel
Erin Kiez - Germany
Gabriel Muscalu - Romania
Linus Höök, Caroline Bergmann, and Britta Kronacher - Sweden
Pille Heido - Estonia
Vinegar Joe - Portugal

“Burning Man started with the fire. For me, that is a strong ritual. And it’s a harmonious ritual. And it’s true. And then you have the gifting, because someone built that fire, someone made it with no expectations. Someone made that fire only to warm up other people. From this idea, everything grew exponentially, but that’s the essence. Creating something for you and for others and expressing yourself through your creation. And that can be in all the directions magnified. It’s something that creates you. It’s a thing that you create and creates you. It’s like this beautiful spin.”

~Gabriel Muscalu - Romania

https://regionals.burningman.org/european-leadership-summit

https://regionals.burningman.org/regionals

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Fire in the Hole - Vets in BRC Apr 17, 2024

There are a whole lot of military veterans in Burning Man’s history and Black Rock City’s neighborhoods. Combat veterans Dr Raymond Christian (Army) and Samuel Williams (Marines) share stories with Stuart Mangrum (Air Force) about transitioning into civilian life, bringing survival skills and leadership chops to BRC, and finding tribal camaraderie… and a party.

They explore how hackneyed clichés of the military can wither in an environment of love and authenticity. PTSD, though, that’s still a thing. BRC can be like a military operation: the sights, the sounds, the smells... meeting interesting people, and finding forever friendships.

“Being in combat, you experience the worst of humanity… It pulls the veil off and you no longer care about the facade. You get raw about it because you've seen the extreme. Burning Man is the opposite of that. It is also extreme, but it is the very best that humanity has to offer. You're not going to experience anything more stimulating, more accepting, more exciting than Burning Man, because everybody there has coalesced and converged on this area to express their art and their love for the celebration of the human experience.” ~Samuel Williams

Linktr.ee/RaymondChristian

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The Evolution of Robot Heart Apr 03, 2024

Robot Heart started with a simple sound system on an old double-decker bus at Black Rock City. Over the years, it has evolved into a bespoke sound system, light arrays, iconic art, and an all-star lineup of musical talent performing to massive crowds at sunrise on Playa.… all on that same old double-decker bus.

Robot Heart also expanded its support of arts and artists beyond the playa, including New York’s Central Park, Miami’s Art Basel, and their residency program in Oakland, California. For the 2nd year, the team brings together various Burning Man camps, artists, and musicians from April 25th to May 18th.

A few years ago, Robot Heart created a 501c3 Foundation to make all this happen. Stuart talks with President Gary Mueller and Board Members Clare Laverty and Justin Shaffer. They trade tales from developing a foundation, collaborating with creatives, and taking pleasure from other people's pleasure.

robotheart.org

robotheartfoundation.org

www.theloomoakland.com

fareforward.com

www.artbasel.com/miami-beach

https://brandtbrauerfrick.de

wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudita

Lee Burridge - Robot Heart - Burning Man

Rodriguez Jr. (Live) Featuring Liset Alea - Robot Heart - Burning Man

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When Moshe Met Burning Man Mar 20, 2024

Moshe Kasher has lived many lives as a subculture vulture - a hearing child of deaf parents, an addict at 15, in recovery at 16, a raver, a culturally Jewish standup comedian, an old school Burner and a longtime Gate volunteer.

With Andie Grace and Stuart Mangrum he explores how Burning Man is a waterboard of wonder where weirdos go to feel normal, and norms go to feel weird, and that the sweet spot is when you experience something that makes you say “Wait, What?!?”

They talk through how Black Rock City has evolved, from subcultures like the rave scene and AA meetings, to the transitional realm from the default world, the infamous Gate. Listen in on their playful tales of culture-jamming and utopia-tizing.

Moshe Kasher (wikipedia)

Gate, Perimeter & Exodus (burningman.org)

Subculture Vulture: Penguin Random House

Subculture Vulture: New York Times Book Review

www.cacophony.org

The Endless Honeymoon Podcast

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Tahoe Mack and the Monumental Mammoth Mar 06, 2024

This is one of those full-circle stories that makes our dusty hearts glow a little brighter. It’s the tale of big art that emerged from a fossil-filled trash heap, came to life in Black Rock City, then returned to its source as a proud symbol of what a community can accomplish together.

Tahoe Mack, a Las Vegas artist, tells the story of the Black Rock City Honoraria art piece she started when she was 15 years old. Her final Girl Scouts project became, oh, so much more. Over a few years, she learned to weld, fundraise, and work with acclaimed artists Dana Albany and Luis Varelo-Rico.

Her vision drew attention to an urban park with a rich archaeological history. Built from metal detritus that had accumulated there, “The Monumental Mammoth” dazzled Burners in Black Rock City 2019, and is now a permanent installation at a trailhead near the fossil field that inspired it all, and forged new connections between dozens of people.

https://www.tahoemariemack.com/themounumentalmammoth

https://protectorsoftulesprings.org/monumental-mammoth-project

https://www.danaalbanyart.com/mammoth

https://burningman.org/podcast/dana-albany-dreaming-in-metal-and-glass

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The Mystery of Clit-Henge Feb 21, 2024

The Tip of the Iceberg is a 30-foot tall clitoris of stone, steel, and cement, fabricated to be monumental like Stonehenge, thus the nickname Clit-Henge. It aroused a lot of conversation at Black Rock City 2023. It’s the phallic symbol’s sister. It’s highly sensitive and highly talked about, and according to the artist, the more we discover about what it does, the more we can celebrate the birthright of pleasure.
Melissa Barron, a.k.a. Syn, has traveled to many places around the world that informed her lens of creativity, sustainability, and gender equality. She co-creates art, from the 2013 Temple of Whollyness, to her decade-long regeneration project Art for Trees, to this new intimate inquiry, the Tip of the Iceberg.
Journey with Syn, Andie Grace, and Stuart Mangrum through the Clit Renaissance, the rethinking of pleasure inequities, the teachings of cancer, the wisdom of aging, and the intuition of radical reciprocity. They explore these complexities, and they keep it light and bright.

Tip of the Iceberg (Burning Man 2023 Art Installations)

Tip of the Iceberg (Burning Man Gallery)

The Temple of Whollyness (Burning Man Journal)

Art for Trees (Burning Man Journal)

Syn on Social Media (Crone of Arc)

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Urban Planning for a Desert Dreamscape Feb 07, 2024

Black Rock City is a temporary metropolis of 80,000 people who inhabit 1,600 theme camps and support camps. That means nine out of 10 participants' plans are coordinated by the Placement team — a handful of dedicated staff who decide which camps go where, and why. This year-round process is an art and a science that takes many factors into consideration — from city dynamics, to campers’ Radical Self-expressions.

As Burning Man Project’s Associate Director of City Planning, Bryant Tan manages the Placement team, and oversees the city’s annual planning and placement process. Naturally, questions about Burning Man lead to more questions.

How do we place like-minded folks together for harmony, not monotony?
How are resources shared between camps in this new era?
Can you tell me how to get to Center Camp Plaza?
What rules cultivate a spirit of lawlessness?
Is bigger actually better?

Let’s go behind the scenes, under the clipboard, and beyond the map, exploring opportunities and obligations to iterate in this experimental city. It’s a unique test case for urban planners and any humans who live in semi-civilized situations.

“We don't want this just to be an Instagrammable bucket list thing. It's an experiment in community. We want people to show up a certain way, and so I try to just have reasonable conversations with people to help them learn what Burning Man is, and learn how to distribute leadership and responsibility, how to empower people to be their most creative selves.”

BurningMan.org: Placement Team: Level

BurningMan.org: Placement Process

HUBS: Humans Uniting for Better Sustainability

PEERS: Placement’s Exploration and Engagement Research Squad

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FrostBurn: Share the Warmth Jan 24, 2024

It's winter where we are. What are the coldest, most teeth-chattering, brrrr-iest of all the sanctioned Burning Man events around the world?
FrostBurn is one of them, and its participants make it happen in the dead of winter on purpose, annually since 2008. Subzero temperatures, rain, sleet, snow, and sometimes sunshine. Why? Because they can.
When the costumes are nothing less than comfy snow pants, when everyone is on the buddy system to ensure they survive the weather, no energy is wasted on facades and FOMO. People collaborate on Radical Self-reliance, Communal Effort, and all those cultural practices that got us where we are today.

Bexx is an event lead at FrostBurn, plays music in the Black Rock Philharmonic Orchestra, and writes academic papers about Black Rock City. She tells tales to kbot and Stuart of a winter wonderland happily crafted by hearty Burners.

www.frostburn.org

BurningMan.org: Programs: Philosophical Center: Academics

Aural Substance: An Ethnographic Exploration of Regional Burn Soundscapes (ACADEMIA)

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A People's History of Burning Man Jan 10, 2024

Stories. This collection is from Burning Man’s oral history project, an ambitious endeavor to track down and record interviews with people who helped shape the culture as we now know it.

Stuart and Andie “Actiongrl” Grace share some of the most memorable stories for your gratification and edification.

Lamplighters founder Steve Mobia talks about the San Francisco Suicide Club, the even-stranger start to the legendary Cacophony Society.
Denzil Meyers recounts the earliest days of the Cacophony event now known as Santa Con.
Lexie Tillotson remembers what it was like driving to Burning Man in the wayback days when you needed luck and a compass.
Kimric Smythe recalls the year that the Man Burn into a hot mess.
Stewart Harvey shares about traveling to Northern Ireland with artist David Best to build a Temple for “The Troubles.”

dispatch2022.burningman.org/the-philosophical-center

journal.burningman.org/category/philosophical-center

burningman.org/programs/philosophical-center

www.cacophony.org

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Preaching to the Playa Choir Dec 23, 2023

Many people are surprised to learn that Black Rock City is home to two full orchestras and a Playa Choir complete with a secular Sunday sermon. Since 2012 Madi has been organizing and arranging the choir’s harmonies and happenings, each year with more and more help.

In this installment, kbot and Stuart talk with

Madi (Choir Director)
Tory (Director of Dusty Productions)
Leut (Preacher Man)

They have stories and more stories of inspiration and elevation. We get to hear many voices resonate with music, recorded live at Burning Man 2023 in the Black Rock Desert. Hallelujah!

https://playachoir.com

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Orchestral Maneuvers on the Playa Dec 23, 2023

Some people are surprised to learn that Black Rock City is home to not just one but two full-fledged symphony orchestras. While the Black Rock Philharmonic kicks out the classical jams, the Playa Pops brings the big-ensemble sound to popular music.

Both are composed (ahem) of passionate volunteer musicians – classically trained, self-trained, and otherwise – who come together once a year to perform in the dust (or mud) the songs they have practiced all year at home.

In this installment, kbot and Stuart talk to members of the Playa Pops and the Black Rock Philharmonic about their process, their performances, and how the desert hates their instruments. And we get to hear some amazing live music performed by actual humans, recorded live at Burning Man 2023 in the Black Rock Desert.

https://www.playapops.com

https://blackrockphilharmonic.org

https://www.temple2023.com

https://www.michaelgarlington.com/chapel-of-babel

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L’Osti Québec! The 11th Principle of Poutine Dec 13, 2023

Have you stumbled upon Midnight Poutine in Black Rock City? Maybe you listened to Québecois rock as you waited for some of that crispy, cheesy goodness? As with many camps on playa, Midnight Poutine is the cultural tip of the iceberg of a vast community of creativity and goings-on; this one in Montréal, Québec.

Arno Robin, one of Montréal's cultural instigators, spoke with Stuart and kbot about his nine-year journey from Midnight Poutine, to co-creating Montréal's Burning Man Regional Event, to developing a bustling makerspace.

It’s one of those stories we love — one that travels through Black Rock City and then keeps on going — carrying the Burning Man ethos back home to take root and sprout local mutations.

Plus… Stuart learns to swear in Québecois!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/arno-robin-9b903936

https://losstidburn.org/en/home/

https://www.lespacemaker.com/en/

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Dana Albany: Dreaming in Metal and Glass Nov 29, 2023

Dana Albany has come a long way since her first art project in the Black Rock Desert, a scrap-wood camel that got her started making things out of found materials, from discarded metal and broken glass to sun-bleached cattle bones and deer antlers.

She has built flammable targets for notorious machine-art groups, worked as the artist-in-residence at a San Francisco dump, and had her large-scale metal and mixed-media sculptures exhibited around the world, most recently at the “Radical Horizons” show at England’s Chatsworth House.

She talks with Stuart about her path to becoming an artist, which began with a spur-of-the-moment trip to Burning Man in 1996, about her mentors and mentees along the way, and about the joys of working with children to create high-impact interactive art.

DanaAlbanyArt.com

chatsworth.org/news-media/news-blogs-press-releases/burning-man-about-the-sculptures

burningman.org/programs/civic-initiatives/youth-education-spaceship

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

George Reed: Invisible MOOP and the Net-Zero Nov 16, 2023

We committed to be carbon-negative by 2030. How will we do it? We have “Burning” right in our name.

When it comes to solar, biofuels, and energy banks, we have many irons in the fire, or rather, we are planting many seeds. Hear how Black Rock City is a hotbed, or rather, a garden bed, for the innovation of clean energy.

Stuart talks with George B Reed III, Associate Director of Burning Man Project’s Off Fossil Fuels program about the progress we’re making for a brighter future, or rather... yeah, a brighter future.

George shares what Burning Man’s leadership has been developing to be in integrity with our principles, from composting organic waste for food cultivation, to making renewable diesel from captured carbon. He shares stories of our community preventing and reversing damage to the climate.

Hear how we’re collectively rewiring reality, showing our work, and sharing what we know. Here’s how you can do it for your camp, your cohort, your city.

Burning Man Project: 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap

burningman.org: About Us / Sustainability (updated Oct 2023)

The Renewables for Artists Team

The Green Theme Camp Community & BLAST

Burning Man Journal: Your Checklist for LNT in BRC (2023)

Burning Man Journal: Waking Dreams: Evoking Greener Burns (2022)

Burning Man Journal: Sustainability Initiatives on the Road to Black Rock City (2022)

Burning Man LIVE: Burning Sustainably PART 1: We Can, We Will, We Must (Aug 2022)

Burning Man LIVE: Burning Sustainably PART 2: The Road to Regeneration (Aug 2022)

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Mysteries of Desert Wildlife with Dr Lisa Beers Aug 22, 2023

The desert seems lifeless, yet it’s home to a whole lifecycle of bugs and animals from bunnies to foxes, from lions to horses to – most dangerous of all – COWS! Hear about the hidden lives of all that’s alive around Black Rock City.

Stuart talks with biologist Dr Lisa Beers aka Sciprus. When she’s not teaching in remote villages on the other side of the planet, she’s Burning Man Project’s land fellow studying the Fly Hot Springs territory.

In the face of mystery, she has the surprising answers, or at least more questions, and aren’t questions as good as answers? Aren’t they?

How do butterflies know to ride the jet stream from Canada to Mexico and back?

What do sea monkeys have to do with Fairy Shrimp Scampi?

How do feral Burners adapt from arid & dusty to moist & muddy?

journal.burningman.org/author/scirpus

Burning Man Live: Ep 25: Scirpus and the Majestic Fly Ranch

The Black Rock Desert of Nevada (wikipedia)

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Brody Scotland: Art From the Inside Out Jul 09, 2023

How would you overcome shyness at BRC?

How would you break people’s brains at SantaCon?

How would you acculturate museum docents to Burner culture?

Brody Scotland shares how she did it, and how she went from hating Black Rock City to working year round in the Burning Man Art department.

Brody and Stuart delve into the uncommon common sense of self-care and “feelings” in the emo roller coaster of BRC. They explore a style of pranking where no one is the butt of the joke. And they celebrate “Shit Dave X Says.”

From hand-crafting iconic costumes, to logistics-crafting “weird little odd art,” this is a string of lively stories about Brody’s bespoke approach to increasing happiness.

Brody Scotland (Burning Man Journal)

Brody Scotland (Burning Man Staff)

No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man (Smithsonian Institution)

Dave X (Burning Man Journal) & Shit Dave X Says

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

The Streets of Black Rock City Jun 15, 2023

Stuart and Burning Man’s Community Services head honcho Terry “Retro” Schoop riff on the streets of our fair city and the naming thereof, from the controversial to the miraculous to the misunderstood. Black Rock City has elaborate art themes, each with street names, each with curious conditions. Why does our recreational refugee camp even need street names? Were they always alphabetical around an imaginary clock face? And what’s a clock anyway?

Hear this year’s art theme (ANIMALIA) express itself through cryptids (animals that no one can prove are real). Folklore and fandom brought us our new ABC street names: Afanc, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Dingbat… and NOT the Easter Bunny, thanks to Encantados, which are were-dolphins that shape-shift into dapper dancers in search of a party.

This is an episode with literature, lore, and laughter — and a pile of BRC trivia for street cred.

Streets of BRC 2023: Cavalcade of Cryptids | Burning Man Journal

Burning Man 2023: ANIMALIA

Terry “Retro” Schoop | Burning Man Journal

Burning Man Staff: Terry Schoop

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Steven Blumenfeld: The Tech of Art and the Art of Tech Jun 02, 2023

Yes, Burning Man has a Chief Technology Officer, and his name is Steven Blumenfeld. In this episode Stuart chats with “Bloom” about art, innovation, immediacy, and the power of the unexpected, with trippy side trips into AR, VR, and AI (and TLA).

Yes, we have a CTO. We have all the enterprise tech needs of any not-small non-profit, with the added complications of ridiculously challenging work sites, a staff that’s mostly seasonal volunteers, and an ethos rooted in Ten Principles that don’t always line up with ideals of Big Tech or engineering efficiency. You don’t build a city of 80,000 in the desert — or a global community of dreamers and doers — without bending a few bits and bytes. Or stepping on a few tech-bro toes.

Bloom shares stories from his colorful career at the intersection of art and technology, from working with Al Gore at Current Media to pioneering the “always two years away” world of virtual reality. And he does his best to reassure Stuart that AI will not be taking his job… yet.

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

John Turner Trippingly Yours May 17, 2023

Psychedelics advocate and amateur Burning Man scholar John Turner’s two passions come together in one interdimensional rabbit-hole of a website: Trippingly.net. In compiling the ultimate fan site of Burning Man history, John has captured a lot of great playa stories, and he shares some of the best in this conversation with Stuart.

He explores the subjective unknowns of Burning Man events and psychedelics as same-same-but-different. Bring your neural nets to be plasticized. Bring your ego to be dissolved. It’s a trip through the past, and a trip through presence.

But when an interviewer interviews another interviewer, things can get weird. Together they explore the power of story (good and bad), who remembers what, who takes credit, and the subjective nature of consciousness. It’s a reflection on memory, serendipity, and the power of not knowing.

“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” ~Mark Twain (as quoted by Larry Harvey)

trippingly.net

John B Turner (LinkedIn)

shulginresearch.net

cacophony.org

Cacophony Society (Wikipedia)

Burning Man 2023 art theme: ANIMALIA

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Roxane Jessi: Once Upon a Time in the Dust Apr 20, 2023

She traveled to six continents for Burning Man Regional Events, to get to the heart of an ever-evolving global culture that creates community in a disconnected world. She wrote a book about it, and we published it!

It chronicles her odyssey to

Afrikaburn (South Africa)
Black Rock City (USA)
Blazing Swan (Australia)
Burning Japan (Japan)
Fuego Austral (Argentina)
Midburn (Israel)
Nowhere (Spain)

Hear Roxane's impressions of each wildly unique event in this audio travelog. She talks with Stuart about how she would work, Burn, write, repeat. They explore how Burning Man culture rubs up against other cultures as it spreads.

As an aid worker, Roxane sees first hand how vibrant Burner networks create positive impact. Burning Man events transform people, AND some people become Burners before ever attending a Burning Man event, by resonating with the 10 Principles and crossing paths with Burners up to new good.

Once Upon a Time in the Dust: Burning Man Around the World (the Book)

Burning Man Journal: Books About Burning Man: Roxane Jessi

Regionals Reawaken: A Blog Series by Roxane Jessi

BurnersWithoutBorders.org

regionals.burningman.org

Roxane Jessi

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Let's Go Build a City: Camp Symposium 2023 Apr 06, 2023

Most people in Black Rock City live together in placed camps, aka theme camps, the most unique aspect of a most unique event. There are almost 1300 camps in BRC.

The annual Camp Symposium brought together dozens of staff and volunteers to talk out what they do to gift their interactive camp to BRC.

Hear (or read) highlights from the Plenary, many voices sharing knowledge and exploring ideas.

Bryant Tan, aka Level, Associate Director of Placement, and a spaghettification of speakers:

Breedlove: Director of Civic Engagement
Charlie: Director of Event Operations
Claire of the Green Theme Camp Community
DA: Environmental Restoration Manager
Marian: CEO of Burning Man Project
Trixxie of the Placement Team
Yeti of the Camp Support Team

Here is how to

enjoy Leaving No Trace
make frameworks for leaders
build boundaries of community
hold a center for our cultural vision
make sense of mysterious acronyms!

“We build the hive, they bring the honey.” ~Larry Harvey

Camps and Placement | Burning Man

Cultural Direction Setting & Decommodification

Placement: About Us & Volunteering

Camp Support Team | Burning Man

Waking Dreams: Evoking Greener Burns

greentheme.camp

thrival.guide

Leaving No Trace 2022: MOOP Maps, Inspection, and the #1 MOOP

Charlie Dolman · The Dust is in the Details (Burning Man LIVE 2022)

Dark Angel of Black Rock & Restoration Destiny (Burning Man LIVE 2020)

Why People Dress Funny at Burning Man (2003)

Peter Doty Obituary (San Francisco Chronicle)

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Katie Hazard: Art is How We Got Here Mar 23, 2023

Katie Hazard leads Art Management for Burning Man and the committee that grants more than a million dollars to artists each year to create art that’s first stop (and sometimes only stop) is Black Rock City.

She shares about some of the grant recipients that align with this year’s Black Rock City art theme (ANIMALIA). She and Stuart Mangrum discuss Burning Man’s art movement in relation to, and sometimes in opposition to, “capital-A art,” and the default art world's manufactured scarcity and opaqueness. They explore how to grant accessibility and agency to artists, professional and amateur, personally and collectively.

“Many people come for the art, and they stay for the community.” ~Larry Harvey

Slides of the Art Projects Mentioned (in the order discussed)

Introducing the 2023 Black Rock City Honoraria (Burning Man Journal)

Katie Hazard (Burning Man Journal)

2023 Art Theme: ANIMALIA

The ARTery at Black Rock City

Desert Arts Preview: Artists of Waking Dreams (2022 podcast)

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Monique Schiess and AfrikaBurn Mar 01, 2023

As a founder and co-producer of one of the largest and oldest Burning Man events, Monique Shiess has a lot going on. AfrikaBurn does too. Started in 2007, it averages 10,000 participants annually in recent years.

Monique shares its origins with Stuart and Andie. From the EDM scene, gallery spaces, queer community, and producers of “weird gatherings,” they birthed AfrikaBurn with roots in anarchy, trickster energy and hippie-dom.

They explore how to be welcoming, not just radically inclusive, in the aftermath of Apartheid, and the context of global trends, on the land of indigenous people.

Then there’s the fun part. Monique says that play is the vector for changing the world by accessing aspects of yourself that go dormant in the default world, and that all Burn movements have paradigm shifting potential while also having a ton of fun with “the best humans that exist.”

www.afrikaburn.org

AfrikaBurn (Wikipedia)

Practising Imagining (TEDx Cape Town)

Events Change Lives: AfrikaBurn Legacy Case Study

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Athena Demos and the Principled Metaverse Feb 08, 2023

Athena is a wanderer, an adventurer, a muse. She is Regional Contact emerita from Los Angeles, founder of their nonprofit The LA League of Arts, and a founder of BRCvr — a crown jewel in the tiara of our multiversal experiences online.

Athena talks with Stuart about how Radical Inclusion and Immediacy foster human connection, and about how a balance of decommodified spaces and commercial spaces can lead to true Gifting.

She says that BRCvr conjured a tight-knit community of creators who love helping each other. See for yourself while you still can. BRCvr co-creates events (like RE-BURN-23) on AltspaceVR, the social VR platform that’s about to have its plug pulled.

Hear her adventures from Black Rock City to South Central LA, and heed the call to infuse Burning Man's Principles into the fabric of gatherings IRL and in VR.

BRCvr

RE-BURN-23

The 10 Principles of Burning Man

Los Angeles League of Arts (LALA)

Burning Man LIVE: The 10 Principles in Modern Times IRL and in VR

Burning Man LIVE: Mike Zuckerman: Culture Hacking and Gonzo Humanitarianism

The Mutaytor

NiNo’s ATABEY

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Terry Pratt and Profiles in Dust Jan 19, 2023

How are films shot in Black Rock City? Why? And really, HOW?

"Profiles in Dust" is the most prolific video troupe that dares to document the dynamic Burning Man events. Since 2011 they have produced 50 mini-documentaries, profiling the inspirational creators in the scene, and behind the scenes.

Terry Pratt is their nominal leader. He talks with Stuart about the joy and the turmoil, and adventures had everywhere from Egypt to Ukraine.

and with Crimson Rose, Larry Harvey, Pablo González Vargas, and Smoke Daddy.

Listen to this conversation about these documentaries:

profilesindust.net

vimeo.com/profilesindust

terenceprattdop.net

Burning Man Project’s Youtube Channel of Profiles in Dust

Burning Man Journal: The Colors of the Man

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Buck Down and the Cult That Joins You Nov 30, 2022

What happened at BRC? What didn’t happen? Why did it seem that we couldn’t get back to interdependence?

After the traumas of the pandemic and political vilification, we somehow didn’t trust each other at BRC. Or if we did, we didn’t seem to know it, or feel it, or enjoy it.

Andie Grace swaps stories with Buck Down, a 25-year Burner, Gate Manager, musician, and author of the wildly popular article “What the Fuck Just Happened at Burning Man?”

They spitball on how to encourage more play, work, and random participation, and how to split the event into two.

Black Rock City changed underneath us. As stewards of this culture, let’s remember the parts of the culture that had us commit to it. Let’s make this ‘cult that joins you’ worth it.

FYI: This episode is fun and full of curse words. And as always, the last part is the best.

https://buckdown.medium.com/what-the-fuck-just-happened-at-burning-man

https://buckaedown.bandcamp.com

https://journal.burningman.org/author/buckdown

http://brcweekly.com/BRCWeekly2021.pdf

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Kids Take the Mic - Youth Voices of Black Rock City Oct 26, 2022

The kids ask the questions this time. These longtime Burners have participated in BRC most of their young lives.

6-year-old Teapot offers sage advice on the radio. Teen brothers Atticus and Colby interview deep-rooted DPW adults:

Coyote is the city superintendent of BRC, and author of the book, Built to Burn: Tales of the Desert Carnies of Burning Man.

Melissa Waters is an office administrator and a wellness educator for Burning Man Project.

Atticus and Colby are their sons. Who better to ask about families at BRC.

We also hear from

Abby Ehmann, aka StAbby, a longtime DPW Manager

and

Tamsin Hull, a DPW Volunteer and creative ceramics artist.

They talk about interactive art, smart art, playa names, and serendipity. It’s cool.

The episode ends strong with little kids on the radio at BRC. They share stories of Kidsville, a lemonade stand, and choosing to be an angel, not a dragon.

Hear the curiosity and the cuteness, and the occasional awkward transition… like childhood… BRC is for everyone.

Related links:

The Front Porch

Space Whale

Wings of Glory (“The Pegasus”)

live@burningman.org

The Science of Generosity Oct 05, 2022

More and more studies are happening at transformative events around the world. This summer a research paper was published about how transformative effects of these gatherings are lasting. This 5-year experiment compared findings from a half-dozen mass gatherings.

The results explore generosity and altruism, describe collective effervescence, and consider the biases of self-selection and psychedelic substances. People report that transformative experiences are common, increase over time, and include new perceptions of each other… and universal connectedness… and lasting changes in moral orientation.

How did they do it? What did they find, and how does it relate to you, and to me, and to BRC?

If you like science, or psychology, or transformation, or if you want to like them, listen as social scientists share stories with Stuart about the pleasure, the pain, and the process.

Molly Crockett, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University

Daniel Yudkin, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania

Prosocial correlates of transformative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings | Nature

Researchers Share First Findings on Burners’ Transformative Experiences | Burning Man Journal

Collective effervescence - Wikipedia

FOOTNOTES:

S. Megan Heller (The Countess of The BRC Census)

L.A. Paul

Martha Newson

Harvey Whitehouse

Dominic Beaulieu-Prévost

Ritual, Dimitris Xygalatas

Burning Progeny | 2018 Symposium in Fribourg

BURNING MAN LIVE: THE SCIENCE OF GENEROSITY

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

The Gift of Things Going Wrong Sep 23, 2022

We’re back from Black Rock City, and we miss it already. If you miss it too, or you missed it altogether, here are some sounds and sentiments of being there.

BRC is filled with amateurs, people doing it as a labor of love. When things go wrong, we celebrate it as a glorious opportunity to adapt, or simply as things going the way they go. When the going gets tough, and it’s tough going in the world these days, spaces like BRC allow for joy, mourning and reflection. Spaces like BRC are practice grounds of possibility for doing things together, and things going wrong — sometimes wonderfully, sometimes devastatingly, often whimsically wrong.

Caveat Magister is the resident philosopher of Burning Man. From his work with founder Larry Harvey and the underground art scene, he writes books, hosts adventures, and refutes reality.
Motorbike Matt produces Burning Man's webcast, and helped create the Mars Rover Art Car and the Black Rock Observatory. He works in deserts around the world, and works it in the Black Rock Desert.
Kbot is a strategist on Burning Man Project's Communications team. She develops stories about culture and community, writes her own, and shares the mic on this podcast.
Brooke LaValley is a longtime Burner and photojournalist, and a maven at Media Mecca (the media relations station in BRC).
Michael Vav is a longtime organizer, sordid artist of sorts, and behind-the-scenester, and a producer in Burning Man Project’s Philosophical Center.

This conversation is silly and serious, profound and profane. Listen between the jokes for the truth bombs… and the jokes that bomb.

Oh, and see this too: burningman.org/feedback-loop

And this: census.burningman.org

Burning Man Live: The Gift of Things Going Wrong

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Candace Locklear on Culture Jamming and Welcoming Aug 25, 2022

When Candace found Burning Man in 1996, she jumped right in to help the media tell the whole story of Black Rock City, not just the sensationalism. She also jumped right into culture jamming, twisting iconic characters, from Cacophony Society’s santas to public pranking as porn clowns, and playfully pushing people in immediate theater.

She also brings the transformative power of interactive art to public spaces around the world, as part of a non-profit We Are From Dust, and she’s working to have all people feel welcome at Black Rock City. Hear the old and the new, the sacred and the profane, and the fat beats of EDM DJs spinning Playa Tech.

https://www.blackburnerproject.com

https://www.instagram.com/blackburnerproject

https://www.instagram.com/blackaseart

https://www.villagevoice.com/2001/09/11/burning-mans-dotcom-hangover

https://journal.burningman.org/2012/05/philosophical-center/tenprinciples/how-not-to-burn-commodifying-burning-man

https://burningman.org/podcast/yomi-ayeni-and-the-stories-of-we-are-from-dust

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Pro Tips for Black Rock City Aug 03, 2022

Listen in as longtime Burners talk about the aspects of thriving in Black Rock City: mental, physical, material, and relational.

Andie, kbot, Molly, Stuart and Vav explore:

· socks secrets
· FOMO variants
· saying yes and saying no
· giving and accepting help
· No Friends Monday
· and all else!

Featuring cameos from other longtime Burners: Anjelika, Chef Juke, Crimson Rose, DA, Dave X, Halcyon, KJ, and Lulu Lurine.

They discuss doing it all, doing it right, and doing it wrong as access to being real. Don't just pack. Prepare. Here’s how to have BRC be overwhelming in a good way.

Black Rock City 2022

(Remember) How to Burning Man

John Craigie

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Kay Morrison and the Overall Wonderment Quotient Jul 20, 2022

Who can share about the beginnings of Burning Man Project’s Board of Directors, the Meta-Regional Committee, and a blacksmithing collective? Kay Morrison can.

Who can tell of getting banned from a country, cooking at Fly Ranch, and hosting a croquet match between Army burners and Navy burners? Kay Morrison can.

She laughs with Stuart Mangrum about how everything in Black Rock City (in VR and in IRL) is seven times greater, be it a win, a loss, or a sandwich.

Warning: This eloquent and expressive conversation contains many casual curse words.

Iron Monkey Arts

Burning Man Project Board of Directors

Burning Man Regional Network

Burning Man Meta-Regional Committee

BRCvr

Stories Around the Burn Barrel (Burning Man Live)

Fly Ranch

Land Art Generator Initiative

Burning Man Global Leadership Conference

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Desert Arts Preview: Artists of Waking Dreams Jul 06, 2022

It’s really real. Makers are making. Planners are planning. Crews all over the world are creating installations for Black Rock City. Katie Hazard, Head of Burning Man Arts, speaks with ten of the 400 artists whose work will rise on the playa. Hold onto your headlamp: We’ve got an alien drive-thru, a library for solar power, and architecture that defiles the laws of physics. We’ve got stories from France, South Africa, the Netherlands, and oh so much more.

Ezra Livingston: Shrine of the Macabre

Jared Ficklin: The Solar Library

Madeline Fried & Matthew Gerring: Alien Drive-Thru

Matt McConnell: Evolution Field

Bibi Bliekendaal: People-Powered Music aka The Tinkle Drum

Mo Osunbor: Build A Seat

Wes Modes: Black Rock Station

Kate Greenberg: INCENTER

Arthur Mamou-Mani, Marta Cavallé & Nick Moser: Catharsis

Usha Seejarim: The Resurrection of the Clothes Peg

Empyrean Temple

Burning Man Arts

R.I.D.E. Radical Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

Burning Man Project Sustainability Initiatives

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Remember How to Burning Man: Steven Raspa Jun 22, 2022

For 25 years now $teven Ra$pa has directed discussions for Black Rock City and Regional communities. Hear him and kbot explore why this Burning Man thing is so important for humanity and the world.

BRC is a city of imagination, a social experiment, organically cultivated and running on pure encouragement.

They discuss the inspired interactions that allow for reinvention big and small for one and all.

Burning Man Journal: Raspa

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Sweaty Dynamite: The Dave X Story Jun 08, 2022

When dynamite is aged the wrong way it gets sweaty with little crystals that can cause spontaneous explosions.

Dave X. Man of fire, bacon, and “the ponytail of approachability.” An enigmatic shaman of fireworks, flame effects, and deep thoughts, his stripper name is Sweaty Dynamite. His spiritual calling is to bring joyful, fiery experiences to the masses. His secret weapon: a thick binder. Huh? More on that later.

Could one man be a hippie and a redneck, and in charge of Fire Art Safety in Black Rock City, and also fill the role of Cake Marshal for Burning Man Project? Yes, yes he could.

A pyrotechnician, a peaceful perturber, and a Burner from days of yore, he bestows his teachings upon Stuart Mangrum. Pro tip: Each of our episodes ends with a bang, especially this one.

Burning Man Staff: Dave X

Burning Man Journal: Dave X

ShitDaveXSays.com

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Return to Black Rock City May 25, 2022

In May, staff and core collaborators gathered to disclose what’s new and true in the big community experiment that is Black Rock City.

How Center Camp changed
Turning down turnkey camping
The bumper crop of inclusive art
The hive platform for teaching, learning, and up-leveling leadership

Listen as they share about jobs, classifieds, and the Survival Guide, about behind-the-scenes machines for emergency response, decommodification deals, sustainability solutions, and diversity discussions.

This is a glimpse into how it all works.

BURNING MAN LIVE: RETURN TO BLACK ROCK CITY (stream, transcript, pics)

Black Rock City 2022

Black Rock City Art Theme: Waking Dreams

Burning Man Arts

Desert Arts Preview: June 12th

Burning Man Project Jobs

Spark Classifieds

Playa Events Registration (WhatWhereWhen)

Survival Guide

This is How We Hive (HIVE)

Touching Down: a BRC orientation (HIVE)

Return to Black Rock City (HIVE)

Burning Man’s 10 Principles

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Tom Price and The Benefactor’s Dilemma May 11, 2022

Stuart talks with 'Burners Without Borders' co-founder Tom Price, then shares an interview from the deep well of 'Culturally Attuned,' a podcast by the US Institute of Peace in collaboration with Burning Man Project.

Tom talks about community resilience and his attempts to bridge cultural gaps around race, color, privilege, and the legacy of colonialism.

He extols the need for humility and personal agency, and developing relationships of mutual trust and respect - from Kenya to Liberia, to the Native American lands of Nevada.

He also presents Burning Man as a place to practice operating with each other organically, without imposed signifiers of who gets to be in charge.

USIP (United States Institute of Peace): Culturally Attuned Podcast

USIP: Culturally Attuned: Benefactor’s Dilemma: Am I helping or Am I Wielding Power? (podcast episode)

Burners Without Borders: What Does Burning Man Have to Do With Peace? (audio clip)

Burning Man LIVE: Culturally Attuned with the US Institute of Peace (2021 podcast episode)

Burning Man LIVE: Creative Solutions to Mass Destruction (with Tom Price) (2020 podcast episode)

Burning Man Journal: Tom Price

ECOSAFI

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

The Magic When Art Happens Apr 27, 2022

Tyson Yunkaporta is an artist and scholar of the Apalech Clan in Australia. Caveat Magister is a Burning Man philosopher. They explore ceremony, circumstance, and how art is not about the object. They talk through the power of play, mining the margins, and what indigenous peoples have known that modern people are rediscovering.

They discuss Black Rock City, Regional events, and the impact of Gifting, Radical Inclusion, and the ‘wrong’ white people. They explore ideas that are uncommon and uncomfortable:

· the ethics of creating spaces where magic is more likely to happen

· taking art back from the priestly class to restore balance to the world

· how Burning Man has maintained integrity, if it even has...

Deakin.edu.au: Dr Tyson Yunkaporta

Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World (Harper Collins Publishing)

Beer with Bella: Tyson Yunkaporta (New York Times)

Turn Your Life Into Art by Caveat Magister (Burning Man Journal)

Excerpts from “Turn Your Life Into Art” by Caveat Magister (medium)

The Scene That Became Cities (Penguin Random House Publishing)

Burning Man Journal: Caveat Magister

Fascinating Stranger

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Thinking Big in a Small Town Apr 13, 2022

Laugh and learn in a collage of conversation with 'Chef' - Matthew 'Chef' Kwatinetz, Senior Director of Nevada Operations and Board Member of Burning Man Project. He shares with Stuart about the ongoing work to convert our Nevada properties into year-round hubs for bringing Burning Man culture into the world. So much more than an infrastructure project, our teams are busy upgrading Gerlach’s services, helping locals and staff develop skills, opening up new employment opportunities, and visioning a maker space for Black Rock City creators.

They explore urban planning, tradition and what’s possible beyond our ephemeral city. They imagine what it could look like when Black Rock City spills out of its physical and temporal borders into places beyond the dry lakebed, engaging year-round with art, convenings, and teachings, and living life more secure and expressed. Much has been researched and discussed with burners and locals, from social enterprise to economics, to solar power arrays named after mythical creatures.

Burning Man Project Board of Directors: Matthew ‘Chef’ Kwatinetz

NYU New York University Leadership Team: Matthew Kwatinetz

Welcome to Burner School: Gerlach Workforce Development Center (Burning Man Journal)

The Chef and the Power of Community Prototyping (Burning Man Live #18)

360VR: Gerlach

Black Rock City Placement Process

LAGI: Land Art Generator Initiative, Fly Ranch

Haunted West Gerlach (youtube)

Göbekli Tepe (wikipedia)

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Stuart Mangrum’s Serious Philosophy of Shenanigans Mar 16, 2022

Director of Burning Man Project’s Philosophical Center, longtime co-conspirator of founder Larry Harvey, Cacophonist, playa newspaper publisher, billboard liberator, art theme writer, and suspicious character (according to paranoid people), his most realistic alias is Stuart Mangrum.

He holds our legacy, and helps guide our story, while occasionally philosophizing. A Communications Strategist named kBot gets Stuart talking despite his anti-interrogation training. This is a story of pranks and participation, of 90s Burning Man and modern day miracles. Note: Funny can be deep. This is both.

Burning Man Project’s Philosophical Center

Burning Man Journal: Stuart Mangrum

Burningman.org: Black Rock Gazette

Talesofcacophony.com: Twisted Times

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Charlie Dolman The Dust is in the Details Mar 02, 2022

If Black Rock City were a ship, Charlie Dolman would be its skipper. The SS BRC is already taking shape in the dry docks of our collective effort, and at some point later this summer it will slide into the dusty seas of northern Nevada. As the event operations director, Charlie leads a crew of leaders responsible for pretty much all aspects of city infrastructure, and for planning for just about every operational contingency, from fire and rain to, who knows, a downpour of frogs. On fire.

If you see him on playa he’s the fast-moving, soft-spoken guy with three radios, a cell phone and a pager (yes, a pager!). In this rare interview he sits still long enough to talk with Stuart about the people making BRC greener, less commodified, and more inclusive. He also passes Stuart's quiz about being a Brit in the US, and defends marmite as a comestible.

Burning Man Project Staff: Charlie Dolman

Burning Man Project’s CEO Introduces Charlie Dolman (2012)

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Burning Man is Not a Place Feb 16, 2022

People all around the world create annual events that align in principle. Some have over 10,000 participants like events in Israel and South Africa. Some have under 20 participants, like “Melting Man” in Fargo, North Dakota. They are collaborative art experiences, celebrations, healing rituals, mutual aid, and fun for a good cause. For 2 decades our global community has been bringing people together.

Andie Grace and Michael Vav talk with Iris Yee, Head of the Burning Man Regional Network, about how various groups activated during these strange times, and what they’re creating next. Here we are re-reminded that it's not about how many or how far, it’s about the culture, the collaboration, and the conversation. This is the What Where When of thriving.

regionals.burningman.org

2020 Regional Highlights (Burning Man Journal)

2021 Regional Network Forum: Emerging, Wayfinding, Igniting (youtube)

2021 Regional Network Forum / Kindling

Burning Man Project’s Radical Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Anti-Racism Pledge (medium)

A Love Letter to Smaller Events (youtube)

Burning Man Hive

Colorado Burner Community: Temple of Tranquility

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Dr Graham St John, Playa Pataphysicist Feb 02, 2022

The vibe is real. Playa magic. Secret sauce. Atypical serendipity. Whatever you call it, it’s being studied by social scientists around the world and written about in the annals of academia.

The vibe is real, but that doesn’t mean we must deny our Dada roots. We can yield a toilet plunger like a royal scepter. We can celebrate porta-loo beautification, and its absurd juxtaposition, as a legit art experience. We can invent a vibe-sensing device that has no sensors.

Stuart Mangrum talks with Dr. Graham St John, cultural anthropologist, author of many books and academic articles about Burning Man culture, festival culture, EDM, psychedelics, and other scholarly adjacencies. Listen in and learn the true meaning of “efflorescence” and “ephemeropolis.”

Burning Progeny Project

Wurst Storm Rising (Journal of Festive Studies)

The Big Empty (aeon Magazine)

dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture

Black Rock Gazette, Sept 5, 1999

Burning Man Phrase Generator, Javier F. Barrera

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Shouting Fire Radio: The Shout Heard ‘Round the World Jan 19, 2022

How can we bring the magic back from BRC and Regional events? How can we connect and reflect year round? Radio.

Out of BRC's BMIR (Burning Man Information Radio) came the internet radio station Shouting Fire, which provides real world radio for Regional events, streaming to listeners everywhere. It’s now the Global Burner Radio Network connecting Texas to South Africa, Michigan to Argentina, Denmark to Spain, and on and on.

Michael Vav talks with General Manager Bobzilla, confessional host Contessa Luna, roving correspondent Steve Hippie Trap, and illusive maven "Sophie from Brussels." Tune in to a trip through time, a trip around the world.

Shouting Fire: Burning Man Live

Shouting Fire: Global Burner Radio Network

Shouting Fire: Bobzilla

Shouting Fire: Hippie Trap Live From the Smiling Van

Shouting Fire: Confessional with Contessa Luna (or twitch.tv/contessaluna)

ShoutingFire.com (iOS and Android apps), on iHeart Radio - Tune In Radio and Radio Garden

ShoutingFireHQ@Gmail.com

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Beloved Community in Our Midst Dec 08, 2021

Lifelong social justice educators Shirley Strong and Simone Torrey share about Beloved Community, an inclusive interrelated space based on love, responsibility, compassion, shared power, and a deep respect that transforms. They also talk with Stuart about a new community engagement and learning platform. It’s not social media. It’s not e-courses. It’s a versatile hub of like-minded interactivity.

This conversation started with Civil Rights in the 1960s, and is now evolving on a global nexus called Hive.

Ten Ingredients for Building Beloved Community and Creating Belonging (on HIVE)

Burning Man Project’s Radical Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity (R.I.D.E.) Anti-Racism Pledge

Radical Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity at Burning Man

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Chef Juke's Wild Art Car R.I.D.E. Nov 24, 2021

Let’s take a trip from Burning Man in 1994 to Sotheby’s Auction House in 2021; from the Department of Mutant Vehicles to the Radical Inclusion, Diversity & Equity stewardship; from Oregon to Nebraska to Las Vegas; from a sense of wonder to BRC 2022. Listening to this may inspire you to do something you hadn’t considered before.

Burning Man Culture: Radical Inclusion, Diversity & Equity

Burning Man: Sotheby's Art Auction: Boundless Space

Burning Man Staff: Patrice Mackey aka Chef Juke

www.chefjuke.com

Burning Man: Henry Chang and Artgineering

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live@burningman.org

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Danger Ranger Nov 10, 2021

Founder. Catalyst. Mythic character. Michael Mikel (aka Danger Ranger) shares stories of pranks and potential in the wild west (rural and urban) - this time with twists that tie together his other tales.

Stuart talks with him about what happened, what's happening, and what might happen next - from tough topics to rebel realizations.

It starts with "stuff no one has ever heard."

Some of the topics explored:

Prank activism / Coyote teaching
From PaperMan to a non-profit Corporation
Beach pagans and “Satanists with guns”
The harshness and opportunities of the high desert
The BRC mono-story of “naked white people”
Anti-consumerism (in a spendy way)
“Smiley,” the Man’s balls, and “Burn the man early.”
Cacophony Society’s Santas, Brides & Billboards
A divided society and “the one click dopamine kick”

The rest of M2's stories will be told at some point in the future or the past.

BurningMan.org Founders

DangerRanger.org

Michael Mikel

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Stories Around The Burn Barrel Oct 13, 2021

Miss swapping stories around a fire? Start a show and name it The Burn Barrel. Know people you’d like to know better? Ask for the whole long story, and share it with the world.

Stuart Mangrum talks with Doxie from Detroit, Kay Morrison and Peter Durand about creating their long-form story show to keep us all connected until our next free-form social.

This episode includes stories about

Doxie & Burner Exchange: South African artist Braai describes the participant exchange between AfrikaBurn and Michigan’s “Lakes of Fire,” thanks to Chicago Regional Contact Richard "Heyu" Kelly (RIP)
Rebecca & Jess: Directors of the Flux Foundation share about the Flaming Lotus Girls and their reluctant, triumphant Temple at Black Rock City
Molly Vikart: The tale of Herman the Dog, Burning Man Project’s Director of Marketing

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Philosophy Smackdown with Jason Silva Sep 29, 2021

Stuart and Andie talk with Jason Silva, philosopher, futurist, and host of National Geographic’s Brain Games, and the Shots of Awe video channel. Their talk is a wild ride through the nature of reality. It’s a mind-melting mind-meld of meanings as burners and as earthlings.

They discuss life, death and how a bicycle can induce synchronicity. They explore how psychedelics cause pivotal mental states of suggestibility to brainwash ourselves for the better, or succumb to delusional thinking, or both.

They paradoxically try to schedule nowness, and control ecstatic surrender. And if you listen closely, you may hear a love story hidden between all the philosophy quotations. Finally, they explore key ingredients to Burning Man’s secret sauce that doesn’t exist. But then again, does existence even exist?

thisisjasonsilva.com

Jason Silva: Shots of Awe (youtube)

Burning Man Synchronicities: What are "Playa Moments"? (youtube)

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Boundless Space: The Sotheby’s Experiment Sep 15, 2021

Sotheby’s is exhibiting and auctioning the work of 180 artists from around the world inspired by Burning Man culture. More than a third are women, and more than a third are people of color. Sculptures, paintings and photographs, as well as experiences, mutant vehicles, and NFTs.

It’s a collaboration and a collision. It’s an experiment with an institution historically known for overt commodification. It’s an appreciation of art based on intrinsic aesthetic value. It's a nod to artists.

Stuart talks with Kim Cook, Director of Creative Initiatives for Burning Man Project, the bold lead on this partnership for advancing a values-based culture, and embracing the beastly art marketplace while being pro-artist, anti-racist, and taking not taking ourselves too seriously seriously.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/digital-catalogues/boundless-space-the-possibilities-of-burning-man

https://journal.burningman.org/boundlessspace/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNuj5XWFAK4

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The 10 Principles in Modern Times (IRL & in VR) Sep 01, 2021

Larry Harvey wrote the 10 Principles 18 years ago, after the Man had been burning for just as many years.

The 10 Principles weigh in at only 412 words total, and yet the interpretations and translations develop and deepen the global community.

This is a deep dive into how the 10 Principles apply in modern times, in real life and in virtual reality.

Stuart talks with:

Athena Demos, a 15 year Burning Man organizer and Producer of BRCvr
Stephen Raspa, Associate Director of Community Events for Burning Man Project

This talk reveals dynamic facets of the text.

burningman.org/culture/philosophical-center/10-principles

brcvr.org/10-principles-of-burning-man

laburningman.com

virtualburnevents.burningman.org

journal.burningman.org/author/smangrum

journal.burningman.org/author/raspa

athenademos.com/about-me

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Narrative: Control & Liberty Through Stories Aug 18, 2021

Guest host Rosie von Lila takes us on a journey through the form and formation of the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we teach, the stories we collectively assume are true. She explores the narratives of conflict and collaboration, of domination and partnership, and how they shape and shift the self and the culture.

She speaks with

Caveat Magister, Burning Man philosopher and author of "The Scene That Became Cities" and "Turn Your Life Into Art"

Catherine Connors, author & CEO of The League of Badass Women

Harley K Dubois, Chief Transition Officer of Burning Man Project

Neil Shister, journalist & author of Radical Ritual: How Burning Man Changed the World

Quest Skinner, Washington DC-based artist & activist

Riane Eisler, social systems scientist & cultural historian

Zach Bell, Founder & Editor of RETURN salon discussions

Stuart Mangrum’s in there too. And YOU if you choose.

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Burning Sustainably Part 2: The Road to Regeneration Aug 04, 2021

You and I, we have living laboratories for embracing new ways to do the Earthling thing. They are Black Rock City, Fly Ranch, and 90-something regional events around the world. The Burning Man community is vast, diverse, and creative - and can ripple out a cultural shift around new technologies and practices.

The 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap declared that in the next 8 years we will become carbon negative and regenerative. How can we make it better for the ecology for Burning Man to exist, than for it not to exist?

Stuart talks with the champions of these goals about how.

Christopher Breedlove, Director of Civic Activation

Laura Day, Associate Director of Event Operations

Matt Sundquist, Director of the Fly Ranch Project

Medium: Burning Man Project: 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap

Burning Man Journal: Year Two Update: Progress On BMP’s Sustainability Roadmap

Burners Without Borders: The Green Theme Camp Community

Greening Your Burn

For more, listen to Part 1 with David Festa, Senior Advisor of Sustainability and Philanthropy.

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Burning Sustainably Part 1: We Can, We Will, We Must Jul 29, 2021

The end of the world? we have been practicing for decades. As more people look down the barrel of climate change, we have something to say (and do) about it.

What must change for it to be better for the ecology for Burning Man to exist, than for it not to exist?

Our 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap declared that in a half dozen years we will become carbon negative and regenerative. How?

Stuart talks with David Festa, who brings 30 years of experience to figure out how.

Black Rock City and regional events around the world are unique test beds, living laboratories for embracing new technologies and practices. The Burning Man community is vast, diverse, and creative - and can ripple out into the culture to help induce a new era.

Medium: Burning Man Project: 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap

Burning Man Journal: Year Two Update: Progress On BMP’s Sustainability Roadmap

Stay tuned for part 2, the Road to Regeneration, with

Laura Day, Associate Director of Event Operations
Christopher Breedlove, Director of Civic Activation
Matt Sundquist, Director of the Fly Ranch Project

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Turn Your Life Into Art With Caveat Magister Jul 13, 2021

You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll believe in love.

Stuart and Andie take a wild ride with author and philosopher Caveat Magister.

They discuss how to transform daily life with psychomagical experiences. They illustrate the power of art, ritual and play, and the magic of love. They reveal the secret sauce of Black Rock City, and the triumphs and failures of experience design. They explain engineered disperfection, miracles without religion, and nightlife as a spiritual pursuit.
Caveat is one of the few who comprise the Philosophical Center of Burning Man Project. For a dozen years he has been a people-person at BRC’s Media Mecca, then the lead writer for Burning Man’s education program, then the author of a book about Burning Man culture.

His new book is a deeper cut on the phenomenon: “Turn Your Life Into Art: Lessons in Psychomagic from the San Francisco Underground.”

journal.burningman.org/author/cmagister

fascinatingstranger.com

The Scene That Became Cities: What Burning Man Philosophy Can Teach Us About Building Better Communities

twitter.com/BenjaminWachs

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Art Happens No Matter What May 27, 2021

Life happens. Art happens with life. The arts are a big impact area of Burning Man culture.

Burning Man Project funds artists each year through our Global Arts Grants and BRC Honoraria. The pandemic put a pause on 2020 grants. Now with no Black Rock City for a second year, we feared the arts grants would also be a no.

However, thanks to generous philanthropy, Burning Man Project is funding a million dollars to 59 art installations from eight countries and 14 US States, for placement wherever is clever. Bringing the art to the people!

Stuart and Andie talk with “Weapons Grade” aka Gloria Beck, senior project manager of Burning Man’s Art Support Services.

They also speak with 4 of the recipients of this year’s Global Arts Grants:

Jen Lewin, Cosmos (New York, NY) jenlewinstudio.com
Jules Nelson-Gal, Unbound (San Francisco, CA) unboundarts.org
Antwane Lee, The Solar Shrine (Chicago, IL) solarshrine.org
Leeroy New, (Manilla, Philippines) leeroynew.com

They tell tales of getting things done when things are tough to do. They talk out how the pandemic pivot affects the artistic process. They share about creating art from kitchens and bedrooms, to TikTok and virtual reality - and the magic born from people exploring interactive art in public spaces.

“I'm just fascinated by how diverse the world is and how diverse people are in their abilities. This is highlighting human ability.” Jules Nelson-Gal

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Resilient Do-Ocracy: Tales of Texas Burners Mar 31, 2021

Black Rock City. We sometimes call it an unnatural disaster zone. We cooperate, survive and thrive in one of the harshest environments. Each year we iterate new ways, and we do it all because we want to.

Black Rock City attracts people who are resourceful, or it turns them into people who are.

The resilient burner community does disaster relief well. The nature of most residents of Black Rock City is reflected right there in the 10 principles: Radical Self-Reliance, Communal Effort and Civic Responsibility.

Here in the US, the State of Texas is home to Flipside, the first and longest-running Burning Man Regional Event. Texas froze in February. Very unusual. A series of devastating winter storms collapsed the power grid and the water system. The burners of Austin Texas were some of the first to respond with mutual aid in their community.

In this episode Kate Ludlow, Stephanie Vyborny and Clovis Buford share their stories of resourcefulness and support, and a Frito Pie party amid the chaos!

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Bonus Episode: Culturally Attuned with the US Institute of Peace Mar 23, 2021

It’s true. Really. The United States has an Institute of Peace. It’s also true that they partnered with Burning Man Project to create a new podcast called Culturally Attuned, about how we can all work effectively across our world’s cultural divides.

That podcast complements USIP’s online, self-paced course on Cultural Synergy. Stuart talks with the Executive Director of the Institute about cultivating the skills to do good work in a diverse world.

They share an episode featuring Kim Cook, Burning Man Project’s Director of Strategic Initiatives.

The title of that episode is: Stay in the circle: Patient listening can connect across cultures

https://burningman.org/culture/partnerships/

https://www.usip.org/culturally-attuned

https://www.usip.org/academy/catalog/cultural-synergy

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Radical Inclusion: Fab 5 Freddy & Rachel McCrafty Talk Tokenism Feb 27, 2021

Andie talks with artists Fab 5 Freddy and Rachel McCrafty about diversity in and around the Burning Man world. Rachel is the executive director of ACE Makerspace in Oakland and Freddy is a hip-hop pioneer, filmmaker and a board member of Burning Man Project.

They discuss tokenism, bridge-building, and how people with open sensibilities can widen the path for those who have not felt welcomed before. In the same way that a forest fire creates space for biodiversity, we as a community have the opportunity to intentionally reinvent our shared culture, on and off the playa.

burningman.org/culture/diversity-radical-inclusion

thecraftyavenger.com

fab5freddy.com

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Mike Zuckerman: Culture Hacking and Gonzo Humanitarianism Feb 10, 2021

Operating far outside the lines of what he calls the “humanitarian-industrial complex,” freelance culture hacker and FreeSpace founder Mike Zuckerman goes into refugee settlements around the world, and works with their citizens to create spaces that better serve their communities.

While the NGOs wrung their hands over how to deliver aid in the COVID-19 pandemic, Zuck spent most of 2020 on the ground in Uganda, with the people of Nakivale, a refugee settlement of 120,000 near the Tanzanian border.

Together they built civic spaces including an amphitheater, a library, a radio station, and a Virtual Reality room in a shipping container, which they used to connect Nakivale to the Burning Man online multiverse.

Zuck brings lessons from Black Rock City to other temporary spaces around the world, helping displaced persons overcome “agency deprivation disorder” and reclaim their innate powers of self-reliance and self-expression.

burningman.org/culture/burning-man-arts/grants/global

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Holiday Special: SantaCon from Home Dec 22, 2020

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (And boy has it been a year!)

Following in the footsteps of show-biz luminaries like Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, and the cast of Star Wars, we hosted a HOLIDAY SHOW (non-denominational) in front of a live online pseudo-studio audience.

Stuart and Andie entertained guests:

Santa Zero - originator of the now-infamous SantaCon phenomenon
Mrs. Claus - founder of Burning Man’s first-ever theme camp, Christmas Camp
Tubatron and his Flaming Tuba performing a Hanukkah song
Reverend Billy and Savitri D of the Church of Stop Shopping

And it wouldn’t be the holiday season without Caveat Magister selling us on Decommodification.

Join us for how Krampus cramps us, how COVID is an 8-foot-tall dominatrix, how “Gifting” is so close to “Grifting,” and how the Cacophony Society is so Kumbaya now, in our final episode of 2020.

Reminisce with us, and celebrate and speculate.

Portland SantaCon 1996 / “You’d Better Watch Out”

Cacophony Society: Santasm, Santacon, Santarchy, ad nauseum

Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

Why People Dress Funny at Burning Man (2003)

Peter Doty Obituary (San Francisco Chronicle)

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Kristen Berman and the Science of Transformation Dec 09, 2020

Does Burning Man really trigger transformative experiences, and if so, what does that look like? Stuart and behavioral scientist Kristen Berman go deep on the psychology of change, and what that looks like in Black Rock City and beyond. Can participating in a Burning Man event really make you more generous, more tolerant, more civic-minded? What’s the role of the 10 Principles in all of this, and how important is the physical environment of Black Rock City?

Kristen Berman is a behavioral scientist who’s explored human behavior at Duke University, at Google, with her consulting firm Irrational Labs, and at Burning Man’s Black Rock City event. She’s the author of Keeping Up With the Joneses at Burning Man and the co-author of Hacking Human Nature for Good. And of course, she’s got a great TEDx talk.

https://kristenberman.com/

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Dr Scirpus and the Majestic Fly Ranch Nov 18, 2020

Fly Ranch is in the middle of nowhere, and yet it's the center of the universe for many bugs, birds, animals, and, uh, thermophiles.

Down the road from the dry lake bed that hosts Black Rock City, Fly Ranch is 6 square miles of hot springs, ecosystems, and a unique variety of life, from wildflowers to wild horses, antelope and mountain lions, eagles, and cicadas.

Stuart and Logan talk with Dr. Lisa Beers (aka Scirpus) about her work as the Burning Man Land Fellow for Fly Ranch, and all the life, death and artifacts on the 600 acres of the Fly Ranch.

Dr Scirpus explores the flora, fauna, and everything else she finds at "Fly." When not smelling the sagebrush, she manages the Environmental Compliance team for the Burning Man event, and studies wetland ecology throughout the world.

In this charming conversation, Scirpus reminds us that fairy shrimp are real, and scorpions are real, and she lets Stuart believe that jackalopes are real, but not squirrelopes. Logan's not buying it either. Platypuses, though? If you’ve never met one, how can you really know?

And you haven’t tasted mezcal until you’ve had a botanist tell you how bats pollinate the cactus.

flyranch.org/

https://www.instagram.com/fly_ranch/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/flyranch

https://medium.com/beyond-burning-man/writers-emerging-at-fly-ranch-reflection-3da8da91d3e

https://medium.com/beyond-burning-man/burning-man-project-2020-environmental-sustainability-report-df757260c9c5

https://lagi2020flyranch.org/

https://journal.burningman.org/author/scirpus/

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The Legacy and Artistry of Building the Man Nov 11, 2020

The Burning Man figure started it all and has stood at the center of Black Rock City for decades. Many myths and legends of its origins have been passed down through the years. It can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. We took a deep dive with the earliest builders of the Burning Man to chart the evolution and decode the mythology. We also spoke with members of the current team that bring the figure to life year after year. We explore the craftsmanship of the build, the rituals of the crew's process, and the secret details that make the Burning Man sculpture so unique.

https://burningman.org/timeline/

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Culinary Camps of Black Rock City Nov 04, 2020

Culinary excellence in a temporary city in the dry desert? Oh yes, and some decadent offerings too. Andie and Vav rebroadcast a delicious episode about culinary camps at Black Rock City from the podcast “Food Wine & the Culinary Mind.” It’s a montage of interviews from theme camps that gift the perfect food at the perfect time and place. The perspectives on creativity, community and cuisine bring us back to what it’s like to be together in the dust.

Mat Schuster interviews “fascinating culinary badasses” at the most recent Black Rock City, and it’s about more than just food; featuring Black Rock Bakery, Bao Chicka Wow Wow, Feed the Artists, Awful’s Gas & Snack, Midnight Poutine, Dust City Diner, Lovin’ Oven, and Abstininthe.

Food Wine & the Culinary Mind: Culinary Camps of Burning Man

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Studying Subversive Creativity and Gratitude Oct 28, 2020

What is it like to walk around Black Rock City as a staff member and an academic in participant-observer mode? These tales are of BRC at the turn of the century, and the study of ineffable experiences, ending with old school stories of the organic formation of BRC’s support services, and a healthy respect for law enforcement.

Andie and Logan talk with Sheila Hoover, the Associate Dean of Libraries at Texas Tech University, and Duane Hoover, Professor of Practice, specializing in negotiation and organizational behavior. At BRC, Duane (Big Bear on the radio) ran the Black Rock Rangers and the Law Enforcement Agency Liaison Team for 15 years.

Sheila and Duane co-authored several research projects on Burning Man through a lens of organizational development, cultural principles, and values such as reciprocity, intrinsic reward, and “radical inclusion of self.”

BONUS: Hear a Texan recite a bit of Shakespeare!

https://scholars.ttu.edu/en/persons/sheila-hoover

https://www.depts.ttu.edu/rawlsbusiness/people/faculty/management/duane-hoover/

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Vote Hard with The Voter Party Oct 21, 2020

The U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout. The thought that your vote doesn’t matter, or that there’s no good choice - some say that thought is manufactured or perpetuated to prevent people from exercising their power. Some say voting is not fun.

Stuart and Logan discuss voter apathy, voter ho-hum, and creative solutions to election spectators. They talk with Mark Rosenberg, aka Winkel, from The Voter Party. Inspired by the participatory culture of Burning Man, TheVoterParty.org teaches individuals how to use art, music, and costuming to get out the vote in their communities: creative canvassing, friend-banking, polling place performances, and de-escalation skills should the need arise.

It’s an informative inquiry into which instrument is better to play at the polls: a ukulele, a fife (through a bullhorn), or a recorder...

TheVoterParty.org

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Dr Heikkilä and the Science of Participatory Culture Oct 14, 2020

If you found a “hippie-proof” story-cube at a festival or in a war-zone, would you share your story with it?

Stuart and Andie talk with Finnish scholar Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä, about the Burning Stories project, the qualitative research of hope and anger, the innovation at Burning Man Regional events in Europe, and teaching entrepreneurialism in Lebanon and North Korea.

What more can we learn about Burning Man culture by studying it academically?

How do randomly assembled project teams knit themselves into longer-term collaborative and creative relationships? Why does it matter?

In a world with an unpredictable future, what more can we learn about participatory culture, psychological safety, and communal resilience?

www.jukkapekka.com

https://burning-stories.org/

https://forum.burning-stories.org/

Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä, Ph.D

Aalto University & Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Fellow

Stanford & Harvard University Visiting Scholar

The Royal Society & British Academy Newton Fellow

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Yomi Ayeni and the Stories of We Are From Dust Oct 07, 2020

Yomi is an impassioned and jovial part of the small team doing big things in the nonprofit arts organization “We Are From Dust.” The all-Burner team is dedicated to proliferating interactive, participatory artwork in public spaces that transforms the way people engage with art, and changes how they consider their daily lives.

In this time of dramatic changes for in-person experiences, We Are From Dust persists to support artists in our community, find new avenues for sharing participatory art around the globe, and support Black Lives Matter beyond first-world applications.

Remember when “Press Here” became “Media Mecca” in Black Rock City 1998? Yomi and Andie do, and they tell some tales and laugh some laughs.

Yomi is an award-winning Transmedia storyteller, film producer, and digital strategist, as well as an author, artist, record producer, and event organizer. In 2009, Breathe, Yomi’s first interactive feature film launched at the London International Film Festival, and recently he produced three large-scale installations for the Royal Observatory in London.

https://www.wearefromdust.org/

http://yomster.com/

https://artwithme.org/

https://www.artspacelifespace.com/current-projects/arts-mansion/

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The Chef and the Power of Community Prototyping Sep 30, 2020

Logan and Andie talk with Matthew “Chef” Kwatinetz about Black Rock Power, an ambitious new sustainable energy initiative rooted in the Burning Man community, and how Black Rock City is the ideal laboratory for prototyping and iterating solutions for the larger world. No pressure.

They discuss Burning Man’s 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap and how the struggles of 2020 have affected everyone’s plans, for the worse and for the better.

Chef brings his immense economic development experience to his work in Black Rock Power and his service on the Burning Man Project Board. An avid Burning Man participant for a decade, he has cooked meals for the Temple Kitchen, “Feed the Artist” programs, and sunset dinner cruises on the “Sacred Cow” mutant vehicle - and now he’s advising the Project on economics, city planning, and innovative approaches to sustainable power for Black Rock City and its neighboring Northern Nevada townships.

Sponsor: The Leaving No Trace Workout Program

Matthew “Chef” Kwantinetz

https://burningman.org/network/about-us/people/board-of-directors/#MatthewChefKwatinetz

Burning Man Project’s 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap

https://medium.com/@burningman/burning-man-project-2030-environmental-sustainability-roadmap-c79657e18146

and

https://journal.burningman.org/2020/07/global-network/burners-without-borders/bmp-sustainability-roadmap-update/

Special thanks to Dario Russo and David Ashby for letting us use their music for the closing credits:

https://dariorusso.bandcamp.com/track/mission-accomplished

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Takeover Show with Duncan Trussell & Nick Kroll Sep 23, 2020

In Black Rock City, Burn Week is when everything is happening and everyone is there, just like in this episode, where comedians and philosophers Duncan Trussell and Nick Kroll take over the podcast, and Stuart, Andie, Logan, and Vav are the guests.

We discuss everything from permission engines to economic models, everything from Judaism to fuckoism, from artificial intelligence to the unintelligible. It’s funny. It’s deep. It’s insightful. It’s vulgar. Thank you for listening, and we’re sorry.

http://www.duncantrussell.com/

https://www.nickkroll.com/

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Eamon Armstrong and the Festivalness of Life Sep 16, 2020

What does it mean to be (or not be) a festival?

Andie and Stuart speak with Eamon Armstrong, host of the Life is a Festival podcast about working Burning Man, Fest300, and the Psychedelic Therapy Podcast, as well as the future (if any) of festivals in a post-pandemic world, the nature of transformative experience, and his quest to achieve metamodern manliness without all the toxic masculinity.

Eamon Armstrong is the creator of Life is a Festival, promoting a lifestyle of adventure and personal development through the lens of festival culture. He is the former Creative Director and public face of the industry-leading online festival guide and community Fest300. His belief in the transformational power of psychedelics led him to take part in a traditional Bwiti initiation in Gabon, and to become a trained Sitter with MAP’s Zendo Project.

Sponsor: Dr. Yes’s Forever Home for Jaded Burners

https://www.eamonarmstrong.com/lifeisafestival

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I Grew Up Like This (Kids in Black Rock City) Sep 02, 2020

A whole generation of kids has grown up with Black Rock City as their second address. And they’re amazing. Andie and Stuart talk with Burner kids and Burner parents about the challenges and rewards of going to BRC instead of summer camp. Nine-year-old Charlie (C.Bear) and sixteen-year-old Ava (Dust Storm) share what it’s like for them, and we hear from Lulu and her mother Molly, who’ve been going together for most of 25 years.

And we discuss our invisible friends from childhood…

And we share a clip of Larry Harvey waxing poetic about kids, community, and commodification from a Profiles in Dust documentary.

https://www.profilesindust.net/

TEDx Talk from Julia Wolfe

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Multiverse Theory with a Real-Live Physicist Aug 26, 2020

We keep talking about the Multiverse. What does that even mean? Is it actually a thing? Why is sad Stuart sad? It is because of his dead cat? Which human should we put in a supercollider, and why? Are Stuart’s dreams actually interdimensional travel, or just crazy talk?

What is reality?

All these questions and more are answered with even more questions by a theoretical physicist who also happens to be a Burner, Adam Brown.

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Burning in a Virtual Universe Aug 19, 2020

In a time and space without a Black Rock City event in Nevada, volunteer crews are using computer code instead of power tools to create a host of digital Burn experiences. What exactly are the “8 Recognized Universes of the Burning Man Multiverse?” What can you do in these online worlds, and will Daft Punk play at the virtual trash fence? Logan and Stuart go looking for answers with the organizers.

The through-line for these online offerings is that they will all be celebrating Burning Man culture - from virtual reality worlds to curated Zoom experiences, from web browser adventures to a global streaming burn night. Burning Man Project’s Kye Horton and Gloria Beck help us figure it all out, along with a few of the Universe creators themselves.

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