Burning Man LIVE

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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 Stephen Colbert, Jon Stuart, and the cast of Star Wars, we hosted a (non-denominational) holiday show in front of a live online pseudo-studio audience.
Broadcasting from their snowed-in virtual holiday cabins, Stuart and Andie entertained guests:
· Santa Zero - originator of the now-infamous SantaCon phenomenon
· Mrs. Claus - founder of Burning Man’s first theme camp, Christmas Camp
· Tubatron and his Flaming Tuba playing a Hanukkah song (David Silverman)
· Reverend Billy and Savitri D of the Stop Shopping Choir

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”
· how the Cacophony Society is sooo Kumbaya

in our Holiday Special that is indeed SPECIAL.

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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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