Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Burning Man LIVE
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burning Curiosity - The Study of Burning Man | 31 Oct 2024 | 00:58:01 | |
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. geography.as.uky.edu/users/zook burningman.org/programs/philosophical-center/academics regionals.burningman.org/european-leadership-summit sdu.dk/en/publications/enacting-hopeful-climate-futures-at-burning-man-2024 Bjørn S. Cience - Founding Board Member at Institute of Performative Inquiry | |||
| Burning Man is Everywhere | 16 Oct 2024 | 00:36:00 | |
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. And here's a related episode from 2022: | |||
| ¡El Pulpo Magnífico! | 29 May 2024 | 00:51:48 | |
“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. Hear the stories of El Pulpo’s predecessors, origins, and adventures! | |||
| A People’s History of Burning Man - Volume 2 | 15 May 2024 | 00:59:56 | |
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:
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 The What Where When Guide is here. The 1996 Helco commercial is here. | |||
| Burning in Europe: Stories of Home | 01 May 2024 | 00:46:25 | |
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.
“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 | |||
| Fire in the Hole - Vets in BRC | 17 Apr 2024 | 00:48:57 | |
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 | |||
| The Evolution of Robot Heart | 03 Apr 2024 | 00:45:21 | |
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. Lee Burridge - Robot Heart - Burning Man Rodriguez Jr. (Live) Featuring Liset Alea - Robot Heart - Burning Man | |||
| When Moshe Met Burning Man | 20 Mar 2024 | 00:59:09 | |
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. Gate, Perimeter & Exodus (burningman.org) Subculture Vulture: Penguin Random House | |||
| Tahoe Mack and the Monumental Mammoth | 06 Mar 2024 | 00:42:29 | |
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 | |||
| The Mystery of Clit-Henge | 21 Feb 2024 | 00:52:43 | |
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. 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 | 07 Feb 2024 | 00:49:42 | |
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.
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 | |||
| FrostBurn: Share the Warmth | 24 Jan 2024 | 00:42:16 | |
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? 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. BurningMan.org: Programs: Philosophical Center: Academics Aural Substance: An Ethnographic Exploration of Regional Burn Soundscapes (ACADEMIA) | |||
| Volunteer Voices | 03 Oct 2024 | 00:44:22 | |
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. | |||
| A People's History of Burning Man | 10 Jan 2024 | 00:48:23 | |
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.
dispatch2022.burningman.org/the-philosophical-center journal.burningman.org/category/philosophical-center | |||
| Preaching to the Playa Choir | 23 Dec 2023 | 00:34:18 | |
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
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! | |||
| Orchestral Maneuvers on the Playa | 23 Dec 2023 | 00:55:40 | |
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://blackrockphilharmonic.org | |||
| L’Osti Québec! The 11th Principle of Poutine | 13 Dec 2023 | 00:45:33 | |
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/ | |||
| Dana Albany: Dreaming in Metal and Glass | 29 Nov 2023 | 00:50:51 | |
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. chatsworth.org/news-media/news-blogs-press-releases/burning-man-about-the-sculptures burningman.org/programs/civic-initiatives/youth-education-spaceship | |||
| George Reed: Invisible MOOP and the Net-Zero | 16 Nov 2023 | 00:51:06 | |
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, Burning Man Project’s Director of Regeneration, 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) | |||
| Mysteries of Desert Wildlife with Dr Lisa Beers | 22 Aug 2023 | 00:51:54 | |
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 | |||
| Brody Scotland: Art From the Inside Out | 09 Jul 2023 | 00:53:30 | |
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) | |||
| The Streets of Black Rock City | 15 Jun 2023 | 00:41:26 | |
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 Terry “Retro” Schoop | Burning Man Journal | |||
| Steven Blumenfeld: The Tech of Art and the Art of Tech | 02 Jun 2023 | 00:48:32 | |
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. | |||
| David Silverman: So That's How That Started | 18 Sep 2024 | 00:47:38 | |
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) David shares more of his story in Episode 27 from 2020: https://burningman.org/podcast/holiday-special-santacon-from-home | |||
| John Turner Trippingly Yours | 17 May 2023 | 00:46:34 | |
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) | |||
| Roxane Jessi: Once Upon a Time in the Dust | 20 Apr 2023 | 00:42:33 | |
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
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 | |||
| Let's Go Build a City: Camp Symposium 2023 | 06 Apr 2023 | 00:53:27 | |
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:
Here is how to
“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 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) | |||
| Katie Hazard: Art is How We Got Here | 23 Mar 2023 | 00:44:20 | |
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) Desert Arts Preview: Artists of Waking Dreams (2022 podcast) | |||
| Monique Schiess and AfrikaBurn | 01 Mar 2023 | 00:43:22 | |
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.” Practising Imagining (TEDx Cape Town) | |||
| Athena Demos and the Principled Metaverse | 08 Feb 2023 | 00:43:29 | |
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. 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 | |||
| Terry Pratt and Profiles in Dust | 19 Jan 2023 | 00:51:28 | |
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:
Burning Man Project’s Youtube Channel of Profiles in Dust | |||
| Buck Down and the Cult That Joins You | 30 Nov 2022 | 00:51:20 | |
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 | |||
| Kids Take the Mic - Youth Voices of Black Rock City | 26 Oct 2022 | 00:59:26 | |
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 Science of Generosity | 05 Oct 2022 | 00:48:24 | |
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.
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) Burning Progeny | 2018 Symposium in Fribourg | |||
| In Paiute Country: The Numa of Pyramid Lake | 21 Aug 2024 | 01:00:48 | |
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…
Find this episode wherever podcasts prevail, and on YouTube: Helpful links: A Message from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to All BRC Citizens 2023 (Burning Man Journal) 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. | |||
| The Gift of Things Going Wrong | 23 Sep 2022 | 00:56:57 | |
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.
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 | |||
| Candace Locklear on Culture Jamming and Welcoming | 25 Aug 2022 | 00:46:53 | |
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://burningman.org/podcast/yomi-ayeni-and-the-stories-of-we-are-from-dust | |||
| Pro Tips for Black Rock City | 03 Aug 2022 | 01:09:50 | |
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:
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. | |||
| Kay Morrison and the Overall Wonderment Quotient | 20 Jul 2022 | 00:49:16 | |
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. Burning Man Project Board of Directors Burning Man Meta-Regional Committee Stories Around the Burn Barrel (Burning Man Live)
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| Desert Arts Preview: Artists of Waking Dreams | 06 Jul 2022 | 00:48:03 | |
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 R.I.D.E. Radical Inclusion, Diversity and Equity | |||
| Remember How to Burning Man: Steven Raspa | 22 Jun 2022 | 00:51:33 | |
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.
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| Sweaty Dynamite: The Dave X Story | 08 Jun 2022 | 00:58:58 | |
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. | |||
| Return to Black Rock City | 25 May 2022 | 01:01:26 | |
In May, staff and core collaborators gathered to disclose what’s new and true in the big community experiment that is Black Rock City.
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 Art Theme: Waking Dreams Desert Arts Preview: June 12th Playa Events Registration (WhatWhereWhen) This is How We Hive (HIVE) Touching Down: a BRC orientation (HIVE) Return to Black Rock City (HIVE) | |||
| Tom Price and The Benefactor’s Dilemma | 11 May 2022 | 00:32:14 | |
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) | |||
| The Magic When Art Happens | 27 Apr 2022 | 01:06:21 | |
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) | |||
| The Future of Burning Man | 07 Aug 2024 | 00:59:53 | |
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?” Marian Goodell: Burning Man Project Board of Directors 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 | |||
| Thinking Big in a Small Town | 13 Apr 2022 | 00:59:05 | |
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) Black Rock City Placement Process LAGI: Land Art Generator Initiative, Fly Ranch | |||
| Stuart Mangrum’s Serious Philosophy of Shenanigans | 16 Mar 2022 | 00:57:18 | |
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 | |||
| Charlie Dolman The Dust is in the Details | 02 Mar 2022 | 00:55:18 | |
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 is Not a Place | 16 Feb 2022 | 00:50:38 | |
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. 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) | |||