Explore every episode of the podcast Burning Man LIVE
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math Mysteries: The Art of Dr Diane Hoffoss | 30 sept. 2026 | 00:36:58 | |
Watch on YOUTUBE. Watch this adventure (recorded in Black Rock City) about how art is built, and how it finds its people. Dr. Diane Hoffoss designs, crafts, and finds funding for interactive art in BRC and out in the wide world. See the art and the conversation with Andie Grace about unsolved problems, lasers, and joy. “Inspired positivity and joy, bringing all this happiness back. We need that.” They decode the depth between interactive art, interactive math, and the universe. They share stories about the art collective ArtBuilds, the nonprofit Makerspace CoLab, and the Burning Man Regional event YOUtopia... and how Diane's university funded her Burning Man art as official scholarly research. Watch all the way to the end for the best part: how building a laser playground in the dust might just solve the mystery of restoring faith in humanity. Cover Photo: Frank Guthrie Bio Photo: Ariele Baragona LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Jamie Wheal and the Burning Man Mystery School | 30 août 2026 | 01:01:08 | |
Jamie Wheal, author of Stealing Fire and Recapture the Rapture, and the viral article The Man WILL Burn!, joins Stuart to unpack the cultural anthropology of peak states. They explore how Black Rock City serves as a crucible for thriving in the future. They deep dive into:
Watch them un-forget how to make that magic anywhere. wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Wheal jamiewheal.substack.com/p/the-man-will-burn wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Will_Burn LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Behind the Scenes: The Man Will Burn: Marian Goodell & Jehane Noujaim | 07 août 2026 | 00:52:13 | |
Watch it on YouTube. No spoilers. This is the making of the docuseries The Man Will Burn. This is the context for what was filmed, who said what, and what got cut; the cameras and the chaos (and the quinoa). Burning Man Project’s CEO Marian Goodell talks with Jehane Noujaim Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and director. They share the creative challenge of assembling Burning Man’s story from a mosaic of a million people’s stories. They dive right into the interweaving 35 years of archival footage with the personal journeys of a dozen participants from a dozen places. Watch Marian and Jehane’s conversation, recorded the day after the premiere at Tribeca. Hit play on the dust and trust of the blank canvas that becomes a city year after year, and a 4-hour film about its start, its false stops, and its proliferating permutations. burningman.org/documentaries/the-man-will-burn journal.burningman.org/author/marian LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Substance Over Splash - Australia's Regional Burns | 10 juil. 2026 | 00:43:28 | |
5 leaders from the 5 Regional Burns of Australia! They focus on collaboration more than contraptions, connection more than complexity.
These movers & shakers go a mile deep into the dust, the heart, and the deets of Australia’s radical experiments in community. They acculturate through one on one connections and Burning Pubs. They embrace Positive Impact more than Leave No Trace. They aspire to the 10 Principles and the 11th, and even the 12th. See how this culture takes root, travels, and morphs year-round. Community is built through word of mouth, so that the space they create allows us to show up as our whole human selves. Open your mind upside down, and laugh along with these larrikins and their playful perceptions. burningman.org/global/burning-man-regional-network/australia LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Long Live Community Art Spaces - Charlie Gadeken | 25 juin 2026 | 00:38:42 | |
For decades, Charlie has led some of Black Rock City's monumental works of art. He isn’t just the prolific mind behind iconic pieces like Elder Mother, an illuminated storytelling tree; he’s an architect of human connection. He co-created and develops:
Tune in as Charlie shares his artistic journey with Andie Grace. They explore the evolution from flame-thrown wind-sail paintings to steel trees of addressable LED leaves. But this isn’t about him. The Box Shop, home to hundreds of metalworkers, large-scale sculptors, and multimedia artists, has birthed thousands of artworks and taught countless volunteers to wire and weld. After 23 years, it’s facing displacement due to gentrification. Charlie shares the gritty details of reinventing this creative sanctuary into a nonprofit in a new location. Hear why making beautiful things with friends matters more than maximizing shareholder profit, and why hands-on community hubs bring belonging as an antidote to modern loneliness and greed. https://www.charlesgadeken.com https://www.illuminationvillage.org LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| OTHERWORLD - Vancouver Island's Regional Ripple Effect | 04 juin 2026 | 00:43:02 | |
Watch it on YouTube. What do you get when you mix 3,200 Burners, a lush Canadian forest, and a summer fire ban? Oh, and an event theme that is literally just the word... MOIST. Wander through the woods of Otherworld, one of British Columbia’s rapidly growing Regional Burns. Coordinators of creative chaos Jax and Zephyr share what it takes to conjure Burning Man culture in the Pacific Northwest
If you’re headed to the playa, or wrangling a Regional, or just here for the fuckery of a good inside-joke, this is how to do culture differently, and have fun along the way. Watch it on YouTube. https://burningman.org/global-events-groups https://burningman.org/burning-man-regional-network
LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Serious Play - Isabel Behncke | 15 mai 2026 | 00:55:53 | |
Watch it on YouTube here. What happens when Burner behavior goes under the microscope? Sociologists, ecologists, and economists have been on this show. Now we’re looking at this culture through a new lens: primatology. Isabel Behncke is an evolutionary biologist and a Burning Man Project Board Member. From tracking bonobos in the jungle to observing humans on playa, she shares her groundbreaking research on ritual and play. In this mind-expanding conversation, she and Stuart explore: 🏕️ "Dunbar's number" and how camp size matters 🦍 The evolutionary purpose of play for young and old 🤝 How risk, trust, and vulnerability build true community 🎁 The ancient, radical act of giving without expecting anything back If you’re a social science fan, a camp lead of dynamic humans, or just a lover of wild stories about bonobos, humans, and other animals, get ready to understand your own playful nature! Watch it on YouTube here. wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Behncke burningman.org/about-us/who-we-are/board-of-directors en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5,000_Years en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Ludens LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| The Borderland: Trust Creates Worlds | 28 avr. 2026 | 00:44:42 | |
This culture started in dust and ephemerality. We build metropolises of art and fire, then we leave no trace. How do we translate that inspiration into a rhythm for everyday life? What happens when a temporary autonomous zone puts down roots? The Borderland is Scandinavia's largest and longest running Burning Man Regional event. It’s "working out loud" culture fosters radical trust, allowing the community to create its own world where no one is in charge. The community also crowd-funded land that serves as the permanent home for their Regional event, and year-round collaborations of all kinds. How does the Borderland commit to the risk and reward of community buy-in? How does trusting that someone will have the answer lead to resiliency? How do the 10 Principles balance aspects of Scandinavian culture differently than US culture? Hear Andie set it up, then Stuart talk with Liselotte Norman and Hampus Lindblad. Hear about the act of letting go to stay together. Photo: Annie Locke Scherer burningman.org/global-events-groups/burning-man-regional-network burningman.org/global-events-groups/burning-man-regional-network/sweden burningman.org/global-events-groups/find-a-burning-man-event www.alscherer.com/the-temple-of-tokamak LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Camp Symposium Highlights: Let's Build it Together | 01 avr. 2026 | 01:05:41 | |
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/irkEajUVRgI Most people in Black Rock City live together in placed camps (theme camps), the most unique aspect of this unique event. BRC has 1400 camps. Theme Camps = Communal Effort + Intimacy + Self-Expression Theme campers gift a uniquely decommodified ‘third place’ of offerings and ambiance. At this annual symposium, staff and volunteers share how they gift their interactive camps to the participants. It’s an art. It’s a science. Andie Grace: Senior Producer in the Philosophical Center Andrew Lowe: Senior Software Developer, Burning Man Project Bryant Tan (aka Level Placerman): Head of Placement for BRC Christopher Breedlove: Director of Civic Engagement / BWB Camp Lead Marian Goodell: CEO of Burning Man Project Michael Vav: Technical Producer in the Philosophical Center and a keen crew
Hear about the seen and the unseen, from behind the scenes to the obscene. Hear the Burners who create and integrate these interactive passion projects that are the heart of Burning Man events. Camps and Placement | Burning Man Placement: About Us & Volunteering Camp Support Team | Burning Man PEERS: Placement’s Exploration & Engagement Research Squad WATCH THE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/irkEajUVRgI LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Burners in Space! Meet Spaceman Sam | 12 mars 2026 | 00:46:38 | |
Remember that whiteout in deep playa? That prepared you for a NASA mission to space, maybe. Andie Grace talks with Samuel M. Coniglio, aka Ranger Cosmonaut, and Spaceman Sam. He isn't just a ten-year Black Rock Ranger and a veteran of the legendary Neverwas Haul (that three-story Victorian house on wheels)... He’s a writer, inventor, and futurist who worked on the Space Shuttle and the ISS. From his Zero-G cocktail glass, to his book about making offworld living worth living, he studies creature comforts in extreme environments. Stuart Mangrum opens the show with a look at the Lunar Codex, an ambitious project placing the art of 50,000 Earthlings (including Burners!) into permanent archives on the Moon. Then, Sam and Andie spacewalk into why "civilizing a barbaric situation" is a human need, whether its serving fancy tea in a mud storm, or grilling chicken on a space station. Hear about radical self-reliance, orbital infrastructure, and why—if we’re going to Mars—we’d better bring decent coffee… and a bucket. "Burning Man is just like going to Las Vegas on Mars. You have to learn how to live on Mars first before you enjoy the parties. It’s survival first, party second… The Burning Man org learned we have to have toilets, roads, and support systems. NASA probably should learn from you guys." nss.org/book-review-creature-comforts-in-space youtube.com/@spaceman.sam.coniglio LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| From Flipside to the Future - George Paap | 25 févr. 2026 | 01:02:10 | |
George Paap, a pioneer of the Burning Man Regional network, talks with Andie Grace. He founded Burning Flipside in Texas, the first-ever Burning Man sanctioned event beyond the desert. What inspired him? Black Rock City 1997. He found freedom there, and it sparked a lifelong mission. Hear his adventures of building a culture from scratch, and why, as a futurist, he believes Burners are steady & ready to handle the societal shifts ahead.
"Don't wait. You have to jump in and do it. You can't wait for something to happen. You’ve gotta provide the motivation... the inspiration... the vision, and bring people along." — George Paap burningman.org/global-events-groups www.trippingly.net/burning-man-musings/tag/George+Paap
LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Open Source Innovation | 28 janv. 2026 | 00:42:23 | |
There’s a world of civic hacking where "making cool stuff" meets "making useful stuff." Hear tinkerers, gearheads and other makers share about the inventions that won them Burners Without Borders Civic Ignition Grants. These grants are little sparks that fire up the next level of open-source technology for all of our community, and for all the world. Colin Jemmott and MJ Brovold of YOUtopia, the San Diego Regional event, share about their low maintenance light source that’s sturdy, solar-powered, and buildable by anyone. They're also building a huge steel pop-up book! Sam Smith and Squirtle of SOAK, the Portland Regional event, share about their deployable solar shade pavilion made of star-shapes and scissor linkages. Trash eating robots are involved, and 3D printed ‘precious plastic’ art. This is not about the party. This is about practicing for a future where we won't need to poison the planet to self-express. These stories are a recipe:
Blend until smooth. Enjoy what new ideas can happen when we all put our heads together. burnerswithoutborders.org/2025-regional-event-grant www.precipitationnw.org/burnon LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Mark Day - 10,000 Hours at Burning Man | 15 janv. 2026 | 01:03:40 | |
Insightful. World-Building. Spit-take inducing. Mark Day’s videos serve as a digital gateway for many thousands of Burners, capturing that blurry edge where the default world ends and the playa begins. From his early days building tripper trappers and doing stand up comedy, to his controversial tinkering with AI art (think Dalmatians made of donuts), Mark has put 10,000 hours into his “24 Hours at Burning Man” videos. Andie Grace talks with this unique content creator to explore thresholds and multitudes. They discuss how to capture the moment and also experience it. They dive head first into the touchy subjects of consent, the ethics of documentation, and how “acculturation is an everybody thing.” He shares his sociology of being a Greeter in BRC. He talks creative process. He brings clever curiosity to open-ended self-expression and the freedom to be your favorite version of yourself. https://journal.burningman.org/author/mark-day https://www.youtube.com/markdaycomedy https://www.instagram.com/burner_videos LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Holiday Special - SantaCon at Home - 5th Anniversary | 23 déc. 2025 | 01:14:41 | |
It's absurd. And it wouldn’t be the holiday season without Caveat Magister selling us on Decommodification. in the 5th anniversary of our Holiday Special that is indeed SPECIAL. Portland SantaCon 1996 / “You’d Better Watch Out” santarchy.com/youd-better-watch-out-portland-santacon-96 Cacophony Society: Santasm, Santacon, Santarchy, ad nauseum talesofsfcacophony.com/santasm-santacon-santarchy-kringle-klot-etc-ad-nauseum/ Tubatron (aka David Silverman) burningman.org/podcast/david-silverman-so-thats-how-that-started Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend_Billy_and_the_Church_of_Stop_Shopping LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Zen and the Art of Art Making | 10 déc. 2025 | 00:56:05 | |
His huge steel sculptures have graced Black Rock City for decades, then found forever homes in cities, festivals, and private collections around the world. Hear veteran structural sculptor Michael Christian go deep and wide about his Burning Man art, from a tree of bones to a 65-foot tall tower. He shares about his installation "Down the Drain," a commentary on human alignment, or misalignment... or maybe it’s about toilets blowing kisses at each other! He talks with Stuart about the shift from a "lone artist" mindset to community collaboration, and how to get everything done despite a storm or a lost box of bolts. They tinker with the qualities of hubris and humility. They get real about why they keep returning to the collective happening in the dust.
These questions are answered with more questions in this episode right here. https://www.michaelchristian.com LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Composting in Paradise - RootHub | 26 nov. 2025 | 00:45:31 | |
RootHub (aka Aloha) weaves the core values and shared struggle of building Black Rock City and his work in Hawai‘i. He draws inspiration from the Hawaiian people’s concept of kuleana (responsibility to the land and community). When he’s not building BRC with DPW, or playing music to amplify people’s stories, he’s diverting food waste from landfills and incinerators into much needed, nutrient-dense soil for growing food. He does this through his companies. The names say it all: · Full Circle Solutions Hawaii · Leftover Love Company ("We love your leftovers") Hear how ingenuity learned on the playa—along with a sense of humor—allows him to overcome hurdles and create meaningful change in BRC and in Hawai’i, even with the naive tourists. Through sweet story and song, he shares how to combine innovation with tradition, to lift the stone without lifting the weight of the stone. burningman.org/black-rock-city/infrastructure/dept-of-public-works LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Art is the How - From BRC to Public Policy | 13 nov. 2025 | 00:44:52 | |
He brought theme camps and art installations to Black Rock City, and yes, he DJed! Now he brings the spirit of kindness and collaboration (and Do-ocracy) into creating public policy. He co-founded a Burning Man Regional nonprofit. He directed a cultural arts center. He collaborated on cultural policy for racial equity, social justice, and creative sustainability. He ran the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. He now creates affordable housing through community development projects. He says that nonprofit and public sector work is open source, “so take it, learn from it, use it, adaptively reuse it.” Hear Andie Grace ask him how we can make it work where we live. “When you go to the playa and you're in this decommodified environment, all you have is how you show up... I've learned how to approach community-building through collaboration and kindness, and a real spirit of genuine curiosity. As long as you stay curious, a lot can be possible.” LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Architecture as Poetry | 30 oct. 2025 | 00:46:06 | |
“I think therefore I am.” ~Descartes He’s a paradox embracer. In a world of binaries, he asserts that between black and white is not a gradient of gray; between black and white is all the conceivable colors. Hear him philosophize about different styles of art and artists, from avant garde to architecture, from Salvador Dalí to Frank Lloyd Wright. He and Stuart explore how a glittery clothespin alligator and a museum-grade sculpture both share the humanity of the giver. form4inc.com/person/johnmarx museumofnospectators.com
LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Ranger Keeper - Frontier Principal | 16 oct. 2025 | 00:59:26 | |
She’s a longtime senior leader of the Black Rock Rangers and the principal of the Gerlach K-12 School. Keeper lives year-round in Gerlach, one of the smallest and most remote towns in the US, and the closest community to Black Rock City. If you’re curious about Ranger learnings, check out the publicly available Ranger Conflict Resolution and De-escalation Training on Burning Man Hive. Ranger Takes Gerlach School from Remote Town to National Stage (Burning Man Journal) Class Trip to Black Rock City (Burning Man Journal) burningman.org Gerlach Black Rock Station LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Black Rock Observatory - From the Playa to the Planets | 04 oct. 2025 | 00:37:13 | |
Black Rock City has an airport, a hospital, a post office... and yes, an observatory! For a decade, the Black Rock Observatory has served as a portal to the cosmos, bringing deep space to the desert. Father-and-son Zoom and Robin Newhouse are at the helm of the observatory that houses several telescopes for viewing planets, galaxies, and even our sun. They offer a museum of meteorites that are billions of years old, and they even have custom tarot cards. The Observatory's theme camp serves as an expert nexus: It is home to Space Talks with physicists and professors who are usually only available within academic halls or behind NASA’s walls. And they even have Space Deck tarot cards! They bring these offerings to Burning Man Regional events, festivals, and eclipses worldwide, but they save the observatory structure itself for Black Rock City. Hear them share stories of science and spirituality, and how they garner shared humanity from the cosmic perspective that is viewable through this lens. They explore awe and expand perspective. It’s the hard work of building and running a theme camp made worthwhile in that single moment of cosmic connection. Listen in and look up! youtube.com/@Black-Rock-Observatory LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| 20 Years of Mutant Vehicles - Jon Sarriugarte & Zolie | 17 sept. 2025 | 00:44:07 | |
Recorded in Black Rock City, you can hear the grainy gravitas of their voices... For decades now, Jon Sarriugarte, Kyrsten Mate, their daughter and their team build mobile art. From a meter maid cart turned space shuttle, to a custom copper retro fire snail on wheels, their creations make up part of BRC's moving landscape. They built a trilobite to ride, a gilded golden zeppelin car, and a noir submarine buggy. Then there are the Serpent Twins. Back in 2011, when the playa glowed with now outdated EL wire, these 50-foot long slithering dragons rippled with color from a touch of their LED skin. What about this green insect rocket? Project: EMPIRE returned to BRC with more sights, sounds, and stories. It’s a NASA spaceship and a giant bug, a bewildering blend of art, engineering, and a delightfully conspiratorial backstory… On playa we tracked down Jon and his daughter Zolie who has been Burning her entire life. They shared stories of the absurd early days, and the adventure of navigating the desert in a two-ton masterpiece. We talked about bringing radical self-reliance to the default world, and the mechanics of a legacy built, piece by painstaking piece, in the name of art. formandreform.com/empire-of-dirt 20 Years of Mutant Vehicles (Burning Man Journal) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Desert Arts Preview - Hear the Stories | 22 août 2025 | 00:59:57 | |
Hear the stories of the art and artists. Black Rock City hosts 400 artworks from around the world. This episode features 12 of them, and this year’s Temple. This is a sonic journey of artist's recordings and chats with Burning Man Project's Director of Art, Katie Hazard. Desert Arts Preview is your chance to step behind the scenes and listen to the process of creating interactive, collaborative, community-built artworks. This episode explores:
Desert Arts Preview 2025 (burningman.org) Desert Arts Preview 2025 FULL LENGTH (YouTube) Temple of the Deep (Burning Man LIVE podcast) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Pro Tips for Black Rock City 2025 | 13 août 2025 | 01:08:39 | |
REMASTERED FOR 2025: Our most popular episode of all time. Listen in as longtime Burners talk about the dynamic aspects of thriving in Black Rock City: mental, physical, material, and relational.
and much more and other and new! Featuring cameos from 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 overwhelm you in a good way. LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Alexander Rose - Thought Experiments in Time | 07 août 2025 | 00:44:26 | |
Zander was the executive director of The Long Now Foundation, dedicated to long term thinking. He also helped build their library, a book club for the end of the world, with all the titles we would want to rebuild civilization, if needed. He is one of the brains behind the 10,000-Year Clock, designed to tick off the years, and chime the centuries. He’s now co-creating the future of the web at Automattic. He and his team are bringing a library to Black Rock City, to the World’s Fair pavilion under The Man. It’s a refreshing opposite. Like his theme camp inside a refrigerator truck NOT being hot, this library is about NOT being burnt. It’s an ephemeral manual for civilization. We the participants will choose what books to save from burning. Zander shares stories on the effects of books, websites, and rituals, as well as Burning Man’s past, present, and future. This episode is on YouTube here. BRC Honoraria Art (Burning Man Journal) A group for those who want to participate (Facebook) A Pavilion for Tomorrow Today (Burning Man Journal) wikipedia.org/Clock_of_the_Long_Now Kevin Kelly: Optimists Create the Future (Burning Man LIVE) Photo by Brendon Hall LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| AI in Art in Black Rock City | 23 juil. 2025 | 01:01:32 | |
AI is a context changer, a shaker upper, and a force multiplier to what our human minds can do. · Chad Elish — Verse-O-Matic · Kate Greenberg, Deva Temple, Eric Vicenti — "Out the Other" · Dr Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä, Kiana Kaiser, Michael Zeltner — Burning Stories & Burner AI This is transforming personal stories, creating unique dialogues between humans and the machines that reflect us, the good, the bad, and the ugly… and the beautiful… and the surprising. Burning Man LIVE: Dr Heikkilä and the Science of Participatory Culture Burning Man Journal: Burning Stories Research Team LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Kevin Kelly - Optimists Create the Future | 26 juin 2025 | 00:48:05 | |
Kevin Kelly is a leading thinker of the digital age. The founding editor of Wired Magazine, he helped produce the Whole Earth Catalog, and an early internet pillar called the WELL. He is a journalist, an artist, and a longtime member of the Burning Man community. He is a radical optimist. The future is a construct of the collective imagination. We see utopian stories as too pie-in-the-sky. We have a morbid curiosity for dystopian stories. What’s in between? Iterative improvement. Protopia. Delve into this conversation on cultural narratives, the transformative potential of AI, and the context shift into lifelong-learning. "It’s not that our problems are smaller than we thought, it’s just that our capacities to solve them are greater than we thought." wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Kelly_(editor) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Playa Music - From Bebop to Dubstep | 11 juin 2025 | 00:59:13 | |
Black Rock City's soundscape is a wild ride from Afro-punk to Zydeco. This episode explores the why and how of two styles:
Stuart, a self-proclaimed EDM newbie, gets a crash course from a DJ in the know. He chats with a legendary DJ about how Burning Man transmogrifies DJ culture into something utterly unique. It’s a refreshing deep dive for aficionados! Then, Allie spins the radio dial through BRC's sonic smorgasbord and tunes into jazz. For decades, the Playa Jazz Cafe has been hosting live musicians in a dreamy, pop-up club. Camp lead and "hack” jazz musician Neil Kelly shares stories of serendipity, alchemy, and in-the-moment vibes of jazz at Burning Man. What's the harmony between a big-name beat-dropper and a jazz flow pro? BRC magic cannot be bottled without a loss of taste and potency. You just gotta be there. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scumfrog LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Leo Villareal - Light Up the Dark | 23 mai 2025 | 00:34:23 | |
Leo is a pioneering light artist, bringing teams and tech together to activate buildings, bridges, and bastions. He started Burning in 1994, founded Disorient camp, and is part of Black Rock City every year. Here he shares his journey from crafting a single beacon at his tent to leading monumental art projects that reshaped skylines. He illuminated the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, the historic bridges of London, and projects everywhere from NYC to Tokyo. Join Leo and Stuart on how the open-source innovation of BRC impacts the default world. Leo shares his process for conjuring tech, from customizing LED fixtures to coding sequences. He describes how artists can engage with their communities outside of their comfort zones. He tells stories of the convening power of photons as an artistic medium, as a digital campfire for all. Hear him flip the switch, and stay until the brilliant end. villareal.net/urban-scale-artworks burningman.org/about/board-of-directors/#LeoVillareal LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Thunderdome's Leadership Lessons | 23 avr. 2025 | 00:39:58 | |
Thunderdome has been part of Black Rock City for 25 years. Marisa Winter has led it for most of that time. One need not experience it to benefit from the wisdom of a high-profile, high-intensity theme camp. Marisa and Stuart talk through the leadership structure and community practices that result in Thunderdome's chaotic harmony of performance, showmanship, and cathartic “consensual violence.” Marisa shares insights gleaned from decades of theme camp operation, like · Letting people make non-permanent mistakes allows them to own the lessons · Prioritizing community is never the wrong answer · Making hard decisions ASAP attracts quality people · How to schedule your crying day! Listen in on their laughter, and tolerate the cringe stories (that prove Thunderdome is not cosplay), and you will be rewarded with the inspiration and institutional knowledge of the infamous Death Guild Thunderdome. journal.burningman.org/author/diva-marisa playaevents.burningman.org/2024/playa_event/48007 https://burningman.org/programs/philosophical-center LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Theme Campers Unite | 09 avr. 2025 | 00:52:21 | |
Most people in Black Rock City live together in placed camps, aka theme camps, the most unique aspect of this unique event. BRC has 1200 camps. At the intersection of Communal Effort, Self-Expression, and Immediacy, theme camps gift a uniquely decommodified ‘third place’ of offerings and ambiance. At this annual symposium, staff and volunteers share how they gift their interactive camps to participants. There’s an art and a science to it. These highlights are about the art of it.
and a keen crew of Placement Team volunteers
Hear how it started, how it’s going, and how Burners create these unique and interactive passion projects. Camps and Placement | Burning Man Placement: About Us & Volunteering Camp Support Team | Burning Man De-bureaucratizing Your Burn (Burning Man LIVE 2025) Charlie Dolman · The Dust is in the Details (Burning Man LIVE 2022) Dark Angel of Black Rock & Restoration Destiny (Burning Man LIVE 2020) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| The Gift of Food and Solar Power | 26 mars 2025 | 00:55:24 | |
Solar power is simple now, thanks in part to Burners who gift the power of the sun. The Burners in this episode also gift steamed rolls with savory fillings, called bao — so much delicious bao. The theme camp “Bao Chicka Wow Wow” has been a part of Black Rock City for a decade. Its campmates share the prosperity of bao with artist groups, volunteer teams, and participants lucky enough to find their camp or their pop-up “restaurant row,” all powered by custom solar kits. David Hau (Chairman Bao), Marcus De Paula (Next Level), and their campmates also refined their solar systems to power a charging station for EVs and e-Mutant Vehicles. They share their learnings with neighboring camps, the Temple Builders Guild, and us right here in this episode. This is how to wean off gas generators, or bring more power to your offerings at BRC, your Regional event, your home, or even the collapse of civilized civilization. This conversation is lively and informative. It’s a feel-good story set for foodies and those of us growing into gifting and solar energy. Burning Man 2025: Tomorrow Today Burning Man Inspires Sustainable Solutions Worldwide (Burning Man Journal) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| BRC Art Preview with Katie Hazard | 14 mars 2025 | 00:47:22 | |
Explore the magic monuments of Black Rock City 2025. Katie Hazard, Director of Art, leads the selection, placement, and installation of artwork, and she leads Burning Man's art grant selection committees. The ARTery is in the center of Black Rock City, slightly offset like the human heart. It’s the epicenter of art support for nearly 400 art pieces, from towering sculptures to immersive environments. Before these art projects are sourced, crafted, and assembled with everything from hot glue to heavy equipment, they are first conceptualized by artists and engineers. Burning Man’s Honoraria project grants 76 of these art projects about half of the funding they need, a total of $1.3 million. Katie and Stuart explore how to foster accessibility and agency in artist groups. They describe some of the installations coming this summer, from interactive Sphinxes to a sphere of sinks, from a lost troll of sustainability to a fire-spinning pigeon. Some of the experiences include:
Listen in on this sonic journey of how Burner art is co-created and curated, and how BRC’s surreal skyline is taking shape. Introducing 2025 BRC Honoraria Art (Burning Man Journal) Black Rock City Honoraria Program Katie Hazard (Burning Man Journal) 2025 Art Theme: Tomorrow Today Burning Man Art Installation Archive LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| De-bureaucratizing Your Burn | 26 févr. 2025 | 00:57:13 | |
Legend whispers of a time when Burning Man was a lawless Eden, a fiery playground of unbridled do-ocracy; no rules, just pure creative chaos. But as Black Rock City has grown into a thriving metropolis, so has the need for structure. We've gone from jokey forms for an ‘artistic license’ to complex permit obligations. We’ve gone from giving ourselves permission to taking on a system that can feel overwhelming. How can we better balance radical self-expression with the necessities of a city? How can we purge bureaucracy, or are all those old rules essential for safety and sustainability? This episode delves into the "agonizing reappraisal" within the Burning Man Project, a movement to streamline processes and discard red tape. Stuart explores the dusty trail from Black Rock City's anarchic origins to the sign marked 2025. He talks with Louder Charlie, the Operations Director of the whole place. He also talks with Chef Juke of the DMV Council, and Level Placerman, Manager of the Placement team. Here’s a sneak peek behind the scenesters who are preserving the unique magic while navigating the complexities of growth, and how they ensure that the spirit of creation remains accessible to all. Is it possible to balance the wild heart of Burner culture and the grown-up practices of a city? We’re about to find out. The Camp Symposium - March 22, 2025 The Department of Mutant Vehicles Bureaucracy (Burning Man Journal) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Rising Sparks - Bridging Burner Generations | 12 févr. 2025 | 00:42:29 | |
Mutant vehicles! Theme camps! Art experiences! It all emanates from the community… overlapping circles of people who are everywhere between being newcomers and seasoned, local and global, young and old. Andie Grace talks with next-gen Burners Taylor Andrews, Kat Ebert, Mani Senthil, and Whitney Wilhelmy about how to find your crew like you never thought possible. They break down barriers and clear pathways through an initiative called “Rising Sparks” which demystifies BRC and Regional events, and guides Burners to get more from the magic. They explore the art of participation:
Hear how they claim their place and shape the future. "Rising Sparks is a grassroots collective fostering intergenerational collaboration, connection, and cultural continuity within Burning Man. We cultivate community-driven spaces where emerging leaders, newcomers, and seasoned Burners can connect, dream big, and contribute to the future of Burning Man—both within Black Rock City and globally. Our mission is to inspire participation, address barriers to entry, and cultivate leadership across generations by providing mentorship, community-driven tools, and creative collaboration opportunities. We are igniting the next generation of artists, leaders, and changemakers by stewarding an accessible, culturally diverse, and evolving Burning Man culture." burningman.org/about-us/who-we-are/rising-sparks LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Temple of the Deep - Miguel Arraiz García | 29 janv. 2025 | 00:43:00 | |
Hundreds of people create the temple in Black Rock City. It’s a community intent on creating a work of art that is a space for people to grieve and revive. For the first few years of Black Rock City we didn't have a temple. Now, people can't imagine living without it. Each year, participants create messages, tributes, and altars for who and what they want to release. The event culminates with the burning of the temple in what organically evolved to be a silent Burn. Listen to Stuart talk with Miguel Arraiz García, the lead artist for this year’s “Temple of the Deep.” Hear stories about how a temple is built, from crew selection to fundraising, from chances taken to lessons learned. This poetic and playful conversation exemplifies how this year’s temple is already healing. Miguel says, “We are always looking for the answers above us. I was trying to make something just to look for the answer between us or among us. So it is not that much building a temple, it is more building like a shelter for emotions, a safe space where you can be with people.” Burning Man Journal: Introducing the 2025 Temple TempleGuardians.burningman.org Burning Man Journal: Tomorrow Today
LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Will Heegaard and Footprint Project - From BRC to NGO | 15 janv. 2025 | 00:49:29 | |
Disasters happen. Communities come together to recover and rebuild. Governments and NGOs help however they know how. Will Heegaard sees every disaster as a chance to build back greener. His non-profit provides power and water from nature. He helped with disaster relief from hurricanes in Florida, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico. And he taught himself to create power and water from nature while serving as a paramedic in Black Rock City. These adventure stories include laughter and levity in learning. Burning Man Project: Philosophical Center LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| A People's History of Burning Man - Volume 3 | 24 déc. 2024 | 00:59:58 | |
Back again by popular demand: more tales 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. Hear stories of early technology on the playa, in Silicon Valley, and on the internet. · Andie Grace, aka Actiongrl, interviews from the vantage of having co-created Burning Man’s world of communications, from Media Mecca to this very podcast. Laughing Squid: Burning Man 1996 Netcast journal.burningman.org/philosophical-center burningman.org/programs/philosophical-center Burning Man Live: A People’s History of Burning Man - Volume 2 Burning Man Live: A People’s History of Burning Man - Volume 1 LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Chip Conley - Unexpected Gifts | 11 déc. 2024 | 00:46:27 | |
He is a celebrated author, entrepreneur, leadership maven, and a founding Board Member of Burning Man Project. He’s a serial contributor to the culture and the cause. In this episode, Chip and Stuart explore how to use the 10 Principles to make conversations interesting and how a description of Black Rock City always becomes a riddle. They resist the urge to quiz newbies on the 10 Principles, while they also say that Burners should not take themselves too seriously. They try on the notion that nothing matters and everything’s humorous. They make sense of big ideas like collective effervescence, emotional equations, and the need for aesthetics and beauty. They talk about a deep diversity of ritual gatherings around the world, and the influence of the global community emanating from Regional Burns. They tell stories about all this and more, and somehow it all flows. wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Conley LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Burning without Going to Burning Man | 27 nov. 2024 | 00:53:09 | |
Burners often speak about the work it takes to prepare their art, art car, or camp for Black Rock City, but for many, it doesn’t end there. A project sparked in the desert or at Regional Events can take on a life of its own, continuing year-round in surprising ways. What happens when a camp or mutant vehicle takes a break from Black Rock City? After all the Communal Effort devoted to their playa project, do they even know how to stop? Apparently not... and the world benefits. kbot and Stuart speak with people who pressed pause on producing in Black Rock City, only to put their time, imagination, and heart into projects that build a better world.
Their stories share a theme: the 10 Principles (and playa-born fortitude) inspire their year-round endeavors. LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Tom Price - From the Playa to the Planet | 13 nov. 2024 | 00:50:18 | |
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! 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) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| 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 LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| 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: burningman.org/podcast/burning-man-is-not-a-place LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| 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. https://burningman.org/event/participate/volunteering/teams LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| David Silverman: So That's How That Started | 18 sept. 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 LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| In Paiute Country: The Numa of Pyramid Lake | 21 août 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. LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| The Future of Burning Man | 07 août 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 LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| I Was Just Leaving... No Trace | 24 juil. 2024 | 00:54:45 | |
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:
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 DA on Restoration Destiny (Burning Man LIVE) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Art That Inflames | 10 juil. 2024 | 00:49:39 | |
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. 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) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Live to Burn Another Day | 26 juin 2024 | 00:50:34 | |
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:
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 LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||
| Desert Arts Preview: Art of the Curious | 12 juin 2024 | 00:49:43 | |
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 Desert Arts Preview 2024 (burningman.org) Desert Arts Preview 2024 (YouTube) Introducing the 2024 Honoraria Burning Man Journal) The Burning Man Theme: Curiouser & Curiouser LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG | |||