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Published by Burning Man Project
Meet those who make Burning Man happen, beyond the desert and out in the world. Artists, activists, and innovators. Builders and Burners, freaks and fools. Burning Man floats on a sea of stories, and the Burning Man LIVE podcast is a plucky little boat with a microphone.
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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 www.imdb.com/title/tt29033873 wikipedia.org/Jehane_Noujaim journal.burningman.org/author/marian LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
5 leaders from the 5 Regional Burns of Australia! They focus on collaboration more than contraptions, connection more than complexity. Aurora, Tasmania: Lara, aka Squeaky Queen, on the logistics of being an island off an island. Blazing Swan, Western Australia: Shaz on navigating extreme weather with 3,700 friends. Burning Seed, New South Wales: Leanna, aka Mama, on restructuring into a member-owned organization. Modifyre, Queensland: Chau on the bonds built with a 10% annual growth cap. Underland, Victoria: Marty on trading a "crisis of imagination" for accountability. 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. auroraburn.org.au www.burningseed.com blazingswan.com.au www.modifyre.org underland.au burningman.org/global/burning-man-regional-network/australia LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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: Illumination Village - an early and long running home-within-a-home at Black Rock City The Flaming Lotus Girls - the all-volunteer, women-led art collective The Box Shop - a collaborative workspace and art studio of 23 years and counting 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://boxshopsf.org https://www.flaminglotus.com https://www.illuminationvillage.org LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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 How to acculturate festival consumers with sacred and profane initiations How to land an epic effigy show using theatrics when under a summer burn ban How to have Black Rock City closer to home 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://otherworld.ca https://burningman.org/global-events-groups https://burningman.org/burning-man-regional-network LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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
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 talk.theborderland.se/main burningman.org/global-events-groups/burning-man-regional-network alversjo.land 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 cobudget.com LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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 Fowler of Gate Magpie of Gate Neon Glimmer of PEERS Papa Bear of Placement Razzmatazz of Placement Rex on the Radio of DMV T-Fire of Bureau of Erotic Discourse Vesper Bell of the Camp Support Team Wild Wes of Burners Without Borders 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 Burners Without Borders Green Theme Camp Community Gate, Perimeter & Exodus Department of Mutant Vehicles PEERS: Placement’s Exploration & Engagement Research Squad Bureau of Erotic Discourse WATCH THE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/irkEajUVRgI LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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." retro-futurist.com spacemansam.substack.com obtainiumworks.net nss.org/book-review-creature-comforts-in-space youtube.com/@spaceman.sam.coniglio LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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. Collaborating to create local community without a blueprint Celebrating Burning Man culture is a backstop for a polarized world Finding resilience under pressure in the art of radical integrity "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 BURNING MAN LIVE ON YOUTUBE www.burningflipside.com burningman.org/global-events-groups www.trippingly.net/burning-man-musings/tag/George+Paap LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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: One part ‘for the love of it’ spirit One part skills we already have Blend until smooth. Enjoy what new ideas can happen when we all put our heads together. burnerswithoutborders.org/2025-regional-event-grant www.luxcapacitor.art sdyoutopia.com sdcolab.org www.precipitationnw.org/burnon soakpdx.com LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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
It's absurd. It perturbs. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (And boy has it been a year!) Following in the footsteps of show-biz luminaries like Stephen Colbert, Jon Stuart, and the cast of Star Wars, we hosted a (non-denominational) holiday show in front of a live online pseudo-studio audience in 2020. Broadcasting from their snowed-in virtual holiday cabins, Stuart and Andie entertained guests: · Santa Zero - originator of the now-infamous SantaCon phenomenon · Mrs. Claus - founder of Burning Man’s first theme camp, Christmas Camp · Tubatron and his Flaming Tuba playing a Hanukkah song (David Silverman) · Reverend Billy and Savitri D of the Stop Shopping Choir And it wouldn’t be the holiday season without Caveat Magister selling us on Decommodification. Join us for · how Krampus cramps us · how COVID is an 8-foot-tall dominatrix · how “Gifting” is so close to “Grifting” · how the Cacophony Society is sooo Kumbaya in 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
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. How does Michael follow intuition more than a thesis? How does he discover the meaning of his art only after he has built it? How did ‘out of the box’ thinking become a 30 year career? These questions are answered with more questions in this episode right here. https://www.michaelchristian.com LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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. roothub.com leftoverloveco.com fullcirclesolutionshi.com burningman.org/black-rock-city/infrastructure/dept-of-public-works LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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.” thirdwaycreative.com/team watershedcommunity.org LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
“I think therefore I am.” ~Descartes John Jennifer adds: I care therefore we are… and you cannot think your way to ‘we’ He is a poet, an architect, and a cultural instigator. He helped create The Museum of No Spectators which includes Burning Man art of snark and social justice, but no velvet ropes. 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. They explore playa art — genre-defying, genre-defining — and the value of both fine art and participatory art at Burning Man. They explore how creative expression went from being seen as a hobby to a human need, and how creative community proliferates. Listen in on their profound and playful chat. 🎙️🔥 form4inc.com/person/johnmarx museumofnospectators.com LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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. In this storytelling episode, she shares her unique perspective on blending the worlds of Burning Man and rural life. She tells the tales of keeping the town’s school open after the local mine closed, transforming it into an all-ages institution of families. She shares about how locals offer a year-round outpost for helping townsfolk and visitors stay safe and thrive. Keeper’s dual roles—Ranger and Principal—are deeply informed by the principles of Gifting, Civic Responsibility, and Radical Inclusion. Woven in is the philosophy of building supportive environments where everyone feels they “belong here.” How? And how does a school that is barely on the map support its kids to be local ambassadors and worldly humans? Hear how now! And in the words of Ranger Keeper (and Bill & Ted), be excellent to each other! Black Rock Rangers If you’re curious about Ranger learnings, check out the publicly available Ranger Conflict Resolution and De-escalation Training on Burning Man Hive. gerlach.washoeschools.net 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 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! www.blackrockobservatory.com youtube.com/@Black-Rock-Observatory LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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 www.jonsarriugarte.com projectempire.org oilpunk.com 20 Years of Mutant Vehicles (Burning Man Journal) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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: The Sphinx Gate - Mareesa Stertz & Tania Abdul Sinksphere - Scott (Scottysoltronic) Whitaker Afterlife Reincarnate - Adrian (Blitzy) Tay Resilience - Whitney Webb Moonlight Library - James Gwertzman (Moonlight Collective) Desert Air Oasis: BreathCore 7 - Elnara Nasirli (MXNZM) One Tin Soldier - Mark Deem (Misfit Toy Crew) Black Rock City Chicken Ranch - Rob Brown, Alysha Cypher, & Aviva Kinoko Disco Snail - Alyssa Oliveira (Alpine Artists Collective) DROP - Auli Uiboupin Pillar of Po Tolo - Antwane Lee (Solar Shrine Collective) Rose Wonders - Thomas Dambo Temple of the Deep - Miguel Arraiz Desert Arts Preview 2025 (burningman.org) Desert Arts Preview 2025 FULL LENGTH (YouTube) Temple of the Deep (Burning Man LIVE podcast) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG
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