Life is a Festival

This is a big one for Life is a Festival. Today I’m releasing an interview I conducted a few weeks ago with Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man.  On the show, we talk about whether Burning Man is—as is fervently contested—a festival or if we should protect the unique event from that label. We spend the first 20 minutes talking about Marian’s life and how she first came to the Black Rock Desert. We discuss Burning Man’s cultural course correction, how radical inclusivity must now be proactive racial inclusivity, and Burning Man’s 2030 Sustainability Roadmap which has been accelerated by taking a year off from the desert. The most important aspect of our conversation focuses on the financial needs of the Burning Man Project, and how we as a community and global culture can pitch in to keep Black Rock City alive. Marian is one of Burning Man’s 6 cofounders and currently serves as CEO of the nonprofit. Her previous roles with the organization include Director of Business and Communications and head of the Black Rock City Department of Public Works. Marian received a BA in Creative Writing from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland and an MFA in photography from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She first came to Burning Man as a participant in 1995. LINKS Burning Man: https://burningman.org/ Buy Your Burning Man ticket: https://donate.burningman.org/ Kindling: https://kindling.burningman.org/ Marian on the Math & Magic Podcast: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-math-magic-31150153/episode/marian-goodell-in-this-day-and-56225719/ Is Burning Man Over? An Interview with the CEO of Burning Man - Marian Goodell (Burn.life): https://www.burn.life/blog/interview-with-the-ceo-of-burning-man-marian-goodell Black Burner Project: https://www.gofundme.com/f/black-burner-project TIMESTAMPS :06 - Is Burning Man a festival? :14 - How Marian was first drawn to Burning Man after seeing a photo :20 - How Marian learned fiscal responsibility from her Republican father :26 - The state of Burning Man’s finances :36 - How we can support Burning Man right now :48 - Why Burning Man issued a “Cultural Course Correction” in 2018 :55 - Radical racial inclusivity from the perfect of the Burning Man organization, the event, and the global culture. 1:12 - Burning Man’s Environmental Sustainability Roadmap 1:19 - The Multiverse isn’t Black Rock City but it is an enormous opportunity for Burners. 1:29 - Marian believes festival culture is part of what will save society because they teach us to trust each other 1:35 - How’d the podcast go?

Today’s episode of Life is a Festival unfolds through two different audio experiences and much like Burning Man’s Multiverse, I invite you, dear listener to enjoy one or both of these diverging moments. The first podcast takes place in the traditional Life is a Festival format, the second is a conversation recorded from the new audio social network Clubhouse (currently in beta testing). My guest for both experiences is my friend Damian Madray, the founder of PRESENCE, which is part of the infrastructure behind Infinite Playa, one of Burning Man’s multiverses. In this iteration, Damian and I attend to our Clubhouse audience and seek to inspire real participation in the Multiverse as an acculturation tool to Burning Man’s values. We speak of co-creating rather than consuming experiences and how to be a vibe creator in this new world of visual Burning. Damian is passionate about scaling human connection. An alum of Singularity University, and long time congregator through his Glint Salons in San Francisco, Damian is the perfect person to speak of the power of Burning Man’s Multiverse as a portal to the broader metaverse that is unfolding in digital space everywhere at once. He founded PRESENCE to help creators to bring people into experiences that connect in meaningful ways. His work has been featured in the New York Times, The Bold Italic, Huffington Post, Slate, WSJ, and the Financial Times. Through Burning Man’s Multiverse, we will witness human connection unfolding in the virtual through time and space, but it’s up to us to participate in this unfolding. As you step into any of the 8 official multiverse realms, we invite you, “Ask not what burn the multiverse can give to you, but how you can burn in the Multiverse.” LINKS Enter the Multiverse: https://kindling.burningman.org/multiverse/ PRESENCE: https://withpresence.com/ Damian Madray: https://medium.com/@themadray/about-damian-f3b1fda29dda TIMESTAMPS: :05 - Framing a digital experience to create the possibility for intimacy :11 - The acculturation of a pilgrimage :16 - Damian explores some of the different multiverses including Build-a-Burn (Youtopia), The Bridge Experience (Metaburn), and Infinite Playa :27 - Co-creating an experience rather than consuming an experience :34 - Don’t come to the multiverse to get a burn, come to give a burn :37 - Damian describes his platform PRESENCE :42 - The onboarding process for multiverse is decentralized :50 - See yourself as a vibe creator and an embodiment of the principles

Today’s episode of Life is a Festival unfolds through two different audio experiences and much like Burning Man’s Multiverse, I invite you, dear listener to enjoy one or both of these diverging moments. The first podcast takes place in the traditional Life is a Festival format, the second is a conversation recorded from the new audio social network Clubhouse (currently in beta). My guest for both experiences is my friend Damian Madray, the founder of PRESENCE, which is part of the infrastructure behind Infinite Playa, one of Burning Man’s multiverses. In this iteration we we get to know Damian, from his parties and salons in San Francisco to his recent naturalization as a US citizen. We go deep on the distinction between multiverse and metaverse, we chat about type 1 and type 2 fun, and Damian provides a preview of what we can expect from Infinite Playa. Damian is passionate about scaling human connection. An alum of Singularity University, and long time congregator through his Glint Salons in San Francisco, Damian is the perfect person to speak of the power of Burning Man’s Multiverse as a portal to the broader metaverse that is unfolding in digital space everywhere at once. He founded PRESENCE to help creators to bring people into experiences that connect in meaningful ways. His work has been featured in the New York Times, The Bold Italic, Huffington Post, Slate, WSJ, and the Financial Times. Through Burning Man’s Multiverse, we will witness human connection unfolding in the virtual through time and space, but it’s up to us to participate in this unfolding. As you step into any of the 8 official multiverse realms, we invite you, “Ask not what burn the multiverse can give to you, but how you can burn in the Multiverse.” LINKS Enter the Multiverse: https://kindling.burningman.org/multiverse/ PRESENCE: https://withpresence.com/ Damian Madray: https://medium.com/@themadray/about-damian-f3b1fda29dda TIMESTAMPS :15 - Damian’s background and recent naturalization as a US citizen :20 - Experience is how consciousness unfolds through space and time :22 - From throwing underground parties, to attending Singularity University, Damian’s background in experience design :29 - The multiverse and the metaverse :35 - Talking about Infinite Playa :42 - How do we navigate the difference realms of the Multiverse? :49 - Can people still participate as creators? :53 - The biggest challenges facing Burning Man’s Multiverse :59 - Type 1 and Type 2 Fun 1:06 - How will connecting with Burning Man’s multiverse impact the broader metaverse?

On the second episode of the [in Community] series, I’m speaking to my friend Tony Cho, an unconventional real estate developer in Miami. Tony grew up in the Kashi Ashram, where he was adopted by his grandmother, the guru Ma Jaya, and has gone on to work on innovative projects inspired by the joie de vivre of Burning Man. On the show we talk about magic and place, from the ashram to Argentina and from Wynwood Arts to Magic City. We discuss gentrification and how to listen and learn from the communities you serve. Tony shares why he’s focusing on regenerative cities and also developing an eco-retreat center beside the ashram where he once slept on the temple floor. Tony Cho, is the founder and CEO of Metro 1, dedicated to revitalizing neighborhoods in the urban core of South Florida. He is one of the original pioneers of the Wynwood Arts District that helped popularize street art in Miami. He is the co-founder of Magic City, an innovation district in Little Haiti, as well as ChoZen, a retreat center on the St. Sebastian River. LINKS Magic City Innovation District: https://magiccitydistrict.com/ ChoZen Retreat Center: https://www.chozenretreat.com/ Metro 1: https://www.metro1.com/ TIMESTAMPS :05 - Community and service from the Ashram to Argentina :15 - What skills does it take to create community wherever you go :16 - A love of magical spaces :21 - The story of Magic City in Miami :29 - Gentrification and inclusion :37 - Why Tony is investing in cities :44 - Creating a life like a festival in a regenerative city :55 - What would Tony’s grandmother guru think of his work and life today?

Today on Life is a Festival I am interviewing my brother, Quinn Armstrong! Quinn’s first feature film, Survival Skills, is playing on demand as part of Fantasia Film Festival starting on August 20th. This interview was recorded after the film’s debut at Cinequest back in February. However, with the advent of coronavirus, Quinn’s expected festival run was put on hold. Now with festivals going digital, Survival Skills is back on the circuit and available for your viewing pleasure. Survival Skills is a dark and quirky cop drama based around 1980s police training videos and shot in VHS. The film, which Quinn wrote and directed, explores ideas of masculinity and heroism in the Reagan era with a focus on the difficult matter of policing domestic violence cases. DV prevention is an issue that Quinn has dedicated significant time to as a volunteer with Peace Over Violence, a sexual and domestic violence prevention center. On the show, we talk about making a film in VHS and everything that goes into getting a feature into a film festival. We discuss how Quinn finds meaning in narrative filmmaking and his dream of creating a boutique production house in Seattle to help new filmmakers get their work out into the world. We share a few tender and silly moment and while Quinn and I are very different people we both put community at the core of our missions. LINKS Survival Skills on demand at Fantasia Film Festival https://fantasiafestival.com/en/film/survival-skills Survival Skills Website: https://www.survivalskillsmovie.com/ Survival Skills Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=w0StnG_gd5Y Quinn Armstrong’s Website: http://www.qarmstrong.com/ Quinn on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2958731/ Peace Over Violence: https://www.peaceoverviolence.org/ TIMESTAMPS :08 - How Quinn used magnets and knives on 40 VHS players to create his fringe picture Survival Skills. :17 - Plot of Survival Skills :23 - Critiquing “the Hero” archetype in media :31 - Creation and the internal *film* critic. :34 - How Quinn made a feature film :42 - How to enter a film into a film festival… and why? :51 - Quinn’s next movie: “Dead Teenagers” 1:03 - Happiness, meaning, and the mulch of human evolution 1:14 - Once again it’s all about community 1:19 - Quinns advice to young filmmakers

Today I’m excited to announce a new mini-series within Life is a Festival about communities and land-based projects where we can live our most expressed lives. In a time of isolation and global change, without the festivals, ceremonies, and other gatherings we have used to grow together, many of us are looking to build or join communities that cultivate that particular serendipitous convergence we have felt at places like Burning Man. Starting with today’s episode I will be interviewing some of the people who are experimenting with and stewarding such projects about their life stories and particular wisdom. Longer dives on personal growth through a festival lens will continue as well, including an upcoming interview with Burning Man CEO Marian Goodell. As the first episode of this series I am speaking to my friend Jonny Jenkins, a visionary who is leading the creation of a large-scale art park outside of Denver Colorado called Everland. I had the privilege of staying at Everland for two weeks and while this is an early stage project, the land itself, the existing infrastructure, and what they’ve already accomplished is inspiring. On the show we talk about Jonny’s commitment to community from his Christian upbringing to Burning Man and how a near death experience inspired him to make his dream a reality. We discuss Everland’s commitment to radical inclusivity and the amazing team involved. We chat about some of the art and artists already committed to the project and how you or an artist you nominate might participate. Finally, Jonny shares the unique challenges and opportunities of the project and some of his uplifting poetry. Everland is an Eco-Retreat and Immersive Art Park in Colorado. You can learn more, support the project, or submit your art at Everland.co. May we all find Everland! LINKS Everland Eco-Retreat & Immersive Art Park: https://www.everland.co/ Everland Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/everlandco/everland-eco-retreat-and-immersive-art-park Archipelago Clubs: https://www.archipelagoclubs.com/ Previous episodes mentioned on the show Fly Ranch: https://www.eamonarmstrong.com/lifeisafestival/zac-cirivello Meow Wolf: https://www.eamonarmstrong.com/lifeisafestival/vince-kadlubek Punta Mona: https://www.eamonarmstrong.com/lifeisafestival/stephen-brooks TIMESTAMPS :09 - Jonny’s connection with community from his Christian upbringing to Burning Man :18 - How spaces create community, like the Archipelago club in Denver. :23 - How is Everland approaching real radical inclusivity? :28 - How a near death experience in Taiwan led to the founding of Everland :35 - Jonny shares some of the art planned for the property and also how artists can get involved. :42 - Financing Everland :48 - The Everland Team 1:04 - Advice and challenges of founding Everland 1:08 - Jonny’s Poetry

Today’s topic is a challenging one. A few weeks ago, numerous allegations surfaced regarding sexual misconduct by two prominent male musicians in the festival world: Lorin Ashton (ie Bassnectar) and Nahko, who I interviewed on this podcast last month. At the time of the allegations I decided to remove that podcast from my catalogue pending an accountability process. To make sense of this cultural moment, I invited my good friend and mentor in men’s work, Ian Mackenzie, back to the podcast to explore the theme of sexual predation through an archetypal lens. On the show, Ian offers a mythopoetic understanding of patterns of abuse in our culture specifically through the archetype of the Addicted Lover. We discuss restorative justice and the challenges of applying it to cases like this. We talk about our modern lack of the village, and the importance of initiating young men to understand the consequences of their actions. We discuss Cancel Culture as a kind of exiling that doesn’t serve to heal the wounds of predation or allow our communities to truly learn from our mistakes. Finally we look at the parts of ourselves that we wish to exile and the perils of losing intimacy with our darkest places. This conversation is simply two men wondering aloud about the causes of and solutions to sexual abuse. This is by no means an exhaustive analysis and we welcome any feedback to our conversation in the Life is a Festival Facebook group. There are also two prominent women in our community, Tina Malia and Elana Meta, who have written very powerful and public Facebook posts on this subject which are linked to in the show notes. Ian Mackenzie is the host of a stellar podcast called the Mythic Masculine. He is a documentary filmmaker whose works include Amplify Her, Scared Economics, Occupy Love, and the upcoming film Love School about the Tamera community in Portugal. If you feel moved by his work, please consider supporting Ian’s Patreon at patron.com/ianmack LINKS Ian Mackenzie: https://www.ianmack.com/ Ian’s Patereon https://www.patreon.com/ianmack Tina Malia’s post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2615226038736823 Elana Meta’s post: https://www.facebook.com/elanametajaroff/posts/10218498800325847 TIMESTAMPS :07 - Ian’s background in men’s work as a documentary filmmaker and podcast host. :13 - A definition of predation :17 - Our understanding of the allegations raised against Nahko and Bassnectar :23 - The consequences of the lack of initiation for young men in modern culture :28 - The archetype of the Addicted Lover :34 - The problem with Cancel Culture :40 - Our modern lack of a village :46 - The difficulties of applying restorative justice on a large scale :51 - What does it take to create a real community? :56 - The literacy of desire 1:00 - The patriarchal energy of the archetype of the tyrant father

The Teafaerie, like God herself, is never serious but always sincere. She has facilitated psychedelic peer support at festivals since her work with Rock Med in the 90s, and boy does she have some stories to tell. On the show, we talk about the art of trip sitting and how we can see a difficult trip as an emergence, not an emergency. We discuss how to protect ourselves from conspiracy theories, personal mythologies, and the psychedelic renaissance itself. Finally, we end by asking, if the global pandemic is like a bad trip, how would the the Teafaerie turn our dark night of the soul into “psychedelic benefit enhancement”? In fact, stay tuned for an addendum after the outro, where the Teafaerie goes a little deeper on how to trip sit America. The Teafaerie gets her name from the fabled “Tea Time” of the Rainbow Gathering, a pirate tea house of no minor psychedelic repute. She writes the Teatime column on the psychedelic website Erowid and has been trip sitting wayward psychonauts in one form or another since the 90s. If you happen to be suffering from a little post-ecstatic bliss disorder, sit down and join us for some tea. LINKS
Teatime on Erowid https://erowid.org/columns/teafaerie/ Tea Time at Rainbow Gathering: https://kitchensofrainbow.org/tea-time/ Ruespieler YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeYOS3W6aVelr9x2zHqITyg TIMESTAMPS :05 - Serving Psychedelic Emergence :15 - Adventures in harm reduction from Rock Med in the 90s to drug testing today :23 - How will the medicalization of psychedelics change how drugs are taken recreationally? :29 - How do you trust the truth of your psychedelic experience :36 - How do you protect yourself in a suggestible psychedelic state :52 - There’s conspiracy a plenty but they are endlessly frustrated by chaos :58 - How do we protect psychedelics from the psychedelic renaissance? 1:04 - Trip sitting tips from two decades of psychedelic benefit enhancement 1:19 - The pandemic as a psychedelic experience 1:25 - Addendum on trip sitting America

“Someone who creates a practice tradition this vast is someone who can't survive in the world as it is.” Today on Life is a Festival, Zhenevere Sophia Dao returns to the show to share, for the first time, the story of her transgender emergence during sixteen months of silence in the Jemez Mountains. We discuss what Zhenevere calls the “Transgender Necessity” wherein transgender people ask society to wake up to the magnitude of their own desire. We talk about MogaDao as a collection of artful practices to sensitize the human organism and why sensitivity makes life valuable. We also discuss my own exploration of my feminine self, and Zhenevere explains why sexuality is not a puzzle to be solved. We finish the conversation with a recitation from Zhenevere’s Hamlette, a retelling of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy. MogaDao is a galaxy of Post-Daoist practices and philosophy created by Zhenevere and taught at the Mogadao Institute in Santa Fe New Mexico, my hometown and where I studied “The Erotic Basis of Being” in the summer of 2018. So come along as we follow the wild mountain shepherdess through an erotic dance with the invisible world. LINKS MogaDao Institute: https://www.mogadaoinstitute.com/ 20 Questions, Hamlette, and the Transgender Necessity | Zhen Dao | TEDxBerkeley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoTpMpM72-U&t=938s TIMESTAMP :13 - Sensitivity in speaking about transgender identity and how anger only comes when we insist upon misunderstanding :20 - Why “what would be a home run podcast?” isn’t a very interesting question :28 - The Shepherdess in the Jemez Mountains :37 - Eamon and erotic fiction :42 - Peak experiences might actually be looking for us :47 - The MogaDao artful practices of sensitizing the human organism :53 - Sensitivity makes life valuable and makes it impossible to be tempted by lesser satisfactions :59 - It’s where your mountain is, not where your desire is 1:06 - The Transgender Necessity 1:14 - Femininity is not a tool to administer to masculine mistakes 1:25 - Post-Daoist perspective of Yin and Yang 1:36 - Sexuality is not a puzzle of identity to be solved 1:44 - Does becoming Zhenevere mean arrival? 1:55 - Hamlette, Zhenevere’s reimagining of Shakespeare

You know that oceanic feeling of Oneness you first discovered during that beatific acid journey at Burning Man? Cognitive liberty is a beautiful thing, everyone should have the right to experiment with psychedelics safely. But what methamphetamines? Opiates? Or even cigarettes? Do these lifestyle choices deserve the same support and safety? If these cases seem incongruent, Mohawk the Educator has some lessons for you. Today’s episode is all about the philosophy of harm reduction. On the show we talk about some specific types of harm reduction for example nutrient stacking before taking MDMA. We discuss DanceSafe, the popular peer-led harm reduction organization for whom Mohawk founded a New York chapter in 2013. We talk about bringing harm reduction to the LGBTQ+ community and what it means to provide peer support to different populations. We also go really deep on GHB, (Gamma-hydroxybutyrate), a sedative intoxicant that can help with sleep and (ahem) enhance the libido. Mohawk is passionate about supporting underserved, marginalized populations that are users of psychoactive substances. In addition to their work with DanceSafe, Mohawk gives college lectures, public presentations, and panel talks, and otherwise spreads awareness of harm reduction philosophy as a tool of liberation. Our liberation is bound up together and all people deserve health and safety, regardless of their lifestyle. LINKS Mohawk the Educator: https://mohawktheeducator.com/ Mohawk’s Instagram: instagram.com/mohawktheeducator Mohawk’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mohawktheeducator DanceSafe: https://dancesafe.org Harm Reduction Coalition: https://harmreduction.org/ Festival Wellness Supplements: https://festivalwellness.com/ Bunk Police: https://bunkpolice.com/ History of the Drug War, Colonization, & Racism Panel: https://www.psychsems.com/episodes/history-drug-war-colonization-racism TIMESTAMPS :06 - Mohawk’s plumage :17 - The gentrification of the dance music scene :28 - The key philosophy of harm reduction i :40 - Legal substances can be harmful too :46 - How Mohawk started a DanceSafe chapter in New York in 2013 :50 - How to stack vitamins for nutrient deficiency when taking MDMA 1:01 - The unique role of harm reduction for the LGBTQ+ community 1:09 - Unique harm reduction concerns of GBH 1:37 - Harm reduction in other countries