We who attend Burning Man and other multi day mass gatherings have long felt that these events are personally and lastingly transformational. In May of this year, Dr. Molly Crockett and their team at Crockett Lab at Yale University published research demonstrating what we always believed. Today on Life is a Festival, Dr Crockett explains their findings and what they mean for harnessing the transformative power of festivals. On the show we talk about what transformation is and how it can be studied, specifically focusing on generosity and expanded circles of moral concern. Dr Crockett explains how their team conducted research at six field sites over a number of years. We discuss their controls for the research including for psychedelic use. We explore morality and tribalism and finally Dr Crockett shares how their research can help us make our lives more like a festival. Dr. Crockett is a behavioral neuroscientist who studies human morality, altruism, decision making, and moral outrage. They have just accepted tenure at Princeton University after serving as an Associate Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Their research on transformational experiences at events was published in Nature Communications on May 27, 2022. Notes Crockett Lab: http://www.crockettlab.org/ ‘Transformative’ effects of mass gatherings like Burning Man are lasting” in Yale News: https://news.yale.edu/2022/05/27/transformative-effects-mass-gatherings-burning-man-are-lasting “Prosocial correlates of transformative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings” In Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29600-1 Transformative Experience by L. A. Paul: https://www.amazon.com/Transformative-Experience-L-Paul/dp/0198777310 Timestamps :08 - Self Expression as path to transformation at Burning Man :16 - How the research was conducted at :22 - Secular Multiday Mass gatherings :27 - Expanded circle of moral regard :32 - How did the researchers control for psychedelic use? :41 - New relationships, gifts given and received and dancing all correlated with transformative experiences :55 - Dr Crockett’s work in morality and future research 1:01 - How Crockett’s research can help us make our lives more like a festival

Do you want to be a healer? From psychedelic medicine to therapy to bodywork, after experiencing an awakening many hear the call to serve in the healing arts, but how do we create a practice that is both ethical and sustainable? Laura Mae Northrup, author of Radical Healership, breaks it down on today’s episode. On the show we discuss why people get into the work of healing others, as well as what Laura calls “shadow whys.” We discuss managing money as an act of love and how both overcharging and undercharging for services is unethical. Laura shares her perspective of marketing, and her experience of writing a book to support healers. Finally we discuss humility and doing your own healing work, because the client must be the hero in the journey. 
Laura Mae Northrup is an author, educator, somatic psychotherapist, and podcaster. Her book Radical Healership is now available for purchase. She is the host and creator of the podcast Inside Eyes, an audio series about people using entheogens & psychedelics to heal from sexual trauma. Her work focuses on defining sexual violence through a spiritual and politicized lens, mentoring healing practitioners in creating a meaningful path, and supporting the spiritual integrity of our collective humanity. She is a champion of living more fully engaged and responsible lives through the healing use of entheogens, psychedelics, play, and psychotherapy. Timestamps :08 - Who are healers and what is healing? :15 - The “Shadow Why” and how not to do harm :29 - Overcharging and undercharging and managing money as an act of love :41 - Marketing healing services :45 - Writing a book while on psychedelics :51 - Your client is the hero in the journey Links: Laura Mae Northrup: https://www.lauramaenorthrup.com/ Radical Healership: https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/radical-healership/ Inside Eyes Podcast: https://insideeyes.libsyn.com/ Laura on Psychedelic Therapy Podcast: https://www.mayahealth.com/podcast/laura-northrup The Soul Wound by Eduardo Duran: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Soul-Wound-Multicultural-Foundations/dp/0807746894 Why You Shouldn’t Write a Book: https://scribemedia.com/not-write-book/

Here’s to the women who don’t give a fuck! But should we give a fuck about gender at all? Today on Life is a Festival we meet feminist beat poet and author Janne Robinson, to discuss authenticity, gender, and her no bullshit approach to creating the life you want. On the show Janne shares how she learned not to give a fuck and to create a life and thriving business as a poet and coach. We discuss staying authentic and truly vulnerable while building a brand out of your art and healing. We get into a meaty conversation about gender polarity and language. Finally we discuss how to integrate our utopian visions into our daily lives. Janne Robinson is a feminist poet, entrepreneur, speaker, and surfer. She is the author of two books of poetry, “This Is For The Women Who Don’t Give a Fuck,” and “There's Cobwebs on Her Vagina.” Janne is also a personal development coach and is available for one-on-one mentoring. Some Buddhists say we are 33 parts masculine and 33 parts feminine, well Janne is 100% badass. Enjoy. Links Janne Robinson: https://www.jannerobinson.com/ This Is For The Women Who Don’t Give a Fuck: https://www.amazon.com/This-Women-Dont-Give-Fuck/dp/1945796413/ There's Cobwebs on Her Vagina: https://www.amazon.com/Theres-Cobwebs-Her-Vagina-Collection/dp/1734042109 Timestamps :07 - Learning not to give a fuck :11 - Falling in love with poetry :20 - Staying authentic in the face of audience capture :33 - Can we determine truth about gender? :50 - Integrating utopia

At their best, festivals are platforms for personal and communal transformation by creating temporary immersive worlds, ripe with participation and opportunities for growth. Few gatherings do this with the theatrical flair of BoomTown Fair, a choose-your-own-adventure playground in the English countryside. Today on Life is a Festival, visionary leader, Lak Mitchell, shares how his vast team creates a living, breathing town once a year and how why they are now starting again with Chapter One: The Gathering. On the show we discuss English festivals from Glastonbury to the Free Part movement. Lak shares his evolution from crafting speaker boxes to building worlds. We discuss leading large creative teams and tools for staying still in the center of a whirlwind creative process. We talk about Boomtown as political storytelling and their new focus on eldership, indigenous wisdom, and six essential principles. Finally we discuss the decision to reset Boomtown to Chapter One and the new amazement park “Wake the Tiger.” Lak Mitchell is the Co-founder and Creative Director of Boomtown Fair, an independently owned festival that has grown into one of the largest and most celebrate in the UK. After getting his start building speaker boxes for Europe’s Free Parties, Lak co-founded Boomtown Fair in 2009. He is also the Co-founder and Creative Director of Wake the Tiger, the world’s first Amazement Park in Bristol opening this year. :07 - The essence of an English Festival from Glastonbury to the Free Party movement :14 - Dreamy Lak learns to build speaker boxes :20 - Building a living breathing town :26 - Leadership and worldbuilding :31 - Tools for staying in a still center during the creative process :37 - Boomtown as a political storytelling process :43 - Eldership, indigenous wisdom, and principles :53 - Reseting the Boomtown Storyline to Chapter 1 1:03 - Boomtown’s Amazement Park Links Lak Mitchell: https://www.instagram.com/lakmitchell/ Boomtown Fair: https://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/ Wake the Tiger: https://www.comingsoon.wakethetiger.com/ Mac Macartney: https://macmacartney.com/

Tao Ruspoli, an Italian-American filmmaker and co-founder of the Bombay Beach Biennale, invites festival producer Dulcinee DeGuere and neuroscientist Patrick House for a captivating discussion. They explore how inhospitable environments, like the Salton Sea, can breed creativity and the significance of confronting death to find meaning. The conversation delves into the Biennale's themes of hierarchy and community, questioning philosophical structures while celebrating the transformative power of art amidst contradictions and impermanence.

Can we take Burning Man principles and apply them to refugee situations? Mike Zuckerman has spent the last six years creating a toolkit for refugee-led spaces that help instill creativity, connectivity, and hope. Now he’s in Poland welcoming 4 million refugees from Ukraine who are crossing over into Europe. Our conversation starts with a brief overview of the situation on the Polish border. We discuss Mike’s history creating spaces from Temple nightclub, to [freespace]. We talk about Burning Man and Mike’s idea of a Leave a Trace Festival which he wanted to implement in Greece. Mike shares his work with Patrick Muvunga Trickpa in creating Uhuruland, an artistic “playa” in the middle of the 64 year old Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda. We turn our attention to the Polish border where informal volunteers are creating a festival to welcome refugees. We finish with the necessity for self-care for volunteers and how we can help. Mike Zuckerman has designed everything from environmental nightclubs to a global network of [freespaces]. For the last 6 years he has focused on the global human migration crisis setting up alternatives to traditional refugee camps where the refugees themselves take a leading role in their design and implementation. He was project manager for Elpida Home in Greece in 2016, Uhuruland in Uganda, Bangladesh and more. He is currently on assignment with Alite, formerly the American Refugee Committee, at the Polish border. Links: Mike Zuckerman: https://www.mikezuckerman.com/ IRL: https://www.irl.com/ Uhuruland https://www.habitas-rise.org/project/uhuru-land Alight: https://wearealight.org/ Timestamps :06 - A brief overview of the refugee situation on the Polish Ukrainian border :14 - Mike start with Temple nightclub and free space, :24 - Burning Man principles in refugee environments and the Leave a Trace festival :34 - Uhuruland the playa within a refugee settlement in Uganda :42 - Assessing the situation on the Polish border with Ukraine :47 - The role of the media in crisis :59 - How informal volunteers are making the border feel like a festival 1:06 - Self-care in disaster relief and service 1:16 - What can we do to help

“And finally, you would dream ... where you are now. You would dream the dream of living the life that you are actually living today.” - Watts Do you lucid dream? The kind where you awaken inside the dream and can bend it to your will? Do you fly? Make love? Or maybe just let the dream play out? Would you maybe create a festival? Today’s guest Jonah Gabriel Haas is the cofounder and marketing director for Lucidity Festival, a dreamy annual adventure amidst the coastal California Oaks of Santa Barbara. Before we get into the festival, we discuss lucid dreaming and how to cultivate the practice in your own life. We go over the origin story and the seven core values of the gathering. Then we get heady on transformation, in trilogies, circles and seasons. We discuss a four stage model for developing conscious awareness and how that fits in with Lucidity's twelve chapters. We end our conversation with the reveal of the Lucid Multiverse NFT adventure and the mint that dropped right as we published this podcast. Lucidity Festival lands in Live Oak campground outside of Santa Barbara on April 8th. This will be the 9th edition of the popular transformational festival. Jonah is the cofounder and marketing director of Lucidity and has been designing experiences for over 10 years. He is an avid lucid dreamer, has a Masters Degree in Cultural Anthropology, and loves otters. Links Jonah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucidjonah/?hl=en Lucidity Festival: https://lucidityfestival.com/ Lucidity on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucidityFest The Lucid Multiverse NFT-Based Treasure Hunt: https://lucidmultiverse.com/ Lucid University: https://luciditycommunity.com/lucidity-project/lucid-university/ The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Dreaming-Carlos-Castaneda/dp/006092554X/ Stephen LaBerge’s The Lucidity Institute: http://www.lucidity.com/ The Bloom Series: https://thebloom.tv/ Transformational festivals: Jeet Kei Leung at TEDxVancouver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8tDpQp6m0A Jill Littlewood: littlewoodart.com Ken Wilber - Developmental Stages of Consciousness: https://integralwithoutborders.org/sites/default/files/resources/Overview%20of%20Developmental%20Levels.pdf Timestamps :09 - What is lucid dreaming, techniques, and how to cultivate lucid dreaming into your life :26 - The origin story of Lucidity Festival :31 - The seven core values of Lucidity :36 - Transformation in trilogies and seasons :45 - The four stage model of developing conscious awareness :52 - Maybe you manifested it, maybe it’s privilege :56 - Regenerate Earth, the final chapter of world-centric view 1:05 - The Lucid multiverse NFT adventure

Today’s show is with an old friend. Ned Buskirk is the big-hearted, emotive MC of “You’re Going to Die, Poetry Prose and Everything Goes” an open mic on the subject of death, dying, and grief. Embracing impermanence is one of the paradoxical keys to a life like a festival, to live in the moment we have to learn to let go. On the show we discuss the important impermanence of a festival and how the shorter lives of our pets teach us to cultivate sacredness. Ned shares how the process of losing his mother and step-mother led to the creation of his unique open-mic. We talk about tears and masculinity and Ned’s special presence as Master of Ceremonies. He tells us about bringing his offering to San Quentin as “Alive Inside.” We share our favorite quotes about loss and death. Finally Ned talks about the You’re Going to Die podcast and we talk shop about making art. Ned is the host and CEO of You’re Going to Die (YG2D), a 501(c)3 nonprofit which started as a poetry night in 2009. In addition to the iconic open mic, the nonprofit supports two programs “Alive Inside” and “Songs for Life.” Alive Inside hosts a version of the above shows for the incarcerated. Songs for Life is a free program where musicians offer their talents & companionship, playing music & writing songs for hospice patients & their communities. YG2D’s most recent venture is a popular podcast where Ned interviews many of his heroes in holding space for grief. There are two truths that Ned shares. One is that you’re going to die. The other is that you haven’t yet. The rest is up to you. Links Ned Buskirk: http://www.nedbuskirk.com/ You’re Going to Die, Poetry Prose and Everything Goes: http://www.yg2d.com/ Alive Inside: https://www.alive-inside.com/ Songs for Life: https://www.songsforlife.info/ You're Going to Die: The Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/youre-going-to-die-the-podcast/id1504333055 “See You in the Morning Light” by Scott Ferreter: https://scott-ferreter.bandcamp.com/releases Timestamps :12 - Death and the impermanence of a festival :19 - Why I keep a meditation on dying in my bathroom
:28 - Sacredness in letting go of pets :35 - How Ned lost his mother and step-mother and created You’re Going to Die :52 - Tears and masculinity in MCing grief and death :59 - “Alive Inside” the YG2D prison project 1:15 - Quotes about loss and death 1:24 - Meaninglessness creates space for meaning 1:30 - Podcasting: Share the thing you most don’t want to share

In 2020 almost 100,000 people died of drug-related incidents in the US, many of those were due to fentanyl adulteration. It’s not just opiates, no white powder is safe and so the cognitive libertarians need to get wise and help each other stay safe. Luckily today on the show we have Mitchell Gomez, Executive Director of DanceSafe, to help us understand why this is happening and how to prevent these unnecessary deaths. We begin with a nuanced understanding of overdose and harm reduction. We review Mitchell’s personal journey as well as the rise of DanceSafe in response to drug prohibition and issues with pressed pills in the 90s. Halfway through the show at the hour we talk about fentanyl adulteration, why this is happening, how to use fentanyl test strips appropriately, and how to use Narcan if someone is experiencing an overdose. We end our conversation with Mitchell’s vision for a regulated drug market. Mitchell is the Executive Director for DanceSafe, a health education and harm reduction 501(c)(3) based in Denver, Colorado. He is a Harm Reduction Consultant at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and has sat on the CU Denver MURPAA (Master of Urban and Regional Planning Alumni Association) board, the Jefferson County Community Development Advisory Board, and the Denver Drug Strategy Commission Data Subcommittee. If you love altering your consciousness like I do, test your shit and let’s end prohibition together. LINKS Mitchell Gomez: http://www.mitchellgomez.com/ Dancesafe: https://dancesafe.org/ Fentanyl Test Strips – Pack Of 10 (FREE SHIPPING): https://dancesafe.org/product/fentanyl-test-strips-pack-of-10-free-shipping/ Dancesafe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancesafe_/ Mitchell Gomez Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MitchellGomezAcamapichtli Prohibition-Driven Misrepresentation and How We Can Fix It Together: https://maps.org/news/bulletin/prohibition-driven-misrepresentation/ Finding Carcan: https://www.narcan.com/ NARCAN training video - Instructions for administration of NARCAN® Nasal Spray 4mg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGdUFMrCRh4 TIMESTAMPS :09 - Benefit enhancement is a better term than “harm reduction” :13 - An “overdose” is actually a “prohibition created drug adulteration deaths” :20 - How Mitchell became a cognitive libertarian :26 - Intentionally manipulated data on MDMA leads to the “holes in the brain” theory :33 - Festivals as an initiatory container for psychedelic consciousness exploration :42 - From Tupperware full of MDMA to pressies and the rise of DanceSafe :53 - The Rave Act 1:05 - Why we’re seeing Fentanyl adulteration in non-opioid markets 1:21 - Use Fentanyl strips to test your whole bag 1:34 - How to use Narcan 1:48 - A vision for regulated drug markets

Happy Valentine's Day my fellow travelers! In honor of the Day of Love, we’re diving into the wonderful world of BDSM with Dr. Cat Meyer, a specialist on embodied sexuality. Our exploration begins with Cat’s struggles with self acceptance and libido before she discovered kink in her early twenties. After briefly discussing styles of play, we jump right into why BDSM is a path not only to pleasure and surrender but to healing and growth. Cat explains how to create a safe container and the alchemizing effect of polarity in both the kink and tantra communities. We touch on Miss Jaiya’s erotic blueprint before sharing a few kink archetypes. We close with consideration of kink mishaps, how to vet potential partners, and why aftercare is indispensable regardless of how you like to play. Dr. Cat Meyer, PsyD, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in sex, trauma, and ketamine-assisted therapy (KAP), author, yoga teacher, and international speaker dedicated to evolving the relationship we have surrounding sexuality and our bodies.  She is the host of podcasts Eat Play Sex and Erotically Wasted and the founder of SexLoveYoga.com, an online platform for education and programs on relationships, sexuality, and embodiment.  Whether you’re a shy neophyte or a kinky little rockstar, this episode will have something for you to help use desire to expand the width of you being. Enjoy! Links Sex Love Yoga: https://www.sexloveyoga.com/ Cat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexloveyoga/?hl=en Eat. Play. Sex. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eat-play-sex/id1192876328 Erotically Wasted: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/erotically-wasted/id1499038381 BDSM Test: BDMStest.org Timestamps :06 - When Cat had zero libido :12 - Styles of BDSM :24 - The kinky road to surrender :34 - Creating a safe container :42 - Kink archetypes and creating polarity :54 - Kinky mistakes and mishaps :59 - Aftercare is indispensable 1:07 - Safe, sane and consensual kink is healing