Burning Man LIVE

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.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 ChoirAnd 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 Kumbayain our Holiday Special that is indeed SPECIAL.Portland SantaCon 1996 / “You’d Better Watch Out”Cacophony Society: Santasm, Santacon, Santarchy, ad nauseumReverend Billy and the Church of Stop ShoppingWhy People Dress Funny at Burning Man (2003)Peter Doty Obituary (San Francisco Chronicle) LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Kristen Berman, a behavioral scientist known for her work with Duke University and Google, delves into the transformative power of environments like Burning Man. She explores how participation in such events can enhance generosity and civic-mindedness. The conversation highlights the impact of Black Rock City's unique norms and principles on behavior change, emphasizing the psychological effects of redefined social status and gifting. Berman also discusses the role of environmental shifts in fostering lasting change and shares insights from her research on human behavior.

Fly Ranch is in the middle of nowhere, and yet it's the center of the universe for many bugs, birds, animals, and, uh, thermophiles. Down the road from the dry lake bed that hosts Black Rock City, Fly Ranch is 6 square miles of hot springs, ecosystems, and a unique variety of life, from wildflowers to wild horses, antelope and mountain lions, eagles, and cicadas.Stuart and Logan talk with Dr. Lisa Beers (aka Scirpus) about her work as the Burning Man Land Fellow for Fly Ranch, and all the life, death and artifacts on the 600 acres of the Fly Ranch.Dr Scirpus explores the flora, fauna, and everything else she finds at "Fly." When not smelling the sagebrush, she manages the Environmental Compliance team for the Burning Man event, and studies wetland ecology throughout the world.In this charming conversation, Scirpus reminds us that fairy shrimp are real, and scorpions are real, and she lets Stuart believe that jackalopes are real, but not squirrelopes. Logan's not buying it either. Platypuses, though? If you’ve never met one, how can you really know?And you haven’t tasted mezcal until you’ve had a botanist tell you how bats pollinate the cactus.flyranch.org/https://www.instagram.com/fly_ranch/https://www.facebook.com/groups/flyranchhttps://medium.com/beyond-burning-man/writers-emerging-at-fly-ranch-reflection-3da8da91d3ehttps://medium.com/beyond-burning-man/burning-man-project-2020-environmental-sustainability-report-df757260c9c5https://lagi2020flyranch.org/https://journal.burningman.org/author/scirpus/LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

The Burning Man figure started it all and has stood at the center of Black Rock City for decades. Many myths and legends of its origins have been passed down through the years. It can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. We took a deep dive with the earliest builders of the Burning Man to chart the evolution and decode the mythology. We also spoke with members of the current team that bring the figure to life year after year. We explore the craftsmanship of the build, the rituals of the crew's process, and the secret details that make the Burning Man sculpture so unique. https://burningman.org/timeline/LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Culinary excellence in a temporary city in the dry desert? Oh yes, and some decadent offerings too. Andie and Vav rebroadcast a delicious episode about culinary camps at Black Rock City from the podcast “Food Wine & the Culinary Mind.” It’s a montage of interviews from theme camps that gift the perfect food at the perfect time and place. The perspectives on creativity, community and cuisine bring us back to what it’s like to be together in the dust. Mat Schuster interviews “fascinating culinary badasses” at the most recent Black Rock City, and it’s about more than just food; featuring Black Rock Bakery, Bao Chicka Wow Wow, Feed the Artists, Awful’s Gas & Snack, Midnight Poutine, Dust City Diner, Lovin’ Oven, and Abstininthe.Food Wine & the Culinary Mind: Culinary Camps of Burning ManLIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

What is it like to walk around Black Rock City as a staff member and an academic in participant-observer mode? These tales are of BRC at the turn of the century, and the study of ineffable experiences, ending with old school stories of the organic formation of BRC’s support services, and a healthy respect for law enforcement. Andie and Logan talk with Sheila Hoover, the Associate Dean of Libraries at Texas Tech University, and Duane Hoover, Professor of Practice, specializing in negotiation and organizational behavior. At BRC, Duane (Big Bear on the radio) ran the Black Rock Rangers and the Law Enforcement Agency Liaison Team for 15 years.Sheila and Duane co-authored several research projects on Burning Man through a lens of organizational development, cultural principles, and values such as reciprocity, intrinsic reward, and “radical inclusion of self.”BONUS: Hear a Texan recite a bit of Shakespeare!https://scholars.ttu.edu/en/persons/sheila-hooverhttps://www.depts.ttu.edu/rawlsbusiness/people/faculty/management/duane-hoover/LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

The U.S. trails most developed countries in voter turnout. The thought that your vote doesn’t matter, or that there’s no good choice - some say that thought is manufactured or perpetuated to prevent people from exercising their power. Some say voting is not fun. Stuart and Logan discuss voter apathy, voter ho-hum, and creative solutions to election spectators.  They talk with Mark Rosenberg, aka Winkel, from The Voter Party. Inspired by the participatory culture of Burning Man, TheVoterParty.org teaches individuals how to use art, music, and costuming to get out the vote in their communities: creative canvassing, friend-banking, polling place performances, and de-escalation skills should the need arise.It’s an informative inquiry into which instrument is better to play at the polls: a ukulele, a fife (through a bullhorn), or a recorder...TheVoterParty.orgLIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

If you found a “hippie-proof” story-cube at a festival or in a war-zone, would you share your story with it?Stuart and Andie talk with Finnish scholar Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä, about the Burning Stories project, the qualitative research of hope and anger, the innovation at Burning Man Regional events in Europe, and teaching entrepreneurialism in Lebanon and North Korea. What more can we learn about Burning Man culture by studying it academically? How do randomly assembled project teams knit themselves into longer-term collaborative and creative relationships? Why does it matter?In a world with an unpredictable future, what more can we learn about participatory culture, psychological safety, and communal resilience?www.jukkapekka.comhttps://burning-stories.org/https://forum.burning-stories.org/Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä, Ph.DAalto University & Academy of Finland Postdoctoral FellowStanford & Harvard University Visiting ScholarThe Royal Society & British Academy Newton FellowLIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Yomi is an impassioned and jovial part of the small team doing big things in the nonprofit arts organization “We Are From Dust.” The all-Burner team is dedicated to proliferating interactive, participatory artwork in public spaces that transforms the way people engage with art, and changes how they consider their daily lives.In this time of dramatic changes for in-person experiences, We Are From Dust persists to support artists in our community, find new avenues for sharing participatory art around the globe, and support Black Lives Matter beyond first-world applications.Remember when “Press Here” became “Media Mecca” in Black Rock City 1998? Yomi and Andie do, and they tell some tales and laugh some laughs.Yomi is an award-winning Transmedia storyteller, film producer, and digital strategist, as well as an author, artist, record producer, and event organizer. In 2009, Breathe, Yomi’s first interactive feature film launched at the London International Film Festival, and recently he produced three large-scale installations for the Royal Observatory in London.https://www.wearefromdust.org/http://yomster.com/https://artwithme.org/https://www.artspacelifespace.com/current-projects/arts-mansion/LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Logan and Andie talk with Matthew “Chef” Kwatinetz about Black Rock Power, an ambitious new sustainable energy initiative rooted in the Burning Man community, and how Black Rock City is the ideal laboratory for prototyping and iterating solutions for the larger world. No pressure. They discuss Burning Man’s 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmap and how the struggles of 2020 have affected everyone’s plans, for the worse and for the better. Chef brings his immense economic development experience to his work in Black Rock Power and his service on the Burning Man Project Board. An avid Burning Man participant  for a decade, he has cooked meals for the Temple Kitchen, “Feed the Artist” programs, and sunset dinner cruises on the “Sacred Cow” mutant vehicle - and now he’s advising the Project on economics, city planning, and innovative approaches to sustainable power for Black Rock City and its neighboring Northern Nevada townships. Sponsor: The Leaving No Trace Workout ProgramMatthew “Chef” Kwantinetzhttps://burningman.org/network/about-us/people/board-of-directors/#MatthewChefKwatinetzBurning Man Project’s 2030 Environmental Sustainability Roadmaphttps://medium.com/@burningman/burning-man-project-2030-environmental-sustainability-roadmap-c79657e18146andhttps://journal.burningman.org/2020/07/global-network/burners-without-borders/bmp-sustainability-roadmap-update/Special thanks to Dario Russo and David Ashby for letting us use their music for the closing credits:https://dariorusso.bandcamp.com/track/mission-accomplishedLIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG