Burning Man LIVE

More and more studies are happening at transformative events around the world. This summer a research paper was published about how transformative effects of these gatherings are lasting. This 5-year experiment compared findings from a half-dozen mass gatherings. 

The results explore generosity and altruism, describe collective effervescence, and consider the biases of self-selection and psychedelic substances. People report that transformative experiences are common, increase over time, and include new perceptions of each other… and universal connectedness… and lasting changes in moral orientation.

How did they do it? What did they find, and how does it relate to you, and to me, and to BRC?

If you like science, or psychology, or transformation, or if you want to like them, listen as social scientists share stories with Stuart about the pleasure, the pain, and the process.

Molly Crockett, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University

Daniel Yudkin, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania

Prosocial correlates of transformative experiences at secular multi-day mass gatherings | Nature

Researchers Share First Findings on Burners’ Transformative Experiences | Burning Man Journal

Collective effervescence - Wikipedia

FOOTNOTES:

S. Megan Heller (The Countess of The BRC Census)

L.A. Paul

Martha Newson

Harvey Whitehouse

Dominic Beaulieu-Prévost

Ritual, Dimitris Xygalatas

Burning Progeny | 2018 Symposium in Fribourg

BURNING MAN LIVE: THE SCIENCE OF GENEROSITY

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

We’re back from Black Rock City, and we miss it already. If you miss it too, or you missed it altogether, here are some sounds and sentiments of being there. 

BRC is filled with amateurs, people doing it as a labor of love. When things go wrong, we celebrate it as a glorious opportunity to adapt, or simply as things going the way they go. When the going gets tough, and it’s tough going in the world these days, spaces like BRC allow for joy, mourning and reflection. Spaces like BRC are practice grounds of possibility for doing things together, and things going wrong — sometimes wonderfully, sometimes devastatingly, often whimsically wrong.

• Caveat Magister is the resident philosopher of Burning Man. From his work with founder Larry Harvey and the underground art scene, he writes books, hosts adventures, and refutes reality.
• Motorbike Matt produces Burning Man's webcast, and helped create the Mars Rover Art Car and the Black Rock Observatory. He works in deserts around the world, and works it in the Black Rock Desert.
• Kbot is a strategist on Burning Man Project's Communications team. She develops stories about culture and community, writes her own, and shares the mic on this podcast.
• Brooke LaValley is a longtime Burner and photojournalist, and a maven at Media Mecca (the media relations station in BRC).
• Michael Vav is a longtime organizer, sordid artist of sorts, and behind-the-scenester, and a producer in Burning Man Project’s Philosophical Center.

This conversation is silly and serious, profound and profane. Listen between the jokes for the truth bombs… and the jokes that bomb.

Oh, and see this too: burningman.org/feedback-loop

And this: census.burningman.org

Burning Man Live: The Gift of Things Going Wrong

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

When Candace found Burning Man in 1996, she jumped right in to help the media tell the whole story of Black Rock City, not just the sensationalism. She also jumped right into culture jamming, twisting iconic characters, from Cacophony Society’s santas to public pranking as porn clowns, and playfully pushing people in immediate theater. 

She also brings the transformative power of interactive art to public spaces around the world, as part of a non-profit We Are From Dust, and she’s working to have all people feel welcome at Black Rock City. Hear the old and the new, the sacred and the profane, and the fat beats of EDM DJs spinning Playa Tech.

https://www.blackburnerproject.com

https://www.instagram.com/blackburnerproject

https://www.instagram.com/blackaseart

https://www.villagevoice.com/2001/09/11/burning-mans-dotcom-hangover

https://journal.burningman.org/2012/05/philosophical-center/tenprinciples/how-not-to-burn-commodifying-burning-man

https://burningman.org/podcast/yomi-ayeni-and-the-stories-of-we-are-from-dust

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Listen in as longtime Burners talk about the aspects of thriving in Black Rock City: mental, physical, material, and relational.

Andie, kbot, Molly, Stuart and Vav explore:

• · socks secrets
• · FOMO variants
• · saying yes and saying no
• · giving and accepting help
• · No Friends Monday
• · and all else!

Featuring cameos from other 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 be overwhelming in a good way.

Black Rock City 2022

(Remember) How to Burning Man

John Craigie

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Who can share about the beginnings of Burning Man Project’s Board of Directors, the Meta-Regional Committee, and a blacksmithing collective? Kay Morrison can.

Who can tell of getting banned from a country, cooking at Fly Ranch, and hosting a croquet match between Army burners and Navy burners? Kay Morrison can.

She laughs with Stuart Mangrum about how everything in Black Rock City (in VR and in IRL) is seven times greater, be it a win, a loss, or a sandwich. 

Warning: This eloquent and expressive conversation contains many casual curse words.

Iron Monkey Arts

Burning Man Project Board of Directors

Burning Man Regional Network

Burning Man Meta-Regional Committee

BRCvr

Stories Around the Burn Barrel (Burning Man Live)

Fly Ranch

Land Art Generator Initiative

Burning Man Global Leadership Conference

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

It’s really real. Makers are making. Planners are planning. Crews all over the world are creating installations for Black Rock City. Katie Hazard, Head of Burning Man Arts, speaks with ten of the 400 artists whose work will rise on the playa. Hold onto your headlamp: We’ve got an alien drive-thru, a library for solar power, and architecture that defiles the laws of physics. We’ve got stories from France, South Africa, the Netherlands, and oh so much more.

Ezra Livingston: Shrine of the Macabre

Jared Ficklin: The Solar Library

Madeline Fried & Matthew Gerring: Alien Drive-Thru

Matt McConnell: Evolution Field

Bibi Bliekendaal: People-Powered Music aka The Tinkle Drum

Mo Osunbor: Build A Seat

Wes Modes: Black Rock Station

Kate Greenberg: INCENTER

Arthur Mamou-Mani, Marta Cavallé & Nick Moser: Catharsis

Usha Seejarim: The Resurrection of the Clothes Peg

Empyrean Temple

Burning Man Arts

R.I.D.E. Radical Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

Burning Man Project Sustainability Initiatives

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

For 25 years now $teven Ra$pa has directed discussions for Black Rock City and Regional communities. Hear him and kbot explore why this Burning Man thing is so important for humanity and the world.

BRC is a city of imagination, a social experiment, organically cultivated and running on pure encouragement.

They discuss the inspired interactions that allow for reinvention big and small for one and all.

Burning Man Journal: Raspa

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

When dynamite is aged the wrong way it gets sweaty with little crystals that can cause spontaneous explosions.

Dave X. Man of fire, bacon, and “the ponytail of approachability.” An enigmatic shaman of fireworks, flame effects, and deep thoughts, his stripper name is Sweaty Dynamite. His spiritual calling is to bring joyful, fiery experiences to the masses. His secret weapon: a thick binder. Huh? More on that later. 

Could one man be a hippie and a redneck, and in charge of Fire Art Safety in Black Rock City, and also fill the role of Cake Marshal for Burning Man Project? Yes, yes he could. 

A pyrotechnician, a peaceful perturber, and a Burner from days of yore, he bestows his teachings upon Stuart Mangrum. Pro tip: Each of our episodes ends with a bang, especially this one. 

Burning Man Staff: Dave X

Burning Man Journal: Dave X

ShitDaveXSays.com

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

In May, staff and core collaborators gathered to disclose what’s new and true in the big community experiment that is Black Rock City.  

• How Center Camp changed
• Turning down turnkey camping
• The bumper crop of inclusive art
• The hive platform for teaching, learning, and up-leveling leadership

Listen as they share about jobs, classifieds, and the Survival Guide, about behind-the-scenes machines for emergency response, decommodification deals, sustainability solutions, and diversity discussions.

This is a glimpse into how it all works.

BURNING MAN LIVE: RETURN TO BLACK ROCK CITY (stream, transcript, pics)

Black Rock City 2022

Black Rock City Art Theme: Waking Dreams

Burning Man Arts

Desert Arts Preview: June 12th

Burning Man Project Jobs

Spark Classifieds

Playa Events Registration (WhatWhereWhen)

Survival Guide

This is How We Hive (HIVE)

Touching Down: a BRC orientation (HIVE)

Return to Black Rock City (HIVE)

Burning Man’s 10 Principles

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Stuart talks with 'Burners Without Borders' co-founder Tom Price, then shares an interview from the deep well of 'Culturally Attuned,' a podcast by the US Institute of Peace in collaboration with Burning Man Project.

Tom talks about community resilience and his attempts to bridge cultural gaps around race, color, privilege, and the legacy of colonialism.

He extols the need for humility and personal agency, and developing relationships of mutual trust and respect - from Kenya to Liberia, to the Native American lands of Nevada.

He also presents Burning Man as a place to practice operating with each other organically, without imposed signifiers of who gets to be in charge. 

USIP (United States Institute of Peace): Culturally Attuned Podcast

USIP: Culturally Attuned: Benefactor’s Dilemma: Am I helping or Am I Wielding Power? (podcast episode)

Burners Without Borders: What Does Burning Man Have to Do With Peace? (audio clip)

Burning Man LIVE: Culturally Attuned with the US Institute of Peace (2021 podcast episode)

Burning Man LIVE: Creative Solutions to Mass Destruction (with Tom Price) (2020 podcast episode)

Burning Man Journal: Tom Price 

ECOSAFI

LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG