Life is a Festival

How does Burning Man stay relevant for a new generation and beyond the Black Rock Desert?

The dust has settled from Burning Man, and the photo dumps have all been dumped but today we're diving into a deeper conversation about the relevance of the event itself. My guest, Will Chase was Burning Man’s Minister of Propaganda until 2016. He’s done more than most to bring the open-hearted play of Burning Man to the default world (ie make life like a festival). 

In our conversation, we explore Burning Man as a pilgrimage, the magic of serendipity, and the lasting influence of Larry Harvey. Will shares personal stories and thoughtful insights as we explore the magic of Burning Man and what this community should focus on now.

Will Chase was a key figure in Burning Man from 2003 to 2016. He co-founded Fireside Storytelling in San Francisco and is the president of We Are From Dust, which places interactive art globally. He also hosts "Pants Optional" on Shady Pines Radio and co-founded Peak, an immersive experience design company.

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Today's podcast is in two parts: First, my reflections (rant) on Burning Man 2024, and second, a repost of my appearance on the Burning Man Live Podcast from a few years ago.

During my solocast, I celebrate recent changes in Burning Man, read from a short section of my upcoming book about the concept of cool, and share part of Caveat Magister’s piece about Burning Man passing the torch to the regional network. Finally, I share some changes in the Life is a Festival podcast moving forward.

On the Burning Man Live Podcast, I discuss Burning Man’s place in festival culture, the meaning of transformation, exploring masculinity, and what—at the time—I believed lies ahead for the global festival community.

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Today’s episode is an encore presentation of a show that aired live on Burning Man Information Radio (BMIR) in 2019 to get you all juiced up for this year’s dirt rave. It features a playful conversation about vulnerability, consent, the trickster, and instant manifestation with Jax, Wolverine, and David Block, the Human Experience.

Also, every year, I give a Harm Reduction talk at my camp. For the first fifteen minutes of this episode, I’m offering that information. Please check out more info about fentanyl adulteration, psychedelic peer support, and how to talk to cops at Burning Man in the links below.

If you need something to listen to on the ride, you can check out other Burning Man-related content from Life is a Festival here. 

Have a great Burn! It’s better with you here!

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You know those pithy BuzzFeed listicles about being too old for music festivals? Well, the idea is rather silly. Festivals are multi-generational celebrations where children with glittering faces play alongside elders who share their wisdom. The adventure of a festival is enriched by all ages, much like how our lives are enriched by various stages and transformations. Today's episode is special because we have a returning guest, my longtime friend and mentor, Chip Conley. I used to work with Chip on Fest300, an online guide to the world's best festivals. Chip's latest book, "Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age," is the focus of our conversation. Chip believes midlife is not a crisis but a chrysalis—a time for transformation and growth.

In our conversation, we dive deep into the challenges and opportunities of midlife. We discuss the concept of "successism," where societal pressure to achieve can lead to misery, and how to break free from this mindset. Chip shares his insights on embracing imperfection, continuing to love and learn, and viewing midlife as a transformative period akin to the metamorphosis of a butterfly. We also touch on mortality, as Chip reflects on his own journey with cancer and how it has shaped his perspective on aging. Throughout our discussion, Chip reaffirms his love for festivals, emphasizing their importance in our increasingly virtual world. 

Chip's illustrious career includes founding the Joie de Vivre hotel chain, contributing to Airbnb's success, and creating the Modern Elder Academy, a wisdom school for midlife. His latest book, "Learning to Love Midlife," offers valuable lessons for anyone navigating this pivotal stage of life.

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In a world beset by tragedy its important to learn how to grieve.

If you don’t feel your feelings you’re going to have problems, but how exactly should we tend to our grief? Today, we are welcoming back Camille Barton to celebrate the publication of their first book, Tending Grief: Embodied Rituals for Holding Our Sorrow and Growing Cultures of Care and Community.  In our conversation today, you'll learn how untended grief can have harmful consequences. 

We begin with one of my favorite topics: healing culture and the difference between grief and the ubiquitous concept of trauma. We explore how Camille's journey, from rave culture to recovering from an abortion, led to writing this book. We touch on colonization, the idea that hurt people hurt people, and how, at some point, we were all colonized. We discuss the limits of psychedelic medicine and delve into something Camille calls the Void. Lastly, we cover the Dagara people's grief-tending practices and Camille's grief rituals, including how to make a grief altar. 

Camille Sapara Barton is a writer, artist, and embodied social justice facilitator dedicated to creating networks of care and livable futures. As a facilitator, consultant, and curator, their work spans grief, pleasure, and drug policy. Camille is certified in the Resilience Toolkit and developed the GEN Grief Toolkit. Based in Amsterdam, they directed the Ecologies of Transformation master’s program at the Sandberg Institute from 2021 to 2023. Camille’s recently book "Tending Grief," explores collective grief and its impact on communities.

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Tina Nance, yin yoga and embodiment specialist returns to Life is a Festival to share her evolving ideas around gender, trauma healing, and embodiment.

In today's episode, we continue our exploration of gender and sexuality. We dive into processing trauma within the nervous system and whether a finite amount of psychological "garbage" needs to be processed for healing. Our conversation spans mythopoetic femininity through the lens of the Egyptian pantheon and masculinity through archetypes. We also discuss the contentious concept of the divine feminine, polarities of masculine and feminine energies,  menstruation from a mythopoetic viewpoint and the Yang of Kuan Yin .

Tina Nance brings over 25 years of experience in yoga practice and nearly two decades of teaching globally through classes, workshops, retreats, and teacher trainings. She is the founder of Held: School of Embodied Self Integration, focusing on yoga therapy, yin yoga, restorative yoga, and techniques for nervous system regulation and trauma integration. A prominent figure at The Yoga Barn in Bali, Tina leads extensive training programs and is currently developing the Held Online Yoga and Embodiment School. Tina holds advanced qualifications in yoga therapy, health sciences, and various therapeutic modalities.

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Today's episode is about love and all its messy colors. Guinevere Rhonwen & Lizz Larouge created the festival Colours of Love on the island d of Koh Phangan as their wedding celebration and continued it even as they were separating. 

In this episode, we explore how they embraced love while parting ways at the place of their union. We cover a wide range of topics, including the festival's nature, whether it could be dubbed a "big gay wedding," the influence of female leadership on festival culture, and the concept of celebrating separation. We also touch on cultural sensitivity and the complexities of hosting events in foreign cultures, as seen through Guinevere and Lizz’s experiences in Thailand. 

As founders of Colours of Love and the musical duo Wild Sirenda, Lizz and Guinevere share insights into the festival's upcoming iteration and their shared dreams. This episode is a testament to love's complexity. I hope it will help you embrace all the various shades of love in your own life.

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I've never had so many requests for guests to return to the show as I have for Sami and Sharon. 

As you may recall, a few days after the events of October 7th, I asked Midburn co-founder and artivist Sharon Avraham, and his Palestinian theme camp co-lead, peace activist Sami Awad, to come on the show and share their immediate experience. Much has happened since then, and many of you have wanted an update from these two friends. 

You will be happy to know that they are involved in an ambitious peace project called the Lighthouse, which they share on the show today. We start with the role of the spiritual community amidst conflict and the impact of conflict on personal relationships. We talk about the reality of violence and hope for change in the region and the role of the festival community in peace efforts. Then we get into this ambitious Lighthouse Project, which is really a vision for peace in the Middle East taking place outside of the Middle East. It gets a lot of inspiration from other movements, specifically from Tamera, which was showcased on the last episode, a healing biotope in Portugal. We discuss the three pillars of the Lighthouse. They have a very clear map for what they're trying to do there. And we discuss the challenges of building the Lighthouse and how you, dear listener, can get involved. 

Sharon Avraham, co-founder of Midburn and the Fugara art collective, uses photography and installations to explore human connections. A passionate artist-activist, he's collaborated with Palestinian Peace Activists, documenting and bridging diverse realities. His works span from intimate portraiture to broader social narratives. Sami Awad is the Executive Director of the Holy Land Trust and is deeply influenced by his family's history in Palestine and teachings of nonviolent resistance. Educated in the U.S., he holds a Master's Degree in International Relations and promotes global peace.

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Does open relating always lead to polyagony? Or is there a way to heal the wounds of gender and experience love free from fear? 

  Today we are revisiting an episode originally released in 2019 with Ian McKenzie and Julia Maryanska about the Love School at Tamera. Their documentary "Village of Lovers," will be available at a global streaming premiere on February 7th. We revisit this discussion about love, relationships, and intentional communities today in a new edit. 

In this episode, we dissect the complex dynamics of free love, the challenges and solutions prototyped by Tamara, and the personal journeys of those seeking healing within communal witnessing. Julia shares her contrasting experiences between One Taste and Tamara, offering a unique perspective on sexuality-based communal living. We explore the significance of personal healing for collective benefit, especially in romantic relationships, and tackle the myths surrounding the concept of 'The One.' The conversation also navigates through the nuances of jealousy, brotherhood in romantic contexts, and establishing genuine connections beyond superficial narratives. We touch on sensitive topics like women's safety in polyamorous spaces and the political implications of healing gender relationships. 

Ian MacKenzie is a filmmaker, writer, activist and host of the Mythic Masculine podcast. His films include Occupy Love, Amplify Her, and the Village of Lovers. Julia is a filmmaker who has worked on numerous award-winning documentaries. Her work re-imagines how we look at women’s bodies,  relationships and our approach to sensuality through video poetry, her other film UNION and her photographic project “Sensual Surrealism.” Along with their co-director John Wolfstone, Julia and Ian are part of the filmmaker collective Re/Culture Films. 

Discover the pioneering role of Tamara in addressing the intricate challenges of love and connection in Village of Lovers, available on February 7th.

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In Part Two of our Taoist sexuality series, focusing on woman’s body’s and yin principles, I speak with the Senior Woman’s Instructor at Tao Garden, Gillian Reid.

Gillian shares her insights on yin and yang energy, self-love, and intimacy. Beginning each day with gratitude and stretching, she highlights the importance of focusing on the heart and finding balance in one's daily activities. She also discusses how to harness one's energy using principles of Taoism, including the microcosmic orbit and the jade egg practice. Reid shares the ways in which Taoism views the use of psychedelics and sexual fantasy, emphasizing the principle of cultivating and conserving one's own energy. Reid imparts valuable wisdom on embracing and working with contrasting energies in relationships and personal experiences. She also announces her upcoming online workshop aimed at women who want to learn more about these practices.

Gillian Reid is trained in Tai Chi under Master Franco Mescola, with significant contributions to the Tai Chi Research Centre and Metodo Biospirali. Her journey in internal arts like Qigong, Taijiquan, and various martial forms has been transformative, guiding her to help others achieve health and spiritual growth. Trained by Grandmaster Mantak Chia, she has become a Senior Instructor and Holistic Operator of the Universal Healing Tao System. Gillian also serves as the Italian Coordinator and Organizer for the Tao Garden community.

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