Episode 28 with Monique Schiess is out now. Meet Monique who first landed in Black Rock City in 2004. By 2007 she was co-founding Afrikaburn with Paul Jorgensen. She helped to run Aftrikaburn for 16 years before she was “abruptly let go”. She is currently working on a film about Afrikaburn (see links below). Monique was no stranger to the wild before hitting the playa, she had experience out in the bush in South Africa camping and working as a Ranger. Monique has an incredible story of resilience, give it a listen today and find out the story behind the largest Regional event in the Regional Network.

You can contact her at [email protected]

https://www.afrikaburn.org/

The documentary about Afrikaburn:

from.ashes.story.of.afrikaburn (Instagram)

afrikaburn documentary crowdfunding campaignBackaBuddyhttps://www.backabuddy.co.za › campaign › from-ashe… (crowdfunding campaign)

[email protected] 

Please visit shadowoftheman.com for all of the details and links.

Email [email protected] if you want to be a guest or if you have any concerns about the show.

Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, it REALLY helps the show to even appear in search results.

Episode 27 the Season Premiere is out now. Meet Michael Mikel (aka Danger Ranger) one of the earliest founding members of Burning Man. He first encountered the Cacophany Society in 1986 and got hooked. In 1988 he showed up at Baker beach at Larry Harvey’s beach burn. In 1990 when the park police shut down the Baker beach “Man burns” Michael helped to convince Larry to bring the Man to the Black Rock Desert for the Cacophany Society’s “Zone Trip”. Michael becomes “Danger Ranger” when he forms the first iteration of the Black Rock Rangers (which formed to aid participants who got lost in the desert). Over the years he is one of the driving forces behind the growth and evolution of Burning Man as one of the main founders. He is still a beloved if sometimes controversial figure in the burner community to this day. The shadow is very long on Michael and he describes the strong influence Burning Man has had on him over a considerable part of his life and why he is compelled to come back again and again.

Please visit shadowoftheman.com for all of the details and links.

Email [email protected] if you want to be a guest or if you have any concerns about the show.

Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, it REALLY helps the show to even appear in search results.

Episode 26 the Season One Recap is out now. The inaugural season of the Shadow of The Man show is now over, next week Season 2 will launch with the Season Premiere EP 27 with none other than Danger Ranger! Learn about what happened behind the scenes in Season 1 and get a sneak peek at Season 2

This episode recounts the wobbly but promising beginning of this show and all of the startup problems the show faced. Over time these issues were ironed out and the show started to get more regular and professional. The issue of equity in the show is discussed as one of the show’s guiding principles. The future of the show is discussed including a ramp up to even more regularly scheduled episodes. The Shadow Shorts project is introduced with details about how it will unfold on the playa in 2025 and eventually another stream of episodes. There is also a short discussion of a blind spot in developing the show, the fact that some people have come to think of the show as dark (usually just making an assumption off of the name). There is also some discussion of technical issues about the show and the ongoing attempt to improve the quality of the show. This show is a gift to the Burning Man community and there are no plans to monetize it. The show ends with a preview of episodes to come in season 2.

Please visit shadowoftheman.com for all of the details and links.

Email [email protected] if you want to be a guest or if you have any concerns about the show.

Please rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, it REALLY helps the show to even appear in search results.

Episode 25 with Caveat Magister is out now! Learn all about Burning Man’s philosopher laureate and his backstory. He first got involved in Regionals before moving to San Francisco where he first went to Black Rock City in 2006. From the beginning he volunteered with Media Mecca eventually becoming staff (which he did for 5 years, over time becoming their volunteer coordinator). In 2010-11 he started to write for the Burning Man Journal where he has written many articles over the years. After avoiding him for a few years Caveat first met Larry Harvey in 2013 and started a great friendship. In 2015 Larry brought together Caveat, Stuart Mangrum, and himself to found the Burning Man Philosophical Center. Since then Caveat has written a number of Burning Man Journal articles and written two books (The Scene That Became Cities and Turn Your Life Into Art) while also helping to ghost write a few other books. Caveat is a very knowledgeable and thoughtful writer whose books and articles about the world of Burning Man and beyond has been a touchstone for at least a generation or two (and perhaps more into the future). He is truly one of the gems of the community and a wonderful person, please give this episode a listen and learn all about Burning Man’s own Caveat Magister.

Please visit shadowoftheman.com for all of the details and links.

Books by Caveat:

The Scene That Became Cities: What Burning Man Philosophy Can Teach Us about Building Better Communities

Turn Your Life Into Art: Lessons in Psychomagic from the San Francisco Underground

https://fascinatingstranger.com/

https://journal.burningman.org/author/cmagister/

Caveat's Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/join/BenjaminWachs

Episode 24 with Katy Tahja is out now! Katy first went to Black Rock City in 2012 following her daughter who had been going for 10 years. She thought it would be a one and done trip especially as she uses crutches and it was difficult for her to get around. She found Mobility Camp and got hooked, she has since returned year after year helping to organize the camp. Katy also writes articles about BRC for the Anderson Valley Advertiser. Some of her articles over the years include stories about Mobility Camp, the oldest person on the playa, medical services at BRC, lost and found, Playa Pops orchestra, and more.

https://mobilitycamp.org/

https://theava.com/ (Anderson Valley Advertiser)

Episode 23 with Lisa Scheinkopf (AKA Sassy Cat) is out now!. She first went to Black Rock City from her home base in Arizona in 2011 where she caught the bug for burning. Later on she helped to run the themecamp “Cat World” and later another called “Ignited States”. She has been a part of the Arizona Burn (Seguaro Man, 4th weekend of April each year) since 2015. Lisa helped to organize “Ignite” in Phoenix in 2019 and became a Burning Man Regional Contact in 2020.

You can reach her at [email protected]

azburners.org

Meet Torria Lee (AKA Luscious Blue). She is a veteran black burner from Portland who’s first experience with the Burning Man world was SOAK in 2005. A year later she first hit the playa, camping at Snuggletown at Black Rock City in 2006. In later years she was part of a mutant vehicle group called the Pipes Of Passion as well as volunteering with the Post Office. I first met Luscious Blue in 2006 when she camped across the street from the last iteration of my first themecamp, the Cult Of Distraction. This is a great conversation about past playa and Regional adventures, as well as a discussion about the experience of being a black burner over many years.

Please visit shadowoftheman.com for all of the details and links.

#burningman #blackrockcity #burningmanpodcast #torrialee #lusciousblue #soak

Meet Adriana Roberts. She is one of the longest attending burners who first hit Black Rock City in 1993. In 1995 she started one of the very first “papers” on the playa called Piss Clear which she and friends ran for years (until 2007). After taking a little time off from Piss Clear she started a new playa publication called the BRC Weekly in 2010 which ran for a number of years before recently ending in 2023. In 2008 Adriana started her “Bootie Mashup” DJ crew which she has been doing ever since. Please enjoy Episode 21 with Adriana Roberts.

You can find the episode and all the links at shadowoftheman.com

https://bootiemashup.com/

http://www.pissclear.org/

https://brcweekly.com/

#burningman #blackrockcity #burningmanpodcast #adrianaroberts #bootiemashup #pissclear #brcweekly

Meet Megs (aka Meghan Rutigliano) who grew up in the East Coast and Midwest and first went to Burning Man in 2005 from Chicago. She helped the late, great Burning Man legend Tom Laporte record BMIR commercials. In 2007 she moved to San Francisco and applied for a job on a whim with the Burning Man Project as a receptionist. In 2008 she was hired, not as a receptionist but to help out with the Regional Network. She helped to lead the Regional Network for 11 years travelling around the world to many Regional groups. She retired from working at Burning Man in 2019 and in 2020 started working with a nonprofit called Global Eclipse. Then COVID hit and she moved back to Detroit. She now works with a nonprofit called Advancing Macomb (advancingmacomb.com), a nonprofit accelerator. Please enjoy Episode 20 with Megs.

Meet Athena Demos who started her Burning Man career in 1999 by immediately stripping naked and running off on a mobile viking ship that went off to go help raise the Man. She didn’t remember where her camp was so over the next few days the playa provided for her until she was able to find and return to her friend who brought her there. A few years later she helped organize the first LA Decompressions then became one of the first Regional Contacts for Los Angeles. She also helped to organize the LA League of Arts. In 2020 she helped create the first virtual reality Burning Man experience with the creation of BRCVR. When COVID cancelled BRC on the playa BRCVR helped burners globally connect and share. She has retired from being an active Regional Contact but she is very active in creating the next generation of Burning Man virtual reality experiences with a project you can find at burnersphere.com. They are planning on a June 2025 launch and if you visit the site you can sign up for the alpha version. Please enjoy Episode 19 with Athena Demos.