Burner Podcast

Producer Meg, Regional Contact Fin and Arash chat about depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, child molestation, medication and other mental health topics... And somehow manage NOT to make it the most depressing episode ever!

Knotty Boy drops by the studio to talk with Arash about Burning Man Gate’s build, logistics and all that goes into getting Burners out of the default world and into Black Rock City. Also discussed: Bugs!!!

On her birthday, she made the decision to spend her entire 30th year without any substances. Arash follows our anonymous guest’s life and journey through drug culture, culminating with what she experienced at Burning Man.

Gaia and Arash talk Kidsville, relationships and neurochemistry over a beer. She also tells the backstory of her migration to San Diego and attending her first burn with a kiddo in tow. Arash drinks all her beer.

  In this extra large episode, two returning guests drop by the studio to talk even more about that San Diego regional you might be mildly sick of Arash talking about all the time. The conversation gets into Bob and Colin’s back stories, the founding of the Waldos, challenges faced and successes celebrated after all the dust settled.  

Arash and his man-crush discuss writing, the creative process, sleeping on rooftops and traveling through South America while reading Rumi. Chad also talks tent-tripping and reads us a poem about his home, Tijuana.

Producer Meg, Online Editor Thanasi, Music Editor Nav and Borderline Useless Arash recap their Burn experiences. Highlights include dust, emotional breakdowns and vodka.

  Producer Meg sits in as Dr. Brown (a.k.a. Kingsley) swings by the studio to cling beers with Arash and tell the story of his lifelong relationship with psychedelics, culminating with his MAPS funded research of ibogaine and its potential for treating drug addiction. Arash predictably screws up the acronym in the intro.

Kim sits with Arash to talk career counseling, professional inspiration and theme camp planning logistics. The final third of the show is all about Consent Culture and plays like a pilot for the Kim and Arash Morning Hour.

YOUtopia, San Diego’s regional Burn which takes place in October, has been described as “Burning Man 15 years ago in a jungle setting.” Arash, Bob and Jake get into all the things YOUtopia including art, Native American tribal council politics, event logistics, previous years’ lessons learned and oh so much more geekery.

  Curt takes Arash through his upbringing in San Diego, not being a fan of camping, the art of going against the construct and his experiences with the more challenging aspects of volunteerism. Arash then whines about being hazed.

Arash and Tom talk about all that went into creating one of the most talked about pieces of art on the playa, the Black Rock Observatory. They also get into what’s happening in the coming year including doing more of whatever you want and the Carl Sagan connection.

Ell Kay flies all the way down from Vancouver with the sole purpose of talking to Arash about the art of cooking, the Canadian burn scene and the joy of being a recovering vegan. Ell Kay had no other reasons to come to San Diego. We swear.

Fully prepared for Arash’s cheap red wine offering, Jenn sneaks good white wine into the studio as the two discuss Jenn’s life, adult giftedness and all that goes into performing as part of the Fire Conclave.

Payam, Jake and Eoghan show up to Arash’s studio and proceed to get wasted. At some point, Arash remembers to hit record and something that might be called an “interview” is conducted about the history, culture and execution of Electric Poncho.

Camber and Arash talk consent culture, gay polyamory and how nice people in Portland are. There is also a beautiful moment of shared tears followed promptly by Arash whining about his ex again.

Mikey and Arash move through some of the backstory of San Diego’s techno scene, the rise of Desert Hearts and Wu Tang Clan. Yeah that last bit was a surprise to us too.

Sean Natural Nash sits with Arash to talk San Diego’s burner home, colab, as well as some Rangering stories and his adventures with Rainbow Family. Arash also attempts to get some dating advice from Natural, who is a married man.

  Lisa Dewey fights for the title of “most woo woo guest” as she talks to Arash about the spiritual side of health, her experiences as a death doula and the status of women, both in and out of the Burner community. Also, Arash attempts not to be all whiny about his ex-girlfriend.

  Arash and Hill talk about her painting, the spiritual side of artistry and all kinds of other artsy fartsy stuff. And if that's not enough to make you gag, Arash gets all super woo woo about all the magical crap that happened surrounding the recording of this episode.

Arash and Jake fan the flames of a budding bromance with talks of theghostdiaries.com, atheism and robot sex. Plus Arash may or may not totally perpetuate a lie about Jake.

Arash leads a roundtable discussion with five candidates running for open seats on the San Diego Collaborative Arts Project's board of directors. Chaos ensues. 

  Arash gives Marc a lot of jealous side-eye because of his awesome radio voice while they chat about fire-spinning safety, sky-diving into Black Rock City and that feeling of invincibility you get after your first burn.

  Taz talks to a very nervous Arash about crashing a satellite into the moon to create a new crater, fire safety and the regret that comes with spray-painting one’s entire naked body on the playa.

Powered only by her will and name brand cough drops, Nicole talks to Arash about Burning Man bureaucracy, turnkey camps, playa politics and what exactly constitutes a "burner."