Burner Podcast

Episode 143: From Austin to Black Rock The Burning Man 2023 Pre-playa Planner with Monday and Maria Gotay Arash is joined by Monday and Maria Gotay to geek out about Burning Man 2023. Monday, a member of the Placement Committee for Burning Man, and Maria, co-leading the massive art project called 1000 Hands, share their anticipation and excitement for the upcoming "Big Burn." This special annual e...

Episode 142: Candids and Consent With Texas-based Photographer Mike Whitten Join Arash for a captivating conversation with photographer Mike Whitten, as the two explore the culture of photography at regional Burns and Burning Man. Having recently resettled in Austin, Texas, Mike shares his experiences shooting since the film days and reflects on his 20-year fascination with Burning Man before fina...

Episode 141: A Particular Set of Skills SDCAP Board President Cable King In this episode, Arash delves into an insightful conversation with Cable King, the board president of San Diego Collaborative Arts Project (SDCAP). As the non-profit organization behind YOUtopia, San Diego's regional Burning Man event, and CoLab, the region's Burner maker space, SDCAP plays a crucial role in fostering the loc...

Episode 140: Addiction to Certainty Psychologists Dr. Mayra Gomez Padua and Dr. Mia Sarno on Burner life and mental health Arash sits with psychologists Dr. Mayra Gomez Padua and Dr. Mia Sarno to explore a Burner community perspective on personal mental health. The discussion taps into just some of the challenges and obstacles folks often face when attempting to access therapy and considers both t...

Episode 139: A Conversation on Commodification with business owners Jon Ray, Dawn Sardinas and Francisco Serna Arash is joined by a group of talented business owners who are passionate and active contributors to the Burning Man community. Entrepreneurs Jon Ray, Dawn Sardinas, and Francisco Serna share their perspectives and reflections on how to balance thriving in their respective businesses whil...

Emmy Award winner Terence Pratt always has a camera with him For episode 138, (mr)Arash interviews Terence Pratt, a two-time Emmy Award-winning director of cinematography and co-founder of Profiles in Dust. Terence shares his fascinating experiences filming art projects and docuseries in far-flung locations ranging from magical fire-lit nights in Black Rock Desert to mystical experiences under the...

Internationally renowned photographer Trey Ratcliff and a Robot Heart sunrise set from The Scumfrog Arash catches internationally renowned photographer Trey Ratcliff in Hollywood on one of his recent visits to the United States. Trey's iconic travel photos have made a lasting impact on the international photography community and his images of Black Rock City and the desert have served as pillars o...

An interview with the legendary designer and architect Gregg Fleishman followed by a Robot Heart sunrise set by the legendary Lee Burridge In the latest episode of Burner Podcast, Arash has a captivating conversation with artist Gregg Fleishman, the highly influential designer, architect and inventor whose creations have played a significant role in shaping the aesthetic of Burning Man. We follow...

Buck AE Down ponders this question in his viral Medium think piece Artist, musician, writer, one of the gate perimeter and exodus managers and 24 year Burning Man veteran, Buck AE Down, might be the first of us to seemingly be able to answer the question that's been gnawing at all our craws since the 2022 exodus: What the #$%& just happened back there?? Get to know the talented and delightful writ...

Halcyon and Arash reflect on the first official Burning Man since The Before Times Pink Heart founder John Halcyon joins Arash for their almost annual tradition of recapping the year leading up to and their annual pilgrimage to Burning Man. This year's chat includes the obligatory wining about how hard this year was, exploring consent and photography best practices on playa and the amazing work Fi...

Athena Demos, Ginger Fox and Haley Who geek out about Waking Dreams The annual Pre-playa Planner returns after a two year hiatus. Athena Demos, Ginger Fox and Haley Who share which art projects they're eager to see, some thoughts on what they're excited about experiencing at Burning Man 2022 and a few insider tips and tricks on elevating the whole experience. No closing set this time! But what we...

A Physical Health Rundown with the founder of RGX Medical It's been almost 15 years since Richard Gottlieb aka Wolverine found himself working in the festival medical space. It was a passion for people that brought him here. We get to know Wolverine a bit for the first half hour of the show before getting into a quick and dirty primer on this year's big buzz: Narcan. The final third of the convers...

Dr. Kim Perkins and Kim Eisenberg LCSW   Organizational psychologist Dr. Kim Perkins and sex-positive therapist Kim Eisenberg join Arash for a chat about various mental health topics and how they pertain to the Burner community. Subjects of exploration include depression, suicide, organizational psychology, consent culture and dealing with potentially problematic participants in our Burning Man ca...

Mark Day's 24 Hours at Burning Man videos are there for you when you need that final push From the comfort of YouTuber Mark Day's Northern California living room, this episode begins with dissecting silliness versus comedy, before following Mark from his childhood in Scotland to the inception of his first ever 24 Hours at Burning Man video series, which have inspired thousands of would-be Burners...

Eleven year French Algerian burner Reda Briki was inspired to begin his DJ career through dance. He has explored, played at and been present for many iconic moments in dance music history and played with some of the biggest names on a journey that lead him through San Francisco, New York, Burning Man and most recently, Playa del Carmen and Tulum in Mexico. Closing set by Reda Briki (Siesta) soundc...

Episode 128: Responsible Hedonism New York Dangerous camp co-founder Leon Feingold runs on all cylinders The co-founder of New York Dangerous, Leon Feingold, runs one of the largest all volunteer charities in New York. He shares stories of his upbringing, the founding of their Burning Man camp and the very emotional and powerful backstory of how the House of Good Deeds came to be. Closing set by A...

Susanna Eggli is 69, has been burning for 18 years and is the sole member of Camp Tragique. A product of "free range parenting," Susanna solo trekked through Europe at 15 and doesn't pack anything for Burning Man she can't lift on her own. Closing set by Bamboom (Mystical Misfits) facebook.com/susanna.eggli soundcloud.com/djbamboom facebook.com/djbamboom https://soundcloud.com/djbamboom/bamboom-fo...

Camp founder Dave Taylor is joined by 3D artist Debi Cable to share the story of Destiny Lounge. We'll learn the evolution of the camp over almost two decades, back story of how they became Destiny Lounge 3D and their most recent year where the entire camp almost didn't make it after an accident on the way to the burn. Closing set by Gold Dust Divas (Steely T Mutant Vehicle) facebook.com/groups/de...

On his journey navigating dance floors around the world, Steve aka Afternoon Kitty was inspired to elevate the experience of festival gifting into its own unique art project which is evolving to a sustainable fashion line. We follow his years of compulsive gifting through various festivals, Burning Man and his travels to Berlin and a hilarious trespassing court appearance. Closing set by Mira (Nep...

A 2.5 hour deep dive with the leadership team of DanceSafe, the national drug education and risk reduction 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  Mitchell Gomez, Madalyn McElwain, Kristin Karas, Rachel Clark and Jessica Breemen share DanceSafe's history, initiatives and discuss the political implications, as well as social and racial justice components of drug and dance music culture. Closing set by...

Pink Heart founder John Halcyon joins Arash for their almost annual tradition of recapping the year leading up to and their annual pilgrimage to Burning Man. The conversation explores our community navigating the pandemic (on and off playa) and mental health in the time of Covid-19 balanced with some fun stories of joy and synchronicity in the dust. Closing set by Chulatto (17 Virgins) blackrockde...

Arash visits with Dan Reeves and Lee Hemingway of The Journey Project from episode 59. The conversation dives into stories of their experiences building on playa, where the project went after Burning Man 2017 and very personal reflections on mental health and community. Facebook.com/tjp midcenturystore.com facebook.com/Umee soundcloud.com/umeedee Instagram.com/autobiographica sdcolab.org https://s...

Trav Mo, Felisha and Jesse Severns of Perky Parks camp recount their ridiculous adventure bringing a camel art car named Humpty to Burning Man and reflect on other adventures in burning including the year they villaged with Playground. Closing set by Gutto Serta (Favela) Trav Mo, Felisha and Jesse Severns of Perky Parks camp recount their ridiculous adventure bringing a camel art car named Humpty...

Dr. Amanda J Lucia's life long adventure through India, yoga festivals and academia eventually brought her to Burning Man and made her an active citizen of Black Rock City. Dr. Lucia is the author of White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals. Closing set by Navjeet Sarna (Alkaline Podcast) amandajeanlucia.com profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/amaluc ucpress.edu/book/9780...

On this jumbo jet sized episode, we get to know Ken Feldmen and follow him through his post college days throwing some of the earliest bigger production raves in Austin while exploring aerospace, telecom entrepreneurship and rockets. Life eventually brings him to Burning Man, leading to the the creation of one of Black Rock City's most beloved art cars and culminating with the Big Imagination team...