Life is a Festival

What does it feel like to climb every mountain and arrive at the top feeling... nothing? Chris Stakich knows. Chris is the new CEO of Summit, the 18-year-old community behind Summit at Sea. On today's show we talk about following the script until it breaks, the specific loneliness of high performers, what really happened with Powder Mountain, and what Chris is promising the community now that Summ...

Today on Life is a Festival, Ian MacKenzie and I unpack “Inside the Manosphere:” the performance, the status games, the Lamborghinis that need to be witnessed to exist. We trace it back to father absence, the failure of the nuclear family, and generations of uninitiated men. We explore the distinction between grief and grievance, asking why male pain so readily converts into domination rather than...

After seven years and more than 180 episodes, this is the final episode of Life Is a Festival in its current form. It felt right to close this chapter with a conversation with my friend Jenna Ansell, cofounder of Medicine Festival about what festivals have promised, what they’ve delivered, and what still matters. In this conversation, we explore why the utopian promise of festival culture feels st...

At Burning Man 2025 inside the Playa Alchemist Pyramid, I sat down with legendary mycologist Paul Stamets to explore mushrooms, mycelium, and the cosmos. Through scratchy playa dust voices, we connected fungal intelligence with Burning Man culture, random acts of kindness, and the future of psychedelic medicine. Our conversation ranged from Stamets’ new book Psilocybin Mushrooms in Their Natural H...

There’s no greater mythic mind in modern podcasting than Josh Schrei, the voice and vision behind The Emerald . If you, like me, are already a fan of his deeply poetic and perspective-shifting show, then you’ll understand why I’ve wanted to have him on Life is a Festival since the moment I heard his episode on festivals.  In this conversation, Josh and I explore the revival of myth in our modern m...

I recently revisited Iboga — the psychedelic root bark from Equatorial West Africa — six years after first experiencing it in a traditional Bwiti ceremony in Gabon. This time, I received Ibogaine treatment at Beond in Cancún. (Full disclosure: I produce their podcast, Ibogaine Uncovered. ) To my surprise, my mentor Benjamin also spends time at Beond, quietly supporting others through their Ibogain...

In the aftermath of the 2024 election, as half the country celebrates and the other half mourns, Alex Ebert and I find ourselves doing what grown men often do to process complex emotions—we make a podcast about it. It's our fourth time using this particular hack for male friendship, but something feels different, more urgent this time. The exit polls reveal young men swinging dramatically rightwar...

On the eve of the U.S. presidential election, we’re exploring the theme of participation, a principle central to both Burning Man culture and our role as citizens. In this episode, I’m joined by Megan Miller, former Director of Communications for Burning Man, to talk about how civic responsibility and active engagement can help us navigate this complex cultural moment. I’ve also included a clip fr...

Atish last joined us four or five years ago for a powerful conversation about authenticity, anxiety, and life as an artist. Now, as he takes a break from touring to prioritize mental health, I knew it was time to have him back for an inspiring and candid conversation. In this episode, Atish and I discuss the challenges of touring, redefining success as a DJ, and Atish’s unexpected desire for a “da...

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 Burnin...

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 regi...

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...

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 be...

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'...

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 mytho...

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 natur...

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...

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 abo...

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...

Guys, have you ever wished that instead of ejaculating and falling asleep, you could shoot orgasmic energy up the back of your spine to revitalize your mind and experience rolling orgasms? Well, it turns out there's an ancient Taoist practice that teaches just that, and all it takes is a bit of training. After an erotic detox last year, I embarked on a pilgrimage to the renowned Tao Garden, locate...

Lately I've noticed a curious trend: many of my female friends, particularly those from the Burning Man community, are exploring a path of sexual healing by becoming Professional Dommes. To shed light on this phenomenon, I spoke to Colette Pervette, a professional dominatrix and the mentor behind MistressClass, an immersive program designed to guide women into the realm of becoming a dominatrix. I...

Today we're immersing into immersive experience design through one of the world's most iconic theatrical experiences, Sleep No More. Joining the production right out of college, my guest Ilana Gilovich-Wave is now Sleep No More’s Chief Storyteller. In today’s episode, I chat with Ilana about Sleep No More, immersive experience design, and carving out a path as a young artist. We also delve into ho...

Apparently, ancient Ireland was like the Amazon, with impenetrable forests navigable only by rivers, deep mysticism, and its very own indigenous medicine, the psychedelic Liberty Cap mushrooms. Today on the show, recorded in Southern Ireland, I’m speaking with Darragh Stewart. Darragh is not only a molecular biologist and a passionate advocate of Celtic mysticism and Irish culture, but he's also t...

On October 7th, Natalie Sanandaji, a Persian Jew from New York, attended a psytrance festival, to dance and feel the acceptance she only finds among her fellow peace-loving trancers. The events of that day and what has followed are deeply etched in our global consciousness. Today on Life is a Festival, Natalie tells her story. Our conversation today isn’t about sensational details or moral positio...

In light of the recent tragic events in Israel, particularly the horrific attack at Nova festival, I wanted to offer the global festival community a conversation centered on hope. Today's Life is a Festival episode features Sharon Avraham, co-founder of Midburn, and his theme camp co-producer, Palestinian activist Sami Awad, as they extend a call for healing. On the show we discuss Midburn, Israel...