Life is a Festival

Today we dive deep into the magical world of shenanigans — or immersive experience design for the uninitiated — with our guest, Tyler Hanson, the brain behind Kulturehaus, a trailblazing agency for festival immersive imagineers. On the show, we explore the crucial role of humor in human survival. We take a historical journey of immersive art from the circus to vaudeville to Dada, to beatniks and h...

Burning Man 2023 was many things, most of which were not accurately portrayed in the media. We experienced a weather event that united us, tested our resilience, and sparked a renewed sense of purpose while also accelerating a critical examination of where Burning Man stands in the broader context of sustainability. Today on the show, I've asked five different guests to help craft a comprehensive...

Happy procrastination week, my fellow burners! In aid of my own procrastination, I've repurposed an early episode, which is still my favorite on the subject of Burning Man. In this interview, I discuss the philosophy of Black Rock City with Burning Man’s Philosopher Laureate, Caveat Magister (the pen name of Benjamin Wachs). Additionally, I offer a short excerpt from the book I’ve been writing. On...

My guest today is Max Stossel, an award-winning poet who was named by Forbes as one of the best storytellers of the year. Max and I are talking about one of my all-time favorite subjects: our relationship with the creative muse. You might learn a thing or two about getting unstuck creatively, but at the very least, you are about to hear some exceptional poetry. The show opens with a candid discuss...

Today's episode is dedicated to my dear friend, Eviatar Frankel, who died a week ago from complications related to a rare lymphoma. I was privileged to sit with Ev in a men's circle throughout his battle with cancer. Each week, and in countless private conversations, he displayed remarkable grace. This podcast features readings from Eviatar's personal philosophy, deeply rooted in determinism, and...

Psychedelic Science, the largest psychedelic conference in history, put on by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, has come and gone. Today, to recap this event and to emphasize the vital role of the trickster in the psychedelic movement, I'm speaking with Dennis Walker, the Instagram satirist well-known for his roastings of all things psychedelic. In this episode, we explore...

Today on the show, I'm speaking with the Godfather of ketamine therapy, author of The Ketamine Papers, and creator of the ketamine lozenge, Dr. Phil Wolfson. This episode marks the first time Phil has shared his insights on this mercurial molecule for those who use it recreationally, or as he prefers to term it, "ground use." As Phil stresses on the show, he doesn't condone any illegal behavior an...

Today on the show, I'm in conversation with Sophie Strand, the mistress of mycelial masculinity and author of The Flowering Wand. Healthy masculinity has been a passion of mine for years and it was an honor to learn from this neo-troubadour animist and her poetic insights.  During our discussion, we discuss the androgynous rockstar Dionysus, modern misunderstandings of Odysseus, and the theriomorp...

Kambo, an Amazonian medicine derived from the secretions of the Phyllomedusa bicolor—also known as the giant monkey tree frog—has been instrumental in maintaining my mental health for the past six years. Today's guest, facilitator Jetta Blaine, helps us understand why, and it boils down to peptides. Our episode begins with essential considerations about vetting practitioners and contraindications...

Would you believe that carnivals are a crucial element of social movements? Indeed, today's guest, Professor Nick Powers, suggests that by emphasizing fun, sacrilege, and even the grotesque, we can safeguard social justice against dogmatism and self-righteousness, preventing its co-option. During our conversation, Nick and I reminisce about our early days as passionate, albeit somewhat overzealous...

Today is National Fentanyl Awareness Day, and I believe this issue to be the most pressing concern facing our community of cognitive liberty. I use drugs and psychedelics to explore my consciousness, and many of the people I love do the same. The issue of fentanyl adulteration and the 100,000 deaths categorized as overdoses in 2020 indicate that this problem affects us all. I personally have frien...

People in conscious communities often pay lip service to shadow work, but what does it truly mean to embrace darkness—both the darkness of the world and within our own hearts? Snow Raven (Haar Suor), a member of the shamanic Sakha people from Arctic Siberia, knows darkness intimately, and it has inspired her transformative music from America's Got Talent to Burning Man. On the show, we discuss the...

Victorien is one of the most joyful people I know. The French DJ, flutist, and social impact entrepreneur seems to have a few things figured out. From Vipassana meditation to sobriety, he shares his secrets with us today. On the show, we begin by discussing the nature of joy and despair. Victorien shares his tools for cultivating joy, starting with creativity, and offers advice to young artists wh...

Today's conversation is a serious one, yet it is approached with the poetic grace that only Stephen Jenkinson can deliver. Personal growth and healing alone won't shield us from impending catastrophes, but perhaps embracing them might... just maybe. In this episode, we discuss why personal growth for its own sake can resemble a tumor and examine the issues surrounding healing culture. We discuss t...

Today Ian Mackenzie returns to Life is a Festival to discuss mythopoetic masculinity. Ian is a filmmaker, essayist, and host of the Mythic Masculine Podcast and A Gathering of Stories. He is teaching a new online class called Re-storying Masculinity with Advaya which starts on March 14th. Our conversation begins with a history of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement and its splinter, Men’s Rights activi...

Just over a month ago, the beloved Visionary Artist Android Jones lost his life's work and all his tools for creation in a fire on his property in Colorado. Today, Android returns to Life is a Festival to share his experience of loss, the profound opening of asking for help and his thoughts on AI art. On the program Android describes how he designed his studio as a runway to attract the muse. He d...

In 2017 I attended Afrikburn, the Burning Man regional event which takes place a few hours north of Cape Town in the Tankwa Karoo. Afterwards, I wrote an article called “Afrikburn: The Unbearable Whiteness of Burning” with the wisdom and support of Co-founder and Creative Director Monique Shiess. Today on the show, I reconnect with Monique to discuss how things have change for Afrikaburn in the la...

Why is a Buddhist meditation teacher trying to heal attachment styles? Aren’t Buddhists supposed to be all about non-attachment? Today's guest, George Haas, has been teaching meditation since 2000, and lately focuses primarily on preparing the path to enlightenment by resolving maladaptive responses to difficult childhood experiences. On the show we talk about different insecure attachment styles,...

If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you may know that I have a mentor and spiritual guide named Benjamin, an extraordinarily generous man who seems to have inexhaustible time for me in guiding my path forward. For many years, Benjamin has been working on a process of dissolution of the constructed self. In this conversation, Ben and I talk about the nature of the self, from a neur...

For Part 2 of our exploration of the psychedelic plant iboga, I have the honor of sharing a conversation with Apollon, a Bwiti N'ganga from Gabon. On the show we open with the colonial history of Gabon and the difference between Bwiti Fang in the North and Bwiti Missoko in the South. Apollon describes the meaning of Bwiti and how Westerns can connect with this spiritual practice. He describes how...

In the first of a two part exploration of the psychedelic West African shrub Tabernanthe iboga, this podcast investigates the Western clinical model and the extract ibogaine HLC. I visited Beond Clinic in Cancun to discuss addiction and trauma treatment with Medical Director Dr. Felipe Malacara and Nursing Lead Vianey Ariadna Perez. On the show we learn how patients receive comprehensive treatment...

To celebrate four years of Life is a Festival, today I’m sharing a conversation I had with my friend Ian MacKenzie about how to conduct a good interview. Whether you want to start a podcast or are simply interested in being a better conversationalist, I think you’ll find this helpful. On the show we go over how to research your guest so you can bring more to the party, how to create a roadmap for...

As Colorado’s Natural Medicine Health Act goes to voters, it's the perfect time to consider how powerful psychedelic molecules should enter mainstream consciousness. Today on Life is a Festival Ismail Lourido Ali, Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) explains the various pathways to legalization including the Decriminalization movement...

Mayan Warrior is one of the most iconic mutant vehicles at Burning Man and its impact goes far beyond the Playa. This week on Life is a Festival, founder Pablo González Vargas talks about gifting, Mayan culture, and the challenges of bringing an art car 8,000 kilometers to That Thing in the Desert. On the show Pablo shares his initiation into Burning Man culture and the difficulties the car faced...

In the countryside of Ibiza there is a strange and challenging movement practice called Primal Moves. Founder Nick Brewer’s personal history is stranger still. Today on Life is a Festival, Nick shares his incredible life story from South American smuggler to yogi and the daily practice which became his refuge and his dharma. On the show, Nick shares his story from his time as an alpine skier, to s...