Burning Man LIVE Burning Man Project

Back by popular demand, more stories from Burning Man’s oral history project, an ambitious endeavor to track down and talk with people who helped shape the culture as we now know it.

Stuart and Andie remember to remember the most memorable parts. Here’s a fresh batch:

Chris Radcliffe, artist, con artist, prankster, and shadow founder of Burning Man (perhaps), shares stories of how the Cacophony Society would prank the media and how the Black Rock Desert drove up his fears, then dispelled them. He also hints at the larger-than-life impact of the Billboard Liberation Front.
Candace Locklear, aka Evil Pippi, a perturber and social experimenteer (new word) shares how she helped Burning Man manage the mainstream media in the late ‘90s. She also talks about cutesy culture jamming as a scary clown.
Summer Burkes was the DPW's media liaison. She sees the early days of Black Rock City as the love child of comically aggressive punk rockers and air-kissy techno industrialists, and she embraces their uneasy peace.
Steve Heck brought 88 pianos to Burning Man in 1996, stacked them in a tall circular “piano bell.” People beat it into a cacophonous soundscape until he burned it. That was after he almost died wandering the desert. Then he cleaned it up, and did it the next year, and the next year, and taught the BRC teams the art of packing and moving big stuff.
Dr Hal Robins is a beloved Renaissance Man of stage and story, a Cacophonist, an Uber Pope of the Church of the Subgenius, and mellifluous philosopher of sesquipedalians. He shares about the inventiveness and serendipity of Burning Man and why it matters in the world.

Burners from around Europe gather to teach and learn and to conjure ideas for the future. Burning Man’s 7th European Leadership Summit just happened, and we recorded some conversations for you.

Passionate people from the corners of Europe share with Stuart and kbot what they get from Burning Man culture and what they gift back to it. Hear a cultural spice drawer of stories about how they persevere through politics and pandemics to bring their flavor of Burning Man to their homeland.

• Baroch - Israel
• Erin Kiez - Germany
• Gabriel Muscalu - Romania
• Linus Höök, Caroline Bergmann, and Britta Kronacher - Sweden
• Pille Heido - Estonia
• Vinegar Joe - Portugal

There are a whole lot of military veterans in Burning Man’s history and Black Rock City’s neighborhoods. Combat veterans Dr Raymond Christian (Army) and Samuel Williams (Marines) share stories with Stuart Mangrum (Air Force) about transitioning into civilian life, bringing survival skills and leadership chops to BRC, and finding tribal camaraderie… and a party.

They explore how hackneyed clichés of the military can wither in an environment of love and authenticity. PTSD, though, that’s still a thing. BRC can be like a military operation: the sights, the sounds, the smells... meeting interesting people, and finding forever friendships.

Robot Heart started with a simple sound system on an old double-decker bus at Black Rock City. Over the years, it has evolved into a bespoke sound system, light arrays, iconic art, and an all-star lineup of musical talent performing to massive crowds at sunrise on Playa.… all on that same old double-decker bus.

Robot Heart also expanded its support of arts and artists beyond the playa, including New York’s Central Park, Miami’s Art Basel, and their residency program in Oakland, California. For the 2nd year, the team brings together various Burning Man camps, artists, and musicians from April 25th to May 18th.

A few years ago, Robot Heart created a 501c3 Foundation to make all this happen. Stuart talks with President Gary Mueller and Board Members Clare Laverty and Justin Shaffer. They trade tales from developing a foundation, collaborating with creatives, and taking pleasure from other people's pleasure.

Moshe Kasher has lived many lives as a subculture vulture - a hearing child of deaf parents, an addict at 15, in recovery at 16, a raver, a culturally Jewish standup comedian, an old-school Burner, and a longtime Gate volunteer.

With Andie Grace and Stuart Mangrum he explores how Burning Man is a waterboard of wonder where weirdos go to feel normal, and norms go to feel weird, and that the sweet spot is when you experience something that makes you say “Wait, What?!?”

They discuss how Black Rock City has evolved, from subcultures like the rave scene and AA meetings, to the transitional realm from the default world, the infamous Gate. Listen in on their playful tales of culture-jamming and utopia-tizing.

This is one of those full-circle stories that makes our dusty hearts glow a little brighter. It’s the tale of big art that emerged from a fossil-filled trash heap, came to life in Black Rock City, then returned to its source as a proud symbol of what a community can accomplish together.

Tahoe Mack, a Las Vegas artist, tells the story of the Black Rock City Honoraria art piece she started when she was 15 years old. Her final Girl Scouts project became, oh, so much more. Over a few years, she learned to weld, fundraise, and work with acclaimed artists Dana Albany and Luis Varelo-Rico.

Her vision drew attention to an urban park with a rich archaeological history. Built from metal detritus that had accumulated there, “The Monumental Mammoth” dazzled Burners in Black Rock City 2019, and is now a permanent installation at a trailhead near the fossil field that inspired it all, and forged new connections between dozens of people.