Burner Podcast - podcast cover

Burner Podcast

Burner Podcast Networkwww.burnerpodcast.com
Independently produced by a revolving team of volunteers and Hosted by founder (mr)Arash, Burner Podcast is the longest running traditional audio podcast in the extended international community of Burning Man. Focused on year-round Burner consciousness and topics of intracultural interest, explore 140+ episodes at burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes. Burner Podcast host Arash Afshar is an Iranian-American SoCal-based professional photographer and community builder. Connect with him directly at mrarash.com/hello. ​ Follow instagram.com/BurnerPodcast and facebook.com/burnerpodcast for wildly irregular updates.
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Episodes

Episode 44: God in Drag

Arash sits with community organizers, Adam and Kara, to wax philosophic about all things gender including how it relates to sexuality, the transgender journey, the flaws of binary thinking and the incredibly silly questions people ask. Arash desperately tries not to ask incredibly silly questions.

Oct 06, 20161 hr 43 min

Episode 43: Post-Burning Man 2016 Roundtable

Arash chats with three seasoned veterans about the 2016 Burn on a variety of topics including bike theft, the evolving culture of an expanding city and the White Ocean scandal. Also, Fred wears a red dress.

Sep 21, 20161 hr 29 min

Episode 42: Burning Man 2016 Pre-playa Planner

Arash gathers the Burner Podcast team to share their recommendations for what you should check out at the Burn this year. Pretty much one can remember what their official title is.

Aug 18, 20161 hr 17 min

Episode 41: Perky Parts

Arash uses the podcast as an excuse to travel to Orange County to get drunk with the Perky Parts crew. Topics covered include what it’s like to attend the Burn with a priest, lessons learned from getting screwed by unacclimated Burners and building a village with Carl Cox’s camp.

Aug 04, 20161 hr 49 min

Episode 40: Shangri-Lawless

Arash follows the tribe as they gather in Coachella, connect with the Super Kids and end up on playa. The crew also shares some wisdom about creating a village and lessons learned from fundraisers.

Jul 20, 20161 hr 34 min

Episode 39: Halcyon. Finally.

John Halcyon tells Arash all about his rise to fame from the early days of the internet, the experiences that inspired the development of Hug Nation as well as how his adventures with Bat Country lead to the formulation of Pink Heart.

Jul 07, 20162 hr

Episode 38: West Coast Weekender

Arash sits down with the team behind the event and they get into the backstory of how United by Bass, Siesta, The Deep End and I’ll House You joined forces to tap into San Diego’s House Music scene in order to make the West Coast Weekender such a wild success.

Jun 16, 20162 hr

Episode 37: The Maker Movement

In the first segment of this episode, Arash talks to veteran Burner/Maker Dave Cox about his decade long history with the Maker community. In the second segment, we get some background information about what goes into producing a Maker Faire with event producers Cody Nelson and Bob Syfrett.

Jun 02, 20161 hr 51 min

Episode 36: From Black Rock to White House

Arash visits Russell’s creator, Lindsay, and follows his life story from childhood through his discovery of the Burner community and finishes with a nail-biting climax as he takes the Electric Giraffe to the White House lawn. Also in this episode, tons of advice for those considering building an art car.

May 19, 20162 hr 3 min

Episode 35: Lee Reynolds

Arash follows Lee’s journey through competitive sports, the House music scene and the explosion of Desert Hearts. Lee might be the “World’s Most Interesting Man.”

May 04, 20161 hr 38 min

Episode 34: The Black Company

Arash and The Black Company get into the history of the camp and discuss the similarities and differences between the Renaissance Faire and the Burner communities. They also get into community politics and the difference between playing and escaping.

Apr 21, 20161 hr 22 min

Episode 33: Triptych

Arash and the Triptych kids go through their crew’s history, the formation of their camp, the challenges they’ve faced in the past year and their future plans. Arash’s car gets towed.

Apr 06, 20161 hr 48 min

Episode 32: Regional Network 101

Arash visits Burning Man headquarters in San Francisco and sits with Iris to discuss the Regional Network and the upcoming Global Leadership Conference (GLC). It takes all his willpower not spend the whole time he’s been given whining about his love life.

Mar 17, 201656 min

Episode 31: Scientists in the Dust

Arash joins the CTO and Datamancer of 3Scan in San Francisco to discuss how they cultivate burner culture in the office and their next-level work in microscopy and biotech. We also get the full story that of “Playa Time: Dust to Dust,” the famous time-lapse from 2011.

Mar 03, 20161 hr 37 min

Episode 30: Dusty Poon Saloon

Three of DPS’s founders bring some whiskey to the studio and tell Arash about the camp’s humble origins, philosophy and atmosphere. Arash tells them about chakras.

Feb 18, 20161 hr 42 min

Episode 29: Lovers Without Borders

Greg Young and Amanda Joy school Arash on a variety of options available to people on how to experience love and partnership. Arash tries more desperately than usual to sound like he knows what he’s talking about.

Feb 04, 20161 hr 36 min

Episode 28: An LA Burn Story

Los Angeles’s sensational Regional Contact guides Arash through the LA Burn scene, the history of LA’s decom and sheds some light on the region’s recent permitting challenges. She also shares her adventures in leaving Texas, stripping and becoming a scream queen.

Jan 21, 20162 hr 15 min

Episode 27: Love, Light and Lithium

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!

Jan 07, 20162 hr 27 min

Episode 26: Entering Black Rock City

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!!!

Dec 17, 20152 hr 8 min

Episode 25: A Sober Burn

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.

Dec 03, 20152 hr 24 min

Episode 24: Interview with Gaia

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.

Nov 19, 20151 hr 57 min

Episode 23: YOUtopia 2015 Recap

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.

Nov 05, 20152 hr 35 min

Episode 22: Chad Deal

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.

Oct 21, 20152 hr 10 min

Episode 21: Post Burning Man Roundtable

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

Oct 07, 20152 hr 4 min

Episode 20: Dr. Thomas Kingsley Brown

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.

Sep 17, 20151 hr 57 min

Episode 19: Kim Eisenberg

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.

Aug 19, 20152 hr 10 min

Episode 18: YOUtopia 2015

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.

Aug 05, 20151 hr 54 min

Episode 17: Curt Benedetto

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.

Jul 15, 20151 hr 51 min

Episode 16: "Major" Tom Varden

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.

Jul 01, 20151 hr 46 min

Episode 15: Ell Kay

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.

Jun 17, 20151 hr 35 min
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