1 00:01:02,187 --> 00:01:05,482 Yes, uh, we're going to take over the world. 2 00:01:05,524 --> 00:01:06,733 When? 3 00:01:06,775 --> 00:01:08,318 Sooner than you might think. 4 00:02:05,334 --> 00:02:07,169 Welcome to Burning Man! 5 00:02:08,086 --> 00:02:09,755 Oh, we got people coming. 6 00:02:12,799 --> 00:02:14,718 -Welcome home. -How are you? 7 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:16,762 -Hello. -Oh! 8 00:02:20,849 --> 00:02:22,559 Dust angels, please. 9 00:02:22,601 --> 00:02:23,727 Roll over. 10 00:02:23,769 --> 00:02:26,228 You gotta get the full package here. 11 00:02:26,271 --> 00:02:28,273 That's it. Love the dust. 12 00:02:29,441 --> 00:02:31,902 You may now ring the man's doorbell and tell him, 13 00:02:31,943 --> 00:02:33,403 "I'm here to burn!" 14 00:02:33,445 --> 00:02:34,780 Yell it out. 15 00:02:34,821 --> 00:02:37,074 I'm here to burn! 16 00:02:54,758 --> 00:02:56,677 Imagine that you are put upon 17 00:02:56,718 --> 00:02:57,844 a desert plane, 18 00:02:57,886 --> 00:02:59,262 a space which in itself 19 00:02:59,304 --> 00:03:00,740 is so vast and blank, 20 00:03:00,764 --> 00:03:02,808 that only your initiative can make that a place. 21 00:03:07,270 --> 00:03:10,107 Imagine you're surrounded by thousands of other people, 22 00:03:10,148 --> 00:03:12,317 that together you form a city, 23 00:03:12,359 --> 00:03:13,670 and that within this teeming city, 24 00:03:13,694 --> 00:03:15,654 there is nothing that's for sale. 25 00:03:18,573 --> 00:03:20,325 If you've seen an aerial shot 26 00:03:20,367 --> 00:03:22,994 of Black Rock City, it's a beautiful clock shape. 27 00:03:24,496 --> 00:03:27,600 What people don't know is that it's an actual city. 28 00:03:27,624 --> 00:03:31,962 There are roads, neighborhoods, and community spaces, 29 00:03:32,003 --> 00:03:33,773 all designed to create 30 00:03:33,797 --> 00:03:36,174 spontaneous interactions between people. 31 00:03:37,008 --> 00:03:38,343 Have you ever been in a city 32 00:03:38,385 --> 00:03:40,679 where you couldn't buy or sell anything? 33 00:03:42,055 --> 00:03:44,808 When you give a gift or receive a gift from someone, 34 00:03:44,850 --> 00:03:47,394 it creates an immediate moral bond with them. 35 00:03:49,938 --> 00:03:52,607 That's, of course, where community begins. 36 00:03:55,527 --> 00:03:57,529 This is an inhospitable, 37 00:03:57,571 --> 00:04:01,074 natural environment that will kill you if you let it. 38 00:04:03,034 --> 00:04:04,703 We live in a consumer society 39 00:04:04,745 --> 00:04:07,330 and we're completely insulated from the realities of nature 40 00:04:07,372 --> 00:04:08,957 in our own inner needs. 41 00:04:11,126 --> 00:04:12,895 There's nothing like living through a catastrophe 42 00:04:12,919 --> 00:04:15,005 with other people to bond you to them. 43 00:04:15,046 --> 00:04:17,089 That's the point. We want that challenge. 44 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,028 Why do some of the most 45 00:04:21,052 --> 00:04:23,597 talented, brightest, most creative people 46 00:04:23,638 --> 00:04:25,348 come to our temporary city 47 00:04:25,390 --> 00:04:26,767 in the middle of the desert, 48 00:04:26,808 --> 00:04:29,394 work harder than they normally do in their jobs, 49 00:04:29,436 --> 00:04:31,188 give up their scarce resources, 50 00:04:31,229 --> 00:04:34,399 and call our little dusty city home? 51 00:04:35,108 --> 00:04:37,360 What are they getting here 52 00:04:37,402 --> 00:04:40,238 that they're not getting in our year-round cities? 53 00:04:48,288 --> 00:04:49,581 People keep saying, 54 00:04:49,623 --> 00:04:51,707 "Well, what does Burning Man mean?" 55 00:04:54,002 --> 00:04:56,755 Burning Man leads people up to the threshold 56 00:04:56,797 --> 00:04:58,507 of what religious experience is. 57 00:05:00,592 --> 00:05:03,345 In fact, it gives them the experience pretty largely. 58 00:05:08,767 --> 00:05:11,478 It is a city of imagination. 59 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:16,566 And imagination wants to be free and abundant. 60 00:05:34,042 --> 00:05:35,353 And we're creating joy. 61 00:05:35,377 --> 00:05:37,170 We're bringing connection. 62 00:05:40,757 --> 00:05:42,276 In the default world, 63 00:05:42,300 --> 00:05:45,178 people are more disconnected and lonelier than ever. 64 00:05:46,346 --> 00:05:49,015 That's why people think of Black Rock City as home. 65 00:05:49,057 --> 00:05:52,978 Four, three, two, one. 66 00:05:53,019 --> 00:05:54,104 Ignition. 67 00:06:35,395 --> 00:06:37,675 I don't think it's... I've got enough... Hang on. 68 00:06:38,231 --> 00:06:39,482 Can I zip it all the way up? 69 00:06:39,524 --> 00:06:41,818 People were saying no. Option down or up? 70 00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:43,170 It looked a little uptight 71 00:06:43,194 --> 00:06:44,505 when you got it all the way up there. 72 00:06:44,529 --> 00:06:45,715 Yeah. Exactly. 73 00:06:45,739 --> 00:06:47,174 -I am a little uptight. -I know. 74 00:06:47,198 --> 00:06:48,843 Hi, everyone... 75 00:06:48,867 --> 00:06:50,678 -Hello, people. -thanks for joining us for a second time. 76 00:06:50,702 --> 00:06:52,746 We're so excited to share news 77 00:06:52,787 --> 00:06:54,181 about what's going on behind the scenes 78 00:06:54,205 --> 00:06:55,582 at Burning Man Project. 79 00:06:55,624 --> 00:06:57,334 Without further ado, 80 00:06:57,375 --> 00:07:00,337 I'll hand it off to our CEO, Marian Goodell. 81 00:07:00,378 --> 00:07:02,547 Hello, everybody. I'm Marian. 82 00:07:02,589 --> 00:07:05,842 We are on the road to making a decision 83 00:07:05,884 --> 00:07:08,637 about whether we'll do Black Rock City 2021. 84 00:07:08,970 --> 00:07:13,934 It takes a lot of energy to do this. 85 00:07:14,559 --> 00:07:17,562 Go, no go, Burning Man. I have no fucking idea. 86 00:07:20,106 --> 00:07:21,375 We've faced a number 87 00:07:21,399 --> 00:07:22,400 of existential crises 88 00:07:22,442 --> 00:07:23,944 over the years, 89 00:07:23,985 --> 00:07:27,072 and, and the COVID pandemic has certainly been one of them. 90 00:07:28,782 --> 00:07:31,844 The deadly coronavirus officially hitting the US. 91 00:07:31,868 --> 00:07:35,330 In 2020, we didn't really have a choice. 92 00:07:36,748 --> 00:07:37,957 We had to cancel. 93 00:07:37,999 --> 00:07:40,585 And it was a... it was a huge letdown. 94 00:07:42,712 --> 00:07:45,423 The theme for 2021 was the great unknown 95 00:07:45,465 --> 00:07:48,969 because we had no freaking idea if we would do Burning Man 96 00:07:49,010 --> 00:07:50,512 that year or ever again. 97 00:07:52,514 --> 00:07:54,599 Honestly, you know, I'd say that feelings 98 00:07:54,641 --> 00:07:56,142 were divided in the organization. 99 00:07:56,183 --> 00:07:58,079 Do we want to be dealing 100 00:07:58,103 --> 00:08:01,564 with people with bad COVID-19 symptoms 101 00:08:01,606 --> 00:08:02,941 in the middle of nowhere? 102 00:08:02,983 --> 00:08:05,276 Um, what feels successful? 103 00:08:05,318 --> 00:08:08,947 Is a successful event that nobody died from COVID? 104 00:08:08,989 --> 00:08:12,575 What is the thing that we're trying to prove by doing this? 105 00:08:13,076 --> 00:08:15,662 The answer to that is to not do Black Rock City. 106 00:08:17,580 --> 00:08:20,582 The reality is, we could still find ourselves in a situation 107 00:08:20,625 --> 00:08:22,002 where we don't have enough money, 108 00:08:22,043 --> 00:08:23,562 and we'll have to let people go. 109 00:08:23,586 --> 00:08:25,272 And if we let the people on this call right now go, 110 00:08:25,296 --> 00:08:27,340 I don't know that we can fire up the engines again. 111 00:08:27,382 --> 00:08:28,842 That's still all true. 112 00:08:29,968 --> 00:08:32,303 Here I go, first time back in the office. 113 00:08:33,221 --> 00:08:34,514 Today's an important day. 114 00:08:34,556 --> 00:08:36,433 We're going to announce our decision 115 00:08:36,474 --> 00:08:38,977 about whether to do Burning Man or not this year. 116 00:08:39,936 --> 00:08:43,857 I'm done waiting and wondering and watching people be tortured 117 00:08:43,898 --> 00:08:46,151 as to whether we're doing it or we're not doing it. 118 00:08:46,192 --> 00:08:48,462 Uh, we need to make a decision. There's no good decisions. 119 00:08:48,486 --> 00:08:50,155 There's two bad decisions to make. 120 00:08:50,989 --> 00:08:53,491 Marian's been CEO of Burning Man since 2013, 121 00:08:53,533 --> 00:08:54,868 and I've been by her side, 122 00:08:54,909 --> 00:08:56,536 running it with her, ever since. 123 00:08:59,748 --> 00:09:02,292 Our board is evolving into a new sort of board. 124 00:09:02,333 --> 00:09:04,294 We have a fair amount of new board members, 125 00:09:04,335 --> 00:09:07,172 and we've not worked together as a team all that much, 126 00:09:07,213 --> 00:09:09,841 certainly not with a crisis like this before. 127 00:09:11,217 --> 00:09:13,470 They started asking a lot of questions recently 128 00:09:13,511 --> 00:09:15,013 about whether we're gonna survive. 129 00:09:15,055 --> 00:09:17,807 "Are the finances okay?" "Am I doing my job?" 130 00:09:17,849 --> 00:09:20,310 "Is it gonna be safe?" "Are we doing the right thing?" 131 00:09:20,351 --> 00:09:21,603 "Are we being responsible?" 132 00:09:22,896 --> 00:09:24,898 It's kind of becoming pretty clear 133 00:09:24,939 --> 00:09:27,942 that it's a lift that we're not ready for. 134 00:09:28,526 --> 00:09:30,111 What if we cancel the event? 135 00:09:31,613 --> 00:09:34,574 We need Burning Man to survive the pandemic. 136 00:09:35,366 --> 00:09:37,636 And a lot of people around the world feel that way. 137 00:09:37,660 --> 00:09:39,204 -Hi. -Hey! 138 00:09:43,124 --> 00:09:44,477 Kimbal was a new board member. 139 00:09:44,501 --> 00:09:48,004 His brother, Elon, had made a significant donation, 140 00:09:48,046 --> 00:09:50,173 and Kimbal was representing that. 141 00:09:50,215 --> 00:09:51,591 And he's been coming to Burning Man 142 00:09:51,633 --> 00:09:53,551 for over 25 years. 143 00:09:54,260 --> 00:09:55,512 My name's Kimbal. 144 00:09:55,553 --> 00:09:58,056 I'm very honored to be here today with you guys. 145 00:09:58,098 --> 00:09:59,641 Welcome, Kimbal. 146 00:09:59,682 --> 00:10:01,184 You know, I really struggle 147 00:10:01,226 --> 00:10:02,894 to describe Burning Man to people. 148 00:10:04,395 --> 00:10:06,064 But the way I like to describe it is, 149 00:10:06,106 --> 00:10:07,941 imagine the beach. 150 00:10:09,234 --> 00:10:11,152 Some people like it, some people don't. 151 00:10:13,571 --> 00:10:15,865 But would you ever say to someone 152 00:10:15,907 --> 00:10:17,676 who has never been to the beach, 153 00:10:17,700 --> 00:10:19,619 "You don't need to go see the beach"? 154 00:10:22,622 --> 00:10:26,584 It is an experiment that is never-ending. 155 00:10:29,003 --> 00:10:31,214 I think it means different things to different people. 156 00:10:31,256 --> 00:10:32,340 For me, personally, 157 00:10:32,966 --> 00:10:35,635 it is this amazing opportunity to... 158 00:10:36,594 --> 00:10:37,887 once a year, 159 00:10:37,929 --> 00:10:39,639 burn the past 160 00:10:39,681 --> 00:10:40,974 and start again. 161 00:10:46,479 --> 00:10:48,940 It's my religion. It's my ritual. 162 00:10:48,982 --> 00:10:51,025 It's my spiritual calling. 163 00:10:51,943 --> 00:10:54,112 And I never miss it. 164 00:10:56,030 --> 00:10:58,449 Okay, so we're gonna, uh, turn it over here 165 00:10:58,491 --> 00:11:00,034 to Marian and her team. 166 00:11:01,286 --> 00:11:05,331 It's so weird to not be in front of a laptop, okay? 167 00:11:05,373 --> 00:11:08,710 Let's just say that's where I feel weird for a moment. 168 00:11:09,502 --> 00:11:11,004 Okey-doke. 169 00:11:11,045 --> 00:11:13,256 So, the item at hand 170 00:11:13,298 --> 00:11:15,633 is Black Rock City recommendation and discussion. 171 00:11:16,467 --> 00:11:18,261 Um, our recommendation is that 172 00:11:18,303 --> 00:11:21,431 there be no Black Rock City of 2021, 173 00:11:22,140 --> 00:11:25,435 and, um, that we aim all of our efforts 174 00:11:25,476 --> 00:11:27,437 for Black Rock City 2022. 175 00:11:27,979 --> 00:11:30,148 Kimbal, you want to share just a little? 176 00:11:30,982 --> 00:11:32,692 That's just a bad idea. 177 00:11:33,610 --> 00:11:37,989 People will be depressed as hell because of this announcement. 178 00:11:38,823 --> 00:11:42,702 So, be very thoughtful that this will traumatize people. 179 00:11:43,745 --> 00:11:47,040 I found it depressing 180 00:11:47,081 --> 00:11:48,708 and lacking in vision. 181 00:11:50,251 --> 00:11:52,212 There is vision, and I've been thinking about this 182 00:11:52,253 --> 00:11:53,689 -for quite some time. -Yeah. 183 00:11:53,713 --> 00:11:55,006 Farhad? 184 00:11:55,506 --> 00:11:58,026 I think it's an incredibly conservative decision. 185 00:11:58,051 --> 00:12:00,136 Um, and Burning Man is not... That's not... 186 00:12:00,178 --> 00:12:02,055 That's not the image of Burning Man. 187 00:12:02,096 --> 00:12:05,391 We are radically self-reliant, we're civically responsible, 188 00:12:05,433 --> 00:12:07,119 we are a communal effort thing. 189 00:12:07,143 --> 00:12:10,063 30,000 people or more are gonna gather in the desert. 190 00:12:10,104 --> 00:12:12,649 And as long as the 10 Principles are in place, 191 00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:14,859 Burning Man happens, with or without us. 192 00:12:15,944 --> 00:12:18,571 It is really important that we consider staff, 193 00:12:18,613 --> 00:12:21,324 the 10,000 folks that through all of the surveys 194 00:12:21,366 --> 00:12:22,742 and all the work we're doing, 195 00:12:22,784 --> 00:12:24,661 there are 10,000 people that help run 196 00:12:24,702 --> 00:12:26,329 all of the operations. 197 00:12:26,371 --> 00:12:29,040 That includes greeters, that includes lamplighters, 198 00:12:29,082 --> 00:12:31,668 that includes airport, that includes Burner Express bus, 199 00:12:31,709 --> 00:12:33,419 that includes the box office. 200 00:12:33,461 --> 00:12:36,339 And I'm touching on some of the areas that when we surveyed, 201 00:12:36,381 --> 00:12:39,092 the box office was less than 20% of the people 202 00:12:39,133 --> 00:12:40,176 wanted to come back. 203 00:12:40,218 --> 00:12:41,719 The airport was less than 20%. 204 00:12:41,761 --> 00:12:43,263 And these are volunteers. 205 00:12:43,304 --> 00:12:44,681 These are not paid people. 206 00:12:44,722 --> 00:12:46,557 There are gonna be 50 that... 207 00:12:46,599 --> 00:12:50,228 No, 500 competing events on Labor Day weekend. 208 00:12:50,270 --> 00:12:52,772 And what we're basically saying to the world is, 209 00:12:52,814 --> 00:12:55,191 "Go try something else this weekend. 210 00:12:55,233 --> 00:12:58,027 Please, please go try something else." 211 00:12:58,069 --> 00:12:59,320 That sounds crazy. 212 00:12:59,988 --> 00:13:01,739 The playa is the Vatican, 213 00:13:02,657 --> 00:13:04,242 and everything else is a church. 214 00:13:04,742 --> 00:13:07,537 I think, Marian, you're not challenging yourself. 215 00:13:07,578 --> 00:13:11,040 I think you guys are, uh, you're giving up, 216 00:13:11,082 --> 00:13:12,458 and you shouldn't be, 217 00:13:12,500 --> 00:13:13,835 and I'm disappointed. 218 00:13:14,585 --> 00:13:16,587 Burning Man was never intended to be safe. 219 00:13:17,588 --> 00:13:20,258 And let's go have some fun on the playa 220 00:13:20,300 --> 00:13:22,593 and let the cards fall where they may. 221 00:13:23,136 --> 00:13:25,096 I think it'll be the best burn ever. 222 00:13:28,683 --> 00:13:30,393 The first thing I want to say, 223 00:13:30,435 --> 00:13:31,602 is it the same thing? 224 00:13:31,644 --> 00:13:32,895 Is it Burning Man 225 00:13:32,937 --> 00:13:35,064 if our international people can't be there? 226 00:13:35,106 --> 00:13:36,458 -Is it Burning Man? -Yes, it is. 227 00:13:36,482 --> 00:13:37,751 I don't think it is Burning Man. 228 00:13:39,152 --> 00:13:40,737 Can I stop being interrupted? 229 00:13:40,778 --> 00:13:42,447 Can I stop being interrupted, please? 230 00:13:42,488 --> 00:13:44,073 You asked a question. 231 00:13:44,115 --> 00:13:45,241 Okay, I'm not gonna... 232 00:13:45,283 --> 00:13:46,677 If I ask another question, don't answer it. 233 00:13:46,701 --> 00:13:48,661 Okay. Fair enough. 234 00:13:48,703 --> 00:13:50,830 If you guys are all thinking that anarchy 235 00:13:50,872 --> 00:13:53,124 and that cool, like, renegade shit is Burning Man, 236 00:13:53,165 --> 00:13:54,977 -then you're missing the boat. -Go, Harley, go! 237 00:13:55,001 --> 00:13:56,770 The thing about Burning Man that's beautiful is, 238 00:13:56,794 --> 00:13:58,272 you can have that, because you have people 239 00:13:58,296 --> 00:14:00,089 who trust each other and love each other. 240 00:14:00,131 --> 00:14:01,851 And without the trust, and without the love, 241 00:14:01,883 --> 00:14:03,819 and without the community, you cannot have that anarchy, 242 00:14:03,843 --> 00:14:05,178 you cannot have that craziness. 243 00:14:05,219 --> 00:14:06,804 And that's what this is all about. 244 00:14:08,348 --> 00:14:09,932 This is my 30th year. 245 00:14:09,974 --> 00:14:12,036 I feel like I get Burning Man. I feel like I know what it is. 246 00:14:12,060 --> 00:14:13,436 I'm not sure everyone else does. 247 00:14:16,647 --> 00:14:18,483 The man must burn. 248 00:14:20,151 --> 00:14:22,445 The man must burn. 249 00:14:22,487 --> 00:14:26,324 I have joined this board because the man must burn. 250 00:14:26,366 --> 00:14:27,825 It will burn. 251 00:14:30,828 --> 00:14:33,831 Black Rock City doesn't just pop itself up in August. 252 00:14:33,873 --> 00:14:38,169 This is a $60 million event that involves hundreds of people 253 00:14:38,211 --> 00:14:40,046 who part-time or full-time, work here. 254 00:14:40,755 --> 00:14:43,549 Canceling again this year would mean zero income 255 00:14:43,591 --> 00:14:45,385 for ticket sales and massive layoffs. 256 00:14:47,011 --> 00:14:48,388 Outside of this boardroom, 257 00:14:48,429 --> 00:14:51,182 nobody knows that Burning Man is canceled. 258 00:14:51,224 --> 00:14:52,683 Not even our staff. 259 00:14:55,228 --> 00:14:56,979 So, can you measure that space now 260 00:14:57,021 --> 00:14:59,232 between Blue Oasis and Donkey Show? 261 00:14:59,273 --> 00:15:01,984 Yeah, that's about 40 feet. 262 00:15:02,026 --> 00:15:03,486 I lead the team that decides 263 00:15:03,528 --> 00:15:05,321 where all the camps go. 264 00:15:05,863 --> 00:15:07,508 And, I mean, I think this is a question I have for Trigger, 265 00:15:07,532 --> 00:15:08,658 but those two are... 266 00:15:08,699 --> 00:15:11,869 We have over 1,500 camps to figure out. 267 00:15:11,911 --> 00:15:14,914 And, you know, when you're planning a dinner party, 268 00:15:14,956 --> 00:15:16,183 when you're planning a wedding, 269 00:15:16,207 --> 00:15:18,000 like, who's gonna be able to connect 270 00:15:18,042 --> 00:15:20,336 and have good conversations, matters. 271 00:15:20,378 --> 00:15:22,839 these four cars up here, 272 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:24,048 I think we're golden. 273 00:15:24,757 --> 00:15:28,386 Marian is gonna make an announcement on Saturday. 274 00:15:28,428 --> 00:15:30,697 I don't know if Burning Man's gonna be canceled this year, 275 00:15:30,721 --> 00:15:32,014 so I keep doing my job. 276 00:15:32,056 --> 00:15:33,433 That works, too. 277 00:15:33,474 --> 00:15:34,993 You've got at least 10 feet there 278 00:15:35,017 --> 00:15:37,395 to get in and out, back to this area, 279 00:15:37,437 --> 00:15:38,688 and this is where your fence... 280 00:15:38,729 --> 00:15:40,773 I grew up in San Francisco, 281 00:15:40,815 --> 00:15:44,235 and my parents are immigrants from Burma. 282 00:15:44,277 --> 00:15:46,529 Burmese culture is very conservative. 283 00:15:46,571 --> 00:15:48,406 I mean, from my experience being gay, 284 00:15:48,448 --> 00:15:51,701 and coming out, and, you know, it wasn't like, 285 00:15:51,742 --> 00:15:53,703 "Oh, great. Let's..." 286 00:15:53,744 --> 00:15:54,954 Full embrace. You know? 287 00:15:55,913 --> 00:15:58,290 I worked for the city of San Francisco for a decade, 288 00:15:58,332 --> 00:15:59,709 and they were really proud of that. 289 00:15:59,750 --> 00:16:02,086 They were like, "Oh, you work for the city. Great." 290 00:16:02,128 --> 00:16:04,380 So, I do tell them that I still work for a city. 291 00:16:05,756 --> 00:16:07,800 Uh, it's just not the city they thought it was. 292 00:16:11,179 --> 00:16:14,265 There's no better place to, like, find love 293 00:16:14,307 --> 00:16:16,267 and fall in love. 294 00:16:17,268 --> 00:16:20,563 And so, what I often say now is I went for the art, 295 00:16:20,605 --> 00:16:22,607 but I go back for the people. 296 00:16:22,648 --> 00:16:25,067 I actually met my husband at Burning Man. 297 00:16:26,652 --> 00:16:28,237 I was a little bit more nerdy, 298 00:16:28,279 --> 00:16:29,906 he was a little bit more carefree. 299 00:16:29,947 --> 00:16:32,074 We were friends for years before that, 300 00:16:32,116 --> 00:16:34,785 and Burning Man just allowed us to really connect. 301 00:16:35,703 --> 00:16:38,223 I really hope Marian makes a decision soon. 302 00:16:38,247 --> 00:16:39,808 It just feels like an elephant in the room. 303 00:16:40,875 --> 00:16:42,060 As of right now, 304 00:16:42,084 --> 00:16:44,420 the Burning Man community is building 305 00:16:44,462 --> 00:16:46,547 and planning for a burn this year. 306 00:16:51,302 --> 00:16:52,970 My name is Lindsay. 307 00:16:53,012 --> 00:16:57,433 For the first 88 days of quarantine, 308 00:16:57,475 --> 00:17:01,020 I had no human contact whatsoever. 309 00:17:02,230 --> 00:17:03,481 Hey, guys. 310 00:17:03,523 --> 00:17:07,276 Welcome back to another exciting day 311 00:17:07,318 --> 00:17:09,529 of experimental psychology. 312 00:17:10,195 --> 00:17:13,657 It was just me and the dog and an empty Zoom screen. 313 00:17:15,159 --> 00:17:19,997 I'm a professor of psychology, but my passion is horse riding. 314 00:17:21,665 --> 00:17:25,294 People that I meet at school or during school, 315 00:17:25,336 --> 00:17:27,296 they would never know that I ride horses 316 00:17:27,338 --> 00:17:28,381 or that I have horses. 317 00:17:30,007 --> 00:17:32,593 I compete in an equestrian sport called reining. 318 00:17:33,344 --> 00:17:35,054 It's really fun, really cool. 319 00:17:36,556 --> 00:17:39,308 So, this is a lot of horse trophies 320 00:17:39,350 --> 00:17:41,352 that I've won over the years. 321 00:17:44,272 --> 00:17:46,190 My mom was the one that got me into horses, 322 00:17:46,232 --> 00:17:48,901 and one of her favorite things in the entire world 323 00:17:48,943 --> 00:17:50,403 was just to watch me ride. 324 00:17:52,863 --> 00:17:56,242 She passed away in 2015. 325 00:17:56,284 --> 00:18:01,330 It was six weeks from the time she was, uh, diagnosed 326 00:18:01,372 --> 00:18:02,873 until she died. 327 00:18:02,915 --> 00:18:05,501 So, pretty abrupt and unexpected. 328 00:18:05,543 --> 00:18:07,169 We were very close. 329 00:18:07,211 --> 00:18:09,380 We would talk all day, every day. 330 00:18:10,339 --> 00:18:15,219 And now I'm here in these four walls, 331 00:18:15,928 --> 00:18:18,848 wishing that she could just, like, tell me what to do, 332 00:18:18,889 --> 00:18:20,433 or what decision to make. 333 00:18:20,474 --> 00:18:22,935 Like, I have so much shit to do in life... 334 00:18:24,228 --> 00:18:26,272 Which is basically, you know, what society is. 335 00:18:26,314 --> 00:18:28,208 It's like, go back to work, get this done, get this done. 336 00:18:28,232 --> 00:18:30,568 Oh, you're sad? That sucks. Like, go to work, cry... 337 00:18:30,610 --> 00:18:33,613 You know, go cry in... in-in the car afterwards. 338 00:18:33,654 --> 00:18:34,864 Like... 339 00:18:34,905 --> 00:18:37,074 You kind of always have to be on. 340 00:18:39,493 --> 00:18:42,788 When COVID first happened, it got pretty depressing. 341 00:18:42,830 --> 00:18:46,542 So, during that time, I got into VR. 342 00:18:49,420 --> 00:18:52,715 I had just started dating someone. 343 00:18:52,757 --> 00:18:54,300 He had had VR headsets, 344 00:18:54,342 --> 00:18:57,887 so we would go and hang out, and wander. 345 00:18:57,928 --> 00:19:00,056 It's kind of like a Google Earth. 346 00:19:00,806 --> 00:19:03,934 And we'd go to different locations that he had traveled. 347 00:19:03,976 --> 00:19:07,897 One of the places that he showed me was Black Rock City. 348 00:19:07,938 --> 00:19:11,734 And that's how I discovered Burning Man. 349 00:19:11,776 --> 00:19:15,112 In my mind, I thought it was just people doing drugs 350 00:19:15,154 --> 00:19:17,114 and having sex in the desert. 351 00:19:17,156 --> 00:19:19,909 My perception of Burning Man totally changed. 352 00:19:19,950 --> 00:19:24,413 When I discovered the burner culture and lifestyle, 353 00:19:24,455 --> 00:19:27,958 that whole community got me through the pandemic. 354 00:19:28,709 --> 00:19:30,836 I've never been to Burning Man in person. 355 00:19:34,674 --> 00:19:38,302 One of the things I learned is that there's a temple, 356 00:19:39,804 --> 00:19:41,305 a place to grieve. 357 00:19:42,807 --> 00:19:44,350 Being at Burning Man 358 00:19:44,392 --> 00:19:48,270 and being able to take some type of tribute or memorial 359 00:19:48,312 --> 00:19:53,859 to temple will be extremely helpful to sort of find peace 360 00:19:53,901 --> 00:19:56,320 and, and kind of let go, I guess. 361 00:19:59,907 --> 00:20:02,159 It's something I really need right now. 362 00:20:04,912 --> 00:20:06,765 The Temple Burn 363 00:20:06,789 --> 00:20:09,250 is completely different than the Man Burn. 364 00:20:09,750 --> 00:20:10,876 It's reverent. 365 00:20:10,918 --> 00:20:12,461 It's a spiritual moment. 366 00:20:12,503 --> 00:20:15,172 And it happens every year. 367 00:20:21,470 --> 00:20:23,222 People often go to the temple 368 00:20:23,264 --> 00:20:25,850 with messages to loved ones that they want to let go 369 00:20:25,891 --> 00:20:27,852 or the energy that they want to release. 370 00:20:31,063 --> 00:20:32,523 The temple was created 371 00:20:32,565 --> 00:20:34,316 by David Best after a friend of his 372 00:20:34,358 --> 00:20:36,569 passed away unexpectedly, 373 00:20:36,610 --> 00:20:40,030 and he wanted to have a place to grieve. 374 00:20:40,072 --> 00:20:41,741 Where do we go to grieve these days? 375 00:20:42,908 --> 00:20:44,493 If you give me 376 00:20:44,535 --> 00:20:45,887 the most painful thing in your life, 377 00:20:45,911 --> 00:20:47,705 I'll guarantee that it won't come back. 378 00:20:48,372 --> 00:20:51,417 And how I guarantee that is, I put it in a safe place. 379 00:20:53,586 --> 00:20:55,188 I wrote it in the name of my mother, 380 00:20:55,212 --> 00:20:58,215 of my father, of my... my best friend in high school 381 00:20:58,257 --> 00:20:59,884 who was kidnapped and murdered, 382 00:20:59,925 --> 00:21:02,803 along with the names of thousands of other people. 383 00:21:08,058 --> 00:21:10,120 We build this thing to put our sadness, 384 00:21:10,144 --> 00:21:12,104 the way that other people utilize their church, 385 00:21:12,146 --> 00:21:13,981 or their community, or what have you. 386 00:21:16,901 --> 00:21:18,778 He's created a sacred space, 387 00:21:18,819 --> 00:21:20,070 is really what he's done, 388 00:21:20,112 --> 00:21:23,741 and everyone has instinctively honored that. 389 00:21:24,450 --> 00:21:27,870 We use fire as a place for healing, 390 00:21:27,912 --> 00:21:30,790 not as a... a weapon. 391 00:21:35,127 --> 00:21:36,962 So many people struggling. 392 00:21:39,131 --> 00:21:43,093 There's a need for a place for grief. 393 00:22:03,113 --> 00:22:07,076 Burning Man was never intended to be safe, 394 00:22:07,117 --> 00:22:09,495 and... and that's frankly been a part of the appeal. 395 00:22:10,204 --> 00:22:11,997 My projection is, 396 00:22:12,039 --> 00:22:15,751 everything is gonna be back to normal by the end of July. 397 00:22:15,793 --> 00:22:18,295 Uh, it could be the best Burning Man ever. 398 00:22:19,421 --> 00:22:22,341 There is a huge number of people out there 399 00:22:22,383 --> 00:22:24,301 that want to see Black Rock City happen. 400 00:22:25,302 --> 00:22:28,264 I'm physically and emotionally exhausted. 401 00:22:28,305 --> 00:22:29,866 I'd say this is probably the hardest thing 402 00:22:29,890 --> 00:22:31,308 I've had to do. 403 00:22:32,476 --> 00:22:33,811 When Larry passed away, 404 00:22:33,853 --> 00:22:35,521 he was the chairman of the board, 405 00:22:35,563 --> 00:22:37,439 and our visionary. 406 00:22:37,481 --> 00:22:39,525 I want to introduce you all to some of the people 407 00:22:39,567 --> 00:22:41,527 that helped create this community. 408 00:22:41,569 --> 00:22:43,289 Marian ran the communications team, 409 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:44,989 she helped start the regional network, 410 00:22:45,030 --> 00:22:46,615 government relations and everything. 411 00:22:46,657 --> 00:22:48,826 And she was Larry's girlfriend at the time, so... 412 00:22:48,868 --> 00:22:51,787 Marian's unique skills in... um, with money, 413 00:22:51,829 --> 00:22:55,541 and business and communication seemed like reasons 414 00:22:56,125 --> 00:22:57,877 that she would make a good CEO. 415 00:22:58,752 --> 00:23:00,963 She was the executive arm 416 00:23:01,005 --> 00:23:03,007 of Larry's vision, to some level. 417 00:23:03,757 --> 00:23:07,011 And with the void of the spiritual leader of Burning Man, 418 00:23:07,052 --> 00:23:09,305 they naturally turned to Marian. 419 00:23:09,346 --> 00:23:12,683 And this wasn't necessarily her role. 420 00:23:15,352 --> 00:23:17,897 What do I think Larry would've thought about this? 421 00:23:18,731 --> 00:23:20,983 I've had a number of different conversations 422 00:23:21,025 --> 00:23:22,359 with him in my head. 423 00:23:24,194 --> 00:23:26,864 We do our job as planners this way. 424 00:23:26,906 --> 00:23:29,491 You had to come here and you had to survive in nature. 425 00:23:30,701 --> 00:23:32,637 And when people go through that, 426 00:23:32,661 --> 00:23:34,330 it puts them in touch with other people 427 00:23:34,371 --> 00:23:35,932 because you look and you see your neighbor, 428 00:23:35,956 --> 00:23:37,917 and you know he's experiencing the same thing. 429 00:23:40,961 --> 00:23:45,215 If we can figure out how you order a society 430 00:23:45,257 --> 00:23:48,344 so that, like a Petri dish, 431 00:23:48,385 --> 00:23:50,054 a culture will grow in it. 432 00:23:52,139 --> 00:23:53,974 And that's where we stop planning. 433 00:23:55,893 --> 00:23:57,937 Tell me how it began. 434 00:24:04,443 --> 00:24:06,362 We're in the worst economic mess 435 00:24:06,403 --> 00:24:07,571 since the Great Depression. 436 00:24:07,613 --> 00:24:09,531 Prices are going up. 437 00:24:09,573 --> 00:24:11,116 I see the lines get bigger and bigger 438 00:24:11,158 --> 00:24:12,534 outside the unemployment office. 439 00:24:12,576 --> 00:24:14,054 It's the land for the rich, 440 00:24:14,078 --> 00:24:15,412 and the poor can go to hell. 441 00:24:16,705 --> 00:24:18,540 Originally, it was a small group 442 00:24:18,582 --> 00:24:20,268 in the underground culture of San Francisco. 443 00:24:20,292 --> 00:24:21,961 Unlike now, 444 00:24:22,002 --> 00:24:23,295 it's hard to imagine, 445 00:24:23,337 --> 00:24:25,714 this city was, uh, in a deep financial recession. 446 00:24:26,256 --> 00:24:28,217 All these old factories, buildings, 447 00:24:28,258 --> 00:24:30,302 largely abandoned or destroyed. 448 00:24:30,344 --> 00:24:33,389 And so, artists and pranksters, it was really easy to access. 449 00:24:35,265 --> 00:24:36,725 The Cacophony Society 450 00:24:36,767 --> 00:24:38,727 was a network of free spirits, 451 00:24:38,769 --> 00:24:41,605 united in the pursuit of experiences 452 00:24:41,647 --> 00:24:44,274 beyond the pale of mainstream society. 453 00:24:44,316 --> 00:24:46,568 They were devoted to guerilla theater, 454 00:24:46,610 --> 00:24:48,988 appropriating public places for performances. 455 00:24:49,029 --> 00:24:50,966 It's complete anarchy. "A group of urban adventurers," 456 00:24:50,990 --> 00:24:52,217 is the way they bill themselves. 457 00:24:52,241 --> 00:24:54,326 We did ride the cable car in the nude 458 00:24:54,368 --> 00:24:55,577 on Easter Sunday morning. 459 00:24:55,619 --> 00:24:56,972 What's the worst that can happen? 460 00:24:56,996 --> 00:24:58,640 Are you gonna get arrested in San Francisco? 461 00:24:58,664 --> 00:24:59,748 Probably not. 462 00:25:00,958 --> 00:25:02,793 I'm here with my friendly weenies! 463 00:25:02,835 --> 00:25:05,587 We would create a whole subculture about 464 00:25:05,629 --> 00:25:06,755 moving through the world 465 00:25:06,797 --> 00:25:08,632 in a way that you were not a consumer. 466 00:25:11,677 --> 00:25:14,239 In a world where every value, every transaction, 467 00:25:14,263 --> 00:25:17,099 every relationship is a commodity transaction, 468 00:25:17,141 --> 00:25:20,019 there won't really be much of anything. 469 00:25:20,060 --> 00:25:23,147 This obsessive drive towards profit. 470 00:25:23,188 --> 00:25:24,815 And making fun of corporations. 471 00:25:24,982 --> 00:25:27,526 Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, 472 00:25:27,568 --> 00:25:30,863 working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. 473 00:25:30,904 --> 00:25:33,490 Fight Club was based directly on Cacophony Society. 474 00:25:35,075 --> 00:25:36,452 And SantaCon as well. 475 00:25:40,164 --> 00:25:41,957 We were good at logistics for events, 476 00:25:41,999 --> 00:25:44,501 especially outdoor, illicit, show up, do it, 477 00:25:44,543 --> 00:25:46,295 get away before the cops come events. 478 00:25:51,383 --> 00:25:53,135 In 1986, 479 00:25:53,177 --> 00:25:54,887 I was living in San Francisco. 480 00:25:55,471 --> 00:25:58,724 I'd had a very, very modest landscaping business. 481 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:01,810 And I had a friend, Jerry James, 482 00:26:01,852 --> 00:26:03,312 who was a carpenter, you know, 483 00:26:03,353 --> 00:26:04,664 and I called him one day and said, 484 00:26:04,688 --> 00:26:06,065 "Let's burn a man on the beach." 485 00:26:07,191 --> 00:26:10,194 I think he may have asked me to repeat my statement. 486 00:26:13,572 --> 00:26:14,966 It happened to be the solstice. 487 00:26:14,990 --> 00:26:17,284 It seemed like a, a good time to celebrate. 488 00:26:19,536 --> 00:26:21,955 He wasn't much bigger than us. 489 00:26:23,248 --> 00:26:25,876 But, uh, when we lit him up with gasoline, 490 00:26:25,918 --> 00:26:28,712 he incandesced like a sun brought down to earth. 491 00:26:30,589 --> 00:26:32,508 And I heard about a bunch of people 492 00:26:32,549 --> 00:26:35,844 who were gonna go to the beach and burn a wooden man. 493 00:26:35,886 --> 00:26:37,888 And I said, "This sounds very interesting." 494 00:26:39,306 --> 00:26:41,100 The moment it was lit, 495 00:26:41,141 --> 00:26:43,602 everybody on that beach came running. 496 00:26:44,228 --> 00:26:48,023 What we had instantly created was a community. 497 00:26:50,234 --> 00:26:52,945 It was a kind of Dada event 498 00:26:52,986 --> 00:26:56,532 of construction and destruction. 499 00:26:59,326 --> 00:27:00,869 Larry's brilliance was seeing 500 00:27:00,911 --> 00:27:02,121 that light bulb moment, 501 00:27:02,162 --> 00:27:04,706 watching everybody's faces in cultic fervor. 502 00:27:04,748 --> 00:27:06,875 This hugely powerful symbolic connection 503 00:27:06,917 --> 00:27:07,960 to their psyche. 504 00:27:08,001 --> 00:27:09,044 It's very powerful. 505 00:27:09,795 --> 00:27:12,381 It was our response to the fire 506 00:27:12,422 --> 00:27:15,300 that made it significant, that invested it with meaning. 507 00:27:19,847 --> 00:27:22,641 We were so impressed, we decided that we'd come back 508 00:27:22,683 --> 00:27:23,976 and do it again. 509 00:27:24,017 --> 00:27:25,853 Everybody get together! 510 00:27:27,312 --> 00:27:29,398 ♪ We are stronger ♪ 511 00:27:29,439 --> 00:27:31,108 ♪ Than before ♪ 512 00:27:31,859 --> 00:27:34,236 In 1990, we showed up on Baker Beach 513 00:27:34,278 --> 00:27:36,405 with about 900 people, 514 00:27:36,446 --> 00:27:38,949 and this four-story wooden man. 515 00:27:38,991 --> 00:27:41,577 This is Larry down at the beach. Can you hear me? 516 00:27:41,618 --> 00:27:45,164 John, Michael and I carried the project on our shoulders. 517 00:27:45,205 --> 00:27:47,666 Me and Cacophony, we were event organizers. 518 00:27:47,708 --> 00:27:49,269 And that was the conjoining of the two groups. 519 00:27:49,293 --> 00:27:50,419 That was a group effort. 520 00:27:50,460 --> 00:27:51,753 Slow! Slow! 521 00:27:51,795 --> 00:27:54,131 And the police came, and they said, 522 00:27:54,173 --> 00:27:56,091 "Where's your permit? You don't have a permit." 523 00:27:56,133 --> 00:27:57,926 We didn't have a permit. We were outlaws. 524 00:27:57,968 --> 00:28:00,113 The most liberal city within the United States, 525 00:28:00,137 --> 00:28:01,597 being San Francisco says, 526 00:28:01,638 --> 00:28:02,681 "That's too crazy for us. 527 00:28:02,723 --> 00:28:04,141 You can't do that here anymore." 528 00:28:04,183 --> 00:28:06,161 It's an art project. It's responsible people. 529 00:28:06,185 --> 00:28:09,438 Well, we would be willing to put it out without any kind of fuss. 530 00:28:09,479 --> 00:28:10,915 Larry Harvey made a deal with them. 531 00:28:10,939 --> 00:28:13,859 He said, "Okay, let us have a party around the man, 532 00:28:13,901 --> 00:28:14,943 but we won't burn him." 533 00:28:17,070 --> 00:28:19,948 Thank you, we appreciate it. 534 00:28:19,990 --> 00:28:23,493 We did not burn the man on Baker Beach in 1990. 535 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,167 So, a few weeks later, 536 00:28:30,209 --> 00:28:32,377 Larry Harvey, John Law and myself, 537 00:28:32,419 --> 00:28:34,796 we decided to take the Burning Man 538 00:28:34,838 --> 00:28:37,507 to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. 539 00:28:40,177 --> 00:28:41,946 I love that place. I mean, you don't understand. 540 00:28:41,970 --> 00:28:43,972 I fucking love that place. It's awesome. 541 00:28:46,892 --> 00:28:49,061 It was really a fantasy tableau that you could, 542 00:28:49,102 --> 00:28:52,314 as an architect in your own mind, create. 543 00:28:52,356 --> 00:28:54,983 It was a blank slate. You could imagine anything. 544 00:28:55,025 --> 00:28:57,152 And I took a stick, 545 00:28:57,194 --> 00:28:59,363 and I drew a line on the ground. 546 00:28:59,404 --> 00:29:02,658 And I said, "On the other side of this line, 547 00:29:02,699 --> 00:29:04,243 everything will be different." 548 00:29:06,286 --> 00:29:08,330 This was a great piece of nothing 549 00:29:08,372 --> 00:29:12,042 in which anything that was was more intensely so. 550 00:29:15,254 --> 00:29:17,005 With a few prompts, 551 00:29:17,047 --> 00:29:18,924 you could invent a whole world around yourself, 552 00:29:18,966 --> 00:29:20,486 and there was nothing to contradict it. 553 00:29:28,558 --> 00:29:30,060 We were great friends 554 00:29:30,102 --> 00:29:31,955 in the middle of the most surreal place you could imagine 555 00:29:31,979 --> 00:29:33,289 with absolutely nothing around us, 556 00:29:33,313 --> 00:29:34,398 and no people anywhere. 557 00:29:34,439 --> 00:29:35,691 It was fabulous. 558 00:29:43,282 --> 00:29:45,575 Release your fear! 559 00:29:46,451 --> 00:29:48,912 Come and be free just for, even for a short period of time 560 00:29:48,954 --> 00:29:50,539 before we go back to our real lives. 561 00:30:02,426 --> 00:30:03,802 There he goes! 562 00:30:14,271 --> 00:30:16,148 Ray, let's take a look 563 00:30:16,189 --> 00:30:18,859 and figure out what else we need to get to get ready. 564 00:30:19,609 --> 00:30:21,111 Okay. 565 00:30:21,153 --> 00:30:23,780 The first time I told my wife I was going to Burning Man, 566 00:30:23,822 --> 00:30:25,449 I think she asked me what it was. 567 00:30:26,116 --> 00:30:28,410 Then I think she looked it up, read about it. 568 00:30:28,452 --> 00:30:30,412 "Burn life." That sounds interesting. 569 00:30:30,454 --> 00:30:33,332 Ray probably has always had a bucket list. 570 00:30:33,373 --> 00:30:35,417 It used to be running of the bulls. 571 00:30:36,126 --> 00:30:37,937 That was the thing. He wanted to run the bulls. 572 00:30:37,961 --> 00:30:40,756 Well, I vetoed that one because I did some research, 573 00:30:40,797 --> 00:30:42,924 and found out life insurance does not pay 574 00:30:42,966 --> 00:30:44,885 if you die while you're the running bulls. 575 00:30:46,386 --> 00:30:48,597 Maybe we should just Google "Burning Man packing list." 576 00:30:48,638 --> 00:30:49,782 Come on, man. 577 00:30:49,806 --> 00:30:52,142 What? Well, you can't run out to Walmart, 578 00:30:52,184 --> 00:30:54,102 you gotta make sure you got everything. 579 00:30:54,144 --> 00:30:55,854 Go back up there, at the top. 580 00:30:55,896 --> 00:30:57,206 -Moisturizer. -Mm-hmm. 581 00:30:57,230 --> 00:30:58,940 Porta Potty-safe toilet paper. 582 00:30:58,982 --> 00:31:00,626 -See, that's something. -Mm-hmm, okay. 583 00:31:00,650 --> 00:31:03,445 Birth control, condoms. 584 00:31:03,487 --> 00:31:04,839 You better not need no birth control. 585 00:31:04,863 --> 00:31:05,864 Back... Back up. 586 00:31:05,906 --> 00:31:07,282 So, okay. 587 00:31:07,324 --> 00:31:08,533 We gotta think about clothes 588 00:31:08,575 --> 00:31:09,886 and how many clothes you want to take. 589 00:31:09,910 --> 00:31:12,788 Are you gonna be primitive and basic? 590 00:31:12,829 --> 00:31:14,057 Or are you gonna be extravagant? 591 00:31:14,081 --> 00:31:15,290 I don't know. 592 00:31:15,332 --> 00:31:16,708 I might have a tutu, 593 00:31:16,750 --> 00:31:18,210 'cause people are supposed to. 594 00:31:18,251 --> 00:31:19,562 You're supposed to have a tutu? 595 00:31:19,586 --> 00:31:20,855 Yeah, I think we gotta get a tutu. 596 00:31:20,879 --> 00:31:22,482 Man, I saw a cute one in Target the other day. 597 00:31:22,506 --> 00:31:23,799 I didn't know you needed one. 598 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,635 No, it doesn't have to be really cute. We don't... 599 00:31:26,676 --> 00:31:28,970 Reina! Raylan! Come here for a minute. 600 00:31:29,012 --> 00:31:30,305 Yeah? 601 00:31:33,266 --> 00:31:34,851 Reina, sit here. Raylan, here. 602 00:31:34,893 --> 00:31:36,019 Okay. 603 00:31:36,061 --> 00:31:37,396 So y'all heard Daddy talk about 604 00:31:37,437 --> 00:31:38,730 this Burning Man thing, right? 605 00:31:38,772 --> 00:31:40,315 -Mm-hmm. -Y'all know what it is? 606 00:31:40,357 --> 00:31:42,025 -No. -Not really. 607 00:31:42,067 --> 00:31:44,027 They build this big city 608 00:31:44,069 --> 00:31:45,695 in the middle of the desert, 609 00:31:46,238 --> 00:31:48,800 and people hang out there for a week, pretty much. 610 00:31:48,824 --> 00:31:51,159 So, they, like... There's no money exchanged. 611 00:31:51,701 --> 00:31:53,912 It's like bartering, or just giving. 612 00:31:54,538 --> 00:31:56,706 Decommodification. 613 00:31:57,874 --> 00:32:00,043 So, it's like extreme Christmas. 614 00:32:00,085 --> 00:32:01,336 Extreme... 615 00:32:01,378 --> 00:32:03,046 -Okay. -It sounds weird. 616 00:32:03,088 --> 00:32:04,506 -It sounds weird? -Yeah. 617 00:32:04,548 --> 00:32:06,383 A good kind of weird, or a bad kind of weird? 618 00:32:06,425 --> 00:32:08,176 A weird kind of weird. 619 00:32:08,218 --> 00:32:09,928 -What about you? -It's weird to think 620 00:32:09,970 --> 00:32:12,013 that Fa is going to something like this. 621 00:32:12,055 --> 00:32:13,181 Why? 622 00:32:13,223 --> 00:32:15,934 Well, 'cause, like, he's old. 623 00:32:15,976 --> 00:32:17,853 Dude. 624 00:32:20,564 --> 00:32:23,859 I am a retired combat veteran. 625 00:32:23,900 --> 00:32:25,402 And I was a paratrooper. 626 00:32:26,903 --> 00:32:28,881 You know, I'm the only Black person who lives out here. 627 00:32:28,905 --> 00:32:30,073 Only Black family. 628 00:32:30,991 --> 00:32:32,826 We've been out here for 18 years. 629 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,706 I'm surrounded by the most conservative, 630 00:32:37,747 --> 00:32:41,418 bigoted, racist, homophobic... 631 00:32:42,627 --> 00:32:44,921 And that's what I deal with on a daily basis. 632 00:32:48,091 --> 00:32:49,885 I grew up in a ghetto. 633 00:32:49,926 --> 00:32:53,054 I went from zero to barely graduating high school, 634 00:32:53,096 --> 00:32:55,974 and going my whole working adult life 635 00:32:56,016 --> 00:32:58,602 as a blue-collar infantry paratrooper, 636 00:32:58,643 --> 00:33:02,481 to three graduate degrees, later on a Fulbright Fellow. 637 00:33:04,441 --> 00:33:07,903 The challenge for me is... is mostly psychological. 638 00:33:08,487 --> 00:33:10,822 I mean, after you've served in combat... 639 00:33:12,282 --> 00:33:13,950 those moments come up. 640 00:33:14,701 --> 00:33:15,869 I've got to face it. 641 00:33:18,121 --> 00:33:20,665 I need something that really shakes things up at this point. 642 00:33:30,634 --> 00:33:32,469 You know, the Burning Man Organization 643 00:33:32,511 --> 00:33:34,596 doesn't actually put on Burning Man. 644 00:33:35,388 --> 00:33:37,516 Everything is created by the participants. 645 00:33:39,851 --> 00:33:42,354 We started a thing called a theme camp. 646 00:33:43,730 --> 00:33:46,483 We got... Our whole city is organized around theme camps, 647 00:33:46,525 --> 00:33:49,778 20, 30, 100, 200 people working together 648 00:33:49,819 --> 00:33:52,614 to produce some kind of gift made through art 649 00:33:52,656 --> 00:33:55,075 that they offer to a civic society. 650 00:33:55,909 --> 00:34:00,121 There are camps that offer everything, 651 00:34:00,163 --> 00:34:04,292 and all of it is given as part of their gift to the city. 652 00:34:12,007 --> 00:34:14,219 This place is built by all of us. 653 00:34:14,261 --> 00:34:16,804 Every person who comes here contributes something. 654 00:34:16,846 --> 00:34:18,806 And so, it's easy to start to have 655 00:34:18,848 --> 00:34:21,810 this strong sense of ownership 656 00:34:21,851 --> 00:34:23,353 of what Burning Man is. 657 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:35,550 I'm Marisa Lenhart. 658 00:34:35,574 --> 00:34:38,702 I have been going to Burning Man since 1999, 659 00:34:38,743 --> 00:34:40,245 and I manage Thunderdome. 660 00:34:41,788 --> 00:34:44,373 My friends ran a nightclub in San Francisco 661 00:34:44,416 --> 00:34:46,102 called Death Guild, a goth industrial nightclub, 662 00:34:46,126 --> 00:34:51,047 and they went to bring non-rave music, 663 00:34:51,089 --> 00:34:53,174 non-techno music to Burning Man. 664 00:34:57,387 --> 00:34:58,763 When Thunderdome came in '99, 665 00:34:58,805 --> 00:35:00,449 it was the biggest dome that had ever been built. 666 00:35:00,473 --> 00:35:03,184 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! 667 00:35:04,728 --> 00:35:06,938 When people think of Burning Man iconography, 668 00:35:06,980 --> 00:35:09,107 they think "Mad Max" and they think "Thunderdome." 669 00:35:09,149 --> 00:35:10,459 I think they just hold a lot of weight. 670 00:35:10,483 --> 00:35:12,902 Two men enter, one man leaves! 671 00:35:12,944 --> 00:35:15,238 Two men enter, one man leaves! 672 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:16,632 What happens at the Thunderdome? 673 00:35:16,656 --> 00:35:18,426 Consensual violence happens at the Thunderdome. 674 00:35:25,415 --> 00:35:28,418 We let people battle people that they know. 675 00:35:29,669 --> 00:35:31,480 We will have people who think that they're enemies. 676 00:35:31,504 --> 00:35:32,982 They're actually angry with each other. 677 00:35:33,006 --> 00:35:36,426 And there is nobody who leaves that experience, 678 00:35:36,468 --> 00:35:39,262 and doesn't hug, and isn't closer than they were before. 679 00:35:39,304 --> 00:35:40,597 It's incredible. 680 00:35:42,849 --> 00:35:46,144 After Burning Man put out their survey to gauge participation, 681 00:35:46,186 --> 00:35:48,372 Thunderdome wrote a statement to explain our decision 682 00:35:48,396 --> 00:35:49,731 not to attend the event this year, 683 00:35:49,773 --> 00:35:51,316 whether or not it happens. 684 00:35:52,442 --> 00:35:54,444 "Death Guild Thunderdome will not be attending. 685 00:35:54,486 --> 00:35:57,072 "Burning Man at Black Rock City this year. 686 00:35:57,113 --> 00:35:59,407 "We wanted to make this crew statement prior to 687 00:35:59,449 --> 00:36:01,076 "and not as a reaction to 688 00:36:01,117 --> 00:36:03,912 "any decision or announcement from Burning Man Project. 689 00:36:03,953 --> 00:36:05,556 "Risking lives and participating 690 00:36:05,580 --> 00:36:08,667 "in a non-essential event that is already lacking in diversity 691 00:36:08,708 --> 00:36:10,418 "is unacceptable to us. 692 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:13,922 "Black Rock City 2021, if it happens, 693 00:36:13,963 --> 00:36:16,508 risks being the whitest, richest event ever." 694 00:36:16,549 --> 00:36:19,111 -Oh, my God. -"And we can't in good conscience participate." 695 00:36:19,135 --> 00:36:20,679 Okay. 696 00:36:21,888 --> 00:36:24,265 I don't even want to talk about Thunderdome. 697 00:36:24,307 --> 00:36:25,934 Bunch of pussies. 698 00:36:25,975 --> 00:36:28,269 I'm personal friends with her, or I was. 699 00:36:28,311 --> 00:36:31,189 I kind of would like to have been given a heads-up. 700 00:36:32,691 --> 00:36:34,693 I'm getting all these text messages from friends. 701 00:36:34,734 --> 00:36:36,403 "Can you tell me where you're at?" 702 00:36:36,444 --> 00:36:38,321 There are definitely some risks, 703 00:36:38,363 --> 00:36:40,824 um, in not doing the event, for sure. 704 00:36:40,865 --> 00:36:43,493 Um, one risk, for sure, 705 00:36:43,535 --> 00:36:46,621 is that people would show up on the playa anyway, 706 00:36:46,663 --> 00:36:50,291 and that could be serious stuff, like people with guns, 707 00:36:50,333 --> 00:36:52,502 driving too fast, that aren't even burners, 708 00:36:52,544 --> 00:36:54,129 that wanna come out and party 709 00:36:54,170 --> 00:36:56,010 in the Black Rock desert for Labor Day weekend, 710 00:36:56,047 --> 00:36:57,817 and they haven't been able to do it for 25 years. 711 00:36:57,841 --> 00:36:59,081 Like, that's a real part of it. 712 00:37:00,927 --> 00:37:04,848 If things go sideways while people have shown up out there, 713 00:37:04,889 --> 00:37:07,642 um, the more we're gonna have to mop it up 714 00:37:07,684 --> 00:37:10,353 to make it to 2022, absolutely. 715 00:37:14,065 --> 00:37:15,859 Since 1990, 716 00:37:15,900 --> 00:37:19,696 we have gotten a permit from the Bureau of Land Management. 717 00:37:19,738 --> 00:37:22,198 And that relationship has had ups and downs. 718 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:25,285 But this is a typical thing that the BLM does for its safety? 719 00:37:25,785 --> 00:37:27,912 -No. It's not typical. -No? Is it... But... 720 00:37:27,954 --> 00:37:30,039 This is a... not a typical event. 721 00:37:30,081 --> 00:37:31,767 No, no, no, no. 722 00:37:31,791 --> 00:37:33,877 We pay them a permit fee every year. 723 00:37:33,918 --> 00:37:38,173 Um, in 2019, our fees I think totaled, uh... 724 00:37:38,214 --> 00:37:39,716 $4.5 million. 725 00:37:45,305 --> 00:37:46,866 They keep taking so much money that we can't put it 726 00:37:46,890 --> 00:37:48,892 to the sorts of things we'd like to put it to. 727 00:37:48,933 --> 00:37:50,685 We're just paying them, essentially. 728 00:37:50,727 --> 00:37:52,187 Now, we're at the point where we... 729 00:37:52,228 --> 00:37:53,372 we deal with Washington, D.C., 730 00:37:53,396 --> 00:37:56,107 and we have expensive lobbyists. 731 00:37:58,777 --> 00:38:00,278 A gentleman told me 732 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,572 that the federal government was messing with Burning Man, 733 00:38:02,614 --> 00:38:04,532 and that Larry Harvey and Marian, 734 00:38:04,574 --> 00:38:07,035 um, were coming to D.C. 735 00:38:07,076 --> 00:38:09,054 to try and see if there's... they could get any support 736 00:38:09,078 --> 00:38:10,371 for being left alone. 737 00:38:10,413 --> 00:38:12,415 And I said, "Well, I'm familiar with Burning Man, 738 00:38:12,457 --> 00:38:14,709 haven't been, but I would be delighted to be helpful." 739 00:38:14,751 --> 00:38:16,795 And they said, "You know, you guys ought to come out 740 00:38:16,836 --> 00:38:18,379 to Burning Man at some point." 741 00:38:18,421 --> 00:38:20,548 And I said, "I've always been interested in it, 742 00:38:20,590 --> 00:38:24,427 since I started hearing about it, and, uh, we'll come." 743 00:38:24,469 --> 00:38:28,389 I think shaking hands is a perfectly acceptable way 744 00:38:28,431 --> 00:38:29,557 of greeting people, 745 00:38:29,599 --> 00:38:31,559 and hugging people you've never met before 746 00:38:31,601 --> 00:38:32,977 is a little different. 747 00:38:33,019 --> 00:38:34,479 It was great fun. 748 00:38:34,521 --> 00:38:36,981 Just a wonderful collection of people. 749 00:38:37,023 --> 00:38:38,149 And, it was... 750 00:38:38,191 --> 00:38:39,418 I just decided at the time, I'm... 751 00:38:39,442 --> 00:38:40,777 I'm coming back regularly. 752 00:38:40,819 --> 00:38:43,738 Grover Norquist next on two topics: 753 00:38:43,780 --> 00:38:45,323 the middle-class squeeze 754 00:38:45,365 --> 00:38:48,052 and also for Grover, the Burning Man. 755 00:38:48,076 --> 00:38:50,578 I wanted to finish off, though, by asking you, 756 00:38:50,620 --> 00:38:51,847 you just got back from Burning Man. 757 00:38:51,871 --> 00:38:53,140 Can you just tell me about... a bit about that? 758 00:38:53,164 --> 00:38:55,166 Did you think that the anti-tax message 759 00:38:55,208 --> 00:38:56,501 went over better with people 760 00:38:56,543 --> 00:38:58,270 who were tripping on magic... magic mushrooms? 761 00:38:58,294 --> 00:38:59,921 I think it helps, yeah. 762 00:38:59,963 --> 00:39:01,273 The stereotype for Burning Man 763 00:39:01,297 --> 00:39:03,132 is definitely that it's very liberal, 764 00:39:03,174 --> 00:39:05,593 but I think when you scratch the surface 765 00:39:05,635 --> 00:39:07,345 and depending on who you talk to, 766 00:39:07,387 --> 00:39:09,514 it can be seen as fairly libertarian. 767 00:39:09,556 --> 00:39:13,101 Nobody expects Grover Norquist to be here. 768 00:39:13,142 --> 00:39:14,310 But he is here. 769 00:39:14,811 --> 00:39:16,771 He's well-read, like Larry, 770 00:39:16,813 --> 00:39:19,190 talking about Victorian literature 771 00:39:19,232 --> 00:39:20,441 and magic, 772 00:39:20,483 --> 00:39:22,777 and the two of them couldn't stop talking. 773 00:39:22,819 --> 00:39:25,864 And all of it was about creativity and free thinking. 774 00:39:25,905 --> 00:39:28,133 I don't know how many people have come up to me, 775 00:39:28,157 --> 00:39:29,951 "You and I are the only Republicans here." 776 00:39:29,993 --> 00:39:31,494 I said, "Yes, you're the 14th person" 777 00:39:31,536 --> 00:39:32,856 who's said that today." 778 00:39:36,082 --> 00:39:38,293 We still don't know whether Burning Man is on this year, 779 00:39:38,334 --> 00:39:40,336 but here's what I usually bring. 780 00:39:42,005 --> 00:39:44,841 Very nicely made cigars, Cuban tobacco, 781 00:39:44,883 --> 00:39:46,467 made in the United States. 782 00:39:46,509 --> 00:39:48,970 Um, and people love those as gifts. 783 00:39:49,012 --> 00:39:50,805 People put a lot of time and effort 784 00:39:50,847 --> 00:39:52,515 into some of the, um, 785 00:39:53,683 --> 00:39:55,852 Burning Man jewelry that they have. 786 00:39:55,894 --> 00:39:58,062 And I have... This is kinda my collection of stuff 787 00:39:58,104 --> 00:39:59,814 that I, I got there. 788 00:39:59,856 --> 00:40:01,649 And I hold on to it to keep in mind 789 00:40:01,691 --> 00:40:04,903 if I could ever do something half as cool. 790 00:40:06,446 --> 00:40:09,490 "Radical inclusion does not include Trump enablers." 791 00:40:09,532 --> 00:40:10,825 Somebody had those. 792 00:40:10,867 --> 00:40:14,203 Um, it's kind of contradictory, but, uh... 793 00:40:17,707 --> 00:40:19,310 The first year I was there, 794 00:40:19,334 --> 00:40:23,421 um, I stood next to, uh, Larry when it burned. 795 00:40:29,218 --> 00:40:32,055 I trust that Marian is going to make the right decision. 796 00:40:34,807 --> 00:40:38,227 People are doing a great deal of work just to get to Burning Man. 797 00:40:45,902 --> 00:40:48,029 The beauty of an art car, 798 00:40:48,071 --> 00:40:50,740 or as a mobile stage, is that it's, it's fleeting. 799 00:40:52,909 --> 00:40:55,787 Just the fact that you have the freedom to go anywhere 800 00:40:55,828 --> 00:40:57,705 and make it happen, 801 00:40:57,747 --> 00:40:59,916 there's something very beautiful about it. 802 00:40:59,958 --> 00:41:01,310 You know, something very fulfilling 803 00:41:01,334 --> 00:41:03,252 that you cannot get anywhere else. 804 00:41:05,004 --> 00:41:08,091 I grew up in Mexico City, and I became an entrepreneur. 805 00:41:08,132 --> 00:41:11,219 I came to Burning Man for the first time in 2012, 806 00:41:11,260 --> 00:41:13,972 and I was really impressed by the creativity, 807 00:41:14,013 --> 00:41:19,602 in how, like, there is nothing to stop any idea of emerging. 808 00:41:19,644 --> 00:41:22,230 I came back to Mexico from Burning Man, and I said, 809 00:41:22,271 --> 00:41:24,732 "You know what? I want to make one of these cool, 810 00:41:24,774 --> 00:41:28,069 self-sustained, like, stages that you see at Burning Man." 811 00:41:28,111 --> 00:41:32,448 The first year that we brought the car was 2012, 812 00:41:32,490 --> 00:41:35,719 and I think, uh, that the beauty about Burning Man is, 813 00:41:35,743 --> 00:41:38,496 you meet so many people that want to just collaborate. 814 00:41:38,538 --> 00:41:39,890 And since that year, 815 00:41:39,914 --> 00:41:42,291 you know, we had like lots of photographers, 816 00:41:42,333 --> 00:41:45,461 engineers, architects, all wanting to contribute. 817 00:41:45,503 --> 00:41:50,758 So this is just a sum of a lot of people's work, 818 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:52,135 right? 819 00:41:55,013 --> 00:41:57,306 In the early days of Burning Man, 820 00:41:57,348 --> 00:42:00,101 there were people who came out to Burning Man, 821 00:42:00,143 --> 00:42:02,603 who, for whatever personal reason they had, 822 00:42:02,645 --> 00:42:07,066 had decided to make their cars into pieces of art. 823 00:42:07,900 --> 00:42:09,610 And it really inspired a lot of people 824 00:42:09,652 --> 00:42:13,781 to think of their vehicles as a, um, 825 00:42:13,823 --> 00:42:15,700 a canvas for their personal expression. 826 00:42:16,492 --> 00:42:17,869 And then the second wave, 827 00:42:17,910 --> 00:42:20,371 you started seeing people do bigger things. 828 00:42:20,413 --> 00:42:22,790 And some of the vehicles became well known, 829 00:42:22,832 --> 00:42:25,251 not so much for their art, 830 00:42:25,835 --> 00:42:27,670 but for their music. 831 00:42:32,759 --> 00:42:34,927 There's Robot Heart, that has a big following. 832 00:42:37,346 --> 00:42:39,390 There's Mayan Warrior, 833 00:42:39,432 --> 00:42:40,933 a really impressive vehicle 834 00:42:40,975 --> 00:42:43,561 that also has an incredible light laser show. 835 00:42:44,687 --> 00:42:46,314 I've seen ones that, 836 00:42:46,355 --> 00:42:48,316 more than a million dollars went into them. 837 00:42:48,900 --> 00:42:51,069 And ones that probably took maybe 838 00:42:51,110 --> 00:42:52,779 a few hundred dollars to put together. 839 00:42:53,654 --> 00:42:55,364 Another way to look at Burning Man 840 00:42:55,406 --> 00:42:56,699 is a giant sandbox, 841 00:42:57,241 --> 00:42:59,702 and everybody brings toys to play. 842 00:43:00,870 --> 00:43:02,997 There's something very beautiful, 843 00:43:03,039 --> 00:43:04,373 something very fulfilling, 844 00:43:04,415 --> 00:43:06,375 that you cannot get anywhere else. 845 00:43:06,417 --> 00:43:09,813 ♪ Our broken mind embassy ♪ 846 00:43:09,837 --> 00:43:12,340 I think it's one of the most irresponsible things 847 00:43:12,381 --> 00:43:14,217 I've done in my life, financially. 848 00:43:14,884 --> 00:43:17,095 But one of the cores of Burning Man 849 00:43:17,136 --> 00:43:18,638 is the gifting economy. 850 00:43:19,639 --> 00:43:21,140 We do this as a gift. 851 00:43:35,947 --> 00:43:37,406 We work hard all year 852 00:43:37,448 --> 00:43:39,176 to get our art car ready for Burning Man, 853 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:43,621 but we still don't know whether it's going to happen or not. 854 00:43:43,663 --> 00:43:46,249 Acavallo was Quill's life's work. 855 00:43:51,087 --> 00:43:53,047 It's shaped somewhat like a boat. 856 00:43:53,089 --> 00:43:57,051 Started out as six life-sized steel horses 857 00:43:57,093 --> 00:44:00,221 that go up and down and shoots fire out of the top. 858 00:44:03,266 --> 00:44:05,393 It's a big bouncing jungle gym 859 00:44:05,434 --> 00:44:08,479 for adults to be sexy and play. 860 00:44:10,773 --> 00:44:14,068 The whole thing is built by hand from scratch, 861 00:44:14,110 --> 00:44:17,780 made from dreams and sacrifice. 862 00:44:23,327 --> 00:44:25,955 Quill Hyde and I first met when we were teenagers. 863 00:44:26,664 --> 00:44:28,082 We were pretty isolated. 864 00:44:28,124 --> 00:44:30,751 Just two hippie kids trying to make it in New York. 865 00:44:31,669 --> 00:44:34,088 After graduating from Columbia Engineering, 866 00:44:34,130 --> 00:44:38,050 and working in theatrical automation for 10 years, 867 00:44:39,051 --> 00:44:41,971 I was looking for something life-changing and different. 868 00:44:42,722 --> 00:44:43,806 A spark. 869 00:44:44,599 --> 00:44:47,435 The first year I went to Burning Man, 870 00:44:47,476 --> 00:44:50,938 there were these kids who had like a chair 871 00:44:50,980 --> 00:44:54,317 on the back of a giraffe with a ghillie suit, 872 00:44:54,358 --> 00:44:55,443 and there were computers... 873 00:44:55,484 --> 00:44:56,962 and, uh, it was very like... 874 00:44:56,986 --> 00:45:00,448 And I thought, "Quill has to come to this thing," 875 00:45:00,489 --> 00:45:03,326 'cause he was doing automation for Broadway shows in New York. 876 00:45:03,367 --> 00:45:05,036 Things popping up and out of stages. 877 00:45:05,077 --> 00:45:07,288 And it was a perfect marriage for his engineering 878 00:45:07,330 --> 00:45:08,456 and his art brain. 879 00:45:09,665 --> 00:45:11,209 That's what Quill needed. 880 00:45:12,501 --> 00:45:13,502 Art spark. 881 00:45:15,922 --> 00:45:17,798 I was looking for something else, 882 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:19,717 and I found it at Burning Man. 883 00:45:19,759 --> 00:45:21,510 It takes tools to make stuff. 884 00:45:21,552 --> 00:45:23,137 And dogs. 885 00:45:23,179 --> 00:45:26,182 But he also had that, like, "win mentality," 886 00:45:26,849 --> 00:45:30,120 so he decided to "win" Burning Man. 887 00:45:30,144 --> 00:45:31,824 That's what it takes to make stuff. 888 00:45:32,688 --> 00:45:34,815 Quill decides to build the biggest art car 889 00:45:34,857 --> 00:45:36,150 on the playa. 890 00:45:36,859 --> 00:45:39,070 I just wanted to share... 891 00:45:39,111 --> 00:45:41,155 an art car idea. 892 00:45:41,197 --> 00:45:43,991 The carousel popped out of his mind. 893 00:45:48,204 --> 00:45:49,705 That's a horse. 894 00:45:53,626 --> 00:45:55,086 Look at that. 895 00:45:56,921 --> 00:45:58,839 Easy, man. 896 00:45:59,382 --> 00:46:02,802 That desire to create art for Burning Man, 897 00:46:03,469 --> 00:46:06,222 I had to restructure my whole life to make that possible. 898 00:46:06,264 --> 00:46:09,725 And that included the move back to my hometown in Washington. 899 00:46:09,767 --> 00:46:12,853 We were able to, like, have the space to work on art 900 00:46:12,895 --> 00:46:14,855 that we could never find in New York. 901 00:46:15,940 --> 00:46:17,900 I pursued my career 902 00:46:17,942 --> 00:46:19,068 in silk painting. 903 00:46:19,610 --> 00:46:22,905 I've worn my dresses at Burning Man, 904 00:46:23,656 --> 00:46:25,741 I've outfitted camps. 905 00:46:25,783 --> 00:46:27,743 I make scarves for people. 906 00:46:28,577 --> 00:46:30,705 This is not just a playground for artists. 907 00:46:30,746 --> 00:46:32,123 It's our life support system, 908 00:46:32,164 --> 00:46:34,875 and we've been waiting for two years to return. 909 00:46:35,459 --> 00:46:37,461 This is what I love to do. 910 00:46:37,503 --> 00:46:40,756 Prioritizing the art over everything else. 911 00:46:41,632 --> 00:46:43,735 The org is supposed to make an announcement 912 00:46:43,759 --> 00:46:44,885 any day now, 913 00:46:44,927 --> 00:46:47,221 and, um, I really hope it happens. 914 00:46:47,263 --> 00:46:48,389 Fingers crossed. 915 00:46:57,106 --> 00:46:58,399 I'd say this is probably 916 00:46:58,441 --> 00:47:00,276 the hardest thing I've had to do. 917 00:47:02,111 --> 00:47:03,904 The grief that's gonna get compounded 918 00:47:03,946 --> 00:47:06,574 on all the excitement that people have had 919 00:47:06,615 --> 00:47:08,409 in looking forward to Black Rock City. 920 00:47:08,451 --> 00:47:10,786 There'll be like grief, upon grief, upon grief. 921 00:47:17,460 --> 00:47:19,604 I think this is the first time we're meeting in person. 922 00:47:19,628 --> 00:47:21,106 Did you get any shots yet? 923 00:47:21,130 --> 00:47:22,649 -I got two. -Are you clear? 924 00:47:22,673 --> 00:47:24,473 I have one more week before I'm clear. 925 00:47:24,508 --> 00:47:27,136 So you can stand as far away as you need to. 926 00:47:29,221 --> 00:47:30,782 Later today, Marian will announce 927 00:47:30,806 --> 00:47:32,391 whether Black Rock City is happening. 928 00:47:34,393 --> 00:47:37,188 Not being able to tell the staff is really torture. 929 00:47:39,565 --> 00:47:41,400 It's very difficult to sit and wait. 930 00:47:45,112 --> 00:47:46,757 Apparently, they're going to make 931 00:47:46,781 --> 00:47:48,008 some sort of announcement today, 932 00:47:48,032 --> 00:47:49,825 but I have been watching my computer screen 933 00:47:49,867 --> 00:47:50,868 all fucking day 934 00:47:50,910 --> 00:47:52,661 and still no updates. 935 00:47:55,414 --> 00:47:57,458 Here. Here's my Burning Man stuff. 936 00:47:57,500 --> 00:47:59,293 Found it. One thing. 937 00:48:02,171 --> 00:48:03,565 It's like the whole place 938 00:48:03,589 --> 00:48:05,549 is like a Burning Man camp, you know? 939 00:48:05,591 --> 00:48:07,968 Yeah, it's because my entire life 940 00:48:08,010 --> 00:48:09,261 has become Burning Man. 941 00:48:10,096 --> 00:48:12,598 Did you see my director's chair? Aren't I fancy? Huh? 942 00:48:16,519 --> 00:48:18,396 Isn't that good? 943 00:48:18,437 --> 00:48:20,398 I come from a fairly well-to-do family, 944 00:48:20,439 --> 00:48:23,317 and when I was, uh, about 11 or 12, 945 00:48:23,359 --> 00:48:25,945 we lost most of our... our finances, 946 00:48:26,445 --> 00:48:27,988 and things changed very, very quickly. 947 00:48:28,531 --> 00:48:30,699 I wanted so deeply to find a place 948 00:48:30,741 --> 00:48:32,868 where, like, I didn't feel like I had less than, 949 00:48:32,910 --> 00:48:37,248 or I was less than, or I was, um, weak and small. 950 00:48:37,289 --> 00:48:39,333 And so I made myself as big as fucking possible. 951 00:48:41,877 --> 00:48:44,755 A lot of people live this sheltered cicada shell life, 952 00:48:44,797 --> 00:48:46,674 where their true self is hidden, 953 00:48:46,715 --> 00:48:48,259 very, very small, deep inside of them. 954 00:48:48,300 --> 00:48:52,054 And Burning Man is the only place that they can shed that. 955 00:48:52,096 --> 00:48:54,515 Let's go. Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Let's go! 956 00:48:54,557 --> 00:48:55,766 Let's go. 957 00:48:55,808 --> 00:48:58,352 Burning Man has provided me the knowledge 958 00:48:58,394 --> 00:49:01,188 that there was a place for me, and that there was a world 959 00:49:01,230 --> 00:49:03,399 that didn't have to be the world I saw. 960 00:49:03,441 --> 00:49:05,526 -Where are you from? -Uh, D.C. Washington, D.C. 961 00:49:05,568 --> 00:49:06,777 -I'm from D.C.! -Nuh-uh! 962 00:49:06,819 --> 00:49:08,362 -Big hi! -Hi! 963 00:49:08,404 --> 00:49:10,406 Hi, habibi. Ah! 964 00:49:11,407 --> 00:49:12,843 It really wasn't until 965 00:49:12,867 --> 00:49:15,286 I convinced my family to go to Burning Man, 966 00:49:15,327 --> 00:49:18,539 that there was an incredible reversal of roles. 967 00:49:18,581 --> 00:49:21,917 When I took my mother, my sister, her sister, 968 00:49:21,959 --> 00:49:26,046 my... her... my aunt, my nephew, my sister's husband, 969 00:49:26,088 --> 00:49:29,216 um, and I took them all together as virgins. 970 00:49:29,258 --> 00:49:31,969 And I did it because I felt like 971 00:49:32,011 --> 00:49:34,597 they would never understand me until I showed them Burning Man. 972 00:49:35,181 --> 00:49:36,390 -Mama... -Faster. 973 00:49:36,432 --> 00:49:37,742 ...have you had a nice burn? 974 00:49:37,766 --> 00:49:38,893 I've had a great burn, 975 00:49:38,934 --> 00:49:41,395 and I've met wonderful people, like John. 976 00:49:41,437 --> 00:49:42,873 My mother, who is 70, 977 00:49:42,897 --> 00:49:45,000 she met a guy on Plenty of Fish that was also a burner. 978 00:49:45,024 --> 00:49:47,735 So they made a date at Burning Man to meet up. 979 00:49:47,776 --> 00:49:49,236 They had the best time, 980 00:49:49,278 --> 00:49:51,155 and they've been together ever since. 981 00:49:52,448 --> 00:49:53,949 Yeah! 982 00:49:54,617 --> 00:49:57,620 The thing that she said to me was that, like, she didn't know 983 00:49:57,661 --> 00:49:59,497 that she had adventures left in her life. 984 00:49:59,538 --> 00:50:03,751 It gave my mother her life back, and it restored her soul. 985 00:50:03,792 --> 00:50:05,669 Mom, are you having a good time? 986 00:50:05,711 --> 00:50:07,254 I am! 987 00:50:07,296 --> 00:50:08,815 You know, I might make fun of Marian. 988 00:50:08,839 --> 00:50:10,508 I might make fun of other burners. 989 00:50:10,549 --> 00:50:13,010 But I have nothing but eternal gratitude 990 00:50:13,052 --> 00:50:16,096 to anybody who makes that place possible 991 00:50:16,138 --> 00:50:18,599 because it provided that experience for my mother. 992 00:50:18,641 --> 00:50:19,642 It's just a miracle. 993 00:50:22,686 --> 00:50:25,189 I think a lot of people are gonna lose their fucking minds 994 00:50:25,231 --> 00:50:27,191 if they don't go to Burning Man this year. 995 00:50:32,821 --> 00:50:34,799 -Nice to meet you. -When you have moment, 996 00:50:34,823 --> 00:50:35,884 can we put a microphone on you? 997 00:50:35,908 --> 00:50:37,034 Oh, yes. 998 00:50:37,076 --> 00:50:38,076 Alright! 999 00:50:41,914 --> 00:50:42,998 Alright. 1000 00:50:44,542 --> 00:50:45,834 What do we got there? 1001 00:50:53,008 --> 00:50:54,486 It has an auto gain control... 1002 00:50:54,510 --> 00:50:56,804 This is gonna be a 10-minute piece, people. 1003 00:50:56,845 --> 00:50:58,514 -Great. -Not long. 1004 00:51:06,355 --> 00:51:08,065 Oh, my God. 1005 00:51:15,614 --> 00:51:17,074 I'm gonna fuck up. 1006 00:51:17,116 --> 00:51:18,701 I can see it now. 1007 00:51:20,494 --> 00:51:22,580 Yeah, Stuart, the problem with me not doing it, 1008 00:51:22,621 --> 00:51:24,501 it feels like a chick... I, like, chickened out. 1009 00:51:25,708 --> 00:51:27,501 Oh, my God. This is so hard. 1010 00:51:27,543 --> 00:51:29,420 Check one, two. 1011 00:51:35,718 --> 00:51:37,011 You gonna have your scarf on? 1012 00:51:37,052 --> 00:51:39,221 Is someone actually saying right now 1013 00:51:39,263 --> 00:51:40,681 that I shouldn't do the video? 1014 00:51:40,723 --> 00:51:42,516 That's what I said yesterday. 1015 00:51:44,643 --> 00:51:46,663 Should I not be doing this? 1016 00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:54,403 Fuck. 1017 00:51:57,448 --> 00:51:58,449 Hi. 1018 00:51:59,825 --> 00:52:01,869 We have some exciting things to talk about. 1019 00:52:01,910 --> 00:52:03,579 For 2021, 1020 00:52:03,621 --> 00:52:06,624 we know the need for community has never been stronger. 1021 00:52:07,166 --> 00:52:09,251 And building community is what burners do best. 1022 00:52:09,918 --> 00:52:13,088 We also recognize that the pandemic is not over. 1023 00:52:13,589 --> 00:52:15,382 But we've made a difficult decision, 1024 00:52:15,424 --> 00:52:17,426 based on the best information available to us. 1025 00:52:17,468 --> 00:52:19,386 We have decided to focus our energy 1026 00:52:19,428 --> 00:52:22,097 on building Black Rock City 2022. 1027 00:52:22,806 --> 00:52:25,100 It's too important to do half-assed, 1028 00:52:25,142 --> 00:52:27,269 so we're doubling down on next year. 1029 00:52:27,311 --> 00:52:30,731 We recognize your need to be in community, 1030 00:52:30,773 --> 00:52:32,876 and your desires. 1031 00:52:32,900 --> 00:52:35,944 So, we suggest that you create community. 1032 00:52:35,986 --> 00:52:38,572 Take this moment, gather together. 1033 00:52:38,614 --> 00:52:41,909 We're gonna celebrate Burn Week online. 1034 00:52:41,950 --> 00:52:43,911 -Oh, lame. -And offline. 1035 00:52:43,952 --> 00:52:45,120 So lame. 1036 00:52:47,706 --> 00:52:49,249 Oh, 2019. 1037 00:52:49,291 --> 00:52:51,835 The last burn we'll ever know. 1038 00:52:51,877 --> 00:52:53,504 That's not true. 1039 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:56,674 No, we're not canceling Burning Man. 1040 00:52:58,634 --> 00:53:00,302 We're just not doing Black Rock City. 1041 00:53:01,804 --> 00:53:04,807 Remember, we will always burn the man. 1042 00:53:06,392 --> 00:53:08,244 Several of us came together, 1043 00:53:08,268 --> 00:53:11,855 and we raised $13 million of philanthropic capital 1044 00:53:11,897 --> 00:53:16,110 to help the org put the Man on in 2021. 1045 00:53:16,151 --> 00:53:19,405 You asked us to help, we helped... 1046 00:53:20,656 --> 00:53:22,866 and then the... you broke the promise. 1047 00:53:23,325 --> 00:53:25,494 And so that... That really carried 1048 00:53:25,536 --> 00:53:28,330 such disappointment in my heart. 1049 00:53:29,373 --> 00:53:30,833 It... It really hurt. 1050 00:53:32,209 --> 00:53:33,687 The Bureau of Land Management 1051 00:53:33,711 --> 00:53:36,046 has said public lands will be available all summer. 1052 00:53:36,088 --> 00:53:37,381 Sick. 1053 00:53:37,423 --> 00:53:40,050 So, wherever you are in the world, 1054 00:53:40,092 --> 00:53:41,844 take the 10 Principles with you. 1055 00:53:41,885 --> 00:53:44,138 Show up as a responsible burner. 1056 00:53:44,179 --> 00:53:46,640 -Yes. -Remember, leaving no trace. 1057 00:53:46,682 --> 00:53:48,851 In my very humble opinion, 1058 00:53:48,892 --> 00:53:51,145 she's clearly telling the Burning Man community 1059 00:53:51,186 --> 00:53:53,021 that the land is open. 1060 00:53:53,063 --> 00:53:55,649 It is up to you to be the best little burner you can be. 1061 00:53:55,691 --> 00:53:58,235 Leave no trace, bring the 10 Principles, 1062 00:53:58,277 --> 00:54:00,779 and go to fucking Burning Man without them. 1063 00:54:01,613 --> 00:54:03,174 For the second year in a row, 1064 00:54:03,198 --> 00:54:04,700 Burning Man is canceled. 1065 00:54:04,742 --> 00:54:06,261 But that is not stopping 1066 00:54:06,285 --> 00:54:07,804 some people from trying to throw 1067 00:54:07,828 --> 00:54:10,998 their own unofficial party in the Nevada Desert. 1068 00:54:13,792 --> 00:54:16,545 Sheriff's office has a message for those people: 1069 00:54:16,587 --> 00:54:17,713 "Don't." 1070 00:54:17,755 --> 00:54:20,507 Burners, they are trying to stop us. 1071 00:54:20,549 --> 00:54:22,342 All I know is that I'm going 1072 00:54:22,384 --> 00:54:23,945 because it's gonna be radically inclusive 1073 00:54:23,969 --> 00:54:25,554 and radically fuckin' awesome. 1074 00:54:25,596 --> 00:54:26,865 And if things go wrong, they'll go wrong 1075 00:54:26,889 --> 00:54:28,015 and we'll take care of it. 1076 00:54:28,056 --> 00:54:29,266 In my heart, it tells me 1077 00:54:29,308 --> 00:54:30,684 it's probably gonna be more towards 1078 00:54:30,726 --> 00:54:32,186 the shit-show side of things, 1079 00:54:32,227 --> 00:54:34,354 'cause there are some people who want it to go back 1080 00:54:34,396 --> 00:54:35,689 to what it was back in the '90s, 1081 00:54:35,731 --> 00:54:39,026 before it became such a structured festival. 1082 00:54:39,067 --> 00:54:40,569 Back in the old days, 1083 00:54:40,611 --> 00:54:41,695 we'd shoot guns. 1084 00:54:43,071 --> 00:54:44,257 Mobile shooting ranges, 1085 00:54:44,281 --> 00:54:45,759 wanting to blow things up on the playa. 1086 00:54:45,783 --> 00:54:47,576 Last time this chaos happened, 1087 00:54:47,618 --> 00:54:49,703 it was a huge disaster. 1088 00:54:49,745 --> 00:54:51,121 We'd go up there and drove 1089 00:54:51,163 --> 00:54:52,664 across the playa, fucking, 1090 00:54:53,415 --> 00:54:55,542 shooting guns out the windows, drinking wine, 1091 00:54:55,584 --> 00:54:57,211 and on mushrooms. 1092 00:54:57,252 --> 00:54:59,087 I thought, this is the most American thing 1093 00:54:59,129 --> 00:55:00,714 you could possibly do. 1094 00:55:00,756 --> 00:55:02,716 But in 1996, 1095 00:55:02,758 --> 00:55:04,593 horrible shit happened repeatedly. 1096 00:55:04,635 --> 00:55:06,136 Tents were on fire. 1097 00:55:06,178 --> 00:55:07,888 You cannot have anarchists 1098 00:55:07,930 --> 00:55:09,389 and chaos with 10,000 people. 1099 00:55:09,431 --> 00:55:10,909 It was an apocalypse. 1100 00:55:10,933 --> 00:55:12,559 If people try to do the burn 1101 00:55:12,601 --> 00:55:15,229 at this scale, without us, 1102 00:55:15,270 --> 00:55:16,730 people could die in the desert.