Serious Play - Isabel Behncke

Watch it on YouTube. What happens when we welcome strangers as family?Andie Grace talks with cultural entrepreneur, and 12-time Burner Yasmine El Baggari about opening hearts and overcoming barriers.From traveling all 50 US states, to launching a global community exchange platform, Yasmine designs human connection, one person at a time. Andie and Yasmine explore how Black Rock City acts as a “third space” for humanity to interweave without commerce or borders.The Overview Effect: What kind of shift happens when we bring astronauts, refugees, entrepreneurs, and movement-builders together?Boot Camp for Disaster Relief: How extreme weather in Black Rock City prepared Yasmine to deploy to earthquake relief in Morocco.Gifting and Radical Inclusion: What does it actually take to drop our guard and gift hospitality without getting all transactiony?Watch this state-shifting conversation about seeing the world without borders, whether from outer space, or in the dust.Hear why the magic of the playa continues into the rest of the year, and how a simple, radical act of making eye contact with a stranger might just restore your faith in humanity.Watch it on YouTube. www.voyaj.comwww.instagram.com/yelbaggariwww.linkedin.com/in/yasmineelbaggariwww.forbes.com/2020/07/15/why-this-former-glamour-woman-of-the-year-wants-to-be-the-first-woman-on-the-moonhttps://www.voyaj.com/stories/earthquakereliefhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect  LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Watch on YouTube. Stanford Professor and social psychologist Brian Lowery talked with Stuart in Black Rock City to reimagine the myth of the self-reliant individual.From the power of connection to the dangers of modern isolation, and the erasure of "third spaces" in the default world, Brian breaks down the social science of flourishing community.They explore how the friction-filled uniqueness of Burning Man amplifies how deeply we impact one another. · Radical Self-expression: How much is it just about you, or for (and from) the community? · Radical Self-reliance: Is it a delusion? What does it look like to create city-sized reliance?· Gifting: non-transactional gifts are magical, sure. What about the gifting we’re doing when we’re just being?It’s a perspective-shifting conversation on how we work with our original programming in this new world, and own the impact of interactions to prevent and reverse a lonely world.Watch and hear how much of who you are may be just a rolling compilation of the people you know.Watch on YouTube. www.brianloweryphd.comwikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Lowerywww.knowwhatyousee.com/podcastwww.ted.com/speakers/brian_s_lowery LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Watch it on YouTube. Dystopia is compelling. What’s the opposite? Hope.Xtina Chu and Corey Johnson talk in Black Rock City about all things interesting with our solar future happening now! They share how in an age of cynicism, optimism is the ultimate punk rock rebellion.What started as a DIY experiment has evolved into a megawatt array gifting clean-energy to EV art cars and fuel-free theme camps. Meanwhile, back in California, they deploy rapid disaster-relief. They’re rewriting the rules of power, even large-scale event power.  The future doesn’t stink. Moving away from individualism, they view "self-reliance" as a collective resilience network. They shine a light on the engineering — and cultural engineering — happening now and forever, more and more.Videography by: Damien Blue, Duncan Rawlinson, and Jamen PercyWatch it on YouTube. https://www.solarpunks.clubhttps://journal.burningman.org/2026/08/black-rock-city/leaving-no-trace/2026-sustainability-updatehttps://journal.burningman.org/2026/07/black-rock-city/leaving-no-trace/the-race-to-decarbonize-black-rock-city LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Watch on YOUTUBE.Watch this adventure (recorded in Black Rock City) about how art is built, and how it finds its people. Dr. Diane Hoffoss designs, crafts, and finds funding for interactive art in BRC and out in the wide world. See the art and the conversation with Andie Grace about unsolved problems, lasers, and joy. “Inspired positivity and joy, bringing all this happiness back. We need that.”They decode the depth between interactive art, interactive math, and the universe. They share stories about the art collective ArtBuilds, the nonprofit Makerspace CoLab, and the Burning Man Regional event YOUtopia... and how Diane's university funded her Burning Man art as official scholarly research.Watch all the way to the end for the best part: how building a laser playground in the dust might just solve the mystery of restoring faith in humanity.www.dianehoffoss.comCover Photo: Frank GuthrieBio Photo: Ariele Baragona LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Jamie Wheal, author of Stealing Fire and Recapture the Rapture, and the viral article The Man WILL Burn!, joins Stuart to unpack the cultural anthropology of peak states. They explore how Black Rock City serves as a crucible for thriving in the future.  They deep dive into: Hedonic Engineering: Inducing bliss without cravings, healing without the cringe, and communing without it becoming a cult. The Culture of Culture: How movements morph, why BRC’s builders are like Navy SEALs, and resetting through radical participation. Practical Optimism: Letting go of 21st Century normal, and keeping your shit together in the shitshow. Watch them un-forget how to make that magic anywhere. wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Wheal jamiewheal.substack.com/p/the-man-will-burn wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Will_Burn LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Watch it on YouTube. No spoilers. This is the making of the docuseries The Man Will Burn. This is the context for what was filmed, who said what, and what got cut; the cameras and the chaos (and the quinoa). Burning Man Project’s CEO Marian Goodell talks with Jehane Noujaim Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and director. They share the creative challenge of assembling Burning Man’s story from a mosaic of a million people’s stories. They dive right into the interweaving 35 years of archival footage with the personal journeys of a dozen participants from a dozen places. Watch Marian and Jehane’s conversation, recorded the day after the premiere at Tribeca. Hit play on the dust and trust of the blank canvas that becomes a city year after year, and a 4-hour film about its start, its false stops, and its proliferating permutations. burningman.org/documentaries/the-man-will-burn www.imdb.com/title/tt29033873 wikipedia.org/Jehane_Noujaim journal.burningman.org/author/marian LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

5 leaders from the 5 Regional Burns of Australia! They focus on collaboration more than contraptions, connection more than complexity. Aurora, Tasmania: Lara, aka Squeaky Queen, on the logistics of being an island off an island. Blazing Swan, Western Australia: Shaz on navigating extreme weather with 3,700 friends. Burning Seed, New South Wales: Leanna, aka Mama, on restructuring into a member-owned organization. Modifyre, Queensland: Chau on the bonds built with a 10% annual growth cap. Underland, Victoria: Marty on trading a "crisis of imagination" for accountability. These movers & shakers go a mile deep into the dust, the heart, and the deets of Australia’s radical experiments in community. They acculturate through one on one connections and Burning Pubs. They embrace Positive Impact more than Leave No Trace. They aspire to the 10 Principles and the 11th, and even the 12th. See how this culture takes root, travels, and morphs year-round. Community is built through word of mouth, so that the space they create allows us to show up as our whole human selves. Open your mind upside down, and laugh along with these larrikins and their playful perceptions. auroraburn.org.au www.burningseed.com blazingswan.com.au www.modifyre.org underland.au burningman.org/global/burning-man-regional-network/australia LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

For decades, Charlie has led some of Black Rock City's monumental works of art. He isn’t just the prolific mind behind iconic pieces like Elder Mother, an illuminated storytelling tree; he’s an architect of human connection. He co-created and develops: Illumination Village - an early and long running home-within-a-home at Black Rock City The Flaming Lotus Girls - the all-volunteer, women-led art collective The Box Shop - a collaborative workspace and art studio of 23 years and counting Tune in as Charlie shares his artistic journey with Andie Grace. They explore the evolution from flame-thrown wind-sail paintings to steel trees of addressable LED leaves. But this isn’t about him. The Box Shop, home to hundreds of metalworkers, large-scale sculptors, and multimedia artists, has birthed thousands of artworks and taught countless volunteers to wire and weld. After 23 years, it’s facing displacement due to gentrification. Charlie shares the gritty details of reinventing this creative sanctuary into a nonprofit in a new location. Hear why making beautiful things with friends matters more than maximizing shareholder profit, and why hands-on community hubs bring belonging as an antidote to modern loneliness and greed. https://www.charlesgadeken.com https://boxshopsf.org https://www.flaminglotus.com https://www.illuminationvillage.org LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Watch it on YouTube. What do you get when you mix 3,200 Burners, a lush Canadian forest, and a summer fire ban? Oh, and an event theme that is literally just the word... MOIST. Wander through the woods of Otherworld, one of British Columbia’s rapidly growing Regional Burns. Coordinators of creative chaos Jax and Zephyr share what it takes to conjure Burning Man culture in the Pacific Northwest How to acculturate festival consumers with sacred and profane initiations How to land an epic effigy show using theatrics when under a summer burn ban How to have Black Rock City closer to home If you’re headed to the playa, or wrangling a Regional, or just here for the fuckery of a good inside-joke, this is how to do culture differently, and have fun along the way. Watch it on YouTube. https://otherworld.ca https://burningman.org/global-events-groups https://burningman.org/burning-man-regional-network LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG

Watch it on YouTube here. What happens when Burner behavior goes under the microscope? Sociologists, ecologists, and economists have been on this show. Now we’re looking at this culture through a new lens: primatology. Isabel Behncke is an evolutionary biologist and a Burning Man Project Board Member. From tracking bonobos in the jungle to observing humans on playa, she shares her groundbreaking research on ritual and play. In this mind-expanding conversation, she and Stuart explore: 🏕️ "Dunbar's number" and how camp size matters 🦍 The evolutionary purpose of play for young and old 🤝 How risk, trust, and vulnerability build true community 🎁 The ancient, radical act of giving without expecting anything back If you’re a social science fan, a camp lead of dynamic humans, or just a lover of wild stories about bonobos, humans, and other animals, get ready to understand your own playful nature! Watch it on YouTube here. wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Behncke burningman.org/about-us/who-we-are/board-of-directors en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5,000_Years en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_Ludens LIVE.BURNINGMAN.ORG