There’s a world of civic hacking where "making cool stuff" meets "making useful stuff."

Hear tinkerers, gearheads and other makers share about the inventions that won them Burners Without Borders Civic Ignition Grants. These grants are little sparks that fire up the next level of open-source technology for all of our community, and for all the world.

Colin Jemmott and MJ Brovold of YOUtopia, the San Diego Regional event, share about their low maintenance light source that’s sturdy, solar-powered, and buildable by anyone. They're also building a huge steel pop-up book!

Sam Smith and Squirtle of SOAK, the Portland Regional event, share about their deployable solar shade pavilion made of star-shapes and scissor linkages. Trash eating robots are involved, and 3D printed ‘precious plastic’ art.

This is not about the party. This is about practicing for a future where we won't need to poison the planet to self-express.

These stories are a recipe:

• One part ‘for the love of it’ spirit
• One part skills we already have

Blend until smooth.

Enjoy what new ideas can happen when we all put our heads together.

burnerswithoutborders.org/2025-regional-event-grant

sdyoutopia.com

sdcolab.org

www.luxcapacitor.art

www.precipitationnw.org/burnon

soakpdx.com

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Insightful. World-Building. Spit-take inducing.

Mark Day’s videos serve as a digital gateway for many thousands of Burners, capturing that blurry edge where the default world ends and the playa begins.

From his early days building tripper trappers and doing stand up comedy, to his controversial tinkering with AI art (think Dalmatians made of donuts), Mark has put 10,000 hours into his “24 Hours at Burning Man” videos.

Andie Grace talks with this unique content creator to explore thresholds and multitudes. They discuss how to capture the moment and also experience it. They dive head first into the touchy subjects of consent, the ethics of documentation, and how “acculturation is an everybody thing.”

He shares his sociology of being a Greeter in BRC. He talks creative process. He brings clever curiosity to open-ended self-expression and the freedom to be your favorite version of yourself.

https://journal.burningman.org/author/mark-day

https://www.youtube.com/markdaycomedy

https://www.instagram.com/burner_videos

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It's absurd.
It perturbs.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (And boy has it been a year!)

Following in the footsteps of show-biz luminaries like Stephen Colbert, Jon Stuart, and the cast of Star Wars, we hosted a (non-denominational) holiday show in front of a live online pseudo-studio audience in 2020.

Broadcasting from their snowed-in virtual holiday cabins, Stuart and Andie entertained guests:
· Santa Zero - originator of the now-infamous SantaCon phenomenon
· Mrs. Claus - founder of Burning Man’s first theme camp, Christmas Camp
· Tubatron and his Flaming Tuba playing a Hanukkah song (David Silverman)
· Reverend Billy and Savitri D of the Stop Shopping Choir

And it wouldn’t be the holiday season without Caveat Magister selling us on Decommodification.

Join us for
· how Krampus cramps us
· how COVID is an 8-foot-tall dominatrix
· how “Gifting” is so close to “Grifting”
· how the Cacophony Society is sooo Kumbaya

in the 5th anniversary of our Holiday Special that is indeed SPECIAL.

Portland SantaCon 1996 / “You’d Better Watch Out”

santarchy.com/youd-better-watch-out-portland-santacon-96

Cacophony Society: Santasm, Santacon, Santarchy, ad nauseum

talesofsfcacophony.com/santasm-santacon-santarchy-kringle-klot-etc-ad-nauseum/

Tubatron (aka David Silverman)

burningman.org/podcast/david-silverman-so-thats-how-that-started

Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend_Billy_and_the_Church_of_Stop_Shopping

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His huge steel sculptures have graced Black Rock City for decades, then found forever homes in cities, festivals, and private collections around the world.

Hear veteran structural sculptor Michael Christian go deep and wide about his Burning Man art, from a tree of bones to a 65-foot tall tower.

He shares about his installation "Down the Drain," a commentary on human alignment, or misalignment... or maybe it’s about toilets blowing kisses at each other!

He talks with Stuart about the shift from a "lone artist" mindset to community collaboration, and how to get everything done despite a storm or a lost box of bolts.

They tinker with the qualities of hubris and humility. They get real about why they keep returning to the collective happening in the dust.

• How does Michael follow intuition more than a thesis?
• How does he discover the meaning of his art only after he has built it?
• How did ‘out of the box’ thinking become a 30 year career?

These questions are answered with more questions in this episode right here.

https://www.michaelchristian.com

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RootHub (aka Aloha) weaves the core values and shared struggle of building Black Rock City and his work in Hawai‘i. He draws inspiration from the Hawaiian people’s concept of kuleana (responsibility to the land and community).

When he’s not building BRC with DPW, or playing music to amplify people’s stories, he’s diverting food waste from landfills and incinerators into much needed, nutrient-dense soil for growing food. He does this through his companies. The names say it all:

· Full Circle Solutions Hawaii

· Leftover Love Company ("We love your leftovers")

Hear how ingenuity learned on the playa—along with a sense of humor—allows him to overcome hurdles and create meaningful change in BRC and in Hawai’i, even with the naive tourists.

Through sweet story and song, he shares how to combine innovation with tradition, to lift the stone without lifting the weight of the stone.

roothub.com

leftoverloveco.com

fullcirclesolutionshi.com

burningman.org/black-rock-city/infrastructure/dept-of-public-works

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He brought theme camps and art installations to Black Rock City, and yes, he DJed!

Now he brings the spirit of kindness and collaboration (and Do-ocracy) into creating public policy.

He co-founded a Burning Man Regional nonprofit.

He directed a cultural arts center.

He collaborated on cultural policy for racial equity, social justice, and creative sustainability.

He ran the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.

He now creates affordable housing through community development projects.

He says that nonprofit and public sector work is open source, “so take it, learn from it, use it, adaptively reuse it.”

Hear Andie Grace ask him how we can make it work where we live.

“When you go to the playa and you're in this decommodified environment, all you have is how you show up... I've learned how to approach community-building through collaboration and kindness, and a real spirit of genuine curiosity. As long as you stay curious, a lot can be possible.”

thirdwaycreative.com/team

watershedcommunity.org

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“I think therefore I am.” ~Descartes
John Jennifer adds:
I care therefore we are… and you cannot think your way to ‘we’

He is a poet, an architect, and a cultural instigator. He helped create The Museum of No Spectators which includes Burning Man art of snark and social justice, but no velvet ropes.

He’s a paradox embracer. In a world of binaries, he asserts that between black and white is not a gradient of gray; between black and white is all the conceivable colors.

Hear him philosophize about different styles of art and artists, from avant garde to architecture, from Salvador Dalí to Frank Lloyd Wright.

He and Stuart explore how a glittery clothespin alligator and a museum-grade sculpture both share the humanity of the giver.

They explore playa art — genre-defying, genre-defining — and the value of both fine art and participatory art at Burning Man.

They explore how creative expression went from being seen as a hobby to a human need, and how creative community proliferates.

Listen in on their profound and playful chat. 🎙️🔥

form4inc.com/person/johnmarx

museumofnospectators.com

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She’s a longtime senior leader of the Black Rock Rangers and the principal of the Gerlach K-12 School. Keeper lives year-round in Gerlach, one of the smallest and most remote towns in the US, and the closest community to Black Rock City.

In this storytelling episode, she shares her unique perspective on blending the worlds of Burning Man and rural life.

She tells the tales of keeping the town’s school open after the local mine closed, transforming it into an all-ages institution of families.

She shares about how locals offer a year-round outpost for helping townsfolk and visitors stay safe and thrive.

Keeper’s dual roles—Ranger and Principal—are deeply informed by the principles of Gifting, Civic Responsibility, and Radical Inclusion. Woven in is the philosophy of building supportive environments where everyone feels they “belong here.”

How?

And how does a school that is barely on the map support its kids to be local ambassadors and worldly humans?

Hear how now! And in the words of Ranger Keeper (and Bill & Ted), be excellent to each other!

Black Rock Rangers

gerlach.washoeschools.net

Ranger Takes Gerlach School from Remote Town to National Stage (Burning Man Journal)

Class Trip to Black Rock City (Burning Man Journal)

burningman.org Gerlach Black Rock Station

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