Culture
PT442 – Burning Questions About Burning Man: Mud, Ebola, and the Big Krab Car
September 15, 2023
Featuring: Joe Moore
Last year, Joe attended his first Burning Man, and sadly, we didn’t hear much about it. In this episode, recorded just a few days after Joe returned from his second outing of nearly 12 days on the playa, Victoria changes that, asking Joe all the burning questions we all want to know.
Last year, Joe attended his first Burning Man, and sadly, we didn’t hear much about it. In this episode, recorded just a few days after Joe returned from his second outing of nearly 12 days on the playa, Victoria changes that, asking Joe all the burning questions we all want to know.
He talks about preparing for Burning Man and the numerous obstacles he and his partner, Ali, encountered on their very slow journey there; the media’s interpretation of the rain and mud vs. the reality of being there in the middle of it all; the bogus reports of an ebola outbreak and disaster zone surrounded by FEMA officials (and was that all a prank by Burners?); the debate over the environmental impact of such a massive event, and more.
And he talks about the many joys of Burning Man: how, despite the weather and needing to remain at camp more, the community, abundance, embracing of all that is weird, and passion to share and make the best of it all made this a better year for him in many ways. He learned the importance of patience, avoiding a frantic state, and fighting panic with positive vibes, which was made infinitely more easy with the Big Krab Car: the art car Ali built and they drove around, DJing on all week.
Notable Quotes
“We did some neighborhood block party/dance parties, we were just giving away some stuff, we had some amazing DJs. I think I, at one point, did a 5 and half hour DJ set from my phone through these gigantic sound systems, and people were over the moon about it. So it’s about: how do we fight that panic with positive, welcoming, generous vibes when we can? That’s how we did it. I know it was really hard for some people, but I’ve actually not seen anybody that I know that went that didn’t have the most amazing time at Burning Man. It was better for me this year than last year in a lot of ways.”
“That was actually the first thing I saw: the TMZ article. ‘Oh ok, this actually might make the news worldwide. Fascinating,’ which actually made the experience really interesting, to know that all the world’s eyes were on us. It made us want to show up better and do a better job.”
“Being held by a small community in your camp: if you find, luckily, a group of people that are just amazing to be with, like my camp, it’s just shocking and beautiful to be held and loved in that way and accepted in that way for a week and a half or however long it is. It’s life-shattering, life-changing, and so good. That was probably one of the biggest joys. And then just expanding your circles of friends after that’s your baseline, and you meet all their friends and it just balloons out to all these amazing new networks and connections.”
Links
APnews.com: Burning Man flooding triggers false claims of Ebola outbreak, ‘national emergency’
Reddit.com: Have you ever contacted DoingItWrong@burningman.org?
