Life is a Festival
Episodes
#83 - Power & Privilege in Intentional Communities | Ashoka Finley
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With a world on fire and a pandemic raging, it sure makes sense to want to escape into the utopian vision of an intentional community. But is that in ...
#82 - Finding Sovereignty in a Mad World | Jordan Hall
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The world seems just a bit crazier every single day right now. Luckily on this week’s show we have the guiding light of a brilliant thinker I’ve a...
#81 - Edgewalking Gender, Technology, and Communities | Andrew Murray Dunn (Siempo)
26 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Last month I spent several days in silent meditation at Azure Village in Southern New Mexico near Gila National Forest. My host was my friend and fell...
#80 - Live From the Infinite Playa | Jamie Wheal (Flow Genome Project)
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As part of the Burning Man Project's Multiverse, my camp, Burners Without Borders offered a speaker series projected into the Infinite Playa. I had th...
#79 - That One Time We Saved Burning Man | Marian Goodell (The Burning Man Project)
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This is a big one for Life is a Festival. Today I’m releasing an interview I conducted a few weeks ago with Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man. O...
#78b - Into the Burning Man Multiverse (Clubhouse Recording) | Damian Madray (PRESENCE)
30 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s episode of Life is a Festival unfolds through two different audio experiences and much like Burning Man’s Multiverse, I invite you, dear l...
#78a - Into the Burning Man Multiverse | Damian Madray (PRESENCE)
30 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s episode of Life is a Festival unfolds through two different audio experiences and much like Burning Man’s Multiverse, I invite you, dear l...
#77 - Making a Magic City | Tony Cho (Metro 1)
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On the second episode of the [in Community] series, I’m speaking to my friend Tony Cho, an unconventional real estate developer in Miami. Tony grew ...
#76 - Film Festivals, VHS, & Collaborating with Chance | Quinn Armstrong (Survival Skills Movie)
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today on Life is a Festival I am interviewing my brother, Quinn Armstrong! Quinn’s first feature film, Survival Skills, is playing on demand as part...
#75 - Founding Everland | Jonny Jenkins (Everland)
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today I’m excited to announce a new mini-series within Life is a Festival about communities and land-based projects where we can live our most expre...
#74 - Wrestling with the Predator | Ian MacKenzie (The Mythic Masculine)
25 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s topic is a challenging one. A few weeks ago, numerous allegations surfaced regarding sexual misconduct by two prominent male musicians in ...
#73 - Trip Sitting America | The Teafaerie (Erowid)
11 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Teafaerie, like God herself, is never serious but always sincere. She has facilitated psychedelic peer support at festivals since her work with Ro...
#72 - Eros and the Shepherdess: A Tale of Trans Emergence | Zhenevere Sophia Dao (MogaDao Institute)
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“Someone who creates a practice tradition this vast is someone who can't survive in the world as it is.” Today on Life is a Festival, Zhenevere S...
#71 - Collective Liberation for Drug Users | Mohawk the Educator (DanceSafe)
27 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You know that oceanic feeling of Oneness you first discovered during that beatific acid journey at Burning Man? Cognitive liberty is a beautiful thing...
#70 - Grandmother, Teach Me Patience | Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook & Jyoti Ma
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In times of chaos and trouble, look to the grandmothers for wisdom, compassion, and above all, patience. On June 4th, a few days after protests again...
#68 - Visions of an Afropunk Futurist | Adah Parris (-ism)
31 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Life is a Festival, I am honored to share the vibrant voice of Adah Parris. Self-isolating in her flat in London, Adah offers her perspec...
#67 - Skeptical Thinking for Spiritual People | Anna Zakrisson (Doctor Anna's Imaginarium)
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to have a mystical mindset without getting lost in magical thinking? Or worse, getting hijacked by harmful fantasies? In the chaos of ...
#66 - Embodiment Practices for Healing Trauma I Tina Nance (Yoga Barn)
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“How much can I feel?” When we experience trauma, whether shock trauma (too much too fast) or developmental trauma (too little too long), it is...
#65 - A North Star for Psychedelic Ethics | Liana Sananda (Auryn Project)
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Psychedelic Renaissance is a profound step forward in our understanding of the mind, but there’s growing concern that important lessons and a vi...
#64 - The Mad Scientist of House, Techno, & Love | Lee Reynolds (Desert Hearts)
02 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Coming hot on the tail of a hugely successful digital festival, today I offer you the humor, joie de vivre, big heart, and kookiness of Papa Lee Reyno...
#63 - The Way of the Metamodern Burner | Hanzi Freinacht (Metamoderna)
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“Metamodernism is the marriage of extreme irony with a deep, unyielding sincerity,” writes today’s guest Hanzi Freinacht. If that sounds a lot ...
#62 - Financial Resilience for Creatives | Nick Farr, CPA (The Long Disaster)
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this global crisis, financial uncertainty affects us all, especially those whose livelihoods are based on gatherings like festivals and other event...
#61 - Bonus Birthday Blast From the Past | Behind the Mynd with David Colón
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve discovered my work through this show and you want to know more about the Life is a Festival philosophy and how I met so many fascinating p...
#60 - From Crisis to Coronation | Charles Eisenstein (Sacred Economics)
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What if the coronavirus crisis is an initiation for humanity? What if, amidst all this suffering and uncertainty, we have an opportunity to rewrite th...
#59 - Is Life Still a Festival? | World of Wisdom Podcast with Nils von Heijne
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can we still live life like a festival when there are no festivals for the foreseeable future? When there are no gatherings at all? With a global pand...
#58 - Festival Medicine on the Frontlines | Richard "Wolverine" Gottlieb (RGX Medical)
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode goes out to all the healthcare workers in the fight against coronavirus. If you are an EMT, a doctor, nurse, or hospital janitor… bless...
#57 - Turn Isolation into a Spiritual Playground | Nino Mendes (Nino Yoga - China)
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With self-isolation and shelter in place proliferating the globe, here’s some good medicine from a yogi who spent 5 weeks in lockdown in a small apa...
#56 - My Sacred Morning Ritual | Solocast
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What I can personally offer to support you, my dear listener, during this period of global turbulence and necessary self-isolation? Only what has been...
#55 - A Love Letter to Earnestness | Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros)
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do our hearts long for renown and how might we meet that longing in a way that actually fertilizes a garden of rich, creative pursuits? Lately I...
#54 - The Acid Countess and the Art of Consciousness | Amanda Feilding (Beckley Foundation)
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Remember a few years ago when LSD brain imaging went viral on social media? Those images were taken at Imperial College London in an fMRI study conduc...
#53 - Wilderness First Responder | Ryland Gardner (NOLS)
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Whatcha know about vasogenic shock? Can you treat an open pneumothorax? Better learn your ABCs if you want to save a life! If you’ve been following...
#52 - The Marvelous Mother Shucker of Mardi Gras | Katrina Brees (The Bearded Oysters)
20 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s Mardi Gras season, oh Carnival Kings and Queens! Today’s guest arrived in New Orleans as Karina Nathan and shortly thereafter Hurricane Katr...
#51 - How to Help Someone Having a "Bad Trip" | Sara Gael (The Zendo Project)
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know what to do if a friend or a stranger is having a difficult psychedelic experience? Sometimes called a “bad trip,” these challenging jo...
#50 - Serve in the Way that Feeds You Most | Christopher Breedlove (Burners Without Borders)
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Burners Without Borders (BWB) is a community organization within the Burning Man Project that works in disaster relief and civic works projects in com...
#49 - Party to Escape or Celebrate to Connect? | Live at Spotify Stockholm with Gustaf Tadaa
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do you party to escape or celebrate to connect? I think we all do a bit of both, and while it’s not a bad thing to be checked out sometimes, fosteri...
#48 - The Boy Hero Must Die | The Mythic Masculine Podcast with Ian MacKenzie
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It is the humility of the failed hero that allows him to truly connect with his brothers. My man Ian has a new podcast called The Mythic Masculine. I...
#47 - The Work of Art | Amanda Sage
15 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.” ― Steven Pressfield, The War of ...
#46 - Tales of an English Folk Hero | Jay McAllister (Beans on Toast)
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“Beans on Toast… it’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s English, does what it says on the tin.” Jay McAllister, aka Beans on Toast, is a true Engli...
#45 - Top 10 of 2019
31 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Happy New Year! Here are the most listened to episodes of Life is a Festival woven into a single narrative arch. This week's show has three movement...
#44 - The Terrifying Delight of Self-Surpassing | Michael Murphy (Esalen):
20 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Somewhere along the California coast, between breathtaking cliffs, mineral-rich springs, and ancient forests, Michael Murphy and his friend Richard Pr...
#43 - A Brief History of British Festivals | Live from Spotify London with Marcus Barnes
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Barnes, author and music journalist, is one of the most affable men I’ve ever met, and one of the most knowledgeable about British festival c...
#42 - Work, Wealth, and Self-Worth | Tim Chang (Mayfield)
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This is a more personal installment of Life is a Festival. On today’s episode I ask my friend Tim to explain to me how to get a job. Tim Chang is a...
#41 - Iboga, the Mount Everest of Psychedelics | Tricia Eastman & Dr. Joseph Barsuglia
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tricia Eastman & Dr. Joseph Barsuglia: Iboga, the Mount Everest of Psychedelics Here he comes… Doctor Iboga! If you’ve been listening to Life is...
#40 - Living Yoga Off the Mat | Janet Stone
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to a year of Life is a Festival! It has been 12 months and 40 conversations since I launched this project, and what a project it has become!...
#39 - Bye Bye Plastic, Hello Vibes | Vivie-Ann Bakos (BLOND:ISH)
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you were an international DJ sensation, how would you use your fame to change the world? The Canadian duo Vivie-Ann Bakos and Anstascia D'Elene Co...
#38 - Make Sustainability Sexy | Pete Phornprapha (Wonderfruit)
08 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Pranitan "Pete" Phornprapha, scion of Siam Motors Group, has created an innovation lab for sustainability… disguised as a festival. Wonderfruit is...
#37 - How to Celebrate Death | Klaudia Oliver (La Calaca)
31 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Can we “undrown” ourselves from painful loss through a celebration of death? From Jazz Funerals in New Orleans to dancing ghosts in Japan, there ...
#36 - We Can All Be Babes | Andrea Graham (The Librarian)
24 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
At Bass Coast, a beautiful boutique festival in the forests of British Columbia, everyone is a babe. What is a babe? A Bass Coast babe is a person of ...
#35 - Depression & Psychedelics: Dancing with the Black Dog | Dr. David Rabin (Apollo Neuroscience)
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Depression. In ancient Mesopotamia, they called it demonic possession. For Hippocrates it was an excess of black bile. In the Renaissance the culprit ...
#34 - The Ripple Effect of Claiming Your Space | Lizzie Rose (Lizzie Rose Media)
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
An ode to taking up space as boldly, colorfully, and radiantly as you want. This is a special podcast, first describing and then embodying the very p...
#33 - A Paul Revere for the Psychedelic Renaissance | Jamie Wheal (Flow Genome Project)
02 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When the search for the Grail Castle becomes the prison of Hotel California, we need some tough love to wake the woke. Luckily Jamie Wheal is here wit...
#32 - Fumbling Towards Inclusivity | JR Nexus Russ (Catharsis on the Mall)
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Is Burning Man a “white people thing?” Radical inclusivity is one of Burning Man’s 10 Principles, but is it enough simply to say “all are wel...
#31 - Regenerate the Earth 1000 Hectares at a Time | Stephen Brooks (Punta Mona)
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Brooks wants to change the world a thousand hectares at a time and I’ve never met someone more optimistic about our chances to pull it off! ...
#30 - The Wizard of Awe Goes to Burning Man | Jason Silva
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Of Timelessness, Flow States, Psychedelics & Death The ancient Greeks had two words for time: Chronos (consensus time or mechanized time) and Kairos ...
#29 - It’s Better With You Here | Live From BMIR (Burning Man Information Radio)
05 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back from Black Rock City! At Burning Man this year, Jex, Operations Manager at BMIR (Burning Man Information Radio) invited me to be on her ...
#28 - What's the Point of Burning Man? | Caveat Magister (Burning Man Philosophical Center))
15 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For those about to Burn… Caveat Magister (AKA Benjamin Wachs) was a founding member of Burning Man's Philosophical Center and a lead writer and re...
#27 - Can Free Love Save the World? | Julia Maryanska & Ian MacKenzie (Love School Film)
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The most important political revolution of our time may be connected to how we love, at least that’s what the erotic visionaries of the Tamera commu...
#26 - The Business of Building a Psychedelic Disneyland | Vince Kadlubek (Meow Wolf)
24 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Would you like to make money making art? How about 158 million dollars? Not easy, but apparently not impossible. The intersection of art and business ...
#25 - Dance Music's Woke Girl Gang | Abi Getto & Liz Garard (Nap Girls)
17 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." - Emma Goldman, 1931 Abi Getto and Liz Garard are two co-founders of Nap Girls, a me...
#24 - The Spiritual Side of Failure | Mauricio Boogieloop (Heart Ibiza)
28 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Mauricio, a former street performer from Argentina, is the Creative Director of the club at Heart Ibiza. On the podcast we talk about how street per...
#23 - Keep Psychedelics Weird | Erik Davis (Techgnosis)
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When did weird stop being so, well… weird? Today on Life is a Festival I’m speaking with psychedelic elder, writer and host of the Expanding Min...
#22 - Authenticity, Anxiety, & the Artist | Atish Mehta (DJ atish)
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Have you been enjoying the intro music for Life is a Festival as much as I have? That song, “Peculiar Colors”, was written by Atish Mehta, my gues...
#21 - Demystifying Fly Ranch, Burning Man’s Perennial Oasis | Zac Cirivello (Fly Ranch)
25 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2016, the Burning Man Project, stewards of an ephemeral city in the Black Rock Desert, purchased a property called Fly Ranch. Fourteen donors gave ...
#20 - Cultivating Cultural Curiosity | Yasmine El Baggari (Voyaj)
10 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Yasmine El Baggari is a young Moroccan entrepreneur who vowed to travel to all 50 U.S. states after a life changing experience studying abroad in Kans...
#19 - From Activist to Ayahuasca Advocate | Tony Moss (Bird Tribe)
18 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today on the podcast, I’m speaking to a man I deeply admire about one of my favorite topics: medicine ceremonies. Tony Moss is a community leader, a...
#18 - Find Your Rite of Passage | Life Rites with Max Carver & Ari Andersen
12 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A festival can be a rite of passage and a rite of passage can be a festival. Tomorrow is my birthday and so this week on the podcast my guest is mys...
#17 - Build Community Like a Social Alchemist | Bear Kittay (Good Money)
04 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Bear Kittay is an entrepreneur, political organizer, musician and was once the Global Ambassador for Burning Man. He also led the acquisition of Fly R...
#16 - Modern Mentorship is Mutual | Chip Conley (Modern Elder Academy)
27 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Without today’s guest there would be no Life is a Festival Podcast. Chip Conley is my mentor, my dear friend and the co-founder of Fest300, an onli...
#15 - Dress Yourself as a Work of Art | Ash & Tessla (Glitter Spies)
22 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is festival fashion? Is fashion a dirty word? Can festival fashion be truly inclusive? And affordable? Ash Lorona and Tessla Venus Goodwin are t...
#14 - How to Party Without Breaking Your Brain | Dr. Molly
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2015 my partying caught up with me, I started getting intense brain fog which ultimately turned into full blown depression. It was time to get seri...
#13 - A Masterclass in Consent | Romi Elan (SoulPlay Festivals)
01 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Romi Elan is the founder of SoulPlay Festivals, which occur a few times a year in California. These gatherings are substance-free and focused on inten...
#12 - Family is the Headliner | Android Jones
20 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Android Jones is one of the most successful artists in the visionary or psychedelic realm. From live digital painting on tour with Bassnectar to his i...
#11 - The Master Builder of Extraordinary Experiences | Benja Juster (Rubbermaid Parties)
13 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From Nectar Village at Burning Man, to psychedelic interactive games, to secret parties, Benja is a master experience designer. On this episode we dis...
#10 - The Verdant World of a Village Witch | Sarah Wu (Envision Festival)
06 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sarah Wu is a co-founder of Envision Festival in Costa Rica. She’s also an herbalist, community leader and a modern witch. On the podcast we discu...
#9 - The Sun Never Rises on the Elrow Party Empire | Vicenç Marti (elrow)
30 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
elrow is a global event brand from a family of promoters going back to all the way to 1870. From its home in the small town of Fraga, Spain, through i...
#8 - Planting Seeds for a Legacy | Marcus Golden Barnes (Mixmag)
22 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
I know few people in their 30s who are actively thinking about their legacy but the writer Marcus Golden Barnes is leading by example. I first met Ma...
#7 - The Mythopoetic Antidote for Pornography Addiction | Zhenzan Dao (The MogaDao Institute)
15 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not only leaders within festival culture who can teach us to create a life like a festival. Today’s guest is a spiritual master in the arts o...
#6 - Beware the Life of an Artist | David Block (The Human Experience)
08 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 8am on January 1st, and David Block serenely paints on a large collaborative canvas in the sun drenched third floor of San Francisco’s iconic...
#5 - Hope for Spaceship Earth | Amanda Joy Ravenhill (Buckminster Fuller Institute)
01 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to design a world that works for 100% of humanity without succumbing to the dismal anxiety of impending climate collapse? Amanda Joy Ra...
#4 - The Secret to a Perfect Festival Body | Rebecca Jean (Nourish Inc.)
18 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Jean is the founder of Nourish Inc., a nutrition company she created from her experience successfully treating an autoimmune digestive disorde...
#3 - Just Say Know: The State of Psychedelics | Brad Burge (MAPS)
11 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today I’m speaking with Brad Burge, the Strategic Communications Director of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies. The no...
#2 - Leaderless Leadership at the Nordic Burn | Gustaf Tadaa (The Borderland)
04 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today I’m speaking with Gustaf Tadaa, futurist, public speaker and co-creator of The Borderland, the Scandinavian regional Burning Man event. I met ...
Introducing the Life is a Festival Podcast
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Join me for a series of conversations exploring our collective wisdom to inspire a bold courage for life. Deeply grateful for the truly festive theme...
#1 - The Hunt for Sober October | Mikey Lion (Desert Hearts)
17 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today I’m speaking to Mikey Lion, renowned House DJ and co-founder of the popular Southern California micro festival Desert Hearts. Mikey talks abou...