Opinion | Burning Man Journal

You Can’t Understand Culture If You Ignore Artists

December 1, 2021 By Caveat Magister

Caveat is Burning Man’s Philosopher Laureate and has been writing about Burning Man culture and community for years. His writing does not represent the official views or opinions of Burning ...Read More

Serious Stuff, The Ten Principles

The State of the Diversity Conversation (Observations From the Field)

November 20, 2019 By Caveat Magister

I don’t want to talk about diversity right now — I don’t have anything new to say about diversity at ...Read More

Serious Stuff, The Ten Principles

Am I a “Burner?”

November 6, 2019 By Caveat Magister

I’ve recently been traveling around the U.S. talking to people in open forums about Burning Man’s philosophy and culture, and ...Read More

Shenanigans

The Art of War (at Burning Man) — Part 3 — How to Be a Warbringer

October 4, 2019 By Caveat Magister

Burning Man is hard. The best things about Burning Man are fucking hard. War is no exception. And, like the ...Read More

Shenanigans

The Art of War (at Burning Man) — Part 2 — What is it Good For?

September 20, 2019 By Caveat Magister

Running a successful war at Burning Man is extremely difficult — and what it means for a war to be ...Read More

Shenanigans

The Art of War (at Burning Man) — Part 1 — Report from the Front Lines

September 16, 2019 By Caveat Magister

To the extent that people know me on playa, they know me as “Caveat,” of course. But since 2011, the ...Read More

Rhymes with Burning Man, Serious Stuff

Decompression Challenge

September 16, 2019 By John "Halcyon" Styn

Yeah, Decompression is real. But don't stew in upset at how the Default World is not like Black Rock City. ...Read More

Shenanigans

Why “Hotmessday” is the Meme We Need — and How it Came to Be

September 10, 2019 By Caveat Magister

I'd heard this story before, but now it has a sticker, so it's a real thing Years ago, "Hot Damn," ...Read More

Serious Stuff

Consider Your Impact: Perspective from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe

August 23, 2019 By Will Chase

As part of our Consider Your Impact series, we hear directly from people affected by Burners passing through local communities ...Read More

Serious Stuff

Oh, No! The Influencers Are Coming! But It’s What Happens if We Win That’s Interesting

August 22, 2019 By Caveat Magister

As someone with a long interest in the question of “Who’s ruining Burning Man now?”, I’d like to take a ...Read More