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Burning Man – art and queer exploration

Why do tens of thousands of people trek to a temporary tent city in an alkaline Nevada desert every August? Is Burning Man worth the heat and dust? What’s queer about it?

The annual Burning Man festival climaxes Labor Day Weekend. On this Out in the Bay 2014 flashback edition, hear about Burning Man's massive art, its gift economy, the other-worldly desert location and how to survive alkali dust storms.

And whether it's true that many of the (mostly) straight boys and girls "put out" - er, experiment - with queer folk as they explore who they are and what they might like?

Eric Jansen’s guests are Jennifer Raiser and Sidney Erthal, writer and co-photographer, respectively, of the book Burning Man: Art on Fire; and ‘Foxy,’ past mayor of Camp Beaverton, the main lesbian camp in Burning Man‘s “gayborhood.”

Please help us keep bringing queer air to your ears. Out in the Bay is an independent non-profit production. We receive no funds from podcast platforms nor from radio stations that air Out in the Bay weekly. Your gift will help keep LGBTQ voices and stories coming to you and others who might not be able to give. (Donate tabs on our website will take you to a Media Alliance interface. Media Alliance is our non-proft 501(c)3 fiscal agent. Your gift will be earmarked for Out in the Bay.)

The new, deluxe third edition of Burning Man: Art on Fire, written by Jennifer Raiser with photographs by Scott London and Sidney Erthal, was published July 4, 2023. It is available online and at many independent bookstores, including Books Inc. and Green Apple in the San Francisco Bay Area.

(The core interview of this Out in the Bay episode first aired August 14, 2014)

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Eric Jansen is a long-time broadcaster and print journalist. A former news anchor, producer and reporter at KQED FM, San Francisco; KLIV AM, San Jose; and Minnesota Public Radio, Eric's award-winning reports have been heard on many NPR programs and PRI's Marketplace. His print work has been in The Mercury News, The Business Journal, and LGBTQ magazines Genre and The Advocate, among other publications. He co-produced the June 2007 PBS documentary Why We Sing!, about LGBTQ choruses and their role in the civil rights fight.