Show Notes
Seventy thousand people build a city in the desert, survive on almost nothing they didn't bring themselves, and take it all down again — with no trash cans and no cleanup crew. This conversation was filmed live on the Aegean coast in Kaplankaya, Turkey, at Harvest Series, an annual thought leadership gathering where Jeff served as this year's MC.
Jeff sits down with Marian Goodell, CEO of Burning Man, to unpack how radical self-reliance and communal effort somehow produce cooperation at a scale almost nothing else in modern life does.
Why Burning Man works with no rubbish bins, no vendors, and no one enforcing cleanup
The origin story: a beach bonfire 40 years ago that became Black Rock City
How the 10 principles balance self-reliance against gifting and communal effort
Why adversity — rain, dust storms, scarcity — is part of what bonds the community
The global expansion into regional burns across 80+ countries
Marian's own path to leading Burning Man, and why she wants more young people there
This episode is for anyone curious about Burning Man beyond the headlines, and anyone interested in how large groups actually build trust and cooperate at scale.Video courtesy of Harvest Series — with thanks to the Harvest team for having us out there and making this conversation possible.
This episode was made possible by:
Stripes: Visit stripesbeauty.com and use the code COMMUNE20 for 20% off our entire product line.
Vivobarefoot: Try Vivobarefoot risk-free with a 100-day return guarantee, and get 20% off your order at vivobarefoot.com/commune.Stemregen: Get 20% off your first order at stemregen.co/commune with the code COMMUNEPOD
LMNT: Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at drinklmnt.com/commune.
CocoaVia: Use code COMMUNE2026 for 25% off at CocoaVia.com
More from Commune with Jeff Krasno
Every bad thing you’ve heard about GLP-1s may be true, and so is everything you’ve been told about calories in, calories out. Ashley Koff says both miss the real problem.
Running late to pick Lolli up from dance rehearsal, Jeff arrives to find the studio empty except for his daughter, dancing alone to Debussy's Rêverie. Instead of going in, he stays outside the plate-glass window and watches.
At 25, Sabrina Zohar sent a man she barely knew 173 unanswered text messages from a friend's bathroom floor. Years later, she realized she was never in love with him. She was in love with being chosen.
"Well, if you're going to leave in June anyways, you might as well leave now!" Thirteen-year-old Jeff heard it from the stairs on Christmas morning, with his little brother beside him in footed pajamas.In this episode, Jeff tells the story of the holiday his parents' marriage broke open: the Hail Mary trip to Brazil, the presents opened quietly with Gramma, and the night Eric slept in his bed. He follows the fallout into adulthood, including choosing to stay with his broken father, cutting off his mother for nearly a decade, and setting out into life "rudderless and leaky."This is the eighteenth episode of Diaries of a Dance Dad, an audio memoir series in Jeff's own words. It spans the full arc of parenthood: the inhale of birth and early chaos, the grind of no sleep and travel with kids, the gut-punches of failure, and the slow exhale of letting go.
When Jeff's father entered hospice, Jeff showed up with a plan to fix him. What actually healed them was jazz, touch, and surrender. In this episode, recorded live at The Kinn in Los Angeles, Jeff sits down with Dr. Zach Bush, a triple board-certified physician in internal medicine, endocrinology, and hospice care. They explore his new book, Biological Elegance, which unfolds through a dialogue with AI.