Ben Haldeman is backing up our collective memories across the stars

Published [3/31/26]

Ben Haldeman is an engineer, explorer, and the visionary founder of LifeShip — designing pyramids filled with DNA archives and cultural time capsules to send to the Moon and beyond. A former early employee at Planet Labs, Ben left to follow a calling that crystallized during a vision quest through the forests of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.

In this conversation, Arash and Ben look past technical specifications to explore the existential heart of why we document ourselves as a species. If the Burn is an exercise in the ephemeral, building a temporary city only to let it go, Ben's work represents the ultimate counterbalance: a community-driven effort to ensure the human story survives among the stars. From his hippie parents' Volkswagen van in Nova Scotia to landing a pyramid on the Moon in March 2025, this is an audio memoir of a man following the signs through ayahuasca ceremonies, dusty sunrises at Robot Heart, and asteroid missions - dedicated to preserving the seeds of Earth and spreading life into the cosmos.

Episode Info

• Burner Podcast | Episode B161
• Recorded at Emerald Village on 3/19/26
• Featuring: Ben Haldeman
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benhaldeman
• Black Velveteen – DJ whose session was recorded live on the AirPusher art car at Burning Man 2025: https://linktr.ee/blackvelveteen
• Full set: https://soundcloud.com/blackvelveteennow/burning-man-2025-airpusher-on-the-playa
• AirPusher Collective – The art car and community behind Black Velveteen's set: https://www.instagram.com/airpushercollective/

Connect & Learn More

• LifeShip – Organization sending biological and digital archives to space: https://lifeship.com
• Planet Labs – Earth-imaging satellite company where Ben designed the initial camera systems: https://www.planet.com
• Firefly Aerospace – Built the Moon lander for the Life Ship mission: https://fireflyspace.com
• AstroForge – Asteroid mining company focused on reducing destructive mining on Earth: https://www.astroforge.io
• AstroLab – LA-based company building the Moon rover "Flip": https://astrolab.space

Places & Events

• Burning Man – Annual event and the "capital city" of our global community: https://burningman.org
• LA Tech Week – The default world collision point where Arash and Ben first met: https://www.tech-week.com/la
• Svalbard Global Seed Vault – The "Doomsday" seed bank referenced in Ben's work: https://www.croptrust.org/work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/

Key Topics & Concepts

• LifeShip Moon Pyramid – The cultural time capsule and DNA archive that landed on the Moon: https://lifeship.com/pages/mission-updates
• Asteroid Mining – The process of utilizing space resources to protect Earth's environment: https://www.astroforge.io/mission
• Egypt Solar Eclipse 2027 – Total solar eclipse event near Luxor: https://www.eclipse2027.org

🌟 Standard Boilerplate

About the Show Burner Podcast is an independent gift to the community, not a PR wing for the Org. We are an artist-documentarian project dedicated to capturing the stories and heart-centered truth of our global population. Reality is a conversation, and the conversation must continue.

The project serves the community through three distinct channels:

• Burner Podcast: The original traditional interview show featuring audio memoirs and deep-dive conversations.
• Alkaline: The DJ mix show and sonic documentation of the global Burner community—the soundtrack to your Burn.
• The Dispatch: A space for remote check-ins, time-sensitive updates, and direct addresses to the international burnersphere.
• Opening theme by Joman https://jomanmusic.com
• Closing sets: https://soundcloud.com/burnerpodcast/sets/burner-podcast-closing-sets

About the Host Arash Afshar (aka Miraḡe the Pluronaut) is an Iranian-American, SoCal-based artist and oral historian. He champions Artist Consciousness and views his mission as facilitating radical humanization through the medium of recorded conversations, written words, and photography. 🔗 Explore projects: http://arashafshar.com 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrarash

Support the Gift This show is a decommodified project. We grow only through your word-of-mouth—if this story resonates with you, please share it with a friend. You can also support the continuation of this conversation on Patreon. 🔗 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/mrarash

Alkaline A068: Shamiran (Camp YOUniversal)

📅 [3/18/26]

The Soundtrack to Your Burn In this session, we welcome a true sonic ambassador of the global community. Born in Iran and based in Los Angeles, Shamiran is an artist, musician, and sonic selector who has become a mainstay at Camp YOUniversal, known for their Persian Tea House (designed by the legendary Gregg Fleishman). A community activator and human rights activist to the bones, Shamiran can usually be found on playa with the sound and production team for Distrikt and coordinating Woman Life Freedom events in the default world. If she sounds familiar, it's because she was a part of Burner Podcast's 2025 Pre-Playa Planner crew. This set, recorded on Wednesday at Camp YOUniversal in Black Rock City during Burning Man 2022.

Full Set: https://on.soundcloud.com/BaFGFP6y4cbj3yhRWr

🌎 Connect & Learn More

• Instagram: instagram.com/shamiran_sateri
• SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/shamiransateri
• Camp YOUniversal
• Distrikt: instagram.com/distrikt_org

🎧 Listen & Context

• Hear Shamiran in conversation: Burner Podcast Episode 159
• The Alkaline Archive: Explore a decade of sonic documentation at burnerpodcast.com/alkaline.
• Burner Podcast Episode 136 with Gregg Fleishman: soundcloud.com/burnerpodcast/136-accidentally-spiritual

🌟 Standard Boilerplate

Burner Podcast is an independent gift to the community, not a PR wing for the Org. We are an artist-documentarian project dedicated to capturing the stories and heart-centered truth of our global population. Reality is a conversation, and the conversation must continue.

The project serves the community through three distinct channels:

• Burner Podcast: The original traditional interview show featuring audio memoirs and deep-dive conversations.
• Alkaline: The DJ mix show and sonic documentation of the global Burner community—the soundtrack to your Burn.
• The Dispatch: A space for remote check-ins, time-sensitive updates, and direct addresses to the International Burnersphere.

About the Host Arash Afshar (aka Miraḡe the Pluronaut) is an Iranian-American, SoCal-based artist and oral historian. He champions Artist Consciousness and views his mission as facilitating radical humanization through the medium of recorded conversations, written words, and photography. 🔗 Explore projects: arashafshar.com 📸 Instagram: @mrarash

Support the Gift This show is a decommodified project. We grow only through your word-of-mouth—if this story resonates with you, please share it with a friend. You can also support the continuation of this conversation on Patreon. 🔗 Patreon: patreon.com/c/mrarash

Burner Podcast Presents: Alkaline A067: Piccaya at Afrikaburn 2025

Welcome to the all new, all different (but mostly the same same) Burner Podcast Presents Alkaline — the soundtrack to your burn. Our new season opener welcomes back Piccaya, last featured in episode 90 of Burner Podcast, this time sharing one of his many sets from Afrikaburn 2025.

Piccaya is a sonic traveler and storyteller based between Brussels and Barcelona, known for deep, organic, tribal-infused soundscapes that bridge the spiritual and the dancefloor. This mix captures a warm, glowy, hip-shaking journey recorded Friday morning at Bubbles & Bass in the Karoo Desert. Additionally, let it be said that your Persian Podcast host appreciated Piccaya casually dropping a Persian tune into the mix.

Links

piccaya.com → https://www.piccaya.com/about

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/piccaya/

Kosmozoo → https://www.kosmozoo.org/

Camp & Event

Bubbles & Bass → https://www.bubblesandbass.com/

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/bubbles.and.bass/

Listen & Context

Full mix → https://on.soundcloud.com/mFvDaw1BqKK9lJOK7s

Previous appearance (Burner Podcast Episode 90) →

https://www.burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes/episode-90-rise-of-the-regionals

Curated by Burner Podcast host Arash (aka Miraḡe the Pluronaut), Burner Podcast Presents: Alkaline showcases mixes by DJs active across the global Burning Man community. New episodes now drop on the same feed as Burner Podcast.

Explore the original Alkaline archives (Sessions A001–A066), hosted and produced by Navjeet Sarna: https://www.burnerpodcast.com/alkaline

A Post-Burning Man 2025 chat with 20-year veteran & camp lead Rand Pate

The dust has barely settled, and Arash is still shaking it out of his hair—and maybe out of his brain. In this post-Burning Man 2025 debrief, he sits with Rand Pate, a 20-year veteran and long-time camp lead of Bubble Lounge, to unpack what might have been the roughest year on record. From hurricane-force whiteouts and shattered shade structures to an unexpected birth, a tragic homicide, and the most international population in playa history, 2025 pushed the community to its edge.

They talk about the evolution of playa culture, the loss of Center Camp Café, camp leadership under pressure, and why radical inclusion sometimes has limits. Rand shares lessons from two decades on the dust and how Bubble Lounge held its spirit through chaos.

The conversation closes with gratitude, gallows humor, and a new DJ set by Todd Spero, recorded at Slut Garden in 2017*.*

Episode Links / Resources

• Bubble Lounge Camp history – https://www.thebubblelounge.net/

• Burning Man 2025 overview (news, weather, stats) – https://burningman.org/event/ Burning Man+1

• 2025 event incidents (weather, birth, homicide) –

  • Dust storm & weather: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/aug/26/burning-man-weather-storms The Guardian

  • Unexpected birth (Baby Aurora): https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2025/08/29/baby-born-at-burning-man-mother-didnt-know-she-was-expecting/85895911007/ Reno Gazette-Journal+1

  • GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-support-burning-man-baby-girl-2025 GoFundMe

• Film Dust (Short Film) – YouTube search: "Dust Burning Man short film" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQABv8jgVSw

• Film Ignite (Documentary Short) featured on Burner Podcast episode 96: The Wind Whispers – burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes/episode-96-the-wind-whispers

• Film Charlie Goes to Burning Man – YouTube search: "Charlie goes to Burning Man documentary"

• DJ Set – Todd Spero @ Slut Garden 2017 – soundcloud.com/todd-spero/instereo-night-burning-man-2017-friday-night-slutgarden

• Burner Podcast Presents Alkaline – burnerpodcast.com/alkaline

• Follow Mr Arash – instagram.com/mrarash

Show Credits

Burner Podcast Episode 160

Recorded in Los Angeles 10/24/25

Host / Producer: Mr Arash

Guest: Rand Pate

Contributing Producer: Public Menace

Music: Todd Spero – Slut Garden 2017 Set

Theme: "Horse With No Name (Remix)" by Joman

Call to Action

Share this episode with three friends whom you'd like to talk out of going to Burning Man.

Use hashtag #DontGoToBurningMan and #burnerpodcast when posting.

More at burnerpodcast.com.

About Burner Podcast

Hosted by (mr)Arash, Burner Podcast is the longest running traditional audio podcast in the global Burning Man community. Independently produced and focused on Burner consciousness and topics of intracultural interest, explore 160ish conversations at burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes.

Burner Podcast host Arash Afshar is an Iranian-American SoCal-born (and sometimes Vegas-based) professional photographer. You can learn more at arashafshar.com and reach out directly at mrarash.com/hello.

Follow instagram.com/BurnerPodcast and facebook.com/burnerpodcast for wildly irregular updates.

Roadtrip to Burning Man 2025

The Annual Pre-Playa Planner™

It's that time again, kids! The Pre-Playa Planner is the yearly tradition where Arash delegates all the actual research to his way-more-responsible guests. This year's dialed-in crew to help you mentally prepare for your adventures ahead:

• Esquire, founder of Bubble Lounge
• Saffron aka Sara Barnett, repping Art Support Services (A.S.S.) instagram.com/cornepeli
• Shamiran, artist, musician, sonic selector and Camp YOUniversal mainstay instagram.com/saterishamiran

The crew breaks down some of the 2025 art projects we're excited to see, rituals we're bringing back, new surprises we're bracing for, and logistics that separate the veterans from the sparkle ponies.

Burner Podcast Episode 159

Recorded in Los Angeles on August 2, 2025

📅 playaevents.burningman.org

🌀 2025 Art Installations: burningman.org/event/2025-art-listings

🎧 Here Shamiran's full set here: https://on.soundcloud.com/26hAaDXocNpuuuMIWU

🛻 Your Pre-Playa Audio Toolkit: burnerpodcast.com/roadtrip

🗃️ Previous Pre-Playa Planners: burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes/category/pre-playa-planner

Contributing Producer: Public Menace of Bubble Lounge

🏹🪽✂️

Hosted by (mr)Arash, Burner Podcast is the longest running traditional audio podcast in the global Burning Man community. Independently produced and focused on Burner consciousness and topics of intracultural interest, explore 150+ conversations at burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes.

Burner Podcast host Arash Afshar is an Iranian-American SoCal-born (and sometimes Vegas-based) professional photographer. You can learn more at arashafshar.com and reach out directly at mrarash.com/hello.

Follow instagram.com/BurnerPodcast and facebook.com/burnerpodcast for wildly irregular updates.

And on his seventh Burn, Tyler Williams truly came Home

For his first six Burns, musician and professional Las Vegas community builder Tyler Williams attended Burning Man the millionaire way — flying in late, partying big, and heading out before the Temple burn. After the tragic death of his friend and boss, Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, Tyler returned to the playa — this time sober and with a deeper sense of intention.

In this interview memoir, Tyler shares his story of growing up in the church, landing in Las Vegas with his band, and eventually working alongside Tony during the Downtown Project's legendary revitalization of Fremont Street. Along the way, Arash and Tyler explore the lows of Ketamine and the real highs found in purpose, community, and creative contribution.

Burner Podcast | Episode 158

Recorded on Bicycle Day of 2025 in Las Vegas, NV

🔗 Tyler's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tyler-williams-53089b20

🔗 Tyler's music: reverbnation.com/theoryofflightmusic

If this episode resonates with you, share it with a friend, and if you're feeling extra generous, check out BurnerPodcast.com for ways to support the show.

🌟 About the Show

Featuring in-depth conversations with artists, leaders, and visionaries shaping Burner culture year-round, Burner Podcast is the longest-running traditional audio podcast in the global Burning Man community. Ranked among the top 5% of podcasts worldwide by Listen Notes, it has been exploring international Burner culture for over a decade.

🎧 Dive into the archive at burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes

📲 Follow @BurnerPodcast on Instagram and facebook.com/burnerpodcast for wildly irregular updates

🌟 About the Host

Burner Podcast host Arash Afshar is an Iranian-American, SoCal-born, and Las Vegas-based cultural strategist, creative director and professional photographer.

🔗 Explore his projects at arashafshar.com

📸 Follow him on Instagram: @mrarash

💌 Send love (or hate) mail: mrarash.com/hello

Anthony Bondi refuses to let Las Vegas's arts history disappear

For over two decades, Anthony Bondi has been a living archive of Las Vegas' arts and counterculture movements. From his large-scale tactile installations at Burning Man to his massive independent archive, Las Vegas Arts in Print Media, 1990–2015, Tony has tirelessly documented the ephemeral and forgotten corners of creative expression in Sin City.

In this conversation, Tony and Arash explore the nature of cultural memory and the role of artists and storytellers. Tony guides Arash through an experiential journey into the hidden history of Las Vegas and its underground arts scene.

Burner Podcast | Episode 157

Recorded in Las Vegas on March 28 and published March 31, 2025

🔗 Las Vegas Arts in Print Media LasVegasArts.org

🔗 anthonybondi.com

📺 Anthony on Parts Unknown

🎧 DJ Set Featured: Tomothy Bee aka Tasty Tim

🎵 soundcloud.com/tastytim

Burner Podcast Presents The Dispatch

Joseph Mancuso, better known as Joman, is the producer behind the Burner Podcast theme song, a remix of America's "Horse With No Name." In this Dispatch, Arash and Joman catch up about dance music culture, his move from Denver to Austin, and his latest evolution as a video content creator. From viral bootlegs to Beatport charts, Joman's journey weaves through Denver's underground, Burning Man, and beyond.

🎧 Featured Tracks:

• "Distance and Time (for Allie)"
• "Drunk in 1999"
• "Footwear" (feat. Kaya)

🔗 More from Joman:

Website | YouTube | Instagram

The Dispatch – Episode 002: Rat Lady

Guest: Rat Lady Recorded on: 2/28/25

Arash hops on a call with Rat Lady of Mobility Camp to discuss practical ways we can all practice Radical Inclusion by making our Burns more accessible for participants with disabilities—and how to bring that mindset into the default world. Fun takeaway: No one gets to be a sparkle pony, not even at Mobility Camp! We don't have to be perfect but a little effort goes a long way.

mobilitycamp.org

About Burner Podcast Presents: The Dispatch

Quick-bite conversations with Burners around the world. Featuring past guests and new voices, The Dispatch keeps the signal alive with check-ins to keep the seat warm between full episodes of Burner Podcast, which go live at the end of each month.

The Dispatch – Episode 001: Public Menace

Guest: Jonny aka Public Menace

Recorded on 2/25/25

Jonny, also known as Public Menace, shook up Reddit with his independent 180-page audit of Burning Man. In the inaugural episode of The Dispatch, Arash and Menace hop on a call to chat about some takeaways.

• Transparency, Transparency, Transparency
• Burners are usually 10 years ahead on everything—why not this?
• How do we as Burners want to be governed?

Reddit: @Public__Menace

Email: [email protected]

thealvara.com

***

About Burner Podcast Presents: The Dispatch

Quick-bite conversations with Burners around the world. Featuring past guests and new voices, The Dispatch keeps the signal alive with check-ins to keep the seat warm between full episodes of Burner Podcast which go live at the end of each month.

📅 2/29/2025

The importance of physical community spaces has never been greater.

In this episode, we dive into the story of CoLab, San Diego's maker space—where it started, what it took to get to where it is now, and why spaces like this are essential for the future of our communities.

The go-live day of this episode marks CoLab's 11th birthday! CoLab's lease began on March 1, 2014—making it the perfect time to reflect on how it came together and why having a dedicated space for creators, builders and community matters more than ever.

🎙 Episode Info

🎧 Burner Podcast | Episode 156

📍 Recorded on January 23, 2025, in San Diego

📝 Featuring: Jon Ray, Diane Hoffoss, Cecile Pham, Vic "Jolly Rancher" Liao, J-Good

🌎 Connect & Learn More

🔗 CoLab: sdcolab.org

🔗 Jon Ray: facebook.com/jondray

🔗 Diane Hoffoss: dianehoffoss.com

🔗 Cecile Pham: instagram.com/cecileqpham

🔗 Vic "Jolly Rancher" Liao: instagram.com/jollyrancher28

🔗 J-Good: continuum-designs.com

🎧 DJ Set Featured: Tomothy Bee aka Tasty Tim

🎵 soundcloud.com/tastytim

📍Tim's DJ set was recorded live at Disorient, Burning Man 2024

📷 Cover photo by Justin Wojdula

If this episode resonates with you, share it with a friend, and if you're feeling extra generous, check out BurnerPodcast.com for ways to support the show.

🌟 About the Show

Featuring in-depth conversations with artists, organizers, and visionaries shaping Burner culture year-round, Burner Podcast is the longest-running traditional long-form audio podcast in the global Burning Man community. Ranked in the top 5% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes, it has been exploring Burner culture for over a decade.

🎧 Dive into the archive at burnerpodcast.com/previous-episodes

📲 Follow @BurnerPodcast on Instagram and facebook.com/burnerpodcast for wildly irregular updates

🌟 About the Host

Burner Podcast host Arash Afshar is an Iranian-American, SoCal-born, and Las Vegas-based professional photographer and community-building addict.

🔗 Explore his projects at arashafshar.com

📸 Follow him on Instagram: @mrarash

💌 Send love (or hate) mail: mrarash.com/hello