Where and Why
Conversations about the origin stories of Savannah's "quiet influencers." It begins with the question: "Where were you born?" and ends with "Why?"
Where and Why
Ep. 19: Burning Man: Christi Hester and A.L. Addington
Welcome to Where & Why, a podcast where we surface the origin stories of community leaders and influencers.
Today, we brought back two guests who have something a bit unusual in common. They both have attended Burning Man - a week-long, large-scale event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance.” It is held annually in the Nevada desert, about 100 miles from Reno.
The event's name comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred to as the Man, that occurs on the Saturday evening before Labor Day.
The event is guided by ten stated principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.
Our guests are:
A.L. Addington is the retired dean of the business school at Valdosta State University. For his 85th birthday, his son took him to Burning Man.
Christi Hester, a massage therapist, is in her early 30s and went to Burning Man for the first time this year with friends she met at a professional conference.
We asked them what they learned …