August 12: Unhoused healthcare, Nevada midterm projections, and Burning Man turns 40

From Nevada Public Radio, I'm Paul Boger. This is State of Nevada. Between rising costs of living and losses of SNAP and Medicaid benefits, the past year has proved to be a financial stress on many working Nevadans. So it's no small wonder Southern Nevada's unhoused community has grown by 12% since 2024. That's according to Clark County's latest homeless census. Data from the count, which was performed in January and released recently, also shows a 25% jump in self-reported substance use. That means around one-third of unhoused Las Vegas now say they're actively using. That's compared to 9% in 2024. KMPR's Ann Davis hit the streets with two local outreach groups, help of Southern Nevada and the Southern Nevada Health District to find out how advocates are rising to the occasion to stem substance use among the city's most vulnerable population. It's around 11 a.m. on an already blistering day. The heat radiates off the pavement as a three SUV caravan travels down a busy main drag in East Las Vegas. It isn't long before a man, who looks to be in his 30s, appear slumped over on the side of the road, unnaturally frozen in the middle of peddling his bicycle. One of the SUVs pulls over immediately, enhance him water, food, and Narcan, the opioid reversal drug. He refuses further services. Never seen that one. That was scary. That one was scary. That's Ravante Tolliver, an outreach worker with homeless service provider, help of Southern Nevada. He and his colleague, Jacqueline Peoples, explained that the man's posture is a strong sign he's using a powerful and popular synthetic opioid. When they're folded over like that, that's fentanyl. The fentanyl lean. This, advocates explain, is no longer an unusual site among the valley's nearly 9,000 member unhoused population. I think the appropriate word would be pervasive. It is pervasive. That's Louis Lacey, helps director of homeless response teams. He's guided the caravan to a stop in front of a makeshift memorial along East Charleston Boulevard where it meets I-11. There on a chainling fence, black and red plastic bag scraps are tied in the shape of a heart. Scattered beneath are around 30 stones, all with names of people who died from fentanyl, all from one now empty camp. People's lives reduced to a name on a rock on the side of the road. The Clark County Coroner's Office says substance abuse is the leading cause of death for members of the unhoused community. Data shows over 750 people experiencing homelessness have died from drug usage in the last five years. Nearly tripled the number of deaths from heat-related illnesses. A lot of folks think that drugs are the gateway to homelessness and having troubles in your life. And really, that's not completely true. That's Lacey again. He says the inherent trauma of living on the street incendivizes people to turn to substances to cope. Nicholas Barr, former UNLV professor of social work, explains it this way. You're exposed to higher rates of violence. You are treated poorly by people. They either ignore you or treat you like, you know, an animal. They don't look at you. Someone with firsthand experience with that kind of trauma is Helen, an unhoused Las Vegas of five years. She says it comes in many forms. I just had a friend of mine last July.

And, yeah, last July, die from dehydration. Some bottle of water, nobody would give him water. Broke on heart. Despite this, Helen says, using substances, especially opioids, to cope isn't the answer. Petinol is like playing restroom relay with your own head. Just get a gun and just put one bullet in there and just keep pulling the trigger. In those fentanyl deaths, Lacey says Narcan distribution is key to prevention. I'm going to tell you right now, Narcan, God bless Narcan. Was it last week, we got 4,000 doses from you guys. We're giving that much away. The supplier Lacey is referring to is the Southern Nevada Health District. Its staff regularly send not only Narcan, but also a group of four health care practitioners out with help as part of their street medicine team. That's helped the health district achieve naloxone saturation, meaning there's enough narcan circulating within the community to stop at least 80% of witnessed overdoses. In 2020, we distributed about 5,500 doses, and then by 2025, that number increased to 212,000 doses. That's more than a 38-fold increase compared to 2020. That's Brandon Deleese, S&HD's senior epidemiologist, briefing a crowd of journalists and public health officials at the district's annual state of public health event earlier this year. Delis has confidence that naloxone distribution will continue driving down the overdose rate in both housed and unhoused populations. We have local evidence that it works. We can see these data. We can see that it's being used. We can see people being revived through naloxone. In the meantime, helps homeless response team and SNHD's street medicine team continue to bring care to those who need it most. Anne Davis, Campier News.

The number of indigenous students completing four-year degrees is dropping nationally. This despite some states offering a college fee waiver for native students. In Nevada, students enrolled in federally recognized tribes are qualified for financial assistance to attend college. This is to overcome one of many systemic barriers indigenous students face when considering higher ed. For many Native students, they must visualize themselves attending college for them to feel welcome there. At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, its Tribal Education Initiative program helps Indigenous high school students see the many career paths they have available to them. It does that through the annual Native Youth Camp. It's a program that many camp chaperones wish they had during their high school years. KMPR's Jimmy Romo attended the camp and has more on the program that hopes to reverse the national trend. It's a busy day for the Clark County Commission. The agenda is packed. Near the back of the commission chambers sits a large group of Native American high school students. This group is from Nevada, Arizona, and Montana. All of them are wearing black t-shirts that read UNLV-2020 Native Youth Camp. Tick's Agarbloom, the Clark County Commissioner of District E and former state lawmaker, sees them from the dais and walks up. Thank you all for coming. There's a lot to us. So don't gamble, though. The students are a part of this year's UNLV Native Youth Camp. Over two full days, they explore the city and receive presentations from industry experts about the career paths available when they attend college. Camps like these help Native American students visualize themselves studying the fine arts, STEM, hospitality, policy, and law. One of the students planning out her future is Brooklyn Williams, an enrolled member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe. She's entering her senior year of high school this fall, but she already knows she wants to attend UNLV to pursue either hospitality or law. Since the college is in Nevada, and she's a member of a federally recognized tribe, William qualifies for the Native American fee waiver. which makes school even more affordable. I feel like I have a lot of support to get the funding and to help me decide where I can put all that funding to in each section. As of 2019, the rate of Native Americans who had at least a high school education was 88%, according to the data from the National Center of Educational Statistics. That's only a few points away from the national average. But the rate of natives with a bachelor's degree, or higher, was just under 17%. less than half the national average of 36%. The financial hardship of attending college and underfunded K-12 programs are often cited as the cause. But it's also historical trauma, says Ferdina Dry Romero, an enroll member of the Kaibab Band of Paiyuts. She's the Nevada Department of Education's Education Programs Professional of Indian Education. I think the atrocities that our Native people have faced historically with education being one of those places where it wasn't us. When Dry Romero graduated from high school in 1989, she says she didn't have the same resources indigenous students have today.

Nobody talked to me about college. Back then, her father helped her fill out an application to tribal college. She wasn't accepted at first, but determined to go, they applied again, and she was finally accepted into the Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. I was so excited and I was pumped because it was the first time I was learning about myself, my people. Going from living on a reservation to a mainstream higher education institution can be a culture shock for native students who don't see themselves in the curriculum. It can be alienating. It's what Dry Romero experienced as she worked through her bachelors and masters at the University of Kansas. It's not their culture. It's a different culture. So a different way of thinking is having to reframe your mind because you're learning something that's not what you were raised with. To get indigenous students to go to college, UNOV's tribal education initiative has started hosting the native youth camps for high school students. We're working really hard at is trying to create systems in place where our students feel like it's a part of them. In 2021, Nevada became one of more than 10 states to enact the Native American fee waiver law. During the 2021-2020 school year, the Nevada system of higher education helped 140 students. awarding them less than half a million dollars in college expense aid. Those grants are opportunities for students to study for career paths that have the potential to uplift tribes and their families. Williams has her heart set on going to college and becoming an example for her two younger sisters. She'll be the first in her immediate family to attend a four-year college. I want to make a good impression for my younger ones, and I want to make all my older family and my parents and all them proud and give them a sense of support too once it gets to my time to help them. While the program is still in effect, its future remains unclear. Some have already set their sights on the waiver. During the state's most recent legislative session in 2025, there was an attempt to cut back on the program. And with many feeling uncertain about the economy, lawmakers may once again eye the program as a way to cut cost in 2027. Jimmy Romo, Campier News. You can read more about homeless outreach and the tribal education program in the latest issue of Desert Companion or at our website, desertcompanion.com.

I know it may not feel like it yet, but fall is right around the corner. That means we are in the final stretch of campaigning ahead of the 2026 midterm election. In fact, early voting in Nevada is a mere 66 days away. That means candidates are pulling out all the stops to reach voters in the final weeks of the election cycle. And for some Republicans, that includes standing on stage with President Trump at his rally at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas last week. Here's a snippet from Nevada's Republican incumbent governor, Joe Lombardo. Take a listen. Quite often when the press and the media runs them down, they think about, you know, he's taking care of his billionaire friends. But those billionaire friends provide jobs. And unless you take care of them, those jobs are absent. And the government doesn't have the ability to hand out infinite amounts of money. That's not how economies work. That's why they're pushing socialism so hard. But President Trump has changed that whole mindset, and America is that much greater because of his efforts.

Here to help me better understand how the president's latest swing through Nevada may affect the election, I'm joined now by Ken Miller, who's an associate professor of political science at UNLV. Ken, welcome. Thanks for having me. As you heard there at the top, President Trump was in Las Vegas last week talking about his economic agenda. You know, that includes the passage of no tax on tips, an idea for which, according to the president, came from a Las Vegas waitress. At this point in the election, It mostly seems to be about affordability. Do you think that message the president was here touting that his plan on the economy is working for the silver state? Well, President Trump is pretty unpopular in Nevada. And so from Joe Lombardo's perspective, having Trump come into Las Vegas actually isn't all that helpful. And so Joe Lombarda would rather be talking about sort of problem solving things on schools. And the more that we're talking about the economy, the less helpful that is for Republican incumbents right now. Because the policies that came out at the federal level and the state level haven't had a real impact for most people. So do you think that this visit was more about shoring up the base than anything? This visit was about shoring up the base. And it was about fundraising. So it's also about. stopping off in California. I mean, normally when we get visits in Nevada, it's usually because politicians also going to LA or Phoenix and on to elsewhere. So this was mostly a touch base on that one. I think that Joe Lombardo would prefer to keep President Trump at arm's length if he could. You know, it's funny you mentioned that there's an adage that somewhat cliche at this point, that midterms are bad for the party in power. Of course, we've seen polling after polling that shows the president's approval numbers are. abysmal. However, Governor Joe Lombardo, his approval ratings seem pretty good. At least that's according to the sparse polling we've seen over the last several years. So let me ask, how true is that adage in 2026? How much are national politics impacting state-level races? In Nevada, national politics is not affecting it very much. And the reason is because we don't have competitive federal races this year. If we had a Senate race in Nevada this year, that would nationalize the conversation much more. But we don't have that this time. And our House races, as of now, they don't look all that competitive. So you're not seeing a lot of national money coming in. So what happens is when you have these big... races like Senate races or competitive house races is the national parties get involved. The national money zooms in and everyone tries to turn this thing into a referendum on the White House. But because that dynamic isn't occurring, that's fortunate for Joe Lombardo so that he can keep things focused on a much more local conversation, which still isn't great for him, but it's much better than if this is a national referendum. In that vein, a trio of GOP commissioned polls conducted this summer show Nevada's Republican incumbent Governor Joe Lombardo has a sizable leads over his Democratic challenger, Attorney General Aaron Ford, in the race for governor. According to the reporting, those surveys bucked a trend that showed a neck-and-neck race for governor. The three polls show Joe Lombardo ahead by afford by 9, 12, 7 points. Should that make Democrats nervous?

It should. The polling right now is probably going to be pretty turbulent, and that's because voters, a lot of voters, aren't really tuned into the race yet, and we still haven't seen the campaigns ramp up to their highest amplitude yet. So things are going to appear a little bit unsettled. And some of those surveys we've been seeing coming out lately, those are coming out of firms that... Honestly, I haven't heard of before. So I don't know much looking under the hood on these polls, like how good they are, how precise they are. So it's hard to tell on that. But more broadly, the Republican campaign should be concerned because national conditions are a serious headwind for them. On the other hand, the Democrats should be concerned because their gubernatorial candidate. doesn't have any money. And without the funding, he can't get his message out as well. So Joe Lombardo kind of has the airwaves and the online advertising to himself right now. That's Ken Miller, a political science professor at UNLV. Also with us is Shelby Swartz. She's the executive director of Battlebore in Progress. Shelby, welcome to the program. Thanks so much for having me. Let's talk. We're 83 days away from the election itself. What are you hearing from supporters right now? Is there an excitement to get out to vote? There is. There's definitely an excitement. I know, you know, the polls that you were just talking about, there is this kind of gap that we're seeing in the polling, like Ken said, where these are firms that we haven't heard of before. I think that polls are not indicative of where the actual electorate is. I think also affordability, like you said, at the top of the segment, is still the key. piece here that folks are going to turn out to vote for. Can they afford to put a roof over their head? Can they afford their groceries? Can they afford their health care and their child care? And looking at those factors only, I don't see a lot of confidence in the governorship of Joe Lombardo. I think folks are not any better off now than they were four years ago. You know, coming out of the pandemic, I think folks are still struggling economically now. So I think there's a lot that Joe Lombardo has left to be desired among the electorate. And I think that it will definitely be a referendum on his leadership this year. I want to get your take on the recent wins we've seen from progressive candidates in New York, Michigan, Wisconsin. Of course, you lead a progressive organization yourself. Why do you think progressive candidates are seeing so much success this election cycle? Yeah, I would say the lesson from those wins isn't that, you know, the left is surging. I would say that it's candidates that give voters something tangible to vote for are the ones that are breaking through. They're not like, I'm not ideologically scorekeeping these wins. I'm looking at which candidates gave folks something to believe in and are addressing the issues that matter to them. Affordability.

rents are too high, mortgages are too high. You go to the grocery store and it's $300 every single time somehow. I think that is more what matters than the label that we're putting on these candidates. And who's going to be the ones to stand up to the corporate greed that is price gouging everybody and driving up these prices? And I think here, AG Ford has taken a lot of these corporations to court, shown that he's willing to... take on these tough fights on behalf of Nevadans. And I think that that is something that will resonate with folks in November. You know, we're past the primary and arguably the more progressive candidate in that election, Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill, only got 24% of the vote against now Democratic gubernatorial candidate Aaron Ford. Why do you think that progressive message seemed to fail to gain steam here in this election? I don't know that I would say that the progressive message failed. I think that there was a very large name recognition gap there. I think when you talk to people about progressive policies, they are overwhelmingly popular. I think in that primary, there were two very... very qualified and educated and, you know, inspiring candidates that I think folks were excited to turn out for and will still be excited to turn out for AG Ford in November. I don't think it was a referendum on the policies itself. I think it was probably an education gap, but I also think AG Ford is still, you know, a fight around the issues that matter to Nevadans, and that ultimately is what matters more than the label on any idea or policy or candidate. Ken, I want to get your take here. What do you make of those progressive wins in other states? And could that be an indicator that more progressive candidates could win here in Nevada as well? Yeah, I think it is. And I agree with what was just said earlier that this isn't so much of an ideological thing as it is that these more progressive candidates are putting forward specific policy proposals. And in doing so, even if voters aren't particularly enamored with this proposal or that one, it's at least telegraphing to voters that they understand the problems and that they're... willing to propose things to address them. So you're seeing candidates that are directly engaging with the issues that matter to these voters more. And that's why many of these candidates are doing so well. We've focused quite a bit on the top of the ticket in earlier conversations, all of which are available on our website, KNPR.org. So let's talk about state legislative races, Shelby. Democrats already hold majorities in both chambers, 27 seats in the 42 member assembly, 13 seats in the 21 member Senate. So it's unlikely there's going to be a huge shift in which party is going to have majority status. But there is a policy.

a possibility, Democrats can gain a supermajority in both chambers, which would allow Democratic lawmakers to override Republican governor's bills, or vetoes, rather. I bring all of that up because I want to get your take on what you see as the key legislative races this cycle. Which ones are you paying attention to? I... think that there's going to be definitely the opportunity to pick up assembly races, especially after folks saw all of the vetoes that Governor Joe Lombardo. put his pen to this last legislative session. And in his first legislative session in 2023, he set the veto record. And then he smashed it in 2025 as well over some really stellar policies. We saw things like capping the price of prescription drugs to levels that Medicare and Medicaid have negotiated the prices to. We saw him veto paid family medical leave, like a policy that would. prevent Nevadans from going bankrupt when they have a baby or have a sick relative, these really, really popular policies. So, you know, I'm looking at 8041 is one that I'm really interested in. And there's some other just really exciting races that I think if we are able to get to a super majority, there are really great policies that I think every Nevada will benefit from. Like what? Oh, it's just a matter of pulling us over the finish line there. And what would those policies be? If Democrats remain in power in the legislative building and Carson, what do you want to see them take up? I mean, there's so many things that the governor has, like I just mentioned, the prescription pricing caps is something that we supported. It was AB250 from Assembly Member of Anisha Considine. I think that was in 2023. In 2025, like I just mentioned, paid the only medical leave was a big one. There's, you know, look at any of his, I'm going to get the number wrong, 80-something vetoes, maybe more than that. And there are so many really stellar policies in there that I think. should have been able to pass into law and see the light of day and that Nevadans were not given that opportunity to benefit from. Ken, I'm going to ask you to play devil's advocate here. If Republicans were to take control of the legislature, what do you expect their top priorities to be? Well, first, I can't imagine that they would take legislative control this year. But if the Republicans did achieve majorities legislatively. That would be an interesting dynamic. And I say that because Joe Lombardo is a little bit of an unusual Nevada Republican in that he's relatively moderate. And that's look, that's why he won last time around. And that's why he's in better shape this time around. But.

in the state legislature, you would probably be getting, if you achieve that majority, you would only do so by electing a lot of people who would be pretty far-right Republicans, and they would be very much in the MAGA strain of the party. So that would actually be maybe not as legislatively effective as they might want to be because you would have a relatively moderate governor and a more sort of MAGA legislature in a dynamic like that, which is not what I expect to see actually happen. Ken, a lot of your work over the years has dealt with party and campaign messaging. So as the number of nonpartisan voters grows, how are you seeing campaigns reach out to those nonpartisans when people are reportedly becoming more disaffected by the current political back and forth? Yeah, it's a real issue. So one of the things that's this happened is as we've made voter registration easier for people as it should be to make it easier for everyone to who is legally entitled to do so to cast a ballot. As we've done that, we've brought on board a lot of. more independence and in that process. We're bringing in a lot of people. These are also people who are a little bit less likely to vote, and especially less likely to vote in midterm elections. So that outreach is harder and it's much more expensive too. Reaching independence, whether it's online or a little bit on broadcast. It takes a lot of money to do that and to get your message in front of their eyeballs and into their ears. And so this makes campaigning, if anything, it makes it much more expensive and it makes it more challenging. Can political parties do anything to stop the hemorrhaging of support? You mean that can both parties stop the evolution of the electorate towards more and more independence? Yeah. Yeah. Not with what they're doing right now. And I say that about both parties. So the system as it has evolved, especially with closed primaries and it incentivizes candidates in the primary process to appeal to very small segments of the overall electorate. They're appealing to either that very small segment of Democrats who show up in the primary or the very small segment of Republicans who show up in their primaries. Those candidates have no incentive to speak to the overall electorate until we get to the fall. And so for a lot of citizens, they find neither party particularly appealing because of that process because of what they hear from them up until that point. And honestly, most of these independents, these are people who are paying absolutely no attention to politics until September, October. So all these dynamics that... that all of us pay a lot of attention to throughout the year go completely unnoticed by the large majority of the electorate. Shelby, what are you doing to bring folks into your fold? We are trying to meet people where they're at. There's a lot of new tactics and a lot of old tactics that aren't as effective, right? People are not necessarily answering a text message from a candidate or a candidate's campaign. They're not answering the phone.

We are working without giving away the secret sauce. We are working to meet people where they're at. That includes kind of doing some education on, you know, on Reddit, working with different... politically motivated or politically aware even influencers that are based here in Nevada that have a vested interest in educating their followers and their friends. And we're working to empower everyday Nevadans to have the important conversations with their neighbors, with their family members, making sure that if they are having tough conversations about paying the bills and how, you know. They might not be interested in politics, but politics sure as hell is interested in them, making sure that they are equipped to have those conversations about who is going to be defending their interests and putting forth policies that benefit them and their families. And that is kind of the role that we play. So we are really just working to educate folks in whatever way that we can. With that, we are out of time. Ken Miller is an associate professor of political science at UNLV. Shelby Swartz is the executive director of Battlebourne Progress. Ken, Shelby, thank you so much. Thank you.

Burning Man is a cultural institution in Nevada, and this year it celebrates its 40th anniversary. What began on a San Francisco beach with 20 people has become a week-long 80,000 strong event at the Block Rock Desert in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. It's home since 1990. Burning Man is not a festival. Instead, it's a pop-up city that centers art, interactions, and self-reliance. It spawned regional events and community groups all over the world, including in Reno and Las Vegas. and its economic impact in Northern Nevada is estimated at more than $60 million a year. Ahead of the annual event, which starts on August 30th, KMPR's Mike Prevatt spoke to Burning Man Project CEO, Marion Cadell, and Reno News and Review managing editor, Chris Wagner. Here's that, Chad. Marian, thanks for making the time with us today. Very nice to be here. Thank you for having me. Can you remember your first burn and what your reaction to it was that drew you a lot deeper into all things Burning Man? It was about 4,000 people. It was 1995. And I was in art school. And I had seen some photos of a beautiful piece of art in the desert. And I really didn't realize that it was going to be as interactive and playful as it turned out to be. And I left that experience very touched by being in an environment that really was encouraging me to engage and be playful and say hello. I want to go back five years from 95. This is when Burning Man relocated from San Francisco to the remote northern Nevada desert. What was it about Black Rock Desert specifically that called to Burning Man to establish its event there? And several friends had been out into the Black Rock Desert for various sort of happenings as they do out there and had said, you know, Nevada, first of all, is very fabulous state that has wide open spaces and a very can-do attitude. And they liked that idea. Many of them were very fond of their firearms and had been out into the desert using them and felt like, you know, Nevada was a place that would welcome their diverse opinions and ways of being. And they went up there exploratory and they went to Girlac and the folks in Girlac were typically prickly and friendly. They thought that, you know, why not? Nevada, not just the Black Rock Desert, but honestly, the state of Nevada that has continued to embrace Burning Man and be proud of Burning Man as part of what's kept us in Nevada and not frankly explored other states. So we're really proud of Nevada being our home. Besides the expansion of the event, was there one single thing that changed the most once you were at Black Rock Desert?

The desert enabled them to create the environment that became a city. So looking at it as staying overnight means you're thinking about public safety. The distance of the drive immediately put them into a position of recognizing that you have to provide some framework and rules from a small campout. And as the camp out grew to become a community, you have to create basically community values. So being in the Black Rock Desert turned it into a camp out. The camp out turned it into community values. The community values enabled us to create a city. So Black Rock City is named Black Rock City because we're in the northern Nevada Black Rock Desert and that's what birthed the really evolved version of Burning Man. Burning Man was much different when it was on the beach in California. It's really part of the global movement that we were able to create Black Rock City in the Black Rock Desert. Now, the Burning Man Project works a lot with the Bureau of Land Management, of course, the federally owned Black Rock Desert requires that. But your organization also works with numerous state and local agencies, including the ones that, you know, basically help keep the attendees safe. I wonder if it's been a little tricky to establish those relationships, especially at first given that you're establishing these cooperative relationships with what I would call the rule makers and the rule enforcers. And Burning Man had, and maybe to this day still has this. nonconformist air to it. We're branded often as deliberately working outside of the lines, when in fact, where we often can meet government agencies in the same places. And we don't want more governance. We want a collaborative and a self-governance environment. And I think Many of the agencies recognize, sure, we don't have all of the subject matter expertise that they do, but we have real enthusiasm to be partners and to actually do the right thing. I've been around long enough to say when we got to the size of, say, 15,000 people, 20,000 people, the degree in which you can just sort of self-governed for the sake of self-governing, it just has to be thrown out the window. We're a big fans of public health and public safety. And I think where the relationships got interesting was finding the administrators that saw that our real intentions were for public safety and that we were wanting to build ideas that would teach people and give them an opportunity without having a heavy-handed governance process in Black Rock City, but that we govern through rules and values. You know, you had mentioned economics a couple times. The economic impact to Nevada from Burning Man is considerable. It's more than 60 million. I want to talk to you, though, about the cultural impact. From where you sit, where do you think that Burning Man's ethos and practices, the aesthetics of the event, are most felt outside the playa?

You can look at it a couple of different ways. If you look at it just locally as it applies to Nevada, there are people from 89 countries that bought tickets to Burning Man. And one of the things I get when I travel internationally, 20% of the people come internationally. And I think from a cultural standpoint, it's a two-way street. for the folks in Nevada, whether it's Las Vegas, whether it's Reno, whether it's Elko, that there are people from different parts of the country, different parts of the world, coming and having conversations, they're seeing one another, they're in cafes, and it bridges the questions we have about and the fears that we have about other people. So being in an environment that allows us to say hello and be ourselves and be a little bit different empowers everybody to feel hope and less fear. Now, you have been with the organization in various capacities for more than 30 years. What has been the single biggest change that you have seen with Burning Man? We have more people doing affiliated Burning Man events and people attending them out in the world than we have going to the Black Rock Desert. 110,000 people have experienced Burning Man events in 2025. And that was about 69,000 in the Black Rock Desert. And that number continues to grow. And that ambition is something that we deliberately nurtured back in 97 and 98 when the internet came to life and people when they left said, well, how do I meet other people in my community? How can I bring other people together? And now we're seeing more people doing it all over the world that follow the same principles, no trash cans, nothing sold, all ages, creative, collective, building together experience. Now, Burning Man has gone through its trials, especially during an after-the-pandemic. The new docu series The Man Will Burn on HBO Max highlights this. And by the way, your organization fully participated in it. Ultimately, what has been, in your estimation, the biggest existential threat to Burning Man? The biggest existential challenge would be that the cost of doing a mass gathering like ours and a cost of doing other festivals in the world in general continue to go up. But the capacity for people that enjoy that kind of gathering, their capacity to cover the costs and also come and be self-expressive at Burning Man without having food being sold to you. That cost is outstripping the capacity for people to actually pay and cover it. We are very unique in that philanthropy is what helps us keep our costs manageable. So we need the community at all levels to bring what they can to the table so that we can be financially viable for the long haul. And speaking of the man will burn, it is happening three and a half weeks from now. And I'm wondering how you plan on commemorating the 40-year milestone on the playa.

Well, we all have our ways. We don't have a significant celebration. Being here for 40 years is the celebration. We all do it in different ways. I think I'm sure the fireworks were going to be fabulous for the man. And the temple this year is very, very unique. We have seen really extraordinary art apply and get funded this year. For me personally, I have family members. My 83-year-old uncle is coming from El Paso, Texas, and my 21-year-old niece. and five other family members. My uncle, he went to Woodstock. And one of the things he tells me is that Burning Man is an example of what it is he and his generation we're looking for. A place where people connect, there's kindness, there's building together, there's laughter, there's joy, and there's awe. And I think the fact that we're still doing it and we're rocking and rolling and making it happen, that's the proof in the pudding. And I'm proud to be celebrating 40 years. And that's Marion Goodell. She's the CEO of the Burning Man Project, which produces the big event. The 40th Burning Man happens, August 30th through September 7th. And we'll have a link for more information at KMPR.org. Marion, thank you so much for your time. Thank you very much. It's great to be here. And now we have Chris Wagner, the managing editor of the alternative newspaper, Reno News and Review. She's long reported on the arts and culture in Nevada. Chris, thanks for speaking with me today. Hey, Mike. Great to be with you. So let's start with your Burning Man pedigree, so to speak. What's been your participation with the event over the years? About 20 years ago, I was assigned as a reporter to go cover the event for the first time and I thought I will do my job. I will conclude that I have been there and done that. I was fascinated by the thing and I have been back many, many times. I have reported on it. Several times over the years. And also I've worked on art projects. My husband, Jerry Snyder, is a Burning Man artist. So some years I am there on the play of building things with him. What do you think Burning Man has met to Reno and in the surrounding towns? So many things. For some people, it's an annoyance and it's just too much traffic and too much dust. And for some people, there's a bit of a buzz in the air and people who don't go seem to really enjoy it. I think probably a higher percentage of Renoites attend Burning Man than maybe people in other cities because they're so close. Yeah, you know, it's funny if you go up there, there's a like a Burning Man Arts Administration department and you go check in with them if you're bringing an art project. And the people staffing the arts administration department are the same people who work in Arts Administration in Reno. So there are kind of ways where it feels like little bits of Reno are transported to the playa and there's some playa version of them. I wanted you to kind of paint a picture of what happens to Washoe County the week or so.

before and during after Burning Man is happening. Do you get folks stopping by? Maybe they're getting hotel rooms or provisions, you know, all throughout this period. What's the energy like? The large casino parking lots are full of fanciful buses and art projects that look like they're about to be installed. There are some businesses, like some of our midtown restaurants, will be absolutely hopping. A few years back, I went up to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation to ask people there how they felt about the Burning Man traffic. Most of the 80,000 or so people who attend the event travel through the reservation. Some people told me that they were having a really good time running seasonal businesses and selling festival wear and lights and things like that. And they were having a really good time meeting international travelers. And some people told me that they really had had enough of the extreme amount of traffic and they'd had enough of the amount of trash that's left. So I think anywhere you ask in Reno or in Washoe County, you're going to... can you get a pretty wide range of answers about how people feel about this event? How much do you think the expressionism and the visuals and the in the sociocultural behaviors of Burning Man have seeped into the culture at large? I think the way you see Burning Man culture play out in Reno, you'll see it mostly in the arts community. And this is pretty interesting. There's this entire maker space, the generator, that isn't formally associated with Burning Man, but established itself around Burning Man art and Burning Man culture and became a place. It's like a giant warehouse where artists can make huge works. So we don't just have local artists working there. We've actually had a lot of artists move to town so that they could work in the generator or actually we have a couple of other art spaces too. People have moved to town and started working in those. We're attracting interesting people, which is great. Now, in Las Vegas, you probably know this, Chris. There are several prominent large-scale installations of art that debuted at Burning Man. Reno, as I understand it, has several Burning Man originated works as well. Which do you think are the most prominent or noteworthy? The ones you'll notice first are the space whale in downtown Reno in the Belief Plaza. It's a giant stained glass whale, and that's been there for several years now. And then West 4th Street, you'll see several really large Burning Man sculptures there on Jay Resort's property. And those are probably the most prominent. And they bring a really fun, quirky aesthetic to the neighborhood. But if I'm going to say that, I mean, I personally, I like these sculptures. I have interviewed.

people who really felt like these large pieces are symbols of gentrification that to a lot of people is unwelcome. Outside of those two prominent areas downtown and West 4th Street, you will actually see other pieces that debuted at Burning Man in parks and along roadways and along freeway sometimes. We have a lot of them. 40 years on, what do you think that Burning Man's legacy is here in Nevada? It's de facto home. I think that we have seen a lot of interesting instances of people working together, like collaborating to try to make something big happen. And that has started to feel like not a Burning Man thing, but a Reno thing, like a Reno. creative world thing. You know, who knows that the festival will go on forever? But I bet that spirit of collaboration that came from this event will linger here indefinitely to forever. And that was Chris Wagner, the managing editor of the alternative newspaper, Reno News and Review. Chris, thanks so much for speaking with us today. Thank you, Mike. Always a pleasure.