Episode Details
Back to EpisodesMike Zuckerman: Culture Hacking and Gonzo Humanitarianism
Description
Operating far outside the lines of what he calls the “humanitarian-industrial complex,” freelance culture hacker and FreeSpace founder Mike Zuckerman has been going into refugee settlements around the world, working with their citizens to create spaces and places that better serve their communities. While the NGOs wrung their hands over how to deliver aid in the COVID-19 pandemic, Zuck spent most of last year on the ground in Uganda, working with the people of Nakivale, a refugee settlement of 120,000 near the Tanzanian border. Together they built civic spaces including an amphitheater, a library, a radio station, and a Virtual Reality room in a shipping container, which they used to connect Nakivale to the Burning Man online multiverse last summer. With projects like these, Zuck is bringing the lessons of Black Rock City to other temporary spaces around the world, helping displaced persons overcome “agency deprivation disorder” and reclaim their innate plowers of self-reliance and self-expression.
https://burningman.org/culture/burning-man-arts/grants/global