We're back for another season of Where & Why, the podcast that surfaces the origin stories of local heroes and asks them to define what success looks like to them.

Just a quick reminder, Dan has Parkinson’s disease, which sometimes slurs his words but doesn’t slow him down.

Our first guest this season is Rachael Shaner, leader of the Folk/Blues/Punk band, Lulu the Giant. She is the answer to the question, “Can you be a rock star when you grow up?”

Rachael is a singular talent and a thoughtful leader in a messy industry.

Her band has a show Feb. 22 at the Tybee Post Theatre, where Rachael will be releasing her first book of lyrics, poetry and essays.

You can get tickets at tybeeposttheater.org

This conversation was recorded at Montimello on Talahi Island, GA. It is produced by Garrett Zajac for ZipZap Media … and can be found wherever you get fine podcasts. It is a project of EBS Brain - where we study the Human Intelligence behind success. Find out more at ebsbrain.com/whereandwhy.

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When Brynn Grant grew up in Liberty County, she didn’t think much of Savannah.

It was where you went to the doctors or to go to the mall to buy a new coat.

Since then, wherever she goes, growth seems to follow. She had a key role in the birth of what is now the Savannah Music Festival, in JCB bringing 500 jobs to the area, and in leading the United Way through COVID.

Recently, Brynn returned home to Liberty County to lead the county’s economic development efforts in a post-Hyundai Coastal Georgia.

Learn more about Brynn and Liberty County at comegrow.global

Where & Why is recorded in beautiful downtown Savannah and produced by Garrett Zajac for Zip Zap Media and EBS Brain, where we are only as good as the quality of our conversations.

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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 …

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