SantaCon: From Burning Man Founders to Federal Fraudsters (w. filmmaker Seth Porges)

SantaCon: From Burning Man Founders to Federal Fraudsters (w. filmmaker Seth Porges)

From Brief Recess: A Legal Podcast with Michael Foote & Mélissa Malebranche by Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

April 23, 2026 · 1h 13m

About this episode

Michael and Mélissa discuss various legal topics and interview filmmaker Seth Porges about SantaCon's origins and recent legal troubles.

Michael and Mélissa discuss their birthdays, Mélissa's run-in with a former boss, Pam Bondi skipping her subpoena, bubble-wand-gate with Lindsey Graham, and an in-depth interview with documentary filmmaker, Seth Porges, who directed the upcoming documentary, SantaCon. Seth shares SantaCon's original ties to Burning Man and discusses the recent news surrounding the arrest of SantaCon’s latest leader, Stefan Pildes, on alleged federal fraud. Brief Recess is a new weekly legal podcast from Exactly Right Media. Follow Brief Recess wherever you get your podcasts, and watch full video episodes every Thursday on the Brief Recess YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/@Briefrecess Find Michael on Instagram @dept_of_redundancy_dept or TikTok @Michael_Foote_ and Mélissa on both as @MelissaMalebranche . Got legal questions? Email  briefrecess@exactlyrightmedia.com . Episode Links: SantaCon documentary Seth Porges, Director + Producer www.nsvrc.org/find-help/  rainn.org/help-and-healing/hotline/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Michael Foote, Mélissa Malebranche

Guest: Seth Porges

Topics covered

  • legal issues
  • SantaCon
  • federal fraud
  • documentary filmmaking
  • political commentary

Keywords

  • SantaCon
  • Burning Man
  • federal fraud
  • Seth Porges
  • documentary

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SantaCon, Burning Man, Exactly Right Media, RAINN, nsvrc.org

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