All right, welcome back to the show.

We're continuing our Kauai series of episodes today with a conversation with Dustin Barka.

My first exposure to Dustin Barka was in the early 2000s when he began appearing

in surf magazines and videos as a professional surfer. He spent 2009 on the championship tour,

where his best result was a fifth place finish in Brazil. He has since pursued a career as a

mixed martial arts fighter for Bellator, where he currently

holds a professional record of five wins and no losses.

He has taken up the role as community activist, which evolved into a run for Mayer in 2014.

Dustin and I had a really long conversation to cover all of these topics.

So I'm actually going to release it in two parts.

Today and then the second episode will go live on April 29th.

Today we'll focus on his upbringing, growing up in poverty on Kauai,

Misguidance, Andy Irons' influence, and then Dustin ultimately finding calm and purpose through

the discipline of MMA. Next episode, we will focus more on his activism, the homeless problem in

Kauai, political corruption, environmental impact of genetically modified agriculture, and Mark Zuckerberg's

questionable acquisition of the Kuliana land.

Again, lots to unpack here.

And as I've been saying throughout this month, it's all made possible thanks to you.

We are listeners supported.

And as a thank you to listeners who donate to our work in the month of April, we are going to be giving away a custom surfboard.

Timponi Surfboards on Maui is donating the board.

The winner will only incur the shipping cost.

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