Tony Hawk

Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin

Arts, Society & Culture, Philosophy

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2025

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tony Hawk is a professional skateboarder widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the sport’s history. Rising to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, he became known for pioneering tricks like the 900 and for pushing skateboarding into the mainstream through competitions, video games, and media appearances. He became a household name through victorious X Games performances, and his career highlights include being the first to land the 900 in competition, earning over 70 contest victories, and dominating vert skating across two decades. As an ambassador for the sport, he also founded the Tony Hawk Foundation to support youth skateparks, further cementing his influence and legacy in skateboarding culture. ------ Thank you to the sponsors that fuel our podcast and our team: Athletic Nicotine https://www.AthleticNicotine.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ LMNT Electrolytes https://DrinkLMNT.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Squarespace https://Squarespace.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Sign up to receive Tetragrammaton Transmissions https://www.tetragrammaton.com/join-newsletter

Transcript

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0:00.0	Tetragrammaton My older brother was a surfer.
0:26.6	He's 13 years older than me.
0:28.6	And then skating was an extension of surfing in the 70s.
0:32.6	So he started doing it and he's my older brother.
0:36.6	So I was like, oh, that's cool.
0:38.4	And for whatever reason, I didn't take to serving the way he did.
0:42.9	I liked it, but I wasn't that confident in the water with big waves.
0:48.2	Once we found skateboarding together, I really enjoyed it, but it was really intimidating.
0:54.0	It was like all the kids, most of the kids were older. There was. together, I really enjoyed it, but it was really intimidating.
0:56.6	It was like all the kids, most of the kids were older.
0:59.7	There was a skate park in San Diego.
1:05.5	The Bulls seemed like they were gigantic, you know, and it was constant danger.
1:13.3	But there was something about it when I first went to the skate park on my own and felt the energy in that space where it was like it wasn't organized it wasn't a coach telling us what to do no one's relying on the
1:21.0	rest of the team for their success people are flying the music It was like a punk rock soundtrack.
1:28.9	It was all new.
1:29.9	And it was just, I was like, I want to live here.
1:32.4	I want to be in this world.
1:34.9	And I got hooked.
1:36.6	Skate parks must have been a really new phenomenon at that time.
1:40.0	They were.
1:40.5	I didn't realize I was at the tail end of it.
1:43.0	Because to me, it seemed like, oh, there are skate parks everywhere.
	...

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