Surf Splendor

In today’s show Hall of Famer Ricky Carroll talks about getting punched out in Hawaii, posing as a kneeboarder to make it to the World Championships, being the now longest running surfboard shaper in Florida. And Justin Quintal talks us through 11 Duct Tape wins, 5 US Opens, 1 World Title, and explains why partying late suits the longboard contest format and why his world record Grouper was also the best tasting fish in the world. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2025

In today’s show Kelly Richards talks about leaving Arkansas at age 13 to chase surf in South Carolina, the rare opportunity to own a historically persevered 50 year old surf shop, raising a surf prodigy in Cam, and explains how Jamie Foxx helped launch his career, his Wave Of The Winter at Pipe, and the expected gift of finding a long lost sibling. Live from Charleston! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 June 2025

In today’s show magazine publisher Chris Thomson discusses the value of taking time away from surfing, the enduring importance of community events, how to grow a UK surf brand to access a global audience, and how rethinking the magazine model can preserve the legacy of print. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2025

In today’s show 1977 World Champ Shaun Tomson explains the source of his resilience, how he improved his surfing up until age 63, why connectivity will cure the plague of modern society, how attitude is your fundamental choice in life, and how surfing breeds hope and purpose. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2025

In today’s episode pioneering pro surfer Patti Paniccia reveals which brand suggested “going on a date” as a prize for a surf contest, why she turned down a job with the FBI, how she won a seven-figure lawsuit against CNN and got them to change discriminatory practices, and why a women’s champ wasn’t crowned on the first world Tour. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2025

In today’s episode Garrett and Nicole McNamara share their how their lives have transformed since 100 Foot Wave, the opportunities they’ve declined, the very real power of pheromones, how opting not to work with surf brands has benefited his career, and producer Joe Lewis details how he’s converted the mainstream into surf fans. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2025

In today’s show musician and surfer Landon McNamara recounts his historic Eddie win, how injury and destitution positioned him for that final wave, divine orchestration, the unassailable spirituality of Waimea, and why music is auditory reflection of the surf experience. Enjoy! Live Shows! June 11th in Jacksonville Beach, FL Tickets HERE and June 12th in Charleston, South Carolina Tickets HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2025

On April 26, 2025 Lane Davey passed away after a battle with cancer. To celebrate her remarkable life, we’re sharing this conversation that original aired in 2022. The Pipeline stalwart, B-Girl, and college professor discussed braving Pipe in the early 90s, creating the first female boardshort, the importance of a meritocratic hierarchy, the repercussions of willful ignorance, and how HipHop has informed her entire approach to surfing, education, and life. Rip in Peace, Lane! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2025

In today’s show Nick and Hannah share tales from a world where everyone surfs, redefine our perception of “core”, find vitality from VALS, attempt to fill the void of women in surf media, and survey data that shows how drastically surf culture has shifted. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 April 2025

In today’s show surf media raconteur Sam George explains how a nomadic childhood fostered his spirit of resilience, the “terrible” mistake that led to him leaving Surfer Magazine, why being lost in Casablanca formed his wayfaring lifestyle, the gift to a teenaged Josh Brolin paid dividends decades later, and he reflects on the 695 different locations he has surfed. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2025

Today Justin Jay chats with professional big-wave surfer and one of the most respected watermen on the planet, Kai Lenny. He’s mastered stand-up paddling, windsurfing, kitesurfing, and foiling—pushing the limits of what’s possible on waves of consequence. The two discuss his relationship with Zuck, his relief efforts after the Maui fires, building a multi-disciplinary career, and staying grounded through it all. Enjoy The Plug with Justin Jay on all podcast platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 April 2025

In today’s show former pro surfer turned writer Jason Borte shares stories from writing Kelly Slater’s autobiography, offers insights into Pharrell’s new wave pool, recalls riding the dot com boom and bust in surf, gives tips to artfully time an exit, and reveals why Virginia is for lovers. Enjoy! Link to Jason's Kickstater HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 April 2025

In today’s show inventive surfboard shaper Bill “Stretch” Riedel five decades of keystone moments in design revolution, breaking his neck and becoming patient one for a radical life saving procedure, how success can bankrupt a business, and why nostalgia and ego are the antithesis of progression. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 March 2025

In today’s episode filmmaker Nathan Oldfield shares why he doesn’t watch his own films, how staying attuned to one’s self requires active work, why melancholy is fuel, silliness is sacred, and how connecting to personal grief has deepened his work as a high-school teacher. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2025

In today’s show shaper and college professor Gary Larson reveals who he believes is the greatest shaper of all time, the design feature that defines a great surfboard, how looking back provides direction for innovation, and discusses the weight of stewarding a 75 year shaping legacy. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 February 2025

In today’s show Snapt filmmaker Logan Dulien shares the details of how he spearheaded the effort to take down the crime syndicate who was targeting SoCal surfers, reveals the wild earnings from his heyday as a tour manager, and discusses the importance of curating a surf film in the modern era of immediacy. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2025

In today’s episode Conde Nast’s former visual editor shares how an early experience caddying for Lisa Anderson sparked a career change, a passion to share the transformative experience of surfing with non-surfers, lessons gleaned from twelve writers about twelve iconic surfers, and how time spent in the ocean might be key to whole body restoration. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 February 2025

In today’s show Rusty shares the flashpoints in his career that defined this shaping. Taylor Knox reveals Rusty’s role in his interest in surfing and later in his wild success on the rail. And Jojo Roper recounts his history run from Peahi, to The Eddie, to Maverick’s and how none of it would have been possible with Rusty. Live from The Belly Up, it’s Talk Story with Rusty and his tribe. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 January 2025

In today’s show Kolohe Andino chats about the weight of expectation, why satisfaction can threaten ambition, how having children highlights the absurdity of professional surf pursuits, his idea for a restructured Tour, and why groms will always be the fertile core of surfing’s soul. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 January 2025

In today’s show, the 23 year old who just rode a potential record-breaker at Maverick's talks us through the wave itself, the prep, the media maelstrom that followed, the unique board that Stretch built for him, how 100’ surf is only accessible via a team of people, and why he didn’t celebrate the historic ride. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 January 2025

Today’s episode is hosted by Brad Gerlach with Occy as a guest! Recorded at Niyama Resort in the Maldives, Brad and Occy analyze Occy’s technique to provide basic truths about head and hand placement and body positioning to unlock your next level of surfing. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 December 2024

In today’s show San Diego’s surfboard and surfwear icon Rusty joins us to explain how his MIT mathematician father’s missive to follow his passion led him to art school and then to surfboards, learning how to push past moments of self-doubt, the secret unlock to Occy’s ’84 Thruster, the perils of licensing deals, and why some of the best design developments come from mistakes. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 December 2024

In today’s show surfing’s foremost historian reveals the pro surfer who saved his life at age 12, the gift of finding 50 year old surf footage from his youth, the unsung heroes lost to surf history, how history is shaped by those who elect to share it, and why is more important than ever to cement archiving surf history.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 December 2024

In today’s episode Holly Beck recounts her rapid rise into professional surfing and disillusionment, becoming an inadvertent model, expatriate freedoms, the fallacy of reality TV, and the holistic healing inherent to surfing. Enjoy!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 5 December 2024

Pipeline aficionado Liam McNamara joins us to discuss how growing up in a commune on welfare informed his approach to surfing on the North Shore, the single financial decision that salvaged his career earnings, how shepherding Hawaii’s youth rectifies past misdeeds, and why his last session at Pipe was nearly his last day on earth. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 November 2024

In today’s show we hear from Jersey board builder Brian Wynn about how he built a career on doing what no else wanted to do, the fastest way to expedite one’s learning curve, why staying small is recession safe, and how ice hockey staves off burn-out. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 November 2024

In today’s show our current and 2x longboard champ joins us to discuss how achieving a life goal can dilute future ambition, why pro longboarders net negative $ on Tour, the WSL’s reason for not acknowledging her as their youngest ever world champ, the ongoing influence of Terry Martin, and how she co-founded a women surf news media outlet. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 November 2024

In today’s show double-board certified M.D. Paul Saladino joins David and Brad Gerlach to discuss how to reverse chronic illness through diet, why plants are bad to eat, our culture’s obsession with optimizing performance, and how surfing has redirected his lifestyle choices. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2024

In today’s show, world-renown photographer Chris Burkard explains that earning access to opportunity taught him the value of saying “no”, how a surf trip to Iceland inspired him relocate his family, why three days of darkness helped him unbury his core truth, and why his best work is still created in the ocean. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 October 2024

In today’s episode Richie charts the rise and fall of Wave Tools, why shaping his own boards hindered his title hopes, how a radical lesson in humility transformed his worldview, why he never understood the concept of “soul” surfer until he quit surfing, his regrets attempting to raise a professional surf daughter, and why his next chapter will be focused on attempting to feel joy. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 October 2024

Polarizing professional surf icon of the 80s/90s, Richie Collins, reflects on the benefits and consequence of being raised by a local enforcer, learning to live up to the family reputation and then taking it too far, the inescapable dread of regret, why he doesn’t surf anymore, and the deep value of knowing one’s family history. Enjoy!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2024

Surf biz stalwart and magnate Eric Crane explains the virtue of starting at the bottom, reflects on the dangers of never saying “no”, give thanks for almost losing everything, attempts to integrate family life with blind professional ambition, and discovers why being a balanced human makes him a more competent CEO. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 October 2024

Today Dick Metz details his friendship with Rabbit Kekai, explains how his real estate empire was built from one vacant lot in Aspen, why buying back the Hobie stores (four times) was more profitable than selling them, and how archiving surf history through surfboards has become his life’s greatest work. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 26 September 2024

Metz is back! Today he tells us about selling his surf shop to Gerry Lopez to launch the Hobie Cat, venturing into the surf wear biz where the female customer unlocks an empire, and he learns valuable lessons in prudence and how to time an exit. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 19 September 2024

English professor/shaper Charles Mencel joins us to edify on the Jersey beach badge, help illuminate the Shore’s deep history beyond the stereotypes, herald their music culture’s influence on surfing, and chart the travails of scaling a local board building business while raising five daughters and educating America's young adults. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 September 2024

In today’s show filmmaker Jason Baffa explains the unexpected perils of getting your dream job, the importance of finding your niche within a niche, how collaboration is a pathway to success, and why the future of surf films is a live viewing experience. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 August 2024

Quietly and immeasurably influencing the surf world, Jon Roseman's stewardship of Cloudbreak has been cosigned by Fijian tribal leaders and pro surfers alike. Today he shares stories from 30 years of swells, why his best surfing is still ahead of him, and how he hopes to convert his experiences and a newly earned MBA from Yale into sustainable success for Tavarua's future. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 August 2024

In today’s show Dave Nelson reflects on the gift that was skating while growing up in the epicenter of tech, how one early gift from mom would dictate his life’s passion, the magic of living on Reunion Island in the early 90s, and how surf photography led him from darkness and allowed him to service something far greater than his own pursuits. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 August 2024

In today’s show Californian Mark Sausen explains how he landed on Kauai in 1970, why humility is a gateway to universal acceptance, the biggest concerns with the tech autocrat invasion on island, why it takes 20 years to get Hanalei dialed, and how to surf well into your 60s. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 August 2024

In today’s show Anastasia Ashley recounts lessons learned as a haole grom on the North Shore, winning a Pipe event at age 23, embracing surf’s sex appeal to build a business, turning down a six-figure paycheck from Playboy, and how early career choices she was scrutinized for have now become standard industry practice. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2024

In today’s show Chris Christenson recounts the time Tiger Woods got him disqualified from a golf tournament, why Dick Brewer invested in him, how Clark Foam’s closure was the best thing that ever happened, and discusses going to war with a corporate behemoth and inadvertently becoming an environmental activist in the process. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2024

Nainoa is back to explain why having a focused leader is the secret to building magic boards, how learning history enriches both work and play, why it’s a bad idea to fake it until you make it, and why sucking only a little grants you access to powerful teachers. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2024

In today’s show laminator Nainoa Speier shares how his personal journey to discover his family’s origins connected him to a network of SoCal surf icons, how teenaged vandalizing informed his future resin works, and why overseas surfboard manufacturing erodes the bedrock of surf culture. Enjoy!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 July 2024

Kauai waterman Terry Chung joins us to talk about his recent trip to foil Nazare with Laird, raising well-adjusted children on Kauai, his journey through board building, the evolution of the surf foil, and how to sustain big wave wipeouts at the age of 65. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 26 June 2024

Denver native and rock crawling enthusiast, Jeff McCallum joins us to detail the exact qualitative difference between domestic and imported surfboards, explain how the evolution of surfboard design can be seen in a Skip Frye rail, reveal the hypocrisy of “sustainability”, and illustrate how foil distinguishes master shapers from everyone else. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2024

The fourth generation San Diegan writer & editor joins us to discuss failing to “de-Barney-fy” longboarding, his private correspondence with Miki Dora, his ongoing love affair with Cuba, and how a life of avowed poverty yielded an endlessly rich lifestyle. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2024

Devon Howard returns to reflect on having a cool mom, inadvertently becoming a surfboard designer, the consequence of spraying his wife in the face, the dangers on the other side of success, and what Ancient Greece has taught him about style. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 June 2024

In today’s show Captain Liz Clark details the childhood experience that empowered her to solo sail the Pacific for a decade, the most terrifying moment at sea, the dietary shift that disappeared her chronic illness, and what remote civilizations taught her about humanity. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 May 2024

The land artist and Outstanding In The Field founder joins to explain why being caught inside is the pinnacle of surfing, how his mother’s language of math is encoded in his artwork, dance as ultimate therapy, and how the difference between failure and success is an illusion of perspective. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2024

Craftsman Josh Martin joins us to discuss inventing the Shark Board, why people morph into looking like their dog, how ancient materials may be the future of board building, constructing a camper out of surfboard material, and making a living as an Instagram Influencer. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2024