Photographer Chris St. Lawrence had just started his career in surf photography when he heard that waves can get a little big in a small town in Portugal. That was enough for him to jump on a plane to Nazaré and set up his lens among the pro pool of photographers to watch giants detonate. His scenes of winter surf back home earned Chris two awards at the 2019 Clifbar Cold Shot challenge. He recounts shooting sea smoke at dawn while his fingers froze and living through his dad's indictment...

Long Island native Chris Blotiau grew up surrounded by educators. When he graduated college with his own degree in teaching, Chris turned his attention to surf education, which he believes is still underdeveloped. We chat about his Surf Continuum program, a fundamentals focused approach to learning that even lifelong surfers will benefit from, and why he never pushes a student into a wave. Chris shares with us some insight from speaking with legends on his own podcast Kookcast and such topics...

Montauk native Pat Falon of Whalebone Magazine MCs a raucus award ceremony for best winter surf photography shot from Maine to Outer Banks. Jurists and master lensmen Mike Nelson and Taylor Steele handout awards in categories of empty wave and surfer. Contestants drove from up and down the Eastern Seaboard to attend and the winners had stories to tell. Big Wave surfer Will Skudin of NYsea helped power things along.

From January to April photographers from Maine to OBX and across to the Great Lakes braved the elements to shoot the best image of winter surf in order to compete in the Clifbar Cold Shot Challenge 3.0. Last week at a gallery on the Lower East Side. Clifbar and NYsea hosted an exhibition of the finalists photos smartly printed and framed. Awards were bestowed to top empty wave and surfer categories. We spoke with jurists Emmy Award winner and filmmaker legend Taylor Steele and NY Surf Photo...

The Valpo Surf Project support education, language development, and good old fashion confidence building while surfing for the young people of Valparaíso, Chile. Co-Founder Jon Steuber conceived of the project while on his college semester abroad visiting the beautiful port city that poet Pablo Neruda called home. Ten years later Jon and a team of staff and volunteers have build a highly effective education and risk intervention program which works with hundreds of kids a year.

Johnny Borbone shapes boards sourced from his background in robotic engineering and Formula 1 stock car racing. The Belmar, NJ shaper dances on the edge of art and science as he applies his expertise in fluid dynamics with love of the long board. We talk about vanguard designs like his reactive flex rail inspired by a Horatio Pagani sports car. Johnny also challenges how the industry rates and understands board performance, responding with his own scientific methods to test and design an...

Portrait photographer Jair Bortoleto sits down for a deep and candid interview with Tyler Breuer at Brooklyn's Head-Hi Gallery. The former editor of Surfer's Journal Brazil unpacks that nation's surf history and culture, as well as the effect of Brazil's cult of soccer stardom on the crafting of Gabriel Medina. Jair brings us into the stories behind his character driven new book, "A Primeira Palavra". Tyler and Jair explore the complexities within surf media and some of the reason he is...

Noah Avallone is only 11 but is quickly becoming a major name in the competitive snowboard tour with talk of possible 2026 Olympic run. Mike, his father, works in finance, is a Snowboard Coach at United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association, and Noah number 1 supporter. We talk about what it's like to parent a rising star, and what it's like to free the high and lows of intense competition when you are only in 6th grade. Noah, who also surf in Montauk, is forced to answer...

David Dowd cut his teeth working at a surf shop in Long Beach Island at the ripe age of 10 years. He eventually went on to own and operate Division East Skate Shop in Montclair, NJ for over 13 years. His shop became a focal point for skate culture within that community. Division East had to shut its doors in 2012 at a time of upheaval in the skate and surf industry. Dave shares his experiences running a core skate shop and making your passion your work. We explore how you define yourself...

Mosco Aa first appeared on the show at a public hearing last year where he was voicing his opposition to proposed expansion of a natural gas pipeline underneath the Rockaways. He's still battling Williams Transco and now has embarked on something even more daunting - starting a gallery/ bookstore/ coffee house in Brooklyn. We talk to this surfer-creative on how he has integrated his street artist and activist selves into conceiving, along with his talented wife Alexandra, the dynamic new...

Underground O.G. Long Island legend Davo Denis has seen and done it all. Surfboard purveyor, Brooklyn building tycoon, creator of X-Dreem clothing company, and proprietor of the Inhumane store in SoHo, Davo is a restless man of many projects. He shares with Ben and Tyler hilarious anecdotes of a surf mission in Baja that was actually a Christian charity Mission and what it was like to gatecrash Roseland Ballroom in the 90s to push t-shirts on sweaty rockstars. Davo summoned these stories by...

Since the late 1950s women have been charging in the big wave club but have not received the proper respect, ability to compete, or equal prize money as their male counterparts. We speak with filmmaker Karen B. Song about her project in development on the struggle for women to be properly recognized among the elite group of athletes who surf XXL . We also discuss Dan Duane's recent New York Times investigative story on the WSL and their recent decision to address pay inequity in their...

Retail is a tough game. Owning a surf shop in the seasonal market of Rockaway is even tougher. We speak with Nigel Louis, owner of Station RBNY, on how community drives customer loyalty, working along side his retail peers, and why selling a sweater next to surf board is good for a store by the beach. Louis and Co-host Tyler bring their background as big brand reps to discuss how a surf shop survives in today's retail climate. Music credit: The Flat Five: "This is Your Night"

Most of us learn about Cloudbreak from the pros, now hear about it from a civilian like the rest of us. Peter Brandi has a day job in midtown and commutes to waves year round in NYC. He's a solid surfer defying middle age. 6 months ago he was invited to join a crew to surf the "perfect wave". Ben chats with Peter about getting ready for the legend off Taverua and that experience of surfing over the several critical sections that make Cloudbreak a "perfect" wave.

The 80 or so minutes of this episode is a meager attempt to give proper room for writer, furniture peddler, and former hair stylist Danny DiMauro to share his life of surf and style. From the threats of violence in Montauk after making the film "Kook Paradise", to the "NYC surf shop wars" of the Aughts, adult learners and Joel Tudor, jetting to Kelly's pool, the Saturday's Magazine Editor-at-large lives big and goes deep. He outwardly dislikes the label of Legend, but he's entitled to...

Smriti Keshari, Matt Danzico and Toddy Stewart have all won James Beard, Peabody and Clio awards respectively. Through documentary film, investigative journalism, and advertising campaigns our guests have tackled subjects as challenging as the Atomic Bomb, the current of state of our fractured nation, and the existential side of being a lifelong surfer. Tyler and Ben get some tips on how to tell tales and why social media might be in the way doing that well.

Andrew Zinicola started his glassing career as sculpture student working with resin at Pratt Institute. He transitioned those skills into the basement of Imaginary Surf Company in nearby Bed-Stuy. It was there under the tutelage of wood board shaper David Murphy that Andrew fell in love with alternative craft. Zinicola has recently added custom skate board decks to his portfolio under the name of Bong Repair. Andrew and Ben talk about toe to heel dynamics, the benefits of working in epoxy,...

Swell Season in 2018 continued to push the boundaries on what makes up the surf conversation. Dip into last year's span of episodes that covered Andy Iron's struggle with mental illness, a start-up funded with crypto-currency, the history of segregated beaches, Rockaway respect, women at Jaws, and why a mat is the most fun to surf. Guests include: David Lee Scales, Jen Poyant, Steve White, Wayne Lynch, Jeremy Dean, Todd Jones, Matt Roar, Grace Moon, Wayne Lynch, Joe Falcone, Shaun Crowley,...

Co-host Ben Pomeroy interviewed Tyler Breuer in the spring of 2018 as a guest on Swell Season. After an effective charm offensive, really just an email, Tyler became the the co-host as the show relaunched itself into the podcastverse. Now it's Tyler's turn to ask the questions. In this episode turns the interview table around and actually gets to know this fellow New Yorker who he has produced a show with every week for the last year.

Host and producer David Scales sits down with us to discuss how he went from selling wine to being kingpin of surf podcasting, how the audio genre is grown within a visually driven, and whether LA traffic was worth the one-on-one with Mick Fanning. David also challenges New Yorkers Tyler and Ben to defend East Coast pizza.

Filmmakers Lincoln Caplice and Stefan Hunt messed around with cameras together as kids. They now have real deal grown-up careers in art and film. Stefan made waves in 2006 when he filmed his journey surfing all 50 states across the U.S, and more recently, has explored how we understand our demise in his immersive project "We're all Going to Die". Lincoln cut his teeth early with film legend Taylor Steele and has gone on to build a strong portfolio of commercial and artistic short films. We...

Creative Director Matthew McGregor Mento has ridden almost every possible design of water craft from long boards to knee high paipos to his favorite, belly boards from England. Matt argues why we should ditch our boring thrusters and fish for equipment that is more fun, easier to handle and magic for your wave count. Also, in the show Ben shares his afternoon liberating a private NJ beach and Tyler introduces our new "Name that Song" segment.

When we invited our guest Matt L. Roar of IG's @matsurfingsocietyofny our intent was to learn about the nuances of getting majorly barreled on an inflation device that looks like a pillow. We got all that but we were not expecting our guest to share his life of non-stop creative output most recently with the band Golden West Service, his lines of poetry and a forthcoming book that deals with friendship, male identity and intimacy. And yes, we get into the problem with sexism in surf. It's a...

Asbury Park shaper Jon Oppito of Rozbern and TrimCraft Surf designs boards with the steep barrels of his native Jersey in mind. In the second half of our live show at Asbury Park Yacht Club organized by Headland Collective Oppito reveals how winter storms and local sandbars influence his shapes. We learn about the consumer shift away from high performance and why surfers always over sell their ability when ordering their boards. Special thanks to Last Wave Brewing....

As early as she can remember Jianca Lazarus saw the world as if through the lens of a camera. Just as soon as got one in her hands Jianca jumped into a decades long career documenting the extremes of the natural world and human experience. At a live taping at Asbury Park Yacht Club the Changing Tides Foundation co-founder brings us into the intimacy of documenting sailer-adventurer Liz Clark one-on-one in the middle of the Pacific, the raw power of paddling into historically XXL waves off the...