Gerry Lopez is always a calming force, able to turn a surfing analogy around to explain things happening around us. That’s why it was a pleasure to talk with him recently. Gerry is known the world over for his surfing. But he's more: a pillar of positivity for humanity.

We talk with Erik Logan, CEO of the World Surf League, about recent challenges due to the pandemic and the changes to the Australian leg of the tour after the cancellation of 2020. We also talked about what we can expect from the rest of 2021, the resignation of Pat O’Connell, and more. 

Due to the Pandemic, I spoke to Martina Duran, Chelsea Woody, and Danielle Black Lyons on a recorded Zoom call where we discussed the movement that is Textured Waves, a collective of African American women working to get more females of color involved in surfing. The lack of color in American lineups is a complex problem, of course, that must be looked at from a number of angles. We specifically discussed the barriers that have kept women of color from playing in the sea more readily.

Matt Biolos has one of the most varied skill sets in all of surfing. He’s a renowned surfboard shaper, but he started building his own snowboards at 13 and has been riding snow for at least that long. And he of course knows his way around a lineup. We talked about surfing’s relevance, WSL conspiracy theories, why snowboarding is more easy-going than surfing and the iconic …Lost films vault.

Ryan Buell is one of the truly great characters of the surf industry. And that’s saying something given he hails from Santa Cruz, California. The Buell wetsuits founder is a rapper, a self described water “jock”, and of course a surfer. He opens the curtain a bit and gives us the inside scoop of what it was like trying to sponsor Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds, and how fun it is to work with Jamie O’Brien and Sage Erickson.

Chris Burkard is a surf photographer. The sea has  basically spawned his entire career and he takes pride in his ocean roots. But his image-making has become much more than surf photography. Thanks to a background in landscape, which we talk about, his photos capture the real feel of a place, not just the surf, and makes people want to be where he’s been. Even if it means five millimeter wetsuits and snow covered beaches.

Jess McMillan is the Senior Events and Partnerships Manager at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. She created the Kings and Queens of Corbet's, where ski and snowboard athletes gather to charge Corbet’s Couloir, one of the most famous lines in North America. We talk about the event’s incredibly-unique concept, sponsorship pressure, the stress of protecting athletes on contest day and the pure joy when a world-class event goes off in a world-class town.

This week's podcast had a little more  immediacy to it. Just a week or so after I sat down with with Kohl Christensen, he suffered a scary brain injury at Pipe after impacting his head on a closeout barrel. Thankfully, following surgery in Honolulu, he’ll be able to make a complete recovery. It was kind of crazy that he was talking me through the conditions as he assesses them before deciding to go out. I just happened to catch him on a night he was watching the sunset with his daughter and...

Mark Cunningham has lived a charmed life. He is without a doubt the most recognizable bodysurfer in the world thanks to films like Sprout and Come Hell or High Water. But he’s a surf fan, too, and a fan of surfing culture. A retired North Shore lifeguard, at 64, he's seen so many changes in the surfing world and I really wanted to extract all that wisdom from him for listeners. I sat down with Mark for a wide-ranging interview after he got out of the water following an unruly session at...

As Jamie O'Brien puts it, he’s cracked the code. While huge corporate entities have built brands around the Banzai Pipeline, Jamie, who grew up on the sand there, was able to elbow his way in with the big boys, creating as authentic a brand as any of them. Yet his surf story is a juxtaposition: his background is as "core" as it gets but his vlog reaches an audience that spans well beyond surfing. We talked about Jamie’s independence and what core actually means in the modern world of surf.

Ben Gravy is one fine human. And he's representing the surfing experience as well as anyone. Not without fault or a higher-than-thou ethos, but with an openness tough to find these days. He's willing to let all the warts, and bumps, and bruises be laid out for the public to see – making a living by being as real as possible. "I'm working on being a professional human," he says. We talked about his 50 states mission, how he combatted alcoholism and the movie being made about his life (stay...

Billy Kemper is the best big wave surfer in the world right now when it comes to riding Jaws. He's dedicated his life to charging Peahi and holds the place sacred. And he's basically used it to overcome serious adversity in his life: he lost his mother last year to cancer. He spoke with us about the focus he's put on competing and his family and how that's helped him through the grieving process. He also gave us a download of his favorite surfers. 

John John and Nathan Florence get tons of press, but Ivan Florence might be just as talented if a bit more reserved. We talked with Nathan and Ivan about Ivan's career and a possible new movie, John John's ACL injury, the Olympics and more.