Waterpeople Podcast

Bonnie Tsui, an author and New York Times contributor, dives into the significance of muscle and movement in our lives. She discusses her transition from competitive swimming to surfing, redefining strength, especially for women in sports. Bonnie reflects on the powerful connection to the ocean and the importance of strength training for lifelong movement. Additionally, she touches on the inevitability of aging and how experience can enhance surfing skills, creating a beautiful narrative of resilience and mastery in the water.

How much has your homebreak shaped you - your life, livelihood, the person you've become? The quirkiness of Dylan Graves'  Puerto Rican homebreak shaped a lifelong obsession, and subsequent career in chasing, riding, and documenting Weird Waves around the globe. Tidal bores, standing waves, wedges, glacial calving swells; Dylan's Youtube channel shares an astonishing diversity of wavelengths. While the focus of Dylan's wildly successful series is taking viewers to obscure and novel waves on the periphery of surf culture, in the process Dylan masterfully un-earths the heart and vibrance of surfers around the world  – and the living cultures of stoke blossoming in unexpected places. Dylan's lightness, warmth and positivity are underscored by the adversity he's faced. He candidly shares the impact of losing his father at a young age. This loss brought him and his brother, surfer Josie Graves, closer together, reinforcing their love for surfing as a way to connect with their father's memory. Dylan talks us through the his DIY filmmaking process, the joy of not chasing perfection, and the cyclical experience of becoming a father. ...This episode is made possible by our generous partners:Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet....Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Besides being a professor of chemistry, Dr. Sarah Gerhardt was the first woman to ride one of the world’s most feared waves, Mavericks in icy Northern California. She is a mother of two and acknowledged as the first female tow-in surfer.  Amidst a tumultuous childhood, Sarah found stability in an unexpected place: The Periodic Table of Elements. Sarah learned to surf in the late '80s at Pismo Beach, California. In time, surfing became her escape from the hardships of home and faith became the guiding force in her life. She started experimenting with heavy water and big waves during her freshman year at college.One Winter Story, a documentary about Sarah's big wave pioneering and scientific inquiry, came out in 2003. More recently, Sarah featured in the groundbreaking documentary The Big Sea, wherein she lays out the chemical composition of neoprene - the material all of our wetsuits have been made of until very recently. She talks us through some surprising chemistry - and the big impact seemingly small choices can make. ....This episode is made possible by our generous partners:Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet....Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

When was the last time you followed a spark of curiosity all the way to some distant shoreline? Kiana Weltzien's ocean adventures began in 2016 when she left her real estate career in Miami for a year of travel. Along the way, she met a mentor and moved onto his boat; a replica Polynesian double-canoe. She sensed that this was her new way of life.In 2018, Kiana acquired her own boat, Mara Noka, a modern Polynesian double-canoe. Despite her limited sailing knowledge, Kiana navigated challenging passages, often sailing alone to avoid the responsibility of others. Kiana crossed the Atlantic to North Florida in late 2020, to begin her 14-month boatyard restoration of Mara Noka. In 2022, she captained the Women + the Wind  North Atlantic crossing,  her first voyage with a crew. After that, Kiana sailed through Madeira, the Canaries, and Cape Verde, aiming for Brazil. She completed a 43-day solo crossing from Santiago to Ilhabela. We caught up with Kiana remotely from the cabin of her boat in Brazil (the audio is pretty dodgy at times). She talked us through the making of her forthcoming documentary Women and the Wind, the work of life at sea, what drew her to Wharram craft and the challenge of addressing plastic pollution. Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

What's lost when we hand over skills or experiences to technology ? We sat down with localisation pioneer Helena Norberg-Hodge to learn more about the waves of radical economic and social changes she has experienced first hand. In 1975, as a student of linguistics amongst the glacial melt of the Himalayas, Helena witnessed the rapid erosion of traditional culture that followed the introduction of Western ideas and economics to the isolated territory of Ladakh, or "Little Tibet."  As an economist, linguist and filmmaker, Helena has worked to popularise an economics of happiness for more than 30 years.Our first episode with Helena aired back in April 2020. Her organisation Local Futures offers practical solutions for changing the systems that aren't serving us best; for coping and deepening connection – what they see as key to unlocking healthier futures for people and planet. We wanted to have Helena back on to address a topic that’s been coming up a lot in our house – about technology and whether mechanistic tech is always the best or healthiest solution.  More specifically – what's lost when tech takes over our skills or experiences ? We also hear from two listeners on the topic of tech: Surfers for Climate board member Courtney Miller and Nick Hounsfield, founder of The Wave wavepark in the UK. We’d love to hear from your lived experience on this topic, too. If you’d like the chance to be featured in a forthcoming episode – please  email over a voice memo to waterpeoplepodcast@gmail.com .  Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

How do we make magic boards last longer? Gary McNeill and Dave have been experimenting with alternative, non-petrochemical materials for the last decade. The front runner in their experiments? Flax cloth, for board strength and durability. Stab recently ran The Electric Acid Surfboard Test, to explore the validity of their flax tinkerings. This episode features the flax master himself, shaper Gary McNeill. Gazza absolutely fizzes about all things board design. He's an accomplished competitive surfer and has worked as production manager and/or ghost shaper for some of surfing’s most well-known board brands. Today, he focuses his energy on making left of centre, high performance surfboards under the Gary NcNeill Concepts label. Gazza considers himself an 'accidental activist;' in the pursuit of good design, he cemented a more ethical business model. He hopes to help the board building industry mature beyond 'planned obsolesce.'"As a result of growing up in humble surroundings, I have a full appreciation of the value of a dollar. In creating my Concept boards, I always strive to produce high-performance boards using materials that provide strength and longevity. I want customers to have a board that they can build a quiver around, that last, and that they know they can surf in the conditions that best suit them, and their boards. Importantly, boards that last reduce environmental impact."We wrangled Gazza into sitting down for a whole hour to share more about his story, and the nitty gritty of experimental surfboard design and materials. Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

How do you better a culture?  How do we better surf culture? Dr. Krista Comer is a scholar of American literature and cultural politics. She has written widely about women and surfing as a way "to build bridges between university and community, or subcultural knowledges. Because we need each other to understand the worlds we inhabit, and to make better worlds. I need bridges to stay true to who I am, my own histories and hopes for the future." Dr. Comer offers clarifying perspectives on the gendered realities of modern surf culture - and has been part of supporting surfers to create inclusive research, social movements and events. Professor Comer teaches at Rice University in Houston, Texas and has lived near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for 25 years. She is the author of Surfer Girls in the New World Order (2010) and is currently working on her latest book:  Feminist Surf Life in the Age of Climate Change.  In 2014,  Dr. Comer co-founded the Institute for Women Surfers (IWS), an international grassroots political education initiative in the Public Humanities. The institute has conducted trainings in California, Europe, and Australia. For more on IWS see “Surfeminism in an Era of Trump” (2019).Our episodes typically revolve around stories — lived experiences, often from the water, looking landward. This one is a little different. We recorded at the close of the Waterwomen Camp Out near a point break in Northern NSW, Australia. The event was hosted by the NGO Surfers for Climate and invited more than 100 women to gather for a weekend of workshops, wellness, and celebration of our shared love of watery play. Dr. Comer presented work and encouraged dialogue around intergenerational activism, along with local researcher Dr. Rebecca Olive from RMIT University. We sat down to discuss the relevance of surf feminism, learning from current social movements, the importance of face to face gathering, and bio-deregulation.Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Many professional athletes struggle to transition from their sport-as-career. The highs are often out of reach for pedestrian life - especially for pro surfers who spend their years in whirlwinds of hedonistic wave chasing. For Puerto Rican tube connoisseur Otto Flores, the key to transition was community. After many national titles and a spell on the World Qualify Series, Otto veered away from competitive surfing and toward chasing perfect waves of consequence, a decision that landed him on the covers of all the mainstream surf mags through the early 2000s.  Today, Otto is based on his home island with family, where he's  held in the highest regard for a community minded spirit and commitment to protecting Puerto Rico’s coastlines. In 2017, he lead a team with Waves for Water in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, helping set a course for recovery with an emphasis on sustainability. More recently, Otto was instrumental in working with Save the Waves Coalition to secure 8 kilometres of Puerto Rico’s  northwest as its 11th recognised World Surf Reserve. The World Surfing Reserves is a program of Save the Waves Coalition, which is a nonprofit focused exclusively on conservation of surfing coastlines on an international scale.We caught up with Otto to talk about stepping into leadership, and the juggle of carrying many responsibilities – while managing  an abundant watery life. Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Called the "most underrated sports person in Australia" and the "greatest Bells surfer of all time”  Gail Couper has been both: at the centre and the sideline of surf culture and sport for the better part of her 77 years. She's seen a lot change, and helped to lay the foundation for Aussie surf culture as we know it today. Gail is a five-time national champion, and 10-time winner of the prestigious Bells Beach/Djarrak event.  In the year 2000, she was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame and awarded the Australian Sports Medal for lifetime achievement. We had the privilege of sitting down with Gail in front of a hometown audience in Lorne as part of the The Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Festival, to talk about  competitive drive, the value of volunteering, and helping to establish the world's first Surfing Reserve.....Held on Gadubanud Country, The Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Festival offers opportunities for surfers from all backgrounds and experiences to come together and celebrate their riding waves and the ocean. Special thanks to Surfing Victoria for having us and hosting their all-inclusive festival to celebrate surfing. Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

How many kids from Tennessee end up devoting their life to the world's heaviest waves? At least one. That's Lane Davey: Pipe Disciple, PhD, journalist and college lecturer at UH Mānoa. Lane has dedicated much of her adult life to being present in the line-up at Pipeline – she was long the lone woman amongst the sword fight. We trace her unlikely trajectory from growing up in Tennessee, to breakdancing, and surfing some of the most notorious waves on the planet.Lane talks us through the importance of acknowledging fuller histories of surfing, the role she’s played in creating momentum for women’s surf culture and performance, and the silver lining of living with her stage four cancer diagnosis. ....Read Lane's  PhD dissertation here - it traces the parallels between of break dancing and riding waves.Send us a text...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ... Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter. You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox. You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.