Waterpeople Podcast

For many, 2020 was the worst.  Chelsea Woody, a neuroscience nurse who moonlights as a Vans surf ambassador, is clear that it was “the worst year of her life.” After getting COVID from work, and subsequently  experiencing  a painful loss, — while  witnessing the suffering of so many through the pandemic -  Chelsea wished (for the first time) that she’d chosen a different profession.Parallel to the suffering both personal and all around her, Chelsea’s surfing career blossomed: she made the film Sea Us Now, and expanded the organisation she helped found, Textured Waves, interjecting the presence and prowess of black and brown female surfers into surf circles, and far beyond. The Textured Waves crew has since partnered with big brands like Adobe, Adidas, and were featured on a billboard in Times Square for a big bank. Through her own surfing as an African American woman, and via her filmmaking and writings, Chelsea is creating fresh narratives that are rippling around the globe. Listen in as Chelsea shares about learning to surf later in life, the colonial roots of hair straightening, and finding her limits during her first season on the North Shore.  Chelsea’s latest film Night Crawler, handles the topic of surfing as otherworldly escape from shift work. ….We reference sociologist Jean Kilbourne’s pioneering media/advertising study Killing Us Softly in this episode. Click through to learn more about her work. …Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Tiffany RichmondSoundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comPhoto Credit: Samantha HunterSend 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.

In Greek myth, staring at the monster Medusa would turn mortals to stone; one needed a mirror to take the edge off.  Surfer, filmmaker and musician Jack Johnson reckons music and art can play a similar role in reflecting more digestible, less paralysing iterations of the ills and obstacles facing us all. Jack studied film at UCSB, and went on to make culture shaping movies like Thicker Than Water and A Broke down Melody. More recently, he’s a Grammy nominated artist, and founder of two charitable foundations  with his wife and business partner Kim, including the  Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, which supports and funds environmental, art, and music education, and the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, which provides experiential environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaiʻi. We caught up with Jack as he prepped to release his eighth studio album Meet the Moonlight in June 2022 about Greek mythology, watching dragonflies,  balancing family and work, the function of the artist today and where style comes from — in both music and surfing. ...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben AlexanderSoundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comPhoto Credit: Protect Our RiversSend 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 if your homeland was suddenly the target of foreign attacks ? What would you do? Ukrainian Kshisya Tachanskaya fled with her two children, a few belongings, reluctantly kissed her husband farewell, and drove for a familiar coast -- some 4000km away (2500 miles). Kshisya  is part of Ukraine’s tight knit surfing community who enjoy the couple of windswells that the Black Sea delivers each year. Before she found surfing, Kshisya was a water skier, and later opened Kyiv’s CitySwell Club, and worked as a wake surf instructor.Shortly after her arrival in Portugal, Kshisya got to work doing what she could to contribute: hosting GOOD DAYS Surf Camps for refugee families, now without community, homes or support.  More than 12 million people have been displaced from their Ukrainian homes, forced out by Russian attacks. Kshisya has received hundreds of applications for her Good Days Surf Camp sessions, and is seeking financial support to help cover the costs of providing free access to the week-long camps that include surf and skate lessons, but also ocean safety and literacy, food, psychological counselling, as well as yoga and meditation classes.Her mission: to share the ocean’s healing with as many as possible. Head here to learn more or to gift access to ocean play to Ukranian families seeking refuge....Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Tiffany RichmondSoundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comPhoto Credit: Tata LelitsaSend 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.

Unlike golf clubs and tennis racquets,  surfboards are still largely made by local artisans.               But, what sets the surfboard making industry apart from parallel industries? Why do local shapers still make boards? Master shaper Tom Wegener examines this question -- and much more -- in his PhD thesis and book Surfboard Artisans: For the Love.  "How can an industry which values passion over money be resilient and sustainable in a capitalistic society which has money as the primary value?," he asks, and goes on the elucidate how commitment to culture has made for an exceptionally resilient, even logic defying industry. Tom started shaping and glassing in 1978 in his parents garage and is best known for helping to re-popularize old and ancient Hawaiian surfcraft, as celebrated in films like Thomas Campbell’s The Present, Nathan Oldfield’s Seaworthy,  Jack McCoy’s A Deeper Shade of Blue, and Cyrus Sutton’s Tom’s Creation Plantation.What sets Tom apart as a shaper is his surfing prowess. Tom played an integral role in keeping the traditional logging approach alive when it fell out of fad, embarking in self-funded films like Ten Toes Over and Siestas & Olas, which Steve Pezman, of the Surfers Journal, reviewed as the “best surf travel movie since Endless Summer.”With more than four decades of building boards under his belt, including homegrown timber crafts which exemplify a more  sustainable approach, Tom shares with us about the responsibility he feels charged with -- to pass along the knowledge he has acquired and share his journey as a relentless artisan. ....Learn more:www.tomwegenersurfboards.com...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben AlexanderSoundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comSend 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.

Part Two of our meandering conversation with master shaper Tom Wegener talking the nitty gritty of board construction, how he almost got the call to be in The Endless Summer II,  experimenting with ancient techniques in the shaping bay and which mode of wave riding is stoking him out the most right now. ...Tom started shaping and glassing in 1978 in his parents garage and is best known for helping to re-popularize old and ancient Hawaiian surfcraft, as celebrated in films like Thomas Campbell’s The Present, Nathan Oldfield’s Seaworthy,  Jack McCoy’s A Deeper Shade of Blue, and Cyrus Sutton’s Tom’s Creation Plantation.What sets Tom apart as a shaper is his surfing prowess. Tom played an integral role in keeping the traditional logging approach alive when it fell out of fad, embarking in self-funded films like Ten Toes Over and Siestas & Olas, which Steve Pezman, of the Surfers Journal, reviewed as the “best surf travel movie since Endless Summer.”With more than four decades of building boards under his belt, including homegrown timber crafts which exemplify a more  sustainable approach, Tom shares with us about the responsibility he feels charged with -- to pass along the knowledge he has acquired and share his journey as a relentless artisan. ....Learn more:www.tomwegenersurfboards.com...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben AlexanderSoundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comSend 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.

Waterpeople is back with a fourth season of stories about the aquatic experiences that shape us, change us, and call us into this quirky  community of water folk across the globe. This season we'll hear from 16 waterpeople - some globally renowned, others under appreciated -  and learn about the moments that changed everything. In this episode we sit down for a catch up with our new sponsor this season Sunbutter Skincare. Founders Tom and Sacha talk us through why they, as a marine biologist and conservation ecologist, started a business, and how protecting people and the planet is embedded in every decision they make. We also dive into the sunscreen nitty gritty: physical vs. chemical barrier, nanoparticles, plastic packaging, and understanding what “reef safe” actually means. ...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Tiffany RichmondSoundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comSend 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 happens when life calls you to face your fears? Surfer,  adventurer and mother of three Sam Bloom had to face that call after a 2013 family holiday went tragically wrong. Sam is a two-time world para surfing champion. She is the bestselling author of two books, and the subject of the 2020 film Penguin Bloom, starring Naomi Watts. Those three works detail the tragic accident that left Sam paralysed from the chest down, and the unexpected guest – an injured magpie in need of care --  who helped Sam rehabilitate and regain a deeper sense of herself again. Sam shares about her experience of moving away from brink of despair, navigating grief,  and how getting back in the water first angered, then buoyed her. ....Learn more:Penguin BloomSpinal Cure Australia...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Tiffany RichmondSoundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comPhoto Credit: Cameron BloomSend 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.

To wrap up the third season, Lauren and Dave turn the mic on one another for a meandering chat through surf adventure stories,  common questions from listeners,  and their own answers to the central Waterpeople question about a time or experience after which you were never the same. We'll be back with a stacked fourth season in May or June, full of fresh stories,  inspiring ideas, and plenty of laughs. If you have a spare moment, please consider leaving a review of the podcast or sharing an episode with a friend – both help us to find the best stories from our global community of waterpeople.  ...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer & Music By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music: ‘Evergreen’ by Band of Frequencies:  Men of Wood & Foam album   Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comSend 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 is enough to move you to action? For heavy water specialist Fergal Smith, nuclear meltdown became the impetus for a radical shift in life and livelihood. As the founder of Moy Hill farm, Fergal and his team aim to “grow worthy food, build soil, regenerate systems, plant flowers and trees, and work to leave what is in their care healthier than they found it," while also nurturing community. Fergal talks us beyond the romanticisation of farming, and into the muddy complexity of what it means to grow food for one's community,  --- and why it's still so difficult to make a living as a farmer. Also, why surfers are (mostly)  airheads, and probably more farmers should ride waves. ...Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer & Music By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music: ‘Evergreen’ by Band of Frequencies:  Men of Wood & Foam album   Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comSend 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 is lost when a language perishes? What becomes of a language on the edge of  extinction ? Artist Mick Laurie is a man of story and culture, who is revitalising the language of his forefathers by making the first ever modern music in Gumbayngirr, using words spoken by his ancestors for tens of thousands of years. Mick, a  Gumbayngirr / Yaegl musician and storyteller, is based near the mouth of the Clarence River in Northern NSW, Australia,  where his forefathers  have lived and cared for country since time immemorial. Mick carries on this ancient and living tradition of obligations and responsibility for land, sea and culture as a beacon of hope and creative inspiration.You may have heard Mick’s music if you’ve seen Torren Martyn and Ishka Folkwell's 'Lost Track’ adventure/ surf series.  This episode closes with Mick’s collaborative piece with Headland, NGUURA, named by Australia’s Triple J as “a moving, significant work in language by an extremely talented emerging indigenous artist… shares the importance of us all taking on the responsibility to care for country and each other. Nguura will stay with you and inspire welcome reflection as you travel through these times.”Learn more about Mick @Maanyung_Music….Presented by Patagonia Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer & Music by: Shannon Sol Carroll Join the conversation: Waterpeoplepodcast.com@Waterpeoplepodcast 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.