The Kyle Thiermann Show

Nina Simon has worn many hats in her career: slam poet, NASA engineer, game designer, and museum director at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. If that didn’t make her busy enough, she went ahead and wrote two nonfiction books: The Participatory Museum and The Art of Relevance. In 2020, Nina’s mom was diagnosed with advanced cancer, so Nina quit her job to help care for her. The two had always enjoyed reading mysteries, so they started imagining one that featured characters a bit like them—hardworking California women trying to balance professional ambition and motherhood. She wrote, her mom read, and the creative process helped them heal and grow closer. Today, Nina’s mom is doing well, and Mother-Daughter Murder Night is a New York Times Bestseller. (Talk about turning lemons into lemonade.) If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can watch this podcast on my YouTube channel and join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Soraya Simi is the director of the new documentary, ROW OF LIFE, which follows renowned Paralympian and Marine Veteran Angela Madsen on her solo row across the Pacific Ocean. The film quite simply rocks, if I do say so myself. It's on a nationwide tour now; see dates here. In this podcast, I grilled Soraya about the art and craft of documentary filmmaking. How to get funding with a sizzle, A plot and B plot, truth as subtraction, and much more. Soraya is a damn good filmmaker. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can watch this podcast on my YouTube channel and join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious.Kyle Thiermann is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

In 2017, Wilem Banks (@Wilembanks) made headlines when he suffered a horrific fall at Mavericks and won WSL’s Wipeout of the Year (the most embarrassing award in surfing). The award seemed to put a chip on Wilem’s shoulder, and since then, he’s set out to prove that he can do more than paddle into gigantic waves—he can make them, too! This year, the humble warrior took his first trip to Jaws on Maui and bagged what some say was the biggest wave ever completed at the spot. In this episode, Wilem recounts the story in detail. Beyond the ocean, he is a hunter, carpenter, and co-owner of Banks&Banks Saunas, a custom-built sauna service he runs with his brother.If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can watch this podcast on my Youtube channel and join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious.Kyle Thiermann is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Arthur (@arthurbourbon) was born and raised on a small French Caribbean island called Guadeloupe. He started surfing at a very young age with his parents, and competitions led him to move to France as a teenager. After graduating from high school, Arthur began a professional surfing career, competing on the European Pro Junior and QS circuits for a few years before switching to a free surf career. While traveling to the world’s most beautiful surf spots, he discovered a new passion that would also become a profession: filmmaking. Since then, Arthur has divided his time between surfing and filmmaking. Primarily focused on documentary films, he seeks to tell surf-related stories that go beyond the sport itself, often addressing broader themes like environmental or social impact. In 2020, he released the critically acclaimed documentary “Water Get No Enemy” about the Liberian surfing community. Last year, Arthur had the chance to return to Liberia to continue documenting their story. A new film titled “We The Surfers” will be released soon.If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Jarrett Rose, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Community & Behavioral Health and Sociology at the State University of New York (SUNY) Polytechnic Institute. His research focuses on psychedelics, mental health, and surf culture (Spoiler: they’re all connected). Dr. Rose's interest in mental health research began during his time as a teacher in a "trauma reduction unit" at a juvenile detention facility in San Diego. This experience inspired him to pursue graduate studies in Toronto, Canada, where he participated in a weeklong group-based psychedelic-assisted therapy retreat in Jamaica. There, he explored the combined effects of psychedelics and group dynamics on healing and self-transformation. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious.Kyle Thiermann is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Dersu Rhodes is the former Creative Director at Vice and MUD\WTR. He helped launch Vice TV, worked on VICE on HBO, and has led creative teams to launch literally hundreds of brands. Raised by hippie parents in Montana, he didn't have a television until he was nine. And from a quiet yearning to fit in as a child a necessity for storytelling emerged. Dersu lives in Ojai and possesses an above-average style on mid-length Bonzers. Stalk Dersu on Instagram. His reel is also impressive. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious.Kyle Thiermann is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Born and raised near Toronto, RJ had a thirst for adventure from a young age and moved to the coast to work at a remote salmon fishing lodge in Haida Gwaii. Now 34, he’s the co-owner of the Nootka Wilderness Lodge, a floating fishing and surfing resort off the remote west coast of Vancouver Island. In the winter, he manages ops at a new heli ski operation in Bute Inlet, home of the tallest coastal mountain in BC. Most importantly, though, when I asked RJ to send me his bio, he made sure to include the fact that he has an above-average beard and is below average in height (unless wearing my cowboy boots). Follow RJ on Instagram; he’s a true salt-of-the-earth badass. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Thomas Kemeny is a Creative Director/Copywriter and author of the advertising book Junior. I own the book, recommend the book, and when I’m feeling completely lost on a copywriting job, occasionally smear goat blood on the book and pray to it. An idea always arrives. Thomas has worked at top creative agencies all over the country and has won The One Show, Cannes Lions, and ANDY Awards. His work has been discussed in the New York Times, NPR, and Vanity Fair. He has an equally impressive list of failures (his words, not mine). Follow the man on LinkedIn. If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Paige Alms (@Paigealms) is 2x Big Wave Surfing World Champion and a fellow Patagonia Surf Ambassador. Recently, we spent a week on a ship together, huffing diesel fumes and salt water through unruly seas on an adventure to British Columbia. Paige is widely considered to be the best female big-wave surfer in the world and the only woman to ever get barreled at Jaws. She was instrumental in fighting for equal pay in women’s competitions and was a subject in a Page 1 New York Times piece titled, The Fight for Gender Equality in One of the Most Dangerous Sports on Earth. This podcast was recorded on a beach at the base of a shallow, gurgly, righthand slab and was by far the most splendid location I have ever done a show.If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious. Photo: Christa FunkKyle Thiermann is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe

Sean Jansen is a freelance writer and seasonal wilderness guide in Yellowstone National Park. He’s intense, slightly awkward, and deeply committed to dancing with the more raw frequencies of human experience. I love this guy. During his off-season from guiding, he partakes in a litany of expeditions from thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail to his recent trip, standup paddling more than 1,000 miles down the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. Through recovery from alcoholism, he has moved into a van and spends his time flying fishing trout streams, training for ultra-marathons, and searching the coast for unsurfed waves. With a passion for wilderness and wild places, he often takes his pen and paper on trips and finds ways that the outdoor recreation activities he loves can give back to conservation and environmental areas in need. Follow him on Instagram and read his new book, Paddling with Porpoise.If you dig this podcast, will you please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts? It takes less than 60 seconds and makes a difference when I drop to my knees and beg hard-to-get guests on the show. I read them all. You can join my newsletter on Substack. It’s glorious.  Get full access to Kyle Thiermann at thiermann.substack.com/subscribe