Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comEnjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint Since I started the podcast back in February 2017, a few classic themes have become familiar to listeners. Creativity. Independence. Perseverance. Individuality. Community, too - although not always in a wholly positive way. After all, community was always supposed to be at the heart of this thing. And yet, for every positive story about action sports as community - usually relayed by white, male guests - there’s been an equal number of tales of rejection, hardship or outright hostility from that same supposedly progressive and open-minded community. This context is what makes the work of Valeria Kechichian so important and impressive. For the past decade, Valeria has been one of the driving forces behind the Longboard Girls’ Crew, which has quietly become one of the biggest communities in action sports. Now she’s taken that experience into her latest role running new non-profit Longboard Women, which will use longboarding, arts and educational programs to create change in disadvantaged communities around the world. As you might imagine from that brief description, Valeria is a hugely inspiring force of nature, and her own tale is a fascinating combination of personal and universal themes, and a lesson on how your own transformative experiences can create change live and inspire others. Above all, Valeria’s story, and the wider tale of the longboard community she has helped establish, is a welcome reminder that there is more than one way to experience the freedom, liberation and - yes - community that lies at the heart of our culture. And how, if you can’t find what you’re looking for in the existing community, you can create your own - on our own terms. Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comEnjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint Sight loss is one of those primal fears we in common. It’s something everybody has pondered at some point, the type of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ scenarios we tend to shy away from because we don’t really want to know what our potential reaction might reveal about our own character. It’s why Dan Mancina’s story is so powerful and inspirational. Dan is a skateboarder who is, as he puts it, ‘blind and changing how people see’. He was born with a hereditary degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa which began to affect his vision in his early twenties, and eventually led to total sight loss. Obviously, this was a huge physical and emotional blow to Dan. This story of what happened next, as Dan learned to overcome his blindness and reclaim his identity as a skateboarder, is rightly celebrated as one of the most joyous and humbling in skateboarding. So one level, this is a story about how Dan overcame his physical condition, and learned to live with his sight loss. But it’s also a story of personal identity, and the strength it takes to not let yourself be defined by the physical changes that come from diagnosis of illness and disease. In this way, it takes its place alongside my recent episode with Tim Baker, which covered similar ground with equally emotional honesty. I’m really grateful to Dan for trusting me with this one, and for being so honest about how his life as a blind skater. Hope you find the episode as inspirational as I did.Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comEnjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint What does ‘influence’ mean today? Somebody on Instagram with thousands of followers? A professional athlete using their platform to promote their own beliefs and interests, however erroneous? Or does it refer to somebody who, by their consistent actions, has quietly helped to create new opportunities for their community?At the moment, the latter is probably the least fashionable. But for my money, it is the truest definition of all. Take this week’s guest Hannah Bailey, who over the last decade has created a brilliant career for herself. Like many people in the industry, she has learned to wear many hats over the years; photographer, writer and communications specialist among them. But what really sets Hannah apart is the substance and creativity that are the hallmark of her work, and the purposeful way she has used her growing - yes - influence to create new spaces for her peers and contemporaries. Hannah and I have been friends for years, and I’ve always been a huge admirer of the way her work has helped bring about a sea change in the way that women’s skateboarding and women in action sports generally are perceived. What I didn’t realise until this conversation was how intentional the whole thing has been, and the scope of her ambitions when it comes to representing the cultures she loves in the truest way possible. And I think that’s the value of these ‘lifer’ episodes of the podcast, and of this conversation with Hannah in particular. Hannah’s story shows that by following your own vision of the inclusivity of action sports, you can eschew the usual career paths, make your own way, and help change the status quo while you’re at it. The lesson?’ Influencer’ doesn’t have to be a dirty word. You just have to look beyond the surface, and find the people doing the work to make a better environment for everybody. Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comHow does it feel to go into space? What does it make you feel about the future of our planet, and your own place in the universe? What are the moral implications of space travel? And just how do you take a picture of Pipeline from the International Space Station as it flies overhead at 17,000 mph?All topics that I discussed with this week’s guest Christina Koch, a surfer and - yes - astronaut who just spent 328 days in space in the International Space Station, setting a new record for the longest spaceflight completed by a woman in the process. She also, as we discussed, spent her downtime photographing the planet’s best surf locations, posting them on her hugely popular Instagram feed and outing herself as a serial surf geek in the process. Christina’s story is as inspirational and fascinating as any I’ve featured on the Looking Sideways podcast. It’s a lesson in focus and determination, and a tale of a life embellished with profound experiences that have seen her spend seasons at the South Pole and literally live among the stars.This breadth of experience has also given Christina a unique perspective on the biggest philosophical questions of all, whether it’s our place in the universe, the huge challenges we face on earth right now or the best way of handling individual experiences of stress and adversity.These are subjects which, as you’ll know if you’re a regular listener, are right up my boulevard. I’ve been trying to get Christina on the podcast for a few months now, and the resulting exchange is already one of my favourite ever Looking Sideways conversations. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Type 2 is a podcast from Looking Sideways in association with Patagonia that explores the intersection between the outdoors, action sports and activism.This week’s guest is Mario Molina, and what a chat this one is. Mario is a climber, snowboarder, mountain biker and guide who grew up in the highlands of Guatemala and today lives in Colorado. As I discovered, he is also somebody who has dedicated his life to the fight for climate action, firstly as deputy director at the Alliance for Climate Education, and then latterly as International Director at The Climate Reality Project, where he worked with Al Gore and helped oversee that organisation’s post-Paris Agreement strategy. Today, he is executive director of Protect Our Winters, helping to drive POW and sister organisation the POW Action Fund’s strategy during the busiest and most critical period in the organisation’s history. With the 2020 election looking, POW are using a highly targeted and calculated plan to try and mobilise a potential 50 million ‘outdoor state’ voters, and drive the narrative to depoliticise the climate conversation and move it away from a binary left/right argument. These are massive ambitions that stem from POW’s ultimate aim, which is to achieve systemic change in transportation and energy at the highest possible level. And it meant myself and Mario had plenty to talk about as we caught up over Zoom in August 2020.Naturally, I was also keen to tap into Mario’s depth of experience to see what we can learn from his own unique perspective on the challenges we face when it comes to climate action, particularly in the post-Covid world. The result is a rich, fascinating and insightful conversation with somebody with a unique take on our current situation. I found Mario to be a really generous conversationalist, and greatly enjoyed our conversation. Hope you do too. New episodes of Type 2 are released every four weeks through my Looking Sideways channel. Hear it by subscribing to Looking Sideways via ApplePodcasts, Spotify or any of the usual other podcast providers.Thanks to Ewan Wallace for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comAuspicious occasion alert! Yep, I conducted my first face-to-face interview since way back in March. Even more excitingly, it was a guest who also happens to be a really close friend of mine - the great Ben Mondy. Mondy is a surf writer, journalist and lifer par excellence of the Australian surf industry genus. He was a staffer at Tracks for years, and over the course of his career has written about surfing for absolutely everybody with caustic wit, high intelligence and a keenly developed bullshit radar that makes him essential reading and has got him into plenty of trouble over the years. Today, he works primarily with the WSL and Wavelength - and is still getting into trouble, as we discussed during our chat. These days, Benno lives down the road from me in Tunbridge Wells, and is so surf starved that he’s even started turning up at the Hot Pipes for a sneaky session with me when the tides, sludge and wind aligns. So it was one fateful August day that the forecast looked good, the sun came out and we found ourselves sitting in a car overlooking the Hot Pipes recording this episode. As you might expect given that a) it was the first in person one for months and b) it was with one of my oldest mates, spirits were high. Hope you enjoy the episode. Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comOur attitude to mortality is one of the great paradoxes of modern life. It’s the thing we have in common and the thing we all ignore, putting off the inevitable reckoning until we’re usually forced to face it under the worst possible circumstances - grief, loss, sickness. It’s a conundrum we will all grapple with at some point, and one that surfer, writer and journalist Tim Baker has spent the last five years becoming intimately familiar with following his 2015 stage 4 cancer diagnosis. During that time, he has written movingly, insightfully and honestly about his experiences, and the approach that has enabled him to cope physically and mentally with the biggest, most fundamental challenge of his life.In today’s show, we cover this territory and a whole lot more. We discuss the specifics of Tim’s approach to oncological care, a combination of traditional and alternative techniques he arrived at through much open-minded experimentation. We talk about the ethics of palliative and medical care, and our own shifting relationship to death and mortality. And we discuss Tim’s belief that by facing the great hidden experience of our lives, we can achieve an unexpected happiness and inner peace. I’m so grateful to Tim for this conversation, which I personally found to be a profound and moving experience. I hope you can take something similar from it. Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Type 2 is a podcast from Looking Sideways in association with Patagonia that explores the intersection between the outdoors, action sports and activism.This week’s guest is Alex Yoder, a snowboarder who is known for one of the best turns in the business and the series of thoughtful films he’s made in recent years about snowboarding in Turkey and Scotland. It was third time lucky for me and Alex - we had abortive attempts to record this episode in Portland and Niseko before finally jumping on Zoom to take care of it in time-honoured 2020 fashion. The timing was actually great, because Alex has just launched a new venture called Overview Coffee, an ethical take on coffee distribution. Overview sources its coffee from farms that prioritise environmental stewardship and is founded upon the principles of regenerative organic agriculture. For it’s proponents, regenerative organic agriculture offers an ethical vision for agriculture based upon a long-term approach to soil health, and a commitment to community and environmental sustainability; all of which which will become increasingly crucial if we’re to solve the many environmental issues we’re currently facing. That’s the thinking behind Overview, which for Alex is a kind of soft-power, pragmatic take on environmental activism - designed to educate people and encourage them to help create change with the consumer choices they make each week, which in the society we live in is still how most of actually get to exercise any influence or power.As you’ll expect if you’re a regular listener to Type 2, we also discussed Alex’s own story, including his passion for telling stories that sit outside the usual snowboard mainstream. The result is a thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation that provides plenty of food for thought on different forms of activism, and how we have more opportunities to create change than we might think. My thanks to Alex for a great chat - hope you enjoy this one. New episodes of Type 2 are released every four weeks through my Looking Sideways channel. Hear it by subscribing to Looking Sideways via ApplePodcasts, Spotify or any of the usual other podcast providers.Thanks to Ewan Wallace for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comThese days, using action sports as a tool for social mobility and mentorship is a fairly well known practise. In 2005, when this week’s guest Steve Larosiliere founded his organisation Stoked, it was new territory. Stoked was founded as a result of Steve’s own experience of mentorship and his ambition ‘to use action sports to teach 21st century skills to urban youth.’15 years later, Stoked has helped thousands of disadvantaged kids across the States, while Steve’s experiences in running the organisation have given him a unique take on social entrepreneurship and the power of action sports as a transformative tool. I’ve been following Steve for a while and we caught up in early August 2020 to discuss his life and career. The result is a quickfire chat that covers the above and also takes in issues of race, identity and nationality, using the wider global conversation as context and backdrop. Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.comThe search for our authentic self is a lifelong process. And not always a successful one. It takes a huge amount of self honesty, and a willingness to embrace consistent and at times not always comfortable evolution.It’s something we all have to face, whether consciously or not. But imagine undergoing this entire process as a world-renowned skateboarder - while also trying to juggle both wider societal pressures, and those of a patriarchal industry who have tied your own career success to their own restrictive definitions of gender. This is exactly the position Leo Baker faced at the height of their success. And it is why there is so much more to Leo’s story than their admittedly generation-defining feats as a skater. Today, as they explained during our conversation, Leo is in a very different place, proud to be living authentically as the most high-profile nonbinary trans skater in the world. And yet, as Leo explained during our conversation, gaining the understanding and self-confidence required to finally present as their authentic self has been a long and involved process.It has involved learning to deal with the collateral damage and mental health issues that have accrued along the way, and ultimately committing to a measured and long term approach to self-care. Leo’s story is one of the most important in modern skateboarding, and I’m grateful they’ve trusted me to tell it in their own way, and in their own words. Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe