Looking Sideways Action Sports Podcast

Noah Lane bonus episode! In October 2018 I found myself in Strandhill and arranged to meet my friend Noah Lane for a quick catch up. Noah was in the middle of an injury-enforced lay-off so headed on down from his home in Bundoran to sit down and fill me in on his life and career. We chatted about how he’s coping with a summer of rehab, his life as an Aussie surfer on the west coast of Ireland, his work with Backwash, and the psychology of surfing the scary, cold and heaving waves that have put this part of the work on the map. Big thanks to Noah for coming on the show - make sure you check out Backwash, and his latest project Beyond the Noise with Dan Crockett and Andrew Kaineder. There are no Show Notes for this bonus episode, so if you want to find out more about any of the things we discuss, check out my Instagram (@WeLookSideways), Twitter (@WeLookSideways) and Facebook (@wearelookingsideways). Nice one. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comIt was back to Ireland for episode 056, as I visited Strandhill in Sligo for a few days and grabbed legendary local bodyboarder Seamus ‘Shambles’ McGoldrick for a chat while I was at it. Although he’s too modest to admit it, Shambles first made his name as part of the local crew of surfers and bodyboarders who pioneered the mean array of ugly, evil-looking slabs that the west coast is now famous for. With peers such as Fergal Smith and Mickey Smith, Shambles explored places like Riley's and Aileen's and helped redefine Irish surfing and bodyboarding in the process. He’s also, as I discovered, a deeply original thinker with a quicksilver mind, somebody who is attuned to life’s mysterious currents and has a completely infectious worldview. In this atmospheric chat, recorded on an autumnal evening on the shores of the Atlantic, we chatted about Shambles’ life as a bodyboarder in Ireland, and got heavily into the details of the life-changing wipeout he suffered at Riley’s.Its a lovely, reflective conversation from a true one-off and one of the warmest and most generous characters I’ve yet had on the show. I was also lucky enough to get Shambles to play me a couple of tunes at the end of the show, so make sure you keep listening for that. Big thanks to Owen Tozer for coming with me and taking the amazing pics that accompany the episode. And thanks to Matt Ward as ever for theme tune. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comEpisode 055, and I invited one of my oldest and dearest friends onto the show - Sian Leigh. Sian is a health coach, a yoga instructor, a mum, a wife and a snowboarder. You may be familiar with her from work as one of the coaches on Jenny Jones’ camps, for example. But what makes Sian unique is her unapologetically positive and joyful take on life, and her perspective on the issues we’re all dealing with, whether we like to admit it or not. I described her as a health coach but that doesn’t really do justice to what she does, which is help people find the underlying root of why they are struggling to cope with life, whether physical or mental.What Sian does is bridge the gap been these two realities - the Instagram-friendly front we put on for the world, and the real shit that’s going on behind this veil, where everyone is struggling, we’re all pretending we’re not and nobody is talking about it. And as such, as somebody who is actually tackling this big unsaid, her persepective is unique and valuable, and that’s why I wanted to get her on the podcast and why I would implore you to check out this episode. Sian may not have the wider profile of some of my other guests but she’s as interesting and insightful as anybody else I’ve had on. So yep - some weighty themes in this one, although hopefully delivered with the lightness of touch that is the hallmark of every conversation I have with Sian. Huge thanks to Sian for being such a good sport, and to Melody Sky for the brilliant photos that I’ve used on the website. Thanks as usual to Matt Ward for the theme tune. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comI was lucky enough to welcome surfer, father, rancher, director and Patagonia ambassador Keith Malloy onto the show for episode 054, recorded during my recent trip to Newquay.Keith’s is a surfing life in three parts. He spent his twenties on the WCT tour, following the contest circuit and enjoying a huge profile as one third of the Malloy brothers with long-time sponsors Hurley. As he approached 30, Keith made an abrupt left-turn but dropping out of the tour and reconnecting with the surfing values that had driven his initial love for surfing as a kid. It was a move that coincided with the Malloys as a trio moving to Patagonia to help the brand shape their entire surf category, something they have been doing ever since, and saw Keith embark upon a decade of wave-chasing to some of the remotest, coldest climes on the planet. Now, as Keith settles into his fifth decade, life has changed once again and in this lovely, ruminative conversation we covered plenty of ground, including Keith’s involvement with Patagonia, his relationship with his brothers and father, how his family life has completed a wider, cross-generational circle, being an auto-didact and much more. Big thanks to Patagonia for hosting me down in Newquay on their inaugural European WornWear tour, particularly to Alex Weller, Jelle Mul and Louise Brierley Ingham. Hope you enjoy the episode. Thanks as ever to Matt Ward for the theme tune. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comI’m back after a couple of weeks podcast downtime - and my guest this week is the legendary Don Brown. You might not be too familiar with the name, but Don, a Brighton local, has had one of the most quietly influential careers in skateboarding. How? From world champion freestyler to the man who came up with Go Skateboarding Day, Don has been there, seen it, done it and probably sold you the t-shirt. Don was part of the early generation of UK skaters, who very early on headed over to the States to pursue his absolute love for skateboarding and along the way found himself at the heart of the global skate industry. And that’s where he’s been ever since, giving him a ringside seat for every significant development in skate history since the mid 1980s. It means the man, a brilliant raconteur, has stories to burn and in this episode we get plenty of those. We also get a glimpse of Don the romantic, a man for whom fate is real, and who has always been guided by his passion for skateboarding and by a burning desire to spread the skate gospel as honestly and funnily as possible. As he says himself during our conversation, “I just loved skateboarding. It was all I knew and that was passion that really drove who I was as a person. So I followed the path of where that was rolling”. The result is a funny, gossipy, rollercoaster of a chinwag that touches upon every era of skateboarding and just might have the most extensive Show Notes yet. So if you’re struggling to keep up with all the names and references dropped by Don then head on over to my website for the full breakdown.Massive thanks to Don for coming on the show and knocking it out of the park so entertainingly. Enjoy!Thanks as usual to Matt Ward (www.linguistine.com) for the theme tune. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comI was lucky enough to speak to the great Pete Cabrinha for episode 052 - founder and owner of Cabrinha Kites, legit Hawaiian waterman and complete force of nature. Pete has been at the cutting edge of waterborne action sports since the last 70s, and since then achieved mastery at no less than three different disciplines - windsurfing, surfing and kitesurfing. His achievements are legendary. He was world champion windsurfer in 1985. Along with Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama and others, he was part of the legendary crew that pioneered tow-in surfing at Jaws in the early 90s. Today, thanks to his innovative approach both on and off the water, he is one of the world’’s most influential kitesurfers. But beyond the headlines I found a supremely confident, thoughtful and reflective individual, somebody who has always been inspired by the search for constant progression and forward motion. HIs life has been characterised by an innate curiosity and willingness to take risks, and the result has been an endlessly questing and fascinating career. It was a real privilege to catch up with Pete during his recent visit to London, enjoy the episode. Thanks as usual to Matt Ward (www.linguistine.com) for the theme tune. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comI finally bagged a guest I’d been after for months when I welcomed Hanli Prinsloo onto the show for episode 051. Hanli is an ocean advocate, conservationist, writer and speaker who is the founder and executive director of I Am Water, an ocean conservation trust. She is also a freediver who enjoyed a decade long career at the top of the sport.That’s the thumbnail sketch anyway, although it doesn’t really do justice to the sheer depth of Hanli’s vision. For Hanli, human wellbeing is intrinsically linked to an intense and close communion with nature, and she has dedicated her career to fulfilling this vision through the work of her trust, her talks and her writing. We met up in Cornwall in July 2018 at the Ocean Plastic Solutions Day organised by Finisterre and Surfers Against Sewage, and the next day sat down with a coffee to run the rule over her life and career. Some familiar themes in this one, which regular listeners will be well used to: imposter syndrome and the corrosive power of self-imposed pressure, but there are also true moments on wonder in this as Hanli describes some of the transformative experiences she’s had in the ocean with some of our planet’s biggest creatures. Hanli is definitely one of the most skilful communicators I’ve had the privilege of speaking to for the show, and the upshot is an episode brimming with positivity, inspiration and generosity. Huge, huge thanks to Hanli and Peter for being such great sports, and to Hanli in particular for taking the time to speak to me for the podcast.Thanks as usual to Matt Ward (www.linguistine.com) for the theme tune. 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

Read and Destroy bonus episode with Dan Adams! Dan is the man behind the hugely popular Read and Destroy archive project, on Instagram, and now the new Kickstarter project which is running this July. Dan, a supremely talented designer, cut his teeth on RaD magazine back in the day. And for the last half decade or so has been working with the original RaD ensemble - Tim Leighton Boyce and pretty much every photographer on the books - to organise and get on top of the enormous RaD archive. An absolutely Herculean task, and along the way Dan and the guys realised that what they had on their hands was nothing less than a completely unique cultural artefact - a complete, fully-formed and totally encyclopaedic history of UK skateboarding from the late 70s to mid 90s. Hence the Kickstarter: the plan is to turn the lot into two beautiful books that plot the history of UK skate culture through the work of the original documentarians behind perhaps the most innovative and influential UK sideways periodical of the last 30 years.It’s brilliant stuff, so I got Dan on to talk us through the whole project and the Kickstarter. Donate here! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/322122905/rad-the-book-of-the-magazine There are no Show Notes for this bonus episode, so if you want to find out more about any of the things we discuss, check out my Instagram (@WeLookSideways), Twitter (@WeLookSideways) and Facebook (@wearelookingsideways). Nice one. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comWell, I had to didn’t I? To mark a whopping 50 episodes of the Looking Sideways podcast, I invited back the very first and still one of the most popular guests I’ve had on the podcast: snowboarder and presenter Ed Leigh. I’ve had a few returning guests over the months, notably Billy Morgan and Sophie Hellyer, but for episode 050 wanted to circle things right back to the start by bringing Ed back on the show. If you listened to that first episode you’ll know all about Ed and his incredible two decade career in action sports, whether as an athlete or as the UK’s most high profile snowboarding broadcaster. He presents Ski Sunday, fronts the BBC’s Olympic coverage, and is in demand as a commentator, pundit and journalist.Yet throughout it all Ed has been inspired by one thing - his unquenchable stoke for the sideways life, which as such makes him the perfect guest for episode 050. I’ve know Ed since the mid-90s and count him as one of my oldest and dearest friends, so its always great for us to catch up, swap gossip and find out where we are in our lives. That’s definitely the case in this one, which sees us go deep into the Olympics and the current state of snowboarding, pick up our ongoing argument about Shaun White, find out where Ed’s at in his career and discuss how our love for skating, surfing and snowboarding just keeps increasing as we get older.Thanks as usual to Matt Ward (www.linguistine.com) for the theme tune. 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 info and Show Notes: www.wearelookingsideways.comI’ve had some pretty progressive guests on this show. But I think this week’s guest, Neftalie Williams, might just be the most visionary of the lot. Just check the list of accomplishments that make up one of the most impressive CVs in skateboarding. He is the first lecturer of skateboarding business, media and culture at USC; a PhD candidate at the University of Waikato in New Zealand; a pioneer of the concept of skateboard diplomacy, which he worked on with the US Star Department; Chairman of Cuba Skate; team manager at Citystars skateboarding: the list goes on. What’s the common thread between each of these diverse interests? For Neftalie, the key is bridging gaps, understanding ecosystems and gatekeepers, connecting communities, and owning the conversation about skateboarding. And it’s here that the full depth and sheer generosity of Neftalie’s vision becomes apparent. We caught up at the recent Pushing Boarders event in London at the end of May 2018 and had one of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had yet on the podcast. Some big, weighty themes in this one, from a man with a passionate, generous vision of the transformative power of skateboarding. Skateboarding has always handled this level of discourse, but as skate culture becomes ever more incorporated into popular culture, viewpoints like Neftalie are going to become more important than ever. Hope you enjoy this one. Thanks as usual to Matt Ward (www.linguistine.com) for the theme tune. 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