Looking Sideways Action Sports Podcast

Welcome to the latest in an irregular series of bonus episodes of the Looking Sideways Action Sports podcast.No fuss, no fanfare, just a non-traditional episode banged out every now and again when this opportunity comes up.This episode you’re about to listen to is the full live chat with Olympic gold medal winning snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg, water photographer Christa Funk, surfer Kepa Acero and cameraman Tim Myers that I hosted for my friends at Db back in June.Of course, I’ve already released individual episodes with each of these guests. But I really enjoyed this chat and it went really well. It’s always a bit of a challenge hosting and stewarding a live interview like this - especially with four people and the temperature in the high 30s.But I think it’s an interesting appendix to the four main interviews proper, which is why I’m decided to release it. And if you’ve listened to the other four episodes, this one will be an interesting insight in to the way I approach the whole interviewing business.Anyway, enjoy this special bonus episode and let me know what you think.There are no Show Notes for this bonus episode, so if you want to find out more about any of the things we discuss or join in the debate: Know somebody who would enjoy this post or Looking Sideways generally? . 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

“We are increasingly aware that the construction of the outdoors, as a concept, has historically been the gnarled, wizened white guy in a puffer jacket and a beard, enduring the most inclement of conditions – it’s about conquest. It creates a culture that explicitly and implicitly says if you are a sixty year old woman of Pakistani heritage and don’t have an athletic build, this isn’t for you. That’s just not okay in 2022”This week’s guest is skier, cyclist, journalist, news correspondent and broadcaster Keme Nzerem. Keme’s a passionate outdoorsman and has been involved in the outdoor scene in the UK for years, notably as head judge at the Kendal Mountain Festival, and more recently as an articulate and passionate spokesperson on the topic of diversity in the outdoors.For the last two years, Keme, myself and a big group of individuals, agencies and brands who work in the European outdoor and creative industries have been involved in the establishment of Opening Up The Outdoors (OUTO), a not-for-profit initiative that seeks to further the continued inclusion and enjoyment of outdoor spaces by people of the global majority.As a group, we came together in the wake of the Black Live Matter protests, with the goal of doing something tangible to help create an outdoor community and industry that is truly diverse, equitable, anti-racist and accessible.To do so, the OUTO group partnered with entrepreneurship organisation Hatch to introduce the OUTO Changemaker Programme. As you’ll hear, we decided to try and help existing grassroots organisations by offering selected groups expert-led masterclasses, peer mentoring, business coaching and skilled consulting, and are joining other entrepreneurs and leaders from diverse sectors.With the first cohort (which featured groups such as Black Trail Runners, Muslim Hikers and Wave Wahines) safely through the programme, OUTO officially launched at the beginning of September 2022. So to mark the occasion and to go into the concept in more detail, I headed up to London to see Keme and chat the whole thing over.As you might expect from one of the UK’s most respected broadcasters, Keme is a peerless communicator and it was an absolute pleasure to discuss the OUTO story with him, as well as understand his own relationship to the issues OUTO was formed to help try and resolve.Keme is a great friend of the podcast, and over the years I’ve been endlessly inspired by his leadership. I enjoyed our conversation greatly and I 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 Apple Podcasts, 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

“I’m very hyper-aware of my privilege and background, so I didn’t feel like I was the right person to be speaking on these subjects. But people kept on asking me. I realised I was doing everyone a disservice by saying ‘No, I’m not going to talk publicly’. It didn’t mean someone else was going to step in to that space, so I needed to find a way that I would be able to support other people’s voices”This week’s guest is Soraya Abdel-Habdi, a writer, artist and activist from Hampshire who is the founder of All The Elements, which she describes as a community working to increase diversity in the outdoors.I first met Soraya at the Kendal Mountain Festival in November 2021 through our mutual friend Phil Young, and have since followed her work closely. The idea behind All The Elements is in its way pretty similar to what I do with Looking Sideways and Type 2. It’s about sharing knowledge and ideas, and pooling resources, in the hope that the community as a whole will benefit.This type of approach is particularly important when it comes to the conversation around diversity and equality, particularly in the outdoor space. Over the last two years, groups such as All The Elements have been quietly helping to shape this conversation in positive and powerful ways.You can also say the same about Soraya herself. Soraya’s story underlines just how important taking that first step truly is. The importance of forwards-movement as a means of navigating life is a perennial topic of conversation on Type 2 and Looking Sideways. Hell, it’s what Yvon’s words at the beginning of the show are all about. Soraya’s story underlines the significance of this. After all, as you’ll hear, there was no masterplan in place. Just a desire to explore the issues Soraya is passionate about, take some positive action, and follow the path where it leads. The results today speak for themselves.Incidentally, that’s one reason why I was so happy to hear about the way Soraya had been partially inspired to take action after listening to my episodes with Phil Young a couple of years ago. Stories like that keep me going, and confirm that it’s always worth lobbing that first stone into the pond. You really never know where those outward ripples will lead.I’m a huge fan of Soraya and her work, and I’m really intrigued to see where she takes things next, especially following her participation in the Opening Up The Outdoors incubator programme, which we discuss during outrconversation. Hope you enjoy our chat.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

Is Chris Burkard the most influential visual artist at work in the outdoors today? It’s difficult to think of anybody else who has shaped the conversation to the same degree. Whether you realise it or not, any time you open Instagram and clock somebody gallivanting in front of a remote waterfall, or watch the latest series from an outdoor brand featuring twilit campfires on a beach, you’re seeing the influence of Chris.I’ve tried and failed to get Burkard on the show at various points over the years. Hell, he’s a busy man. So when my pals at Db asked me to head over to Stockholm for the weekend to interview Chris in front of a live audience at renowned local camera emporium Scandinavian Photo, I jumped at the chance.The original plan was to record a separate conversation with Chris after the live chat was in the bag. But our panel conversation turned out so well that we agreed it’d be best for us to just release that as an episode instead.What follows is a total masterclass in creativity and finding your voice, from somebody who is absolutely at the top of their game. Every successful artist has their imperial phase, that period when everything they touch turns metaphorically to gold, and Chris is at the height of his right now. So it was completely fascinating getting a glimpse into the eye of the storm, and hearing how Chris navigates these turbulent, satisfying waters emotionally, psychically, professionally and personally.I learned a lot, and I hope you do too. My thanks to Chris, Db, and the lovely people at Scandinavian Photo for making this one such a great experience. A note on the audio: we did have a few technical difficulties while recording this one, but I think it’s worth persevering with. Hope you enjoy the episode! 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

When one of the legends drops the guard to show some vulnerability and openness, it has real impact. This is one reason why my episode with Jamie Thomas is still so popular. And why I think this latest conversation with Olympic gold medalist and modern day snowboarding icon Sage Kotsenburg is likely to have a similar effect.After all, it isn’t that often that one of the most high profile snowboarders in the world has the honesty and balls to discuss how, in the aftermath of the biggest triumph of his career, a mixture of stress and anxiety caused him to almost fall out of love with snowboarding. And explain how hard he had to fight to get back the passion that had characterised his rise to the top. 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

A mere four years after I had Ross Edgeley on the show, I’ve finally managed to book another swimmer! Yes my guest for this episode is the great Bonnie Tsui, journalist, writer, swimmer, surfer and author of one of my favourite books of recent years - Why We Swim.It wouldn’t be possible to produce Looking Sideways without support from readers and listeners. Subscribe below to support the showAs a total swim geek, I loved this book. But as well as being manna for swimmers, it is also just a really brilliantly marshalled and elegantly-styled treatise on our relationship with nature through the lens of swimming. Like all the best none-fiction crossovers, it has an appeal way beyond its subject matter; and as Bonnie is such a scrupulous journalist and an excellent none-fiction stylist, you know you’re in safe hands from the first page.Know somebody who might find this post interesting? Then please share it and help me spread the word about Looking SidewaysI headed up to London to meet Bonnie in early July 2022, where we sat down to record this conversation about the book, during which I was keen to find out how Bonnie manage to condense such a vast topic into such a compelling, readable tale.As you might expect if you’ve previously heard her on Rich Roll or Finisterre’s Hell or High Water podcast, Bonnie is a great conversationalist, able to switch between topics with ease and calm authority. This one is all about the opportunities and restrictions of creativity, told with great insight and candour from a writer in their imperial phase. Enjoyed my chat with Bonnie? Let me know 👇 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

It wouldn’t be possible to produce Looking Sideways without support from readers and listeners. Subscribe below to support the show. Let’s start with the facts: this week’s guest Stacy Peralta is one of the most influential cultural figures in our corner of the world. If you’ve stood sideways on any craft - hell, even if you’ve listened to my podcast - you’ve been influenced by Stacy, whether you realise it or not. Even my weird little career, on an extremely minor level, is following a template set by Stacy and his peers. He’s a giant, in every sense of the world.Just look at the CV. By his mid teens, he was part of the legendary Z-Boys. At 19, he joined forces with George Powell to form Powell-Peralta. He followed that by establishing the Bones Brigade, then went on to create epoch-defining films such as The Search For Animal Chin and Ban This. A few years later, he parlayed these experiences into his current career as a director and writer, making Dogtown and Z Boys, Riding Giants and Lords of Dogtown, among others. Today, he balances a career as a highly successful commercial director with passion projects such as the Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez, his latest film and the reason he was in London when I sat down with him.Know somebody who might find this post interesting? Then please share it and help me spread the word. I’m sure you get the point. Stacy’s influence is incalculable. And, as ever with this type of guest, the challenge is how to approach a conversation with such a figure. Especially when you only have an hour, and he’s spent three weeks on the promo trail essentially giving the same interview.If you’ve listened for a while, you’ll know I try not to do the chronology or the straight, on-the-nose career debrief. Sure, I want to cover the highlights, but in a way that’s insightful, revealing and ideally less obvious. (This is, incidentally, is a big part of the How To Podcast And Interview People course I’ve been running for companies recently. Hit me up for more about that).Anyway, I’m really grateful that the conversation we ended up having is just about everything I hoped it would be. Stacy embraced the spirt of the pod wholeheartedly and showed himself to be the curious, creative, humble, vulnerable and yet truly generous person you always hope the legends will be when you get the rare chance to meet them.There’s so much gold in here, from somebody who has defined the board-riding conversation for a solid 40 years. I’m hugely grateful to Stacy for his time and creative insights.If you enjoyed my conversation with Stacy, let me know 👇 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

“My approach to activism is to not be too ‘shouty’. Instead, it’s how can I bring someone along with me? I try in my writing to be even more gentle than I feel, because I want people to be willing to listen to me.”Type 2 is my podcast in association with Patagonia that explores the intersection between the outdoors, action sports and activism.This week’s guest is surfer, swimmer and academic Rebecca Olive, a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Global, Urban & Social Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne.I first became aware of Rebecca through her work investigating a couple of areas of particular interest to me, and which I’ve explored in some detail on Type 2 and my main podcast Looking SidewaysFirst up is Moving Oceans, her research project about the way recreational sport and leisure activities shape our relationships to nature. Rebecca examines this dynamic through the lens of ocean ‘sports’ like swimming, surfing and even sailing. To quote from her Moving Oceans website, the project is about ‘exploring the everyday individual and community relationships we develop through surfing, swimming and other ocean lifestyle sports. Rebecca’s work is about showing how and why ocean lifestyle sports help us experience such close connections with saltwater plants, animals, geographies and climates’.It wouldn’t be possible to produce Looking Sideways without support from readers and listeners. Subscribe below to support the showThen there’s the other strand to Rebecca’s research, which explores the way women are represented in action sports media, and the impact this can have on how women interact with and are perceived by these communities and cultures.As I say, both topics are of real interest to me, and it was through chatting about this stuff on Instagram that Rebecca and I first met. When I heard that she’d be heading to London for a few weeks this summer, I headed up to London so we could sit down and chat through her work and ideas for an episode of Type 2.This is activism as investigation, about how the exchange of often niche and sometimes challenging ideas has the power to change the way we perceive the everyday activities that embellish our lives. This was a nourishing and at times extremely thought-provoking chat, which I enjoyed very much. Hope you do too!New episodes of Type 2 are released every four weeks or so through my Looking Sideways channel. Hear it by subscribing to Looking Sideways on Substack, or through ApplePodcasts, Spotify or any of the usual other podcast providers. Thanks to Ewan Wallace for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson.Enjoyed my chat with Rebecca?Know somebody who would find this episode interesting? Then please share and help me spread the word about Looking Sideways. 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

It wouldn’t be possible to produce Looking Sideways without support from readers and listeners. Subscribe below to support the show. Kepa Acero is one of modern surfing’s most intriguing and beloved characters. Why? Because there’s just something irresistible about people who are completely comfortable in their own skin and who take life on their own terms. That’s definitely the case with Kepa, and it comes across in everything he does, which is why I think people genuinely seem to love and admire him so much.Not that it’s been an easy ride for Kepa. Like everybody with a vision and the determination to see it to fruition, he’s taken big risks and make critical decisions to get where he is today.But the second, post-competitive part of his career has seen him evolve into one of THE great surfing travellers. He’s a Peterson/Naughton for the digital age; somebody who is, in his own way, as quietly influential as those two giants.Know someone who would find this post interesting? Then please share it and help me spread the word about Looking Sideways.Myself and Owen were lucky enough to spend a couple of highly enjoyable days in Hossegor with Kepa while we recorded this episode, and I found him to be a lovely, warm and generous individual who has time for people and brings out the best in them.Kepa has a unique take on the experience of surfing, and a brilliant story about how he has adapted his life to accommodate this vision. This is a surfing life in two halves, and a beautiful, compelling tale it so too. Enjoyed my chat with Kepa? Let me know 👇 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.comEpisode 2 of my Hossegor omnibus in association with Db! And my guest for this instalment is Christa Funk, a swimmer, surfer, coastguard and photographer who has very quickly established herself as one of the most creative and formidable photographers on the North Shore, capturing that none-more-heavy scene with a beguiling blend of dynamism, grace and beauty.She’s also got a hell of a story about how she made this happen. As regular listeners to the show will have learned from listening to my guests over the years, there’s no set route into the industry.Anyone who ‘makes it’ (itself a very flawed concept) has to travel a long way, literally and metaphorically. And Christa’s story about how she ended up here, via an upbringing in Colorado, twin passions for swimming and photography, and a stint in the US Coastguard, is a pretty extraordinary and inspiring tale.And it just underlines a fundamental truth. There are no perfect career paths. Just individuals trying to work it out, and make the best of the hand they’ve been dealt. My chat with Christa is an object lesson in how far you can travel with only your geeky, niche interests and self-determination to guide you.I had such a laugh hanging out with and recording this conversation with Christa. Thanks for being such a good sport Christa! See ya on the North Shore sometime.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, to Duncan Yeldham for production support, 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