Two friends chart a path from pain to agency: Layne Beachley examines the drive behind seven world titles and finds a search for self-worth, while Tess Brouwer turns a hidden spinal injury and a hospital-bed reckoning into a mental fitness toolkit. Together, Layne and Tess are the co-authors of the book Awake Academy, wherein they share the life altering changes that shook their respective senses of purpose. Layne details the comedown from her 19-year professional surfing c...

Every Aussie bloke's favourite surfer? That's Margo. Widely recognised as the first paid freesurfer - Brenden 'Margo' Margieson is famed almost as much for his gentle demeanour as his explosive power surfing. We traced some of his undulating journey through a surfing life's highs and lows. From early days being propelled by legendary filmmaker Jack McCoy, to unexpectedly winning a major contest against World Tour pros, Brendan's career defied conventional paths. His distinctive "p...

How does change happen when we, and the world, seem stuck in our ways? We’re curious about how change happens – and what people are doing on the ground, in our community, to create the causal pathways to shift social and environmental ideas, norms, and policy. Listen in for stories from the 2025 Waterwomen Camp Out put on by the NGO Surfers for Climate. The Waterwomen Camp is an annual weekend of women in nature coming together to help shape the future of surf culture and pr...

Is there a particular fear that's still holding you back? Holistic surf therapist and coach Holly Beck talks us through the way she sees terrestrial life play out in the water - in terms of how we behave and how we engage with others and with the ocean. Holly spent 10 years as a professional surfer, where she pioneered new pathways for women in the industry as a competitor, savvy freesurfer and as president of International Women's Surfing, a largely forgotten union to push ...

Who's your youngest friend? We just met one of ours: 11-year-old surfer, shaper and filmmaker Hunter Williams. This year, Hunter won the grom shorts category at the Noosa International Surf Film Festival with his movie Heirloom. Informing an impressive depth of knowledge about surfboard building and design, is Hunter’s spectral surfing skill – he talks us through peak moments of tube time and critical hang tens. We meander with Hunter through the way he gathers inspira...

Rites of passage, once central to marking life’s transitions, have faded in modernity. As we navigate rising anxiety, social fragmentation, and a world where technology permeates nearly all aspects of our shared human experience, what role could a revival of rites of passage play in reclaiming our resilience and our capacity for social cohesion? Dr Arne Rubinstein is the CEO and Founder of the Rites of Passage Institute. His goal is to make Rites of Passage mainstream once again. He has over ...

How much has your homebreak shaped you - your life, livelihood, the person you've become? The quirkiness of Dylan Graves' Puerto Rican homebreak shaped a lifelong obsession, and subsequent career in chasing, riding, and documenting Weird Waves around the globe. Tidal bores, standing waves, wedges, glacial calving swells; Dylan's Youtube channel shares an astonishing diversity of wavelengths. While the focus of Dylan's wildly successful series is taking viewers to obscure and...

What moves you through the world? In the most literal sense, it's the same answer for all of us: muscle. In On Muscle, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are - but what they mean to us. Bonnie attended Harvard University, where she rowed crew, snowboarded, and studied American literature. She came to surfing in her late 20s after relocating to California. Today, Bonnie lives...

Besides being a professor of chemistry, Dr. Sarah Gerhardt was the first woman to ride one of the world’s most feared waves, Mavericks in icy Northern California. She is a mother of two and acknowledged as the first female tow-in surfer. Amidst a tumultuous childhood, Sarah found stability in an unexpected place: The Periodic Table of Elements. Sarah learned to surf in the late '80s at Pismo Beach, California. In time, surfing became her escape from the hardships of home and faith...

When was the last time you followed a spark of curiosity all the way to some distant shoreline? Kiana Weltzien's ocean adventures began in 2016 when she left her real estate career in Miami for a year of travel. Along the way, she met a mentor and moved onto his boat; a replica Polynesian double-canoe. She sensed that this was her new way of life. In 2018, Kiana acquired her own boat, Mara Noka, a modern Polynesian double-canoe. Despite her limited sailing knowledge, Kiana navigated challen...

What's lost when we hand over skills or experiences to technology ? We sat down with localisation pioneer Helena Norberg-Hodge to learn more about the waves of radical economic and social changes she has experienced first hand. In 1975, as a student of linguistics amongst the glacial melt of the Himalayas, Helena witnessed the rapid erosion of traditional culture that followed the introduction of Western ideas and economics to the isolated territory of Ladakh, or "Little Tibet."&n...

How do we make magic boards last longer? Gary McNeill and Dave have been experimenting with alternative, non-petrochemical materials for the last decade. The front runner in their experiments? Flax cloth, for board strength and durability. Stab recently ran The Electric Acid Surfboard Test, to explore the validity of their flax tinkerings. This episode features the flax master himself, shaper Gary McNeill. Gazza absolutely fizzes about all things board design. He's an accomplished com...

How do you better a culture? How do we better surf culture? Dr. Krista Comer is a scholar of American literature and cultural politics. She has written widely about women and surfing as a way "to build bridges between university and community, or subcultural knowledges. Because we need each other to understand the worlds we inhabit, and to make better worlds. I need bridges to stay true to who I am, my own histories and hopes for the future." Dr. Comer offers clarifying perspectives on...

Many professional athletes struggle to transition from their sport-as-career. The highs are often out of reach for pedestrian life - especially for pro surfers who spend their years in whirlwinds of hedonistic wave chasing. For Puerto Rican tube connoisseur Otto Flores, the key to transition was community. After many national titles and a spell on the World Qualify Series, Otto veered away from competitive surfing and toward chasing perfect waves of consequence, a decision that landed him...

Called the "most underrated sports person in Australia" and the "greatest Bells surfer of all time” Gail Couper has been both: at the centre and the sideline of surf culture and sport for the better part of her 77 years. She's seen a lot change, and helped to lay the foundation for Aussie surf culture as we know it today. Gail is a five-time national champion, and 10-time winner of the prestigious Bells Beach/Djarrak event. In the year 2000, she was inducted into the Australian ...

How many kids from Tennessee end up devoting their life to the world's heaviest waves? At least one. That's Lane Davey: Pipe Disciple, PhD, journalist and college lecturer at UH Mānoa. Lane has dedicated much of her adult life to being present in the line-up at Pipeline – she was long the lone woman amongst the sword fight. We trace her unlikely trajectory from growing up in Tennessee, to breakdancing, and surfing some of the most notorious waves on the planet. Lane talks us through the...

We’re getting tangential. This episode is part of a three episode slip slide behind the scenes of a project that Dave’s been working on for the better part of 2024: The Electric Acid Surfboard test. It's a series that explores “alternative” surfboard design. Basically, iconic surfers on left-field, experimental surf craft. Our very own aquatic wombat, renowned question repeater, one David Rastovich, is this year’s test pilot.It's no secret: the stuff we use to go surfing is pretty t...

Who modelled kindness for you? Who showed you how to be kind and curious in the face of difference?Before he was a Fulbright Scholar, Jamie Brisick surfed on the ASP world tour from 1986 to 1991, and has since documented surf culture extensively.His writings and photographs have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Guardian. Jamie hosts the podcast Soundings and is the author of several books, including We Approach Our Martinis With Such High Expectations, and Becoming...

Longevity in any career begs for reinvention. With more than a decade at the pro surfing game, Josie Prendergast has been navigating new waters in her career - by taking the reins on her own storytelling. Born in Siargao and raised in both Australia and the Philippines, Josie is a standout surfer on any craft – from 10+ gliders to fishes – and she’s expert at nasal navigation on heavy logs. We caught up with Josie for her first podcast experience between surfs in Byron – where she t...

Did sailing have more to do with early human locomotion than the wheel? Hanneke Boon, head of James Wharram Designs, suggests that may be so. Born in the Netherlands, Hanneke grew up in a sailing family. She was building and sailing Polynesian Catamarans at the age of fourteen and joined the James Wharram team at the age of 20. A gifted artist / graphic designer / craftworker, she became James Wharram's co-designer. For half a century, all Wharram Designs have been marked with her signat...