Afleveringen
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Ever felt the ocean fix what land couldnât?
This episode, we turn the mics on one another and answer your questions about grief, love, parenting, and crowded lineups.
Hear the stories behind the sails, the garden, and the choices that have shaped us.
Also:
Itâs time for our annual giveaway â you can enter by leaving a review of the podcast before January 15th â wherever you listen to podcasts.
A couple of years ago our dear friends took us to their favourite hidden gem in Indonesia: Ngalung Kalla Eco Retreat nestled into the cliffs of Sumba. We want one lucky listener to experience it, too.
To enter: Leave us a review wherever you listen â Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc with at least two sentences.
The first sentence is about your favorite Waterpeople episode, and the second is about who you would like to bring with you to experience the spaciousness and reeling rights of Ngalung Kalla in 2026 â and why you want to take that person with you.
Donât forget to leave a way to get in touch with you â your name, email, - any way you prefer.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
What's a river to you?
After cyclone Alfred crossed Australia's East Coast earlier this year, tens of thousands of fish died in our local river, Dave got a persistent staph infection and our community tousled with a question: what's wrong with our river? And what can we do about it ?
How does change happen when we, and the world, seem stuck in our ways?
Weâre curious about how change happens â 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.
The first episode heard from organisers and attendees of the 2025 Waterwomen Camp Out put on by the NGO Surfers for Climate.
In today's episode, we head to Richmond River Fest 2025, a month-long celebration of the rivers, cultures, and communities of the Northern Rivers put on by Richmond Riverkeeper.
We hear from marine scientist Liz Hawkins, who reveals how our resident Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins use the Richmond as a kitchen and nursery. She connects river health to coastal resilience.
Then, lifelong commercial fisher Mark lays down hard truths about the Teven/Tuckean barrage and failed floodgates. The fix is practical and proven.Revive The Northern Rivers founder Tom Wolff speaks of his seventh generation connection to the river and gives Dave a guiding question that fills his sails.
Dave shares the story behind one of his projects this year, The Rivers Run. It's a 50-kilometer runâpaddleâswim designed to recruit surfers, divers, and sailors into tree-planting, mangrove restoration, and on-the-ground river care with OzFish and Revive the Northern Rivers.
Along the Cape Byron Marine Park and a UNESCO-recognized Hope Spot, we remember why this coastline still inspiresâand what it demands in return.
Send us a text
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Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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At age 8, Sterling Spencer was signed to surf sponsorship and then had a successful amateur career before chasing the Pro Tour.
He was an early internet adopter who found his stride not in competitive surfing, but in making good fun of an earnest surf industry and culture.
Sterling is a pro surfer and media maker from Floridaâs Gulf Coast known for blending high performance surfing with comedic skits in films like GOLD and Surf Madness. He is the host of Pinch My Salt, a mashup surf and comedy podcast âwhere surf culture gets roasted, worshipped, and flipped upside down.â
Sterling was the subject of the 2024 film Are You Serious? That traces his diagnosis and recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury.
We go deep on the invisible chaos of concussionâwhy scans can miss it, how symptoms creep, and what happens when COVID and old infections complicate healing. Surfing becomes both mirror and medicine, not a performance, but a practice that quiets the noise and rebuilds trust in body and mind. Along the way, Sterling opens up about his upbringing, the relief of humor, and the early internet era when he roasted the surf industry and found sudden notoriety.
There are stories youâll replay: Kelly Slaterâs psychological heat tactics, centaur sightings that became an icebreaker, and the hard-earned lesson that being a nobody can feel like freedom.
We talk parenting and breaking cycles, why algorithms flatten originality, the comedic brain, crisis as creative fuel, and making surfing his own again.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
Not long ago, Lady Elliot Island was basically unrecognisable. In the late 1800s, it was mined for guano used as agricultural fertiliser. The island was stripped bare.
This is a story about what happens when one person has a vision and refuses to let hard work, qualifications or accepted definitions of 'possible' get in the way of curiosity.
Regenerating the precious coral cay Lady Elliot Island is part of Peter Gash's legacy. He is the Custodian and Managing Director of Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort and CEO of Seair Pacific Aviation.
Peter is a licenced Pilot and has been flying tourists to the Great Barrier Reef for over 35 years. In the mid 90's, Peter took the floats off his seasplane and began flying guests to the coral cay of Lady Elliot Island on the southern end of the reef.
In 2005, Peter and his family took over the lease of the island.
In 2018, the island was selected as the first site for the Great Barrier Reef Foundationâs Reef Islands Initiative, a bold program focused on building climate resilience across key reef habitats.
In 2020, Peter was the recipient of an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to eco-tourism and aviation.
Peter talked us through the unexpected interconnections between reef systems and terrestrial ecosystems, the importance of being a âdoerâ not a gunna, the compromise of flying airplanes, and how heâs embraced his role as an âinjection of enthusiasmâ for visiting world leaders, decision-makers, business folk and scientists alike â from King Charles to David Attenborough.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
Grief, love, and lineage shape a rite of passage as our guests recall learnings from storms, stars, mentors, and manta rays at midnight.
Ke'ilii Mcevilly is an environmental scientist with a Masters degree in sustainability. Ke'ili grew up surfing in California, and is now based on the island of Oahu. She is an artist and waterwoman involved in the flourishing of traditional Hawaiian cultural practice, from aloha aina based conservation work, to hula and making kapa under the tutelage of PĆ«koÊ»a Studios.
Artist- surfer- sailor-filmmaker Chris Miyashiro shares his story in-depth here.
Together, they are Ethnomads, two pacific islanders learning how to wayfind.
We get into an unlikely origin story: finding the canoe on Craigslist, and calling in a mentor to teach traditional lashings.
Then the real crossing begins: A compass left unsecured spins uselessly on day one, a phone with charts pops overboard, and the crew leans into mixed navigation: swells, stars, and disciplined watches.
Ke'ili shares what it meant to be the only wahine aboard, from cycle logistics and zeroâwaste choices to the mental endurance of being surrounded by water you can't get amongst.
They weathered cold, wet nights under June gloom, feet stuffed into wetsuit tops, and defied a fear list that covered everything from infections to constipation - revealing the gritty side of ocean travel. Along the way, the ocean becomes a classroomâmahi on the lines, journals open, and the sky replacing the newsfeed.
Threaded through the voyage is lineage. AÊ»a, the star whose name means 'to burn bright' and 'to dare,' becomes both compass and prayer. We talk kuleana and wayfinding ethics, the quiet authority of mentors, and how culture lives through practice.The canoe A'a shapes not just their route but their relationship, teaching balance, patience, and mutual careâtwo hulls moving as o
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
A captain wakes in the night certain heâs wrecked in mangrovesâonly heâs on his own porch. That jarring reentry from a month under sail becomes our portal into a deeper story about attention, tradition, and becoming a different kind of person at sea with artist-sailor-filmmaker Chris Miyashiro.
Chris takes us from his grandfatherâs wallsâpainted with visions of HĆkĆ«leÊ»a âto a 2,700âmile, unsupported crossing on a double-hulled canoe that reshaped his senses and his sense of home (more on that voyage in the Ethnomads episode, forthcoming),
Chris shares how homeschool freedom and skate culture trained him to see the world as material for making, a mindset he has carried into surf/films that inspire a sense of playful wonderment. For Chris, film school offered rules and he's learned how to break them well.
We talk about ânai'a brain,â the half-sleeping state where awareness sharpens, the importance of values-grounded voyaging, and his time as a guest professor at Laguna College of Art and Design.
If youâre craving an episode that blends voyaging wisdom, creative practice, and some encouragement to get out amongst the living world, then this one's for you.Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
What does it mean to live a life of service? Pipeline pioneer John Peck was devout to many things over this 81 years, and exploring this question was amongst them.
In 2015, we hosted John for what was a precursor to this podcast - a storytelling evening in our local community hall. He was captivating - virtually no one moved for hours, as Dave's questions and John's stories interwove with improvisational tunes from The Babe Rainbow. Sipping chai and sitting on cushions in concentric circles, it felt like a gathering from a bygone era.
In honour of John's metamorphosis, we share this snippet from that evening - an audio recording that was only re-discovered after his passing - thanks twice to Nathan Oldfield.
We trace John Peckâs path from pioneering Pipeline to a life of service, music, and sobriety, and reflect on why eldersâ stories matter to surf culture. The ocean rebirths us; our job is to carry that clarity home and be useful.
On John Peck in the Encyclopedia of Surfing:
"Peck placed fourth in the juniors division of the 1960 Makaha International, and returned the following year to finish third, but was virtually unknown in the surf world until New Year's Day, 1963, when he and California switchfooter Butch Van Artsdalen put on a fantastic display at Pipeline, with Peck spontaneously inventing a low-crouch stance, his right hand grabbing the rail of his board, that allowed him to ride high and tight to the curl. That summer, Peck's thrilling Pipeline rides were the highlight of three surf moviesâAngry Sea, Gun Ho!, and Walk on the Wet Sideâand earned the 18-year-old the first-ever SURFER foldout cover.
Peck had meanwhile set out on a lengthy course of alcohol and drug abuse, including a seven-year LSD phase beginning in 1965. He was involved in the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a Laguna Beach consciousness-raising group...".
He gave up drugs and drinking in 1984, four years later began surfing again, and in the mid-'90s was reintroduced to the
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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 career, and Tess, former head of partnerships for Virgin Australia, shares the tumultuous road to recovery after injury in frozen water.
Their stories and friendship led to the creation of the Awake Academy workshop, and the book adaptation of that popular workshop features their personal stories, positive psychology principles and practical exercises to boost energy, emotional intelligence and empathy.
They talk us through adoption, shame, midlife freedom, and why labels become lenses that shape every relationship and result. Thereâs no toxic positivity here, just candid stories and actionable tools for stress management, trauma recovery, and sustained successâat work, in sport, and at home.
This episode is live from The Byron Writerâs Festival â a celebration of the act of creation, of writing and art making, community building, and the good, hard work of progress. Courtney Miller joins as cohost - sheâs chair of the Byron Writerâs Festival, relentless advocate for art and community engagement and a veritable surf rat.
If youâre curious about cultivating resilience, mental health, high performance, and the kind of friendship that tells the truth, this conversation will land.Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
Every mid-aged 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 "pendulum" surfing style - flowing with gravity rather than muscling through - contrasted dramatically with his contemporaries and continues to influence surfing aesthetics today.
Perhaps most inspiring is Brendan's midlife renaissance. After stepping away from surfing for half a decade, he's back in the water fresh enthusiasm. Now in his fifties, Margo is experiencing an unlikely career resurgence: complete with new sponsorships and a growing social media presence. Throughout it all, his parallel passion for bird watching reveals a sensitive man who finds joy in careful observation, whether it's reading a wave or identifying rare species.
Ready to hear how one of surfing's most beloved figures navigates the balance between risk, responsibility, and rediscovery? This episode offers wisdom for anyone seeking to maintain their passions through life's changing seasons.Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
How does change happen when we, and the world, seem stuck in our ways?
Weâre curious about how change happens â 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 protect what we love. Through a series of workshops, wellness, connection and celebration we focus on educating and empowering women to own their place in and out of the water.
We hear from a range of attendees - from twenty to seventy-somethings. From those new to environmental work, to those five or more decades into their activism. These are stories about women seeing needs in their community and rising to meet them â from climate policy, to first aid, cultural reconciliation, right to the hands-on nitty gritty of cleaning our local river water, so the waterways, and the surfspots that catch them, stay clean and healthy â so we can, too.
One thing we know for sure about cultural change: it doesn't happen alone. We need each other, and we need strong communities.
This episode is part of a two part mini-series exploring theories of change. Later this year, Dave will take us to a local River Festival involved in revitalising waterways.
Thanks to Caitlin Fine, Nidala Barker, Zoe White, Lucy Ewing, Courtney Miller, Aunty Lois Cook, Emjay Freeman, Kate McMahon, Tilly Hiscock, Stella, Emily, Britney, Dianne Tucker, Aunty Leila, and everyone who shared stories at the Waterwomen Camp Out 2025.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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 for equal pay and opportunity in the early 2000s.
In the year 2000, Holly took home the Teen Choice award for Female Extreme Athlete. She was also one of surfingâs first reality TV stars: as one of seven pro surfers filmed and followed on Oahuâs North Shore during the 2002 Triple Crown of Surfing.
Holly moved to Central America at age 30, eventually building a tiny off-grid home that pulled focus on her values.
Holly has a degree in psychology, an MBA, and a masterâs in counselling. She is the founder Surf With Amigas â an all-inclusive surf and yoga retreat for adventurous women â which sheâs run for the last 15 years from her homebase in Central America.
Today she is part of innovating the space of therapeutic surf coaching â a modality that combines experiential and talk therapy with surf coaching to elucidate clients mental wellbeing, while also improving their surfing.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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 Hunterâs spectral surfing skill â he talks us through peak moments of tube time and critical hang tens.
We meander with Hunter through the way he gathers inspiration from the living world, his startling phone call with George Greenough, and what it meant to meet Jack Mccoy at the last film screening of Jack's life.
When was the last time you had your mind blown by a young person's refreshing take on life?
Hunterâs infectious wonder and curiosity are a potent reminder of the importance of intergenerational relationships in all of our lives, for all of our lives.
...
This episode is made possible by our generous partners:
Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.
...
Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen.
Head to Alkaway.com and use the code waterpeople for $50 off your first purchase.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
Rites of passage, once central to marking lifeâs 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 30 years experience as a medical doctor, counsellor, mentor, speaker and workshop facilitator.
He has developed programs, seminars and camps attended by more than 350,000 people globally and has effectively implemented rites of passage frameworks into some of the largest schools in Australia.
His work emphasises the importance of recognising and reflecting on key moments in our lives and pausing to understand them deeply before moving forward.
...
This episode is made possible by our generous partners:
Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.
Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.
...
Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.
Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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 novel waves on the periphery of surf culture, in the process Dylan masterfully un-earths the heart and vibrance of surfers around the world â and the living cultures of stoke blossoming in unexpected places.
Dylan's lightness, warmth and positivity are underscored by the adversity he's faced. He candidly shares the impact of losing his father at a young age. This loss brought him and his brother, surfer Josie Graves, closer together, reinforcing their love for surfing as a way to connect with their father's memory.
Dylan talks us through the his DIY filmmaking process, the joy of not chasing perfection, and the cyclical experience of becoming a father.
...
This episode is made possible by our generous partners:
Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.
Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.
...
Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.
Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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, swims, and surfs in the Bay Area and contributes regularly to the New York Times.
She is the author of four books: American Chinatown: A Peopleâs History of Five Neighborhoods, Why We Swim, Sarah and the Big Wave, and her latest, On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters
Bonnie talks us through the purpose of the brain (!), learning to surf as an adult, the gendered cultural narratives around strength, the name of a whale's powerful butt muscle, and the inevitability of age related muscle loss (and what we can do about it).
More about Bonnie here & here
...
This episode is made possible by our generous partners:
Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.
Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.
...
Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.
Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
Besides being a professor of chemistry, Dr. Sarah Gerhardt was the first woman to ride one of the worldâs 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 became the guiding force in her life. She started experimenting with heavy water and big waves during her freshman year at college.
One Winter Story, a documentary about Sarah's big wave pioneering and scientific inquiry, came out in 2003.
More recently, Sarah featured in the groundbreaking documentary The Big Sea, wherein she lays out the chemical composition of neoprene - the material all of our wetsuits have been made of until very recently.
She talks us through some surprising chemistry - and the big impact seemingly small choices can make.
....
This episode is made possible by our generous partners:
Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.
Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.
...
Primal Water, by Alkaway, is an at-home water filter that mimics nature and is boosted with molecular hydrogen. It's a game-changer.
Head to Primal-water.com and use the code waterpeople for $100 off your purchase until June 30th, 2025.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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 challenging passages, often sailing alone to avoid the responsibility of others.
Kiana crossed the Atlantic to North Florida in late 2020, to begin her 14-month boatyard restoration of Mara Noka. In 2022, she captained the Women + the Wind North Atlantic crossing, her first voyage with a crew.After that, Kiana sailed through Madeira, the Canaries, and Cape Verde, aiming for Brazil. She completed a 43-day solo crossing from Santiago to Ilhabela.
We caught up with Kiana remotely from the cabin of her boat in Brazil (the audio is pretty dodgy at times).
She talked us through the making of her forthcoming documentary Women and the Wind, the work of life at sea, what drew her to Wharram craft and the challenge of addressing plastic pollution.Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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."
As an economist, linguist and filmmaker, Helena has worked to popularise an economics of happiness for more than 30 years.
Our first episode with Helena aired back in April 2020. Her organisation Local Futures offers practical solutions for changing the systems that aren't serving us best; for coping and deepening connection â what they see as key to unlocking healthier futures for people and planet.
We wanted to have Helena back on to address a topic thatâs been coming up a lot in our house â about technology and whether mechanistic tech is always the best or healthiest solution.
More specifically â what's lost when tech takes over our skills or experiences ?
We also hear from two listeners on the topic of tech: Surfers for Climate board member Courtney Miller and Nick Hounsfield, founder of The Wave wavepark in the UK.
Weâd love to hear from your lived experience on this topic, too.
If youâd like the chance to be featured in a forthcoming episode â please email over a voice memo to [email protected] .
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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 competitive surfer and has worked as production manager and/or ghost shaper for some of surfingâs most well-known board brands. Today, he focuses his energy on making left of centre, high performance surfboards under the Gary NcNeill Concepts label.
Gazza considers himself an 'accidental activist;' in the pursuit of good design, he cemented a more ethical business model. He hopes to help the board building industry mature beyond 'planned obsolesce.'
"As a result of growing up in humble surroundings, I have a full appreciation of the value of a dollar. In creating my Concept boards, I always strive to produce high-performance boards using materials that provide strength and longevity.
I want customers to have a board that they can build a quiver around, that last, and that they know they can surf in the conditions that best suit them, and their boards. Importantly, boards that last reduce environmental impact."We wrangled Gazza into sitting down for a whole hour to share more about his story, and the nitty gritty of experimental surfboard design and materials.
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. -
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 the gendered realities of modern surf culture - and has been part of supporting surfers to create inclusive research, social movements and events.
Professor Comer teaches at Rice University in Houston, Texas and has lived near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for 25 years. She is the author of Surfer Girls in the New World Order (2010) and is currently working on her latest book: Feminist Surf Life in the Age of Climate Change.
In 2014, Dr. Comer co-founded the Institute for Women Surfers (IWS), an international grassroots political education initiative in the Public Humanities. The institute has conducted trainings in California, Europe, and Australia. For more on IWS see âSurfeminism in an Era of Trumpâ (2019).Our episodes typically revolve around stories â lived experiences, often from the water, looking landward. This one is a little different.
We recorded at the close of the Waterwomen Camp Out near a point break in Northern NSW, Australia. The event was hosted by the NGO Surfers for Climate and invited more than 100 women to gather for a weekend of workshops, wellness, and celebration of our shared love of watery play.
Dr. Comer presented work and encouraged dialogue around intergenerational activism, along with local researcher Dr. Rebecca Olive from RMIT University.We sat down to discuss the relevance of surf feminism, learning from current soci
Send us a text
...
Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander
Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll
Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander
Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia
Alkaway
The Sunglass Fix
...
Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.
You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.
You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk. - Laat meer zien
