A little fire can keep you warm; a big fire can burn your house down. Two time ASP World Surfing Champion Tom Carroll speaks candidly about his struggles to harness the power that made him famous. From the highs of professional surfing to addiction and meditation, his large life is a study in harnessing and honing one's power in mind and body. Few surfers ever perform a wholly memorable maneuver . Tom broke down that norm in 1991 when he threw down a turn under the heaving lip of Pipeline - "a m...
Nov 18, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 5Ep. 10
Many of us dream of laying roots in some balmy, wave-rich location far from where we sprouted - to grow food and let the ocean dictate the day. Few of us do it. Christian and Ka'ale Sea have spent the last 21 years together - surfing, diving, planting, growing a family. They have three daughters, all homeschooled on the remote West Coast of Sumba Island, Indonesia, where they own and operate Ngalung Kalla retreat. Christian started life in the Atlantic, on the 48-foot wooden sailboat his father ...
Oct 21, 2023•2 hr•Season 5Ep. 9
Around 500,000 people were displaced by the 2018 earthquake that rocked the island of Lombok in Indonesia. It was estimated that 80% of all structures were levelled on the North of the island. At the time, Flora Christin Butarbutar , then in her early 20s, had taken up surfing on the Island of Bali. Originally from Sumatra, Flora was shaken by the need for help on the neighbouring island of Lombok. She put her budding surfing life aside, and harnessed her social media notoriety as Indonesia's fi...
Sep 24, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Can a single wave really change your life? For Hawaiian waterwoman Moana Jones Wong , one wave changed everything. She shares about the fated, sparkling bomb at Pipeline that altered both her sense of self, and her surfing career. Moana made history by winning the first ever Women’s Championship Tour event at Pipeline. As a North Shore local, she cut her teeth in heavy water, earning her the title “Queen of Pipe.” Moana was also the first to earn a bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian and Indigenous He...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 7
What do neoprene wetsuits have to do with Cancer Alley ? The global wetsuit industry is valued at around $2.8 Billion USD. "The vast majority of wetsuits on sale today are made of a synthetic rubber called Neoprene. Neoprene – the commercial name for chloroprene rubber – is the product of a toxic, carcinogenic chemical process. There is only one chloroprene plant in the US. It is owned by Japanese chemical company Denka and lies in the predominantly black, low income town of Reserve, Louisiana –...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 5Ep. 6
If you only had 10 healthy years left of life, would you choose to know it ? Big wave surfer Felicity Palmateer is known for her paddle-ins at Peahi, commentating WSL events, starring in Australian Survivor (twice) and holding the record for largest wave ever ridden by an Aussie woman. Parallel to her successful surfing career, Felicity has navigated tumultuous familial seas. She talks us through losing her mum to early onset dementia in 2021 — her 50/50 chance of inheriting the gene mutation th...
Jul 24, 2023•58 min•Season 5Ep. 5
“Each of us occupies a singular ecological niche in the web of life that is uniquely ours, and when we restore ourselves to health and vitality, we contribute to the health and vitality of our entire planet.” Such is the philosophy of psychiatrist and surfer Dr. Elizabeth Nguyen . Dr. Nguyen specialises in cross cultural psychiatry , the intersection of spirituality and mental health, and the healing power of water. She coined the term ‘human ecological restoration’ to describe the work she does...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 5Ep. 4
With gender norms up in the air, what does it mean to be a dad today? For Chris Del Moro , it means showing up for it all - good, bad, and messy - and maintaining stability for his family. Chris is an artist, surfer and devoted father to his two boys. He shares about the pivotal experiences with his own fathers and mentors that shaped him into the steadfast man he is today. Chris spent more than a decade as a professional freesurfer, featured in movies including "Sliding Liberia, "The Present” a...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Season 5Ep. 3
When was the last time you refused to take 'no' for an answer ? Belen Alvarez Kimble shares about the life-changing instance when she pushed against cultural norms and expectations to lay down her life's path. Belen occupied one of the very few positions as a professional freesurfer through the early 2000s and worked with surf brands as an ambassador for unifying women’s surfing around the globe. She stands amongst the longboarding icons of the Blue Crush era that saw the resurgence of women to ...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Season 5Ep. 2
What's possible in the eighth decade of life? Rusty Miller will be 80 this year - and he's still rocking off at Lennox Point and taking off on the best set waves. Born in Southern Californian, Rusty was the 1965 United States Surfing Champion. He moved to Byron Bay Australia in 1970, where he has since lived, surfed, taught, and written about surfing -- and been an integral member of the community. Rusty was amongst the first surf travellers to venture to Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Po...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Season 5Ep. 1
Welcome back for the 5th Season of The Waterpeople Podcast. Listen in as Dave and Lauren turn the mic on one another and get set for 16 fresh episodes of ocean-centric storytelling. .... Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound Engineer: Ben Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Dave & Ben Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Send us a text ... Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shanno...
Jun 07, 2023•13 min
Is your mouth open or closed right now ? There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: we take air in, let it out, and repeat 25,000 times a day. But most of us have forgotten how to do it properly. Journalist, aquanaut, surfer and author James Nestor 's latest book BREATH: the New Science of a Lost Art explores the million-year-long history of how the human species has lost the ability to breathe properly and why we’re suffering from a laundry list of maladies—sno...
Mar 06, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Lore of the Waikiki Beach Boys is well known – those legendary Hawaiian watermen like Duke Kahanamoku and Rabbit Kekai who regulated the turf of one surfing’s most fabled beaches. But where were the wahine ? Today we’re in conversation with original Waikiki Wahine Beach Boy Laola Lake , champion outrigger paddler, surfer and ocean safety advocate. Laola grew up in the ocean front cottages of the Royal Hawaiian hotel, where her mother worked, and received her Waikiki Beach Boy license in 1970. Sh...
Feb 20, 2023•55 min
How will we choose to spend this one wild and precious life? Rick Ridgeway has devoted his seven decades to adventuring Earth's widest seas and tallest peaks -- and working to protect the wildness that remains. Rick's earliest adventures were oceanic – sailing and surfing – but he’s recognized amongst the world’s foremost mountineers . In 1976 he joined the American Bicentennial Everest Expedition, and in 1978 he and three others made the first American ascent of K2 – the second highest peak on ...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 9 min
As a member of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970’s -- made famous by the documentary Dogtown and Z Boys -- Peggy Oki was at the top of the women’s skateboarding world while pioneering the vertical skating movement alongside the DogTown crew of Jay Adams, Tony Alva and Stacey Peralta, as the lone Z-Girl. Peggy is a surfer, skater, rock climber, and visual artist who has adventured between these creative expressions for more than fifty years. Parallel to living an adventurous life by way of s...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 30 min
In early 1970, Jock Sutherland enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in Vietnam. At that time, he was considered amongst the most visible and versatile surfers on the planet. The surfing world was shocked; and so was his mother. Jock never made it to active duty, but spent two years in the service, after which he was rarely included in surf media. In 1989, Jock was busted for running cocaine and spent two years in prison. In his complexity and cleverness, Jock Sutherland has held an iconic position...
Dec 14, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Following on from our full length episode, Nathan Oldfield shares about his decade-long relationship with practicing and teaching meditation, and talks us through a short guided meditation that he offers to school children. … Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich Sound Engineer: Ben Alexander Soundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker + Nathan Oldfield Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.com...
Nov 23, 2022•15 min
Nathan Oldfield has journeyed into the depths of grief, and back, to make surf films brimming with reverence for the extraordinary beauty of life. He has crafted six award winning films, most recently The Heart & The Sea , and The Church of the Open Sky , which earned the Special Honor for Most Heart at the Xpedition Film Festival in Colorado. Nathan is also a poet and meditation teacher, and parallel to his creative life, has spent 25 years as a school teacher. He spoke with us about losing...
Nov 23, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Most conservation organisations mirror corporations in structure, operation, and strategy. But has that been effective? Andy Ridley, founder of Earth Hour and Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef , doesn't think so. He's asking how we build the 21st century conservation operation with the citizen at its heart. "The traditional way of doing conservation is 'pass us your money and we'll go and do it.' But we know that hasn't worked at the scale required." Andy is betting on harnessing the power of c...
Nov 09, 2022•50 min
What happens when you lose it all? After a successful, 14 year professional surfing career, Karina Petroni discovered that all of her earnings and assets had suspiciously vaporised. Karina was born and raised in the Panama Canal Zone, but is known as one of The East Coast's surf prodigies. In 2006, the New York Times called her one of the “scions of Florida's recent surfing tradition." Karina’s promise for professional surfing, combined with her family’s investment in managing her career, was so...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 29 min
Gwyn Haslock has nearly 6 decades of surfing under her belt. She was born in Cornwall in 1945, and is renowned as one of the UK’s original surfers. Gwyn holds many competitive surfing accolades, including multiple British National Champion titles. We first heard about – and wrote about -- Gwyn’s story in 2015 after connecting with English bellyboarding enthusiast Sally Parkin , who said: “I am not sure who you would say started Men’s competitive surfing – but there is no doubt in my mind that Gw...
Nov 03, 2022•37 min
For many, 2020 was the worst. Chelsea Woody , a neuroscience nurse who moonlights as a Vans surf ambassador, is clear that it was “the worst year of her life.” After getting COVID from work, and subsequently experiencing a painful loss, — while witnessing the suffering of so many through the pandemic - Chelsea wished (for the first time) that she’d chosen a different profession. Parallel to the suffering both personal and all around her, Chelsea’s surfing career blossomed: she made the film Sea ...
Aug 26, 2022•1 hr 21 min
In Greek myth, staring at the monster Medusa would turn mortals to stone; one needed a mirror to take the edge off. Surfer, filmmaker and musician Jack Johnson reckons music and art can play a similar role in reflecting more digestible, less paralysing iterations of the ills and obstacles facing us all. Jack studied film at UCSB, and went on to make culture shaping movies like Thicker Than Water and A Broke down Melody . More recently, he’s a Grammy nominated artist, and founder of two charitabl...
Aug 09, 2022•57 min
What if your homeland was suddenly the target of foreign attacks ? What would you do? Ukrainian Kshisya Tachanskaya fled with her two children, a few belongings, reluctantly kissed her husband farewell, and drove for a familiar coast -- some 4000km away (2500 miles). Kshisya is part of Ukraine’s tight knit surfing community who enjoy the couple of windswells that the Black Sea delivers each year. Before she found surfing, Kshisya was a water skier, and later opened Kyiv’s CitySwell Club , and wo...
Jul 29, 2022•41 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Unlike golf clubs and tennis racquets, surfboards are still largely made by local artisans. But, what sets the surfboard making industry apart from parallel industries? Why do local shapers still make boards? Master shaper Tom Wegener examines this question -- and much more -- in his PhD thesis and book Surfboard Artisans: For the Love . "How can an industry which values passion over money be resilient and sustainable in a capitalistic society which has money as the primary value?," he asks, and...
Jul 07, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Part Two of our meandering conversation with master shaper Tom Wegener talking the nitty gritty of board construction, how he almost got the call to be in The Endless Summer II, experimenting with ancient techniques in the shaping bay and which mode of wave riding is stoking him out the most right now. ... Tom started shaping and glassing in 1978 in his parents garage and is best known for helping to re-popularize old and ancient Hawaiian surfcraft, as celebrated in films like Thomas Campbell’s ...
Jul 07, 2022•34 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Waterpeople is back with a fourth season of stories about the aquatic experiences that shape us, change us, and call us into this quirky community of water folk across the globe. This season we'll hear from 16 waterpeople - some globally renowned, others under appreciated - and learn about the moments that changed everything. In this episode we sit down for a catch up with our new sponsor this season Sunbutter Skincare . Founders Tom and Sacha talk us through why they, as a marine biologist and ...
Jun 21, 2022•56 min
What happens when life calls you to face your fears? Surfer, adventurer and mother of three Sam Bloom had to face that call after a 2013 family holiday went tragically wrong. Sam is a two-time world para surfing champion. She is the bestselling author of two books , and the subject of the 2020 film Penguin Bloom , starring Naomi Watts. Those three works detail the tragic accident that left Sam paralysed from the chest down, and the unexpected guest – an injured magpie in need of care -- who help...
Jun 20, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 1
To wrap up the third season, Lauren and Dave turn the mic on one another for a meandering chat through surf adventure stories, common questions from listeners, and their own answers to the central Waterpeople question about a time or experience after which you were never the same. We'll be back with a stacked fourth season in May or June, full of fresh stories, inspiring ideas, and plenty of laughs. If you have a spare moment, please consider leaving a review of the podcast or sharing an episode...
Feb 27, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Season 3Ep. 18
What is enough to move you to action? For heavy water specialist Fergal Smith , nuclear meltdown became the impetus for a radical shift in life and livelihood. As the founder of Moy Hill farm , Fergal and his team aim to “grow worthy food, build soil, regenerate systems, plant flowers and trees, and work to leave what is in their care healthier than they found it," while also nurturing community. Fergal talks us beyond the romanticisation of farming, and into the muddy complexity of what it mean...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Season 3Ep. 17
