Shaun Tomson: Age of Acceleration

When everything is taken from you at once, what is left?Shaun Tomson is the 1977 World Surfing Champion, the author of Surfer's Code, and a keynote speaker whose work has reached Harvard, Google, Disney, and SEAL teams. He was shaped by his upbringing in South Africa, by the pro tour's formative years, and by the loss of his son Matthew at fifteen years old.In this conversation, Shaun connects surfing to faith and prayer through his Jewish heritage and his mother's World War II survival story. He names the overlooked women who shaped the timeline, and walks us through the design revolutions he watched, and helped, unfold. He's direct about what over-commercialism did to the industry he helped build, and why the tube is still a sacred space. He also shares the leadership work he's known for today: The Code, a twelve-line writing practice built on the words "I will," now used by students, prisons, sports teams, and executives at some of the world's largest corporations.Shaun holds a Master of Science in Leadership from Northeastern University. He co-produced the documentary Bustin' Down the Door and is an inductee in the US, Jewish, and South African Sports Halls of Fame.Here, he helps us recenter the significance of one of surfing's most central concepts: stoke.Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

Have you had someone believe in your potential before you could see it yourself?Laura Crane is a big wave surfer from North Devon. She came of age in a surf industry that measured her worth by how much exposure her image could earn.  Laura stepped away from pro surfing in her early twenties, took a turn at reality TV, then returned to surfing whole-heartedly when a mentor called out something she'd never fully faced. Laura set her sights on heavy water. She is the first British woman to surf Nazaré.We dialled in to connect with Laura where she’s now based in Portugal, where she is currently recovering from knee surgery. She told us about grappling with disordered eating, what it feels like to be amongst some of the heaviest water in the world, and how she’s helping others to befriend fear for personal growth. She speaks with a kind of full-circle purpose about the film she recently starred in and produced, called Undercurrents. It follows a young surfer whose aspirations Laura wanted to protect and nurture, and what it felt like for Laura to be the adult in the room this time. The film toured the UK to sold-out screenings.At the surface it's a conversation about big wave surfing and recovery, but the subtext is all about trust: in the body, in a mentor, and in the ocean’s power to both humble and elevate.   Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

Who has the right to speak on behalf of water? Who carries that responsibility? Drawing on her lineage of wayfinders and traditional music makers, Whaia regularly takes the stage of international political gatherings – like the United Nations Climate Summit – to invoke the voice of water. She is a Māori vocalist, surfer, multi-instrumentalist, and cultural producer whose work moves between the sacred and the political, the intimate and the global. Born on the East Coast of Aotearoa and raised from age six amongst the rich red earth of Australia's Pilbara, she shares the journey of finding belonging in both worlds. As a member of A Wisdom Keepers Delegation, Whaia collaborates with a network of global Indigenous elders who attend COP annually to bring the voice of nature into policy conversations. Whaia reveals the housing instability that led to her current home: the Mana Waka, a 40-foot bus she and her family built from the chassis up. It is a collaborative space used as studio, classroom, and creative hub. As a mother of three, Whaia continues to follow the instruments that find her and to reclaim the languages that were always hers. The message that echoes throughout: don't be selfish with your voice. Share it. ...Surfers for Climate is hosting the 3rd annual Waterwomen Camp Out this September 11th to 13th, on Bundjalung Country in the Northern Rivers.Whaia will be sharing her sonic weaving and wisdom - live. Secure your tickets + use code 'waterpeople' for $50 off your booking. Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

Has something astronomical ever made you reassess your life's trajectory?Jon Swift is an astrophysicist and lifelong surfer with a PhD from UC Berkeley. He runs a research observatory at The Thatcher School in Ojai, California, teaches math and science, and his music has featured in cult surf films from the 2000s, like Shelter and The Drifter.Jon shares his story of living alone in Mexico after finishing a physics degree, and the cosmic event under a desert sky that lit his path forward. In this conversation, Jon takes us from the ocean to the outer edges of the galaxy. He speaks to the golden age of modern astronomy, and explains how a small, autonomous research observatory still does meaningful work by moving fast on transient events like exploding stars and tidal disruption events near supermassive black holes. We talk about the disjoint between flashy space exploration narratives and the realities of basic research funding, plus what higher education is worth when running the student debt math.  Jon pinpoints the origin of Earth's water, speaks to how surfing trains pattern recognition, and explains why so much of the universe, including waves, moves in spirals.It's rare to hear someone move effortlessly between a black hole and a backyard, without either one losing its significance. With deep curiosity, Jon shares stories that get at the timeless mystery of why phenomena like waves and stars can still rearrange what we care about.Listen to Jon's music from the episode here and here.  Learn about his forthcoming children's book here. Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

How good are you at convincing people you're fine?On a burnout-inspired whim, Bryanna Bradley booked a one-way ticket from inland Canada to Hawaii. She quit her job and started putting in hours in the water at Waikiki. Surfing first, but her goal? To become a surf photographer.Bryanna has become one of the surfing world's leading cold water photographers, building a community and career based in Tofino, British Columbia.In 2022, off Sayulita, Mexico, Bryanna found herself shooting photos in the wrong place at the wrong time: a longboard trimmed right into her head, centimeters from her eye. She was stitched up and cracked jokes through it, convincingly enough that the doctor never ordered a scan. She went back to her Airbnb alone.  Four days later, declining fast and unable to walk straight, she took a taxi by herself to the nearest hospital and learned she had a brain bleed.We trace Bryanna's story from landlocked Canada to Florida beach trips with her grandmother, then into the deep end of photojournalism at 19, when her job was to run toward car crashes, homicides, and trauma with a camera. She shares the eating disorder that gripped her amid grief, and the 3,000-mile solo thru-hike she undertook in the middle of her recovery.Bryanna ultimately walked the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada. In the episode, she explains why long-distance hiking called to her after injury, what pain and monotony taught her, how micro goals beat overwhelm, and what ultimately helped her relax from "bracing for impact" in the ocean. ...The forthcoming film Let Me Chase This Dream traces Bryanna's accident, through-hike and recovery. Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

What does it take for you to slow down?Ziggy Alberts started playing live at 17, admittedly underprepared, but fizzing. By 21, he was staring at a studio ceiling noticing the lights had gone dim, but no one had touched the switch. It led him to break down to a friend. After years of “hell-for-leather” world-touring, he'd finally stayed still long enough to feel what he'd been outrunning.Ziggy is a songwriter, surfer, and founder of Common Folk Records, the independent label he built with his family and has run for nearly nine years. He grew up homeschooled on the Sunshine Coast, home-birthed and beach-shacked, surfing ratting before music making. In 2025, Ziggy, now in his 30s, toured 165 days and played The Royal Albert Hall to a packed house of fans who crossed Europe to be there.  This year? Only 3 or 4 shows. In this episode, he explains why.Our conversation moves through burnout and self-belief, busking the streets of Byron, the physiological crash that follows a long tour, what it takes for men to talk to each other, and the art of dissolving — in music and in surfing, both.…Ziggy’s song ‘Runaway’ is featured in this episode. …Notable links + recommendations from this episode: Ishmael by Daniel QuinnMichael Hutchence / INXS documentaryNew Jack Johnson filmSteph Strings, Aussie musicianSpotify daily upload rate — conversations cites 60,000 songs per day, that stat seems to be older, probably more like 100,000+ in 2026. Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

When was the last time you had an epiphany? Artist/activist Howie Cooke shares the sudden realisation that steered the course of his life's work - a handful of decades on the front lines of marine protection via NGOs, art, music and direct action. Howie has spent 50 years boogie boarding, playing guitar and painting. He has shown in hundreds of art exhibitions around the world – in addition to his large-scale murals, mostly of cetaceans. Twenty years ago, Howie co-founded the NGO Surfers for Cetaceans to activate surf media on the issue of whaling. S4C then grew into one of surfing’s most scrappily impactful direct action organisations – through campaigns like Transparentsea, films like Academy Award winning documentary The Cove, and collaborating with groups like Paul Watson’s Sea Shepherd.Along the way we dig into what keeps conviction alive as you age: ideals without absolutism, humor as a tool, and the role of the artist in a world flooded with distraction. If you care about the power of art, cetacean conservation, ocean pollution, or creative environmental activism, this conversation offers both practical lessons and deep emotional re-centering. We talk through the campaigns, contradictions, and  mindset that have kept Howie moving forward without slipping (too far) into perfectionism or despair.Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

There's no straight lines in the ocean - nor in a surfing life.We sit with professional surfer and Bundjalung waterman Soli Bailey to trace his lines from early talent and success, through the grind of competing and a life-threatening neck injury, to a grounded love of surfing that’s deeper than any accolades.Soli opens up about the quiet crisis that arrived during lockdowns: paddling out and not wanting to be there. He breaks down how stepping off the contest treadmill, and reconnecting with community brought the spark back.Then comes the hard turn: a violent injury, neurosurgeons warning he was lucky to walk, and the decision to have surgery. Soli shares what recovery taught him about slowing down, caring for his body, and holding ambition without letting it hollow you out. We revisit his dream run—Cloudbreak’s drainers, Shipstern’s step-ladders, and hidden points—and why he doesn’t need “bigger, faster, farther” to feel complete. Along the way, he honors the people who steadied him: a steadfast stepmum, a patient partner, mentors, and sponsors who backed a freesurf path over results.Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

What are you unwilling to ignore? Through her experience in pro surfing, journalism and law, Patti Paniccia is a formidable advocate for equity in the water and the workplace.  Patti helped build the IPS tour from the ground up, organised the Hawaii Women’s Surfing Hui to create opportunity, and then carried that same tenacity into law and journalism—ultimately winning a landmark workplace discrimination case against CNN. We sit down with Patti to unpack how a young surfer inspired by chasing lost boards at Huntington Pier became the woman cold-calling promoters, writing qualifying criteria, and pushing the sport past the tired trope of “curiosities with too many male hormones.”Patti takes us inside the inaugural 1976 world tour—its camaraderie and the mess of sponsors asking for wet t‑shirt contests and “date raffles.” She breaks down why equal pay without equal opportunity is still inequity, citing the principle that interest and ability grow from access and experience. We talk media erasure and the plaques that forgot women, and the everyday tactics it took to earn respect in the lineup.Then the story widens. Law school at Pepperdine with dawn sessions at Malibu. Local TV, an Emmy nomination, and an on-air career shaped by a reporter’s craft: tell the human story first. Motherhood reveals the limits of “we love your reporting” as doors close and memos suggest “mommydom.” Patti’s lawsuit—gruelling and precedent-setting—shows what it costs to confront power and what changes when you win. Through it all, surfing remains the anchor: of strength, confidence, and perspective that travels from the lineup to the classroom, newsroom and courtroom.If you care about surfing history, gender equity, media accountability, or how to hold a line under pressure, you’ll find a blueprint here. Patti Paniccia is one of professional surfing's under-celebrated architects. Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

Ever felt the ocean fix what land couldn’t? 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: It’s time for our annual giveaway – you can enter by leaving a review of the podcast before January 15th – 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 – 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 – and why you want to take that person with you. Don’t forget to leave a way to get in touch with you – your name, email, - any way you prefer. Send us Fan Mail...Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander Closing track: 'Sunseekers' by AndysixstringJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planetNgalung Kalla Eco Retreat: surf adventure paradise The Sunglass Fix: give your favourite sunglasses new lifeSodii: hydration for salty humans...Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read.