Split Peak Soup
Welcome to Split Peak Soup Podcast! I’m your host, Neal Kearney. I feel very blessed to have been born and raised here in Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz is a hotbed for talented individuals, including, but not limited to: professional surfers and skaters, master surfboard shapers, internationally renowned artists, expert musicians, boundary pushing intellectual thinkers, and out-of-this-world explorers of consciousness.
Working as a professional journalist for the past twenty-plus years, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with these extraordinary humans and in-depth and insightful chats. While these discussions have helped inform many written pieces that I’m proud of, I oftentimes felt that I was leaving a lot of meat left on the bone, as the few quotes I’d incorporate into my writing oftentimes seemed to strip my interviewees of their own authentic voices.
Luckily, we are entering a brave new world, where the podcast has risen as a popular form of storytelling and media consumption. From Joe Rogan to Conan O’Brien, podcasters have officially taken over. And now, I’m joining the fray. The Split Peak Soup Podcast is my way of using my skills as a story-teller to offer long format conversations with those whose stories deserve to be told.
So, what are you waiting for? Pull up a cozy chair, grab a napkin and your favorite spoon, and get ready to dig into another savory serving of Split Peak Soup!
Split Peak Soup
Split Peak Soup Episode 10--Shaun Burns
Santa Cruz, California is well-known throughout the world as a surfing mecca. From iconic waves such as Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point, to surfing royalty such as Peter Mel and Nat Young, our town lives and breathes surfing. With such a reputation, surfers come from far and wide to live in and visit this gem of a surfing destination, bringing in valuable funds that greatly benefit the local economy. While surfing's impact to the livelihood of Santa Cruz has been long been understood, it's never been precisely quantified. Until now.
Shaun Burns, along with Save the Waves Coalition, recently presented an economic study that determined that surfing brings in an annual $194.7 million dollars a year to the city of Santa Cruz. As Save the Waves reserve network coordinator, Burns has been tasked to present this groundbreaking study to the public. The study, which combined local expert knowledge, visitor data and economic modeling to come up with it's estimate, will be vital for the City of Santa Cruz moving forward, as it decides on measures needed to be taken to preserve this incredible natural resource.
In this episode, Shaun and I discuss the study, including some of the problems facing Santa Cruz's many surf breaks, such as erosion and sea-level rise. We also touch on growing up in Santa Cruz, the East Side/ West Side rivalry, professional surfing, his sponsorship and work as Event Planner with O'Neill, life as a father and husband, and much more.
Shaun is a class act, and someone I respect immensely. It was a pleasure to have him on the show and I can't wait to see what comes next for this well-spoken young man.
EAT YOUR SOUP!