Waterpeople Podcast
Stories about the aquatic experiences that shape us.
Listen with Lauren L. Hill and Dave Rastovich as they talk story with some of the most adept waterfolk on the planet.
Waterpeople is a gathering place for our global ocean community to dive into the themes of watery lives lived well: ecology, adventure, community, activism, science, egalitarianism, inclusivity, meaningful play, a sense of humour. And, surfing, of course.
Episodes
129 episodes
The Rivers Run: Theory of Change (pt. 2)
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 questio...
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Season 7
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Episode 15
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42:57
Sterling Spencer: Fan of the Universe
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 ...
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Season 7
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Episode 14
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1:31:08
Peter Gash OAM: Custodian of Curiosity
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 v...
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Season 7
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Episode 13
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1:00:02
Ethnomads: Ke'ili Mcevilly + Chris Miyashiro
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...
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Season 7
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Episode 12
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51:11
Chris Miyashiro: Homecomings
A captain wakes in the night certain he’s wrecked in mangroves—only he’s 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 a...
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Season 7
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Episode 11
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1:04:57
John Peck: Rebirth
What does it mean to live a life of service? Pipeline pioneer John Peck was devout to many thing...
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Season 7
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Episode 10
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38:57
Layne Beachley + Tess Brouwer: Mental Fitness
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
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Season 7
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Episode 9
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56:33
Brenden 'Margo' Margieson: Renaissance Man
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...
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Season 7
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Episode 8
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1:13:43
Theory of Change (pt. 1): Waterwomen Camp Out
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 environment...
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Season 7
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Episode 7
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1:01:28
Holly Beck: Simplicity + Therapy
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 ...
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Season 7
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Episode 6
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1:29:49
Hunter Williams: Shapes + Templates
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 t...
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Season 7
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Episode 5
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1:01:47
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Arne Rubinstein: Rites of Passage
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 ro...
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Season 7
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Episode 4
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1:16:02
Bonnie Tsui: On Muscle + Movement
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, imm...
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Season 7
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Episode 3
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1:19:43
Dylan Graves: The Levity Effect
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 obse...
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Season 7
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Episode 2
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1:55:16
Sarah Gerhardt: Unstable Bonds
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 an...
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Season 7
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Episode 1
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1:10:54
Kiana Weltzien: More with Less
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...
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Season 6
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Episode 12
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1:02:40
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Putting Tech in its Place with Helena Norberg-Hodge + friends
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 econ...
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Season 6
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Episode 18
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48:50
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Gary McNeill: Make It Last
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 durabili...
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Season 6
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Episode 15
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59:39
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Krista Comer: Reading Power
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 un...
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Season 6
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Episode 18
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47:32
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Otto Flores: Stepping Up
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 R...
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Season 6
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Episode 14
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1:04:06
Gail Couper: With Bells On
Called the "most underrated sports person in Australia" and the "greatest Bells surfer of all time” Gail Couper has been both: at t...
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Season 6
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Episode 17
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52:35
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Lane Davey: Body Language
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 be...
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Season 6
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Episode 16
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58:09
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Danny Johnson: Don't Overthink It
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:
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Season 6
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Episode 13
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1:12:53
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