Waterpeople Podcast

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 that causes it - and how grief and loss have inspired her over the ledge at some of the worlds tallest and heaviest waves. Tune in to hear about Flick’s time playing Survivor, the state of inclusivity in surfing, why she transitioned from pursuing the Tour to chasing heavy water, and her recent marriage to a childhood friend. …Felicity is an ambassador for Dementia Australia, whose work your can learn about here. …Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Dave & BenJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast …Photo Credit: Giulia ÁvilaSend us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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.

“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 to help her patients “clear out” psychological debris from trauma, both personal and ancestral. Elizabeth was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents were refugees from Vietnam, who arrived in Honolulu in 1975, at the end of the Vietnam WarDr. Nguyen recently released her first novel Aloha Vietnam.We caught up with Elizabeth remotely to talk about her insightful book and her medical practice, specifically the practice of prescribing water as medicine.…Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Dave & BenJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast …Send us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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.

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”  and the biographical Bella Vita by Jason Baffa, which explores his Italian heritage and the blossoming culture of Italian surfing. Chris has also worked closely with environmental organisations, like Surfers for Cetaceans, combining art and activism to help protect wild species and spaces. Chris is now the co-owner of Baghsu Jewels, with his wife Madgi, and is the Creative Director for Drifter Surf in Bali.   At the time of recording, they’ve been traveling the Southern Hemisphere for nearly a year with their two boys Marley and Bodhi, aged 7 and 4. We caught up with Chris during the 3-month leg of their Australian adventure.  Chris talks us through why he said ‘no’ to professional surfing, growing up amongst LA’s South Bay legacy of watermen, the rite of passage of life guarding,  the deeper purpose that activism brought to his surfing and art, and cultivating the under appreciated virtues of service, responsibility  and staying centered - so that we can bring our best selves to our families. ....Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Dave & BenJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Photo Credit: Unknown (If you took this photo please reach out)Send us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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 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 the line-up.  Belen grew up in a traditional Mexican household in southern California, her mother a first-generation immigrant from Mexico.Belen now resides in Northern NSW, where she is the owner and operator of Salty Girls Surf School. ....Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Dave & BenJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast ...Photo Credit:  Belen KimbleSend us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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 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 Portugal in the mid-1960s. In 1971, he was featured in Albe Falzon’s iconic film Morning of the Earth. In 1973 Rusty started the North Coast region’s first alternative newspaper, The Byron Express, and has been printing an annual magazine - Rusty’s Byron Guide–  since 1984. It offers a practical and philosophical introduction to the Byron area. In 2012, Rusty co-wrote his first book Turning Point: Surf Portraits and Stories From Bells to Byron 1970-1971. Then came Turning Point II: Surf Portraits and Stories Hawaii: Oahu-Kauai-Maui 1968-1972. Both of which were collaborations with his partner, social  geographer Trisha Shantz. They have two daughters, Taylor and Courtney.Rusty continues to share his ample surfing wisdom through his school – Rusty Miller Surf. ....Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Dave & BenJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comPhoto Credit: Chris DuczynskiSend us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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.

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 RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Dave & BenJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Send us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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 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—snoring, sleep apnea, asthma, autoimmune disease, allergies—because of it. He travelled  the world in an attempt to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. James has written for Scientific American, Outside Magazine, the BBC, The New York Times, The Atlantic, and more. His first book, DEEP: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What The Ocean Tells Us about Ourselves , made waves in the freediving world as James adventured  with extreme athletes, adventurers, and scientists as they plumbed the limits of the ocean's depths and uncovered weird and wondrous new discoveries. ....Access Buteyko breathing exercises for kids here. …Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Soundtrack: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comGet monthly musings and behind the scenes morsels 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 Send us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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.

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. She helped found the Hawaii women’s Surfing Hui, which was part of opening the door to the formation of women’s professional surfing.Laola lives and plays on the island of Kauai with her family. In 2020, on the eve of turning 70, she became the first female president of the Kauai Lifeguard Association. She shares about riding redwood boards, the origins of her passion for water safety, parenting regrets (her daughter is Sanoe Lake, of Blue Crush notoriety), and finding  a way to stay in the water, no matter your age or ability. ....Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Soundtrack: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Wave Brain  - Dave, Neal Purchase Jr. and Christian Barker Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comSend us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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 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 Earth—they were the first team to do it without oxygen; Rick made the first documented traverse of Borneo; the first crossing on foot of a corner of Tibet so remote no outsider had ever seen it – these amongst many other adventures far off the beaten path. For 15 years, Rick was the Vice president of Environmental Affairs and then VP of Public Engagement at Patagonia. He is an accomplished filmmaker and the author of seven books, most recently the memoir Life Lived Wild. Listen with us as Rick talks us through surviving an avalanche, the most important baseline to understand when it comes to tracking climate change, what he hopes to impart to his grandchildren, cultivating a forty year marriage, embracing the pain of loss directly, and recognising the summit as a false goal.  The  arc of Rick's life’s work --  from stretching the possibilities of human physical capacity toward using adventure sports and expeditions for Earth care and repair -- is a constant inspiration for creatively harnessing our particular passions for greater good.   ....Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Soundtrack: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music:  Ben AlexanderJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comPhoto Credit:  Gordon WiltsieSend us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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.

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 stone and water, Peggy has become a tireless activist for the wellbeing of all beings. Her Origami Whales Project, an installation of 38,000 cascading paper whales, was recently showcased at The Smithsonian Institution. Peggy began the project in 2004 to raise awareness about the potential re-emergence of sanctioned commercial whaling. That number – 38,000 --- represents the approximate number of whales killed since the International Whaling commission’s moratorium on whaling in 1986. We caught up with Peggy as she made her way down the Australian coast to chat about adapting surfing for concrete,  the inspiration of Sadako Sasaki's paper cranes, the importance of mindset in injury, and the projects currently capturing her imagination. …Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave RastovichSound Engineer: Ben Alexander Soundtrack By: Shannon Sol Carroll Additional music by Ben AlexanderJoin the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast Waterpeoplepodcast.comPhoto Credit: John Francis PetersSend us Fan Mail...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 AlkawayThe 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.