The week of Holden Trnka is upon us.

Buck and Mikey discuss the Pipe CS event (which Holden covered from the tent), a wildly under-rockered boat storming the Steamer Lane lineup (which Holden not only witnessed, but assisted in the life-saving efforts that followed), whether or not Instagram reels are killing our surf boners (Holden says they are), and oh yeah, a few hints about the NEW EPISODE of Stab in the Dark X starring Robert Kelly Slater.

Massive three-part ep incoming!

Not only did John Florence sit down (exclusively) with Stab's co-founder Sam McIntosh to chat about his recent departure from the tour, and what he'll be doing to grow his brand(s) in the meantime...

This ep also features a Kelly Slater Stab in the Dark ep 2 breakdown, where Mikey and Buck discuss board theories, shaper rivalries, and the first elimination (spoiler alert!).

Finally, we chat with our guy on the ground in Hawaii about what's been happening in and around the Pipe CS event.

Is John John really leaving because of Raglan? Depends on who you believe...

Stace G and Mikey C break down all this week's WSL news, plus provide a forecast + picks for the upcoming Pipe CS event.

The GOAT and the Stab's cofounder in one podcast? Yeah, we got that!

Kelly Slater and Sam McIntosh join this edition of The Drop to give some behind-the-scenes details of our new Stab in the Dark series.

Episode 2 drops this week, and reveals Kelly's first bite of the apple. Historically, a forbidden fruit — but in this case, oh so sweet.

SITD X release schedule:

Episode 1: Jan 13

Episode 2: Jan 27

Episode 3: Feb 10

Episode 4: Feb 24

We've never made anything like Stab in the Dark X with Kelly Slater. Mikey and Buck break down episode 1, alongside some 2026 predictions, a golf v surf turf war and a quick trip to Ukraine.

Breaking: Episode 1 of Stab in the Dark with Kelly Slater premieres this Tuesday.

This. Tuesday.

And yes, it's as good as the teaser implies.

We also missed a lot over the holidays. Shall we recap?

The last Drop of 2025 is a heavy one.

A reigning world champ parts with his headline sponsor. The WSL calls off the day of the event at Pipe. Stab gets in a bidding war with a major surf brand (and loses, then wins). And Stab Surfer of the Year gets a facelift.

Where does localism end and insanity begin? Particularly in the Canary Islands, where a crazed, scooter-riding, rock-wielding man just went full Joe Namath on a visiting surfer.

Buck and Mikey break this down along with an exclusive Kolohe Andino interview, Nate Florence's Austrian torture chamber, Mikey Feb's broken board theory, the world's best artificial wave and some exciting news from Hawaii.

Sorry we're late, tech difficulties!

And if you missed last week's ep, that's probably our fault as well. Something happened where it didn't upload to Apple pods until yesterday, so now we've got two eps in two days which I guess is better than nothing. Maybe?

I'd say it won't happen again, but it probably will, so thanks as always for coming along for the ride with us.

For now

Depends who you ask. If it's Mikey C or Buck, well, the answers still vary.

This week the boys break down 14 more titles returning to the CT, a new ep of EAST, and a couple real thinkers:

1. Is Chat GPT ruining surf culture?

2. Who has the right to protect a wave?

It's a heady ep, one that might come up in your next (therapy) session. But in the end, it's only surfing. Don't think too hard.