Stace and Mike are joined by a surprise guest who makes the argument for jet skis as a justifiable fetish.

The boys also discuss which surfers will come out of Covid stronger than they went in and whether or not the WSL will run events in 2020.

For the third episode of Mick Fanning and Stab's interview series Unplugged, Mick and Stab's Sam McIntosh linked up with Gabriel Medina from his current location in Maresias, Brazil.

Mick and Sam were able to unravel the famously mysterious Medina. Here's just some of the things we learnt in this interview:

First job: No shit, Gabe Medina used to park cars as a six year old.

The biggest waves he’s ever surfed have been in a jersey.

Subject: Little help?

The Pipe Masters forecast was looking huge and Gabe asked Mick Fanning how to surf Pipe. Via email.

Gabe regrets the Caio Ibelli drop-in in Portugal.

"Isn’t he a dickhead?" Mick Fanning talks his flatmate’s response when Gabe was coming to stay.

He knows absolutely nothing about surfboards except he likes em big. “I ride the same size as Jordy"

Gabe is the only surfer on tour who likes Lemoore. “They should hold the whole 2020 tour there,” laughs Gabe.

In this episode, Stace and Mike meet with the WSL's Chief Brand Officer, Dave Prodan, to talk about the League's proposed changes, the public's overwhelmingly negative response to those changes, and exactly what is the WSL's core identity (as we can't seem to put our finger on it).

Here's a breakdown, for the impatient type:

1:00 How the WSL is structured as a business

4:30 Does the WSL represent "surfing" as a whole?

7:30 what does Dave's job entail?

8:30 what is the WSL's core identity?

10:40 is the WSL a profitable business?

12:20 will the WSL cut down the number of surfers on the CT?

14:15 7-day event windows?

14:30 how will the WSL continue to elevate female surfing?

16:30 what's the plan with the QS?

23:00 how does the WSL feel about the negative public response toward their new plans?

28:00 what will the new tour calendar look like?

30:40 would Kelly Slater have more or less titles today if the WSL's proposed changes had been in place since Slater started on tour?

33:40 will JJF suffer most from these proposed changes?

36:20 as the WSL's Brand Manager, what are some brands that Dave is inspired by?

39:50 Dane Reynolds' definition of a kook

42:20 is The Ultimate Surfer a legitimate property?

47:40 let's talk about the wavepool

52:10 what's been your favorite era of pro surfing?

57:50 how long will New event windows be?

58:30 are 2019's QS qualifiers screwed?

1:06:10 lightning round

In this episode, Stace and Mike discuss the WSL's proposed plans for the 2021 Tour and what their idealized versions of a CT would look like.

Radical upheaval is the general consensus.

Stab founder and CEO Sam McIntosh gets into the weeds with WSL CEO Erik Logan on the future of surf competitions and content.

After two decades in the game, there are a few commonalities you can always rely on when dealing with a-grade talent: the first is that you need to be prepared to do plenty of waiting.

Once a time and day were set for the interview, both surfers committed to a firm time date: 8am Tuesday in Australia and 12pm, in Hawaii.

It was 7.53am and my laptop wouldn’t kick over. Frozen. A few resets and it whirred to life. It was 7.57am when I finally tuned into Zoom. There, both Mick and John were in full swing. I’m not sure what was more disarming, that these guys were so punctual or the fact that they’d already dived into the joys of cycling, and the fact that John needs to embrace lycra because it’s a “game-changer.”

The goal of this call was simple: two see what can be distilled when two surfing world champs riff about life at the top. This is our second iteration of the series. We had some feedback from the first episode with Ronnie Blakey and it was that we lacked a clear explanation of what was actually going on.

Just to be clear, my role in this is a co-host who plays moderator. When you have two world-class talents going at it, the last thing you need is a third gypsy swinging in with their opinion. However, left alone, two pro surfers could spend 60 minutes wandering aimlessly around subjects like injury rehab or their favourite surgeons in the world. Which, is to not discount those subjects specifically but they can get kinda dreary. My role is to shepherd and push the conversation away from the instinctual and well-worn cliches.

From the first question, Mick was a lot more comfortable with playing host and firing questions. John, who is usually more guarded was loosened up and ready to learn from Mick.

It was a fun exchange. We never expected to hear so much about Gabe Medina, nor had any idea that the emotionless John was a learned skill and that surfing Pipeline is easier with an injury than Snapper.

Thank you again for all of your questions. Due to the volume of uploads, sorry we can’t run them all. Please let us know who you’d like Mick to interview next and let us know how bad this episode sucked. [email protected] Thanks also to Shinya Dalby for graphics and Danny Johnson for pulling together the entire show… – Sam McIntosh

The Stab CUSP is back like a chicken with no head!

Because surf comps are officially on hold til mid-2024, Stace and Mike have had to change the angle of the aptly-named Stab CUSP (Currently Untitled Surf Podcast). This week they'll be discussing the surf industry at large and whether or not it will survive our current recession.

Because neither Stace nor Mike know anything the surf industry, they enlisted the expertise of Sam McIntosh (Stab's founder and noted media tycoon) and Mitch Crews (professional surfer) to walk them through surfing's current commercial status and its outlook for the future.

Here's a brief rundown of events.

0:00 intro

2:00 Gold Coast update

4:50 Costa Rica update

6:40 surf industry update

11:30 Sam McIntosh intro

12:45 Sam on the surf industry

31:30 Sam end, Stace analyzes

33:50 Mitch intro

36:55 Mitch on the realities of being a "pro surfer" in 2020.

55:58 Mitch end, boys analyze

The Stab MIC: Jamie O'Brien by STAB

In episode two of CUSP, Stace and Mike talk about the highly contentious Pipe Masters finale. Topics covered include: Italo's dominance, Slater's ageless mastery, and Medina's q antics

A more detailed look at their discourse, here:

0.00 intro

2.00 pipeline breakdown - Italo

14.00 Wildcard seeding, Billy Kemper

16.50 Gabby & Caio Interference

23.30 Unsportsmanlike Rule

26.50 Is Gabby above the law?

32.00 Do we change the drop in rule?

34.20 Getting comboed, should it even happen?

38.41 JJF v Medina Rivalry

41.33 Who wins the 2020 Title?

42.50 Kelly & JJF Olympics and Kelly chat

44.44 Kelly retirement

47.05 Kelly Late entry to sunset

49.16 Chin Wag Section - Performance drugs in surfing

53.28 Weight in surfing

55.40 Using lighter equipment, is it better?

1.04.10 Q3 Biggest Hassler at events?

1.08.51 Biggest Hassler not on tour

1.14.40 What the score? Q1 Gabby crying

1.18.47 Q2 Blocking on insta

Welcome to CUSP (the Currently Untitled Surf Podcast), where Stab writer Michael Ciaramella and Championship Tour coach Stace Galbraith dissect the minutiae of competitive surfing, occasionally in a combative fashion. This is the first episode of our new, contest-driven podcast, so let us know what you think.

For the impatient types:

0:33 podcast and host introduction

2:50 Honolua bay intro

3:48 Mike's conspiracy theory part 1 (Lakey)

8:19 Stace's rebuttal

9:25 Mike's re-rebuttal

11:25 Mike's conspiracy theory part 2 (Caroline)

13:17 Stace confirms that match-fixing happens within WSL events

15:06 Jack Freestone burns Heitor Alves on purpose

17:32 Stace talks Hawai'i

18:51Carissa wins Honolua, Stace offers insights from the ground

20:43 Lakey's missed wave... again

24:53Tyler Wright's triumphant return

29:25 the Tyler wildcard snafu

33:30 Sunset beach intro

34:46 Zeke Lau's Sunset requirement

36:28 the Zeke x Jack collision

42:01 Ethan Ewing's Hawaii performance

43:34 Matthew McGillivray qualification

44:18Morgan Cibilic: where did he come from and what has he done in Hawaii?

50:39 Stu Kennedy: ignorance is not (always) bliss.

51:22 how Stace's numerical mind helped jack freestone get on tour

53:17 Stuart Kennedy pt 2.

54:46 2019 QS qualifiers

57:01 Is the QS a true test of who should be on the CT?

58:50 Pipeline intro

59;26 Pipe predictions

101:55 Do Jordy and Filipe have a chance?

104:56 What about Kolohe?

106:05 CT requalification situation

1:08:36 observations from the Pipe lineup

1:10:04 Willian's declaration of fear

1:12:11 Will fallen CT surfers revert to the QS?

1:14:20 The Olympics: what's its value to surfing?

1:18:41 Kelly & John

1:24:21 2020 CT wildcard options (Mikey Wright, Leo Fioravanti, ADS)