For this episode, I talk with Dr. Kees Boterbloem, a history Professor at the University of South Florida, about his book, The Dirty Secret of Early Modern Capitalism. In it, Kees ponders the issue of how capitalism has often historically thrived best when its practitioners are ruthless and ignore the human cost of their search for riches. His book plays particular attention to how the Dutch accumulation of great wealth was closely linked to their involvement in wars both at home and abroad.

Tom Wilson, the Founder of Wave Changer, a Sydney, Australia-based nonprofit organization talks about his organization's vision to “create a carbon neutral, waste-free surf industry that's respectful to nature, yet retains the innovation, high performance and excitement we all expect from surfing.” In this episode, we also chat about Wave Changer’s mission to enable the surf community to embrace sustainable solutions and reduce its environmental impact and how Tom and his team are going about making this mission and vision a reality.

Dr. Ana Manero and Dr. Javier Leon are researchers in geography and environmental management—and avid surfers as well. Combining sound scientific knowledge and a passion for surfing, Javier and Ana investigate the value of the Noosa area. In 2020, Noosa in south-east Queensland, Australia, was recognized as the 10th World Surfing Reserve by Save the Waves Coalition.

In this episode, Dr. Scott Laderman, professor of modern United States history at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, and I talk about his book, Empire in Waves: A Political History of Surfing. Scott's book shows that “while wave riding is indeed capable of stimulating tremendous pleasure, its globalization went hand in hand with the blood and repression of the long twentieth century.”

In this episode, I interview conservationist Michael Blum about his love for studying pelicans along with his recent article he co-authored with Duke University professor, Mike Orbach, titled, "First Steps and First Point: Protecting California Surf Breaks, Maritime Heritage, and the Malibu Historic District." The paper surveys opportunities to protect surf breaks in California ("Could we do it?" "How would we do it?"), as well as describes subsequent work listing Los Angeles' famed Malibu surfing area on the National Register of Historic Places, the Nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.

Dr. Lindsay Usher, professor of park, recreation and tourism studies, talks to me about her latest article titled, "Virginia and North Carolina Surfers perceptions of beach nourishment."

This is the trailer to The Surfing Historian podcast. In this trailer, I give you, the listener, the origin story and the impetus behind launching this podcast.

Dr. Leon Mach, professor of environmental policy, joins me to talk about his most recent article that he co-authored with Jess Ponting, Ph.D., titled, "Establishing a pre-COVID-19 baseline for surf tourism: Trip expenditure and attitudes, behaviors and willingness to pay for sustainability."

Cultural historian, Charlie Harris, examines the changing place of the U.S. Navy in American popular culture during an age of massive overseas expansion at the turn of the 20th century.Cultural historian, Charlie Harris, examines the changing place of the U.S. Navy in American popular culture during an age of massive overseas expansion at the turn of the 20th century.

Cold War cultural historian, Michael Losasso, and I talk about the impact the Department of Defense and the military had on Hollywood, specifically as it relates to war-time advances made in media and film technology during WWII and later in the Cold War.