How do you better a culture? How do we better surf culture?

Dr. Krista Comer is a scholar of contemporary literature and cultural politics. She has written widely about women and surfing as a way "to build bridges between university and community, or subcultural knowledges. Because we need each other to understand the worlds we inhabit, and to make better worlds. I need bridges to stay true to who I am, my own histories and sense of the future."

Dr. Comer offers clarifying perspectives on the gendered realities of modern surf culture - and has been part of supporting surfers to create inclusive research, social movements and events.

Professor Comer teaches at Rice University in Texas and has lived near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for 25 years. She is the author of Surfer Girls in the New World Order (2010) and is currently working on her latest book: Feminist Surf Life in the Age of Climate Change.

In 2014, Dr. Comer co-founded the Institute for Women Surfers (IWS), an international grassroots political education initiative in the Public Humanities. The institute has conducted trainings in California, Europe, and Australia.

Our episodes typically revolve around stories — lived experiences, often from the water, looking landward. This one is a little different.

We recorded at the close of the Waterwomen Camp Out near a point break in Northern NSW, Australia. The event was hosted by the NGO Surfers for Climate and invited more than 100 women to gather for a weekend of workshops, wellness, and celebration of our shared love of watery play.

Dr. Comer presented work and encouraged dialogue around intergenerational activism, along with local researcher Dr. Rebecca Olive from RMIT University.

We sat down to discuss the relevance of surf feminism, learning from current social movements, the importance of face to face gathering, and bio-deregulation.

Send us a text

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Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

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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.

Called the "most underrated sports person in Australia" and the "greatest Bells surfer of all time” Gail Couper has been both: at the centre and the sideline of surf culture and sport for the better part of her 77 years. She's seen a lot change, and helped to lay the foundation for Aussie surf culture as we know it today.

Gail is a five-time national champion, and 10-time winner of the prestigious Bells Beach/Djarrak event. In the year 2000, she was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame and awarded the Australian Sports Medal for lifetime achievement.

We had the privilege of sitting down with Gail in front of a hometown audience in Lorne as part of the The Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Festival, to talk about competitive drive, the value of volunteering, and helping to establish the world's first Surfing Reserve.


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Held on Gadubanud Country, The Great Ocean Road Women’s Surf Festival offers opportunities for surfers from all backgrounds and experiences to come together and celebrate their riding waves and the ocean. Special thanks to Surfing Victoria for having us and hosting their all-inclusive festival to celebrate surfing.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

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 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 being present in the line-up at Pipeline – she was long the lone woman amongst the sword fight. We trace her unlikely trajectory from growing up in Tennessee, to breakdancing, and surfing some of the most notorious waves on the planet.

Lane talks us through the importance of acknowledging fuller histories of surfing, the role she’s played in creating momentum for women’s surf culture and performance, and the silver lining of living with her stage four cancer diagnosis.

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Read Lane's PhD dissertation here - it traces the parallels between of break dancing and riding waves.

Send us a text

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

...

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.