Looking Sideways Action Sports Podcast

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Legendary surf and skate film-maker Thomas Campbell’s new film Yi-Wo has been ten years in the making.

So when TC got in touch to ask if he could come back on the podcast to talk me through the decade-long creative process that went into the making of this instant classic, I was in. I’ve had the good fortune to see Yi-Wo a few times now, and can confirm that this long-await...

In this fourth follow-up episode of The Announcement, which was recorded live at MAD Fest in early July 2025, I’m exploring a question that is directly related to the topics I explored in The Announcement series proper - what does effective activism for brands actually look like?

MAD Fest is a huge festival for brands and agencies that takes place each year in East London, and I was invited to take part in this year’s event by organ...

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250 episodes of Looking Sideways! And to mark the occasion, I invited the great Jeremy Jones back for this second visit, six years after we recorded our first conversation for the podcast.

Much has changed in Looking Sideways land since that first chat. Back then, the show was basically me interviewing famous action sports types about their lives and careers. This was pre-T...

I have my 250th episode of Looking Sideways coming up! And I’m also very close to hitting a rather large Substack subscriber milestone, which itself feels like a nicely significant moment.

To mark the big 250, I thought it’d be fun to revisit some favourite articles and podcast episodes from the last eight years of Looking Sideways: continuing with this classic interview with legendary skater Jamie Thomas, originally recorded back i...

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As America's current democratic crisis has unfolded over the last few months, I’ve pondered an increasingly uncomfortable question: where is the meaningful opposition from our community as fundamental institutions and public lands face unprecedented assault?

How to account for the relative silence from community leaders, athletes, ambassadors, brands and media as democratic...

In this third follow-up episode of The Announcement, I'm sharing my original January 2024 conversation with John Elkington and Louise Kjellerup Roper of Volans in its entirety.

This conversation addresses perhaps the most significant yet under-discussed aspect of the Patagonia ‘Earth is our only shareholder’ story - its relevance as a model for most businesses, especially publicly-traded or shareholder-owned companies.

Because the un...

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What happens when one of the world's foremost documentary filmmakers turns her lens on the world of action sports and mountain culture in vital films such as Mountain Queen and The Crash Reel?

That’s the question at the heart of this conversation with the brilliant Lucy Walker, a filmmaker who I think is one of the most important nonfiction storytellers of our era.

Bold stat...

In this second follow-up episode of The Announcement, I explore a crucial counterbalance to the billionaire-driven change narrative: the power of citizenship and grassroots movements in reshaping our collective future.

I'm joined by Jon Alexander, co-founder of the New Citizen Project and co-author of the increasingly influential book Citizens - a work that offers a compelling, necessary vision about who we are and how we might move...

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The notion of the visionary founder is the most ubiquitous of modern tropes.

It is also one of the most harmful, as one glance at the madness that unfolds on LinkedIn on any given day ably demonstrates.

And in a way the idea that the founder is fuelled by a weird diet, 4am starts and a particularly itchy social media trigger-finger reminds me of another toxic stereotype - the...

In this first follow-up Announcement episode, I explore a question which I began to examine in episode two of The Announcement, and which is now at the centre of global politics: are billionaires fundamentally damaging to democracy, regardless of their political leanings?

I'm joined once again by Carl Rhodes, academic and author of Woke Capitalism: How Corporate Morality is Sabotaging Democracy and his new book Stinking Rich: The Fo...

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“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play, his labour and his leisure, his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves other to determine whether he is working or paying. To himself, he always appears to be doi...

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Packing it all in to lead your dream lifestyle in an exotic location is a fantasy every traveller has indulged in at some point.

Few make it a reality. And yet that’s exactly what the inspirational Ed Templeton - no, not that one - and his wife Sofie have accomplished with the brilliant Soul & Surf community they have created in Sri Lanka, India and Portug...

“Well, I think the simple answer, and nothing here is simple, is that capitalism dies with its mistakes.” - John Elkington, Founder, Volans

Patagonia’s September 2022 decisions to make ‘Earth’ the company’s only shareholder was huge news, particularly in the worlds of climate activism, business, philanthropy, the outdoors, and action sports.

And at the heart of this decision, as the company made clear at the time, was a desire to sh...

“Whenever anybody with that level of wealth and power moves money into an opaque system, we should wave our red democracy flag, and say, ‘However virtuous they may be, we want to hold you to a higher standard’."

Patagonia’s September 2022 decisions to make ‘Earth’ the company’s only shareholder made headlines around the world.

So perhaps understandably, it wasn’t long before commentators began to scrutinise the details of the announ...

“Going purpose, not going public.”

Patagonia’s September 2022 decisions to make ‘Earth’ the company’s only shareholder was huge news, particularly in the worlds of climate activism, business, philanthropy, the outdoors, and action sports.

Here was the most influential company in the outdoor world, and one of the most influential businesses on the planet per se, relinquishing control of their profits for the greater good.

But … what di...

"Earth is our only shareholder.”

In September 2022, Patagonia's billionaire owner Yvon Chouinard relinquished control and made 'earth' the company's only shareholder.

But … what did this actually mean? Why did he do it? What about the scrutiny the company received? And is this really a critical moment in the history of capitalism, as Patagonia believe?

The Announcement is a new three-part podcast documentary series from Looking Sidewa...

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Ah, Christmas. A time of friends, family and tradition - which in Looking Sideways world means the much loved Festive Special with my close pals and stalwart podcast supporters Tim and Gendle!

If you’re new here (and many thousands of you subscribed anew this year), I’ve known Tim Warwood and Adam Gendle, two incredibly funny and t...

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Regulars who’ve been following Looking Sideways at all closely for the last two years will be familiar with the name Chris Nelson. Alongside Demi Taylor and Lewis Arnold, he’s one of the triumvirate of creative talents behind the brilliant Big Sea, which I’ve been championing since I saw the first cut back in November 2022.

But I actually go way, way back wi...

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As anybody who’s watched your typical softball chat-show conversation will be aware, interviews with people at a certain level of fame and renown, such as this week’s guest Jordy Smith, tend to unfold in one of two ways.

There’s the filtered, on-message, and generally uninteresting stuff we’ve all heard countless times before.

And then, very rarely, there’s...