Skateboarding is a mainstay of California street culture, from San Diego to San Francisco and beyond. It’s so popular that L.A. County filled outdoor skateparks with sand earlier in the pandemic so no one could grind on them.
But during the pandemic, skateboard sales surged — and communities long marginalized from the sport are now making their own spaces.
Today we talk to reporter Cerise Castle, who’s covering and participating in this rise, and skateboarders from various parts of America — including Washington, D.C., and the Navajo Nation — tell us why they skate.
More reading:
Skating can be a bridge in L.A. These 3 crews show how bonds form on four wheels
Skateboarding improves mental health, helps build diverse relationships, USC study says
From the archives: Skateboarders in urban areas get respect, and parks
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
Bob Saget's Here For You
BOB SAGET’S HERE FOR YOU is a podcast that is like no other— For one, this podcast has guests who are friends of Bob’s, or just really interesting people who many of you know and love. Secondly, this podcast is unique because it goes inside Bob Saget’s mind, and then quickly filters out through his mouth. Bob has a way of calming people he has conversations with as well as being entertaining and often informative. Bob talks with his guests with genuine empathy and humor, while reaching his unusually diverse audience that he talks to as a friend, Bob is the dad with great advice, the irreverent funny guy who’s always there when you need a laugh, and the free-associative Bob who goes off on crazy tangents then returns to the subject at hand, as serious or as comedic as it may be, to wrap up each episode in a way only Bob can do. Because he really does believe, “He’s here for you."
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.