Unpacked In Santa Cruz

Episode 88: Mitch Riley: A Fresh Start Is Possible When You Choose It

Santa Cruz can change you, but not always in the glossy way people imagine. We sit with Mitch Riley, a gentle giant with a long memory, to talk about what it really takes to start over, build community, and stay upright when life is expensive, fast, and relentless. Mitch walks us through leaving Columbus, Ohio, finding a new life in Atlanta, tasting the intensity of Los Angeles, and eventually landing on the Central Coast to raise a family. Along the way we get into music, graffiti, work in natural foods retail, and why “real food” culture in Santa Cruz is bigger than a trend. Then we go where most conversations stay vague: addiction, the opioid crisis, and the hidden mechanics of dependence. We talk about prescriptions, heroin, relapse patterns, and the part people miss when they reduce recovery to willpower. Sobriety becomes a story about clarity and agency, about getting your mind back, and about learning to sit with what you feel without needing to shut it off. If you care about mental health, recovery, and the real cost of a profoundly efficient society, this one goes deep without turning preachy. We also unpack why Brazilian jiu jitsu can become a lifeline: a place where men practice calm, mercy, and trust inside a hard struggle. It’s intimacy with boundaries, community without performance, and a training ground for showing up better at home. We close with what’s next for Mitch and his family, including the launch of Old Soul Tattoos on Swift Street and a new gallery space upstairs. If this hits home, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. What’s one choice you’ve made that brought your life back to you?

Episode 87: Chapter XVI:My Politics: What Is and Is Not, Social Capitalism, Democracy, and Tech; Don’t Become The Gorillas (A Soliloquy That Sounds More Like a Lecture)

Capitalism gets treated like a political label, but it’s more useful to see it as a machine, not a piece of morality. A man made principle acknowledging surplus not made by humans-but a piece of the fabric of the world we share with everyone that is only as moral as the humans governing it. One that can build real prosperity and still trap people in confusion. Michael is taking a risk and laying out a minor brief on his own political lens, not to pick a side, but to give you the missing premise of what he sees most debates skip: what capitalism actually is, how money is created, and why the headlines start to make more sense once you understand the plumbing. We walk through the basics of central banking, lending, interest rates, and why the term “printing money” is usually a sloppy statement for a much bigger system. We also talk about the scale most of us never see: nonstop bank transactions, invisible fees, and the way growth can look great on paper while wages and housing make regular life feel impossible. From there, we make the case for social capitalism, a strong role for governance, and the danger of overcentralization in everything from government to tech platforms. Then we zoom out to the messy present: private equity squeezing industries, oligarch-level influence, and why some most global conflicts are fights over which central banks and currencies control the flows. We also wrestle with artificial intelligence, not as a sci-fi storyline, but as a real-world test of whether we can stop thinking zero-sum and start building local value with new tools. If this changes how you think about money, share it with someone who argues politics but hates economics. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what part you want us to unpack next.

Episode 86: John Barrs: A Santa Cruz Housing Reality Check, What Affordable Housing Really Costs A Community

Santa Cruz is one of those places that can feel like vacation and crisis at the same time. We sit down with John Barrs owner of Ideal Homes, to talk about what it’s really like to live, commute, raise kids, and run a local business in a county where Highway 1 is jammed, new buildings rise fast, and “affordable housing” can still mean $5,500 rent for a two-bedroom. We get personal first, from surf panic stories to the day-to-day reality of being a girl dad and watching childhood fly by. Then we go straight into the money and logistics behind family life: travel sports costs, the unexpected moment a kid rides a horse once and suddenly the whole household budget changes, and why so many working families feel like they’re sprinting just to stay in place. The heart of the conversation is manufactured housing and mobile home communities in Santa Cruz County. We unpack the stigma, what these homes actually look like today, and why this is an overlooked piece of the affordable housing puzzle. John breaks down how financing works when a home is personal property, the difference between lease land, co-ops, and land-owned parks, and why the down payment is often the biggest barrier, not the monthly payment. We also talk ADUs, permitting delays, expensive reports, and the kind of red tape that turns “we need housing” into years of waiting and tens of thousands in fees and the term affordable as a political slogan is often times just lip service to a community heading into crises. If you care about Santa Cruz housing, workforce housing, and realistic solutions, this one will hit home. Subscribe, share this with a friend who cares about local housing, and leave a review with your take: what would you fix first?

Episode 85: David McIntosh: What Happens When You Find Yourself In The Images You’ve Held About Life? We Are All About To Find Out.

Santa Cruz can feel like paradise and a pressure cooker at the same time, and that tension is where this conversation starts. I sit down with David McIntosh to unpack what “change” really looks like on the ground: a working class beach town shaped by Silicon Valley gravity, rising costs, and the quiet fear of being pushed out, alongside real opportunity for the people ready to adapt. David’s path to Santa Cruz is anything but linear. He grew up near Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, describes what it’s like to see hardship as a daily backdrop, and how that experience sharpens empathy. Then life takes him through Washington, DC, London, and Australia, following his wife’s career from diplomacy and government affairs into tech. Through all of it, one thread stays constant: surfing. He learned at 12 on the East Coast, obsessed over surf magazines, and carried a persistent “California dreaming” that still shows up today as the kind of stoke you can’t fake. We also get into surf industry history and why so many legacy surf brands drifted away from the core. Dave shares why he’s opening Sunny California on a storied Santa Cruz retail corner, not to “own” surf culture, but to celebrate it with a surf and moto shop, art gallery energy, and a space built around community. His north star is simple and hard to execute: make everyone leave happier than when they arrived. If you care about Santa Cruz, surf culture, California lifestyle, and what modern community-first retail can look like, you’ll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe, share it with a friend who loves the ocean, and leave a review with your take: what should a great surf shop feel like?

Episode 84: Mark Allen: The GOAT Speaks: There Is No Pressure When You’re Being Yourself-But You Might Want To Pick That Jacket Off The Couch and Hang It

Santa Cruz can make a world champion feel like “just another guy in the lineup”. That’s exactly where this conversation starts.  I sit down with Mark Allen, the GOAT and six-time Ironman World Champion, and lifelong surfer, to get under the surface of what makes this place a haven for talent and why it also has an edge that forms you over time. We talk about the strange Santa Cruz magic where titles-no matter what they are- don’t land the way they do elsewhere. How community is built through consistency, respect, and real relationships instead of status. Mark shares the story behind his biggest athletic turning point: years of leading the pack and then falling apart in Kona, and the fear he didn’t want to admit. We move to the mindset shift that finally changed everything. We go into Huichol shamanism and earth-based spirituality, how nature can become a mirror for your inner life, and why trying to perform like someone else burns energy you don’t have. One of my favorite themes is his reframe from rivalry to cooperation, using competitors as information and inspiration instead of a threat. We also get practical about daily life: stress as a motivator, the weird ways we create tension, simple disciplines that clear mental space, and what longevity looks like when you want it to be sustainable. If you’re into Ironman training, endurance mindset, performance psychology, surfing culture, or stress management, there’s a lot here to carry into your own routines. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s stuck in comparison, and leave a review with the habit you’re working on right now.