Looking Sideways Action Sports Podcast

Episode 254: Adam Skolnick - Fellow Traveller

Use LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 for 10% off anything from [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/p/finisterre-discount-code-2025]Finisterre -- Adam Skolnick is a journalist, none-fiction writer, famed Roll On podcaster, and the author behind the brilliant new novel - his first! - American Tiger. American Tiger (a work that has been gestating for years) is a milestone for Adam in more ways than one. As his first published novel it is, of course, the latest stage in his evolution as an artist. But it is also confirmation of the way that personal philosophies inevitably seep into the work we produce.  Because while the book is ostensibly about a young girl called Bell spotting a tiger in suburban California, it’s really about much more. Like all the best works of art, American Tiger brings together the preoccupations that have underpinned Adam’s career up to now into one artistically coherent and page-turning whole.  It’s an LA novel, a coming-of-age novel, and a novel about the way that Adam sees nature as a partner, not a resource. And the story of how Skolnick brought this thing into the world is itself an instructive tale for anybody attempting to get their own creative vision off the ground: part creative psychology, part survival guide to the modern writer’s life, part sheer bloody-minded entrepreneurialism in an era of shrinking outlets and collapsing budgets. I loved this conversation, and I think you will too. Find it via my website, the link in bio, or the usual platform. My thanks to Adam for the brilliant chat, and to April for all the help. Looking forward to meeting you both in person soon!  To find out more about what I do, you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here [https://lookingsideways.substack.com/s/hkc-discount-club]. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

The Announcement: Len Necefer - Pragmatism Beats Purity

In this latest follow-up episode to The Announcement, I’m joined by activist, entrepreneur, engineer, and policy researcher Len Necefer for a conversation in which we discuss the tension between ideological purity and pragmatic action when it comes to genuine environmental and social change. Len, a proud member of the Navajo Nation, works at the intersection of Indigenous peoples, natural resource, and environmental policy.  He is the founder of Natives Outdoors, a board member at the Honnold Foundation, and somebody whose work has become essential when it comes to the current debate around how to create meaningful impact in an imperfect system.   This, of course, was a key theme of my Announcement series proper. And it is the territory Len provocatively and articulately explores through his work and writings, in which he respectfully yet firmly challenges the comfortable assumptions around ‘purpose’ that tend to dominate the discourse in outdoor and adventure spaces. As you’ll be aware if you’ve read Len’s brilliant Substack or follow him on social media, he is not interested in letting individuals, brands, or organisations mark their own homework.  Instead, he is interested in asking the only questions that truly matter: Will this have an impact? Is your work upsetting the right people? Is it calculated to drive forward the change you claim to seek?  The more I explore these avenues, the more I think these are really the only honest questions worth asking, which is why I admire Len’s work and his willingness to ask these questions so outspokenly and articulately.  From this challenging conversation, you'll gain insights into: - Why accountability matters more than stated intentions in purpose-driven business - How Indigenous perspectives fundamentally shift conversations around environmental policy and outdoor access - What it means to take genuinely bold approaches, rather than performative stands - Why challenging industry orthodoxy is essential to meaningful progress This was the type of challenging and progressive conversation that Len specialises in— full of provocations, unimpeachable logic, and the moral integrity we sorely need at this time.  For bonus and behind-the-scenes material, click here [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Episode 253: Seth Hughes - Apprentice to Land and Sea

Use LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 for 10% off anything from [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/p/finisterre-discount-code-2025]Finisterre -- Filmmaker, surfer, seeker and - OK, then - influencer: Seth Hughes is one of British surfing’s most thought-provoking creative presences. We’ve been friends for a few years now, and like everybody who follows him on Instagram, over the last few years I’ve been following his ‘apprenticeship to the land and sea’ with fascination and interest. I’ve also appreciated the increasingly searching and occasionally uncomfortable questions he likes to pose. How to regain a new understanding of health and wellness. How to regain our lost relationship to nature. How we escape the pernicious power of addictive technology. And how to reconcile our ‘real’ and public-facing selves, and the many masks we wear. These are Seth’s preoccupations and themes. And they were among the many topics we discussed in this meandering, insightful and hugely enjoyable exchange, recorded during my visit to Cornwall at the end of October 2025. We began this conversation on the site of the old mining slag heap that forms a backdrop to our mutual pal Chris Hines’ beautiful property, before heading inside to record this evocative conversation. I’m very grateful to Seth and Chris for the lovely afternoon. I learned a lot from our conversation, not least about my own views and behaviours.Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  -- To find out more about what I do, you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here [https://lookingsideways.substack.com/s/hkc-discount-club]. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Episode 252: Ed Templeton - Work Works

Use LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 for 10% off anything from [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/p/finisterre-discount-code-2025]Finisterre -- Skateboarder, photographer, artist, Toy Machine company owner - Ed Templeton is one of skateboarding’s most influential and beloved influences.  And as a 14-year-old who obsessively wore out their copy of 1281 back in the day, he was a real and important influence on me personally when it came to working out how to express myself as a creative person.  What, you could be into this stuff - and also art, culture, and literature? And skateboarding and snowboarding could be the catalystt for this exploration? This was revelatory to me.   All of which is why I’ve been hoping to interview Ed since I began Looking Sideways back in 2017. In October 2025, we finally made it happen. Whenever you interview somebody of such notoriety, who at this point has been interviewed countless times, the challenge is always the same: how can I make this person comfortable, and get them to open up? As is often the case on Looking Sideways, a shared interest in art and creativity was the foundation of a conversation rich in insight and honesty. Yes, we spoke about skateboarding, Toy Machine, Welcome to Hell, art and photography, as you might expect. But we did so through an unexpectedly wistful and nostalgic lens as Ed, now in his 50s; and with the wit, candour and humility that have always been his hallmarks; grapples with the topics that come for us all in the end: aging, impermanence, the value of possessions, the influence of our forebears, and the legacy we want to leave behind. Special thanks to Don Brown and Thomas Campbell for their help with this one. -- To find out more about what I do, you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here [https://lookingsideways.substack.com/s/hkc-discount-club]. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Episode 251: Thomas Campbell - Yi-Wo

Use LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 for 10% off anything from [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/p/finisterre-discount-code-2025]Finisterre -- 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-awaited release is a wondrous, challenging and completely artistically uncompromising piece of work that confirms TC’s position as surfing’s premiere bloody-minded auteur. And personally, I appreciate that. As we discussed during our conversation, in times of social and political turmoil such as these, the role of art becomes ever more important. Especially a work like Yi-Wo, which rejects immediacy, defies easy characterisation, and asks many necessary questions of the audience. If you’ve listened to my first two chats with Thomas, during which we delved into his creative process in great detail, you’ll appreciate this conversation as a complement to those previous exchanges. Here is the culmination of ten years of ‘sitting in the chair’, as he likes to say, an active demonstration of where TC’s curiosity, principles and artistic integrity have led him; and a brilliant summation of the fact that, in the end, creativity is about making decisions, putting one foot in front of the other, and seeing where it leads you and your audience. As ever, it was a great privilege to get such a priceless insight into this unique artist’s creative process, and to catch up with one of surfing’s great original voices. -- To find out more about what I do, you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here [https://lookingsideways.substack.com/s/hkc-discount-club]. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe [https://www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]