Patti Paniccia: Raising the Bar

Patti Paniccia: Raising the Bar

Author: Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich - surf stories & ocean adventures February 9, 2026 Duration: 1:14:10
What are you unwilling to ignore? Through her experience in pro surfing, journalism and law, Patti Paniccia is a formidable advocate for equity in the water and the workplace. Patti helped build the IPS tour from the ground up, organised the Hawaii Women’s Surfing Hui to create opportunity, and then carried that same tenacity into law and journalism—ultimately winning a landmark workplace discrimination case against CNN. We sit down with Patti to unpack how a young surfer inspire...

There’s a particular kind of life shaped by time spent in and around the ocean, one that blends saltwater with a deeper perspective. Hosted by lifelong surfers and storytellers Lauren L. Hill and Dave Rastovich, the Waterpeople Podcast explores exactly that. Each conversation is less an interview and more a shared dive with guides who know the water intimately-from scientists and activists to adventurers and artists. You’ll hear firsthand accounts that stretch beyond simple adventure tales, touching on how a connection to the sea informs everything from ecological stewardship and community building to the pure, playful joy of a wave. This podcast serves as a meeting point for a far-flung tribe, weaving together themes of inclusivity, humour, and what it means to live thoughtfully along the coast. It’s about the stories that emerge when people are truly at home in the aquatic world, offering listeners a sense of place and connection within a global ocean community. Tune in for genuine, meandering talks that feel like sitting around after a long day in the swell, where the topics are as vast and shifting as the sea itself.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Waterpeople
Podcast Episodes
Arne Rubinstein: Rites of Passage [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:02
Rites of passage, once central to marking life’s transitions, have faded in modernity. As we navigate rising anxiety, social fragmentation, and a world where technology permeates nearly all aspects of our shared human ex…
Dylan Graves: The Levity Effect [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55:16
How much has your homebreak shaped you - your life, livelihood, the person you've become? The quirkiness of Dylan Graves' Puerto Rican homebreak shaped a lifelong obsession, and subsequent career in chasing, riding, and…
Bonnie Tsui: On Muscle + Movement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:43
What moves you through the world? In the most literal sense, it's the same answer for all of us: muscle. In On Muscle, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrati…
Sarah Gerhardt: Unstable Bonds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:54
Besides being a professor of chemistry, Dr. Sarah Gerhardt was the first woman to ride one of the world’s most feared waves, Mavericks in icy Northern California. She is a mother of two and acknowledged as the first fema…
Kiana Weltzien: More with Less [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:40
When was the last time you followed a spark of curiosity all the way to some distant shoreline? Kiana Weltzien's ocean adventures began in 2016 when she left her real estate career in Miami for a year of travel. Along th…
Putting Tech in its Place with Helena Norberg-Hodge + friends [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:50
What's lost when we hand over skills or experiences to technology ? We sat down with localisation pioneer Helena Norberg-Hodge to learn more about the waves of radical economic and social changes she has experienced firs…
Gary McNeill: Make It Last [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:39
How do we make magic boards last longer? Gary McNeill and Dave have been experimenting with alternative, non-petrochemical materials for the last decade. The front runner in their experiments? Flax cloth, for board stren…
Krista Comer: Reading Power [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:32
How do you better a culture? How do we better surf culture? Dr. Krista Comer is a scholar of American literature and cultural politics. She has written widely about women and surfing as a way "to build bridges between un…
Otto Flores: Stepping Up [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:06
Many professional athletes struggle to transition from their sport-as-career. The highs are often out of reach for pedestrian life - especially for pro surfers who spend their years in whirlwinds of hedonistic wave chasi…
Gail Couper: With Bells On [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:35
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.…