Waterpeople Podcast

When was the last time you had an epiphany? 
Artist/activist Howie Cooke shares the sudden realisation that steered the course of his life's work - a handful of decades on the front lines of marine protection via NGOs, art, music and direct action. 
Howie has spent 50 years boogie boarding, playing guitar and painting. He has shown in hundreds of art exhibitions around the world – in addition to his large-scale murals, mostly of cetaceans. 
Twenty years ago, Howie co-founded the NGO Surfers for Cetaceans to activate surf media on the issue of whaling. S4C then grew into one of surfing’s most scrappily impactful direct action organisations – through campaigns like Transparentsea, films like Academy Award winning documentary The Cove, and collaborating with groups like Paul Watson’s Sea Shepherd.
Along the way we dig into what keeps conviction alive as you age: ideals without absolutism, humor as a tool, and the role of the artist in a world flooded with distraction. 
If you care about the power of art, cetacean conservation, ocean pollution, or creative environmental activism, this conversation offers both practical lessons and deep emotional re-centering. 
We talk through the campaigns, contradictions, and  mindset that have kept Howie moving forward without slipping (too far) into perfectionism or despair.
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Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich
Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast 
...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planet
Ngalung Kalla Eco Retreat: nestled in the cliffs of Sumba, offering immersive cultural experiences, open-air bamboo bungalows and a beautiful right-hander outfront.
...
Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

There's no straight lines in the ocean - nor in a surfing life.
We sit with professional surfer and Bundjalung waterman Soli Bailey to trace his lines from early talent and success, through the grind of competing and a life-threatening neck injury, to a grounded love of surfing that’s deeper than any accolades.

Soli opens up about the quiet crisis that arrived during lockdowns: paddling out and not wanting to be there. He breaks down how stepping off the contest treadmill, and reconnecting with community brought the spark back.
Then comes the hard turn: a violent injury, neurosurgeons warning he was lucky to walk, and the decision to have surgery. Soli shares what recovery taught him about slowing down, caring for his body, and holding ambition without letting it hollow you out. 
We revisit his dream run—Cloudbreak’s drainers, Shipstern’s step-ladders, and hidden points—and why he doesn’t need “bigger, faster, farther” to feel complete. Along the way, he honors the people who steadied him: a steadfast stepmum, a patient partner, mentors, and sponsors who backed a freesurf path over results.

Send us Fan Mail
...

Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich
Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast 
...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planet
Ngalung Kalla Eco Retreat: nestled in the cliffs of Sumba, offering immersive cultural experiences, open-air bamboo bungalows and a beautiful right-hander outfront.
...
Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

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 inspired by chasing lost boards at Huntington Pier became the woman cold-calling promoters, writing qualifying criteria, and pushing the sport past the tired trope of “curiosities with too many male hormones.”

Patti takes us inside the inaugural 1976 world tour—its camaraderie and the mess of sponsors asking for wet t‑shirt contests and “date raffles.” She breaks down why equal pay without equal opportunity is still inequity, citing the principle that interest and ability grow from access and experience. We talk media erasure and the plaques that forgot women, and the everyday tactics it took to earn respect in the lineup.

Then the story widens. Law school at Pepperdine with dawn sessions at Malibu. Local TV, an Emmy nomination, and an on-air career shaped by a reporter’s craft: tell the human story first. Motherhood reveals the limits of “we love your reporting” as doors close and memos suggest “mommydom.” Patti’s lawsuit—gruelling and precedent-setting—shows what it costs to confront power and what changes when you win. Through it all, surfing remains the anchor: of strength, confidence, and perspective that travels from the lineup to the classroom, newsroom and courtroom.

If you care about surfing history, gender equity, media accountability, or how to hold a line under pressure, you’ll find a blueprint here. Patti Paniccia is one of professional surfing's under-celebrated architects. 

Send us Fan Mail
...

Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich
Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast 
...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planet
Ngalung Kalla Eco Retreat: nestled in the cliffs of Sumba, offering immersive cultural experiences, open-air bamboo bungalows and a beautiful right-hander outfront.
...
Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

Ever felt the ocean fix what land couldn’t? 
This episode, we turn the mics on one another and answer your questions about grief, love, parenting, and crowded lineups. 
Hear the stories behind the sails, the garden, and the choices that have shaped us. 
Also: 
It’s time for our annual giveaway – you can enter by leaving a review of the podcast before January 15th – wherever you listen to podcasts.
A couple of years ago our dear friends took us to their favourite hidden gem in Indonesia: Ngalung Kalla Eco Retreat nestled into the cliffs of Sumba. We want one lucky listener to experience it, too. 
To enter: Leave us a review wherever you listen – Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc with at least two sentences.
The first sentence is about your favorite Waterpeople episode, and the second is about who you would like to bring with you to experience the spaciousness and reeling rights of Ngalung Kalla in 2026 – and why you want to take that person with you. 
Don’t forget to leave a way to get in touch with you – your name, email, - any way you prefer. 

Send us Fan Mail
...

Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich
Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast 
...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planet
Ngalung Kalla Eco Retreat: nestled in the cliffs of Sumba, offering immersive cultural experiences, open-air bamboo bungalows and a beautiful right-hander outfront.
...
Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.

What's a river to you? 
After cyclone Alfred crossed Australia's East Coast earlier this year, tens of thousands of fish died in our local river, Dave got a persistent staph infection and our community tousled with a question: what's wrong with our river? And what can we do about it ?
How does change happen when we, and the world, seem stuck in our ways? 
We’re curious about how change happens – and what people are doing on the ground, in our community, to create the causal pathways to shift social and environmental ideas, norms, and policy. 
The first episode heard from organisers and attendees of the 2025 Waterwomen Camp Out put on by the NGO Surfers for Climate. 
In today's episode, we head to Richmond River Fest 2025,  a month-long celebration of the rivers, cultures, and communities of the Northern Rivers put on by Richmond Riverkeeper.
We hear from marine scientist Liz Hawkins, who reveals how our resident Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins use the Richmond as a kitchen and nursery. She connects river health to coastal resilience. 

Then, lifelong commercial fisher Mark lays down hard truths about the Teven/Tuckean barrage and failed floodgates. The fix is practical and proven.
Revive The Northern Rivers founder Tom Wolff speaks of his seventh generation connection to the river and gives Dave a guiding question that fills his sails.
Dave shares the story behind one of his projects this year, The Rivers Run. It's a 50-kilometer run–paddle–swim designed to recruit surfers, divers, and sailors into tree-planting, mangrove restoration, and on-the-ground river care with OzFish and Revive the Northern Rivers. 
Along the Cape Byron Marine Park and a UNESCO-recognized Hope Spot, we remember why this coastline still inspires—and what it demands in return.
Send us Fan Mail
...

Co-Hosts + Production: Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich
Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast 
...
Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:
Patagonia Australia: in business to save our home planet
Ngalung Kalla Eco Retreat: nestled in the cliffs of Sumba, offering immersive cultural experiences, open-air bamboo bungalows and a beautiful right-hander outfront.
...
Subscribe to our newsletter for BTS stories from making the podcast, and the books, films and music we’re currently into. Written by us + free to read. 

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.