Looking Sideways Action Sports Podcast Matt Barr

Lauren McCallum Bonus Episode!

If I have one major regret in the four years I’ve been doing the podcast, it’s around the way I handled the topic of Terje Haakonsen’s history of homophobia in my conversation with him for episode 121. The feedback I received from some listeners, who felt like my deliberate editorial approach was alienating, made it clear to me that I still have much work to do when it comes to shepherding these conversations in the right way. 

This is also why I found the debate around Terje’s recent public apology for these remarks so interesting. My initial reaction, if I’m being honest, was that his apology was fine and to be applauded. But it soon became clear that many members of the LBGT+ community completely disagreed with this perspective, finding the apology to be ill-thought out at best and disingenuous at worst. These contrasting reactions told me that here, yet again, was an opportunity to try and understand that difference in perspective I’d unwittingly perpetuated in episode 122. 

These gaps of understanding are really the territory that interests me. If you’re open to it, they provide us with an opportunity to learn and examine our own often buried prejudices - which is really what the entire podcast is ‘about’. After all, action sports is as handy lens as any through which to examine these issues. So I asked my old friend and erstwhile podcast guest Lauren MacCallum to come back on the show to discuss the entire brouhaha for a bonus episode of the show. 

As is always the case when I talk to Lauren, this was a hugely enjoyable and at times challenging conversation. I learned a lot from it. Perhaps you will too.

There are no Show Notes for this bonus episode, so if you want to find out more about any of the things we discuss or join in the debate, check out my Instagram (@WeLookSideways), Twitter (@WeLookSideways) and Facebook (@wearelookingsideways). Nice one.

Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint
Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson.

I’m a big believer in the right idea at the right time. And Dawn Days, the early morning ritual started by friends Mike Guest and Nick Pumphrey at the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020, is a great example of this principle in action.

Like all good ideas, this simple concept soon took off; in this case becoming an online movement as more and more people from around the world began to document their own early morning experiences.

Soon - perhaps because of the timing of the whole thing - Dawn Days transcended these humble origins and became a means through which to explore a range of other issues, including mental health, our connection to nature, and even the nature of community during the Covid and post-Covid era.

It’s been great watching this idea unfold and see how Mike and Nick have nurtured it, so I decided to ask Mike, who I know through the village-like UK action sports community, to come on the show to discuss the whole thing.

I loved this conversation. Mike is a warm, generous and insightful conversationalist and, like Dawn Days itself, our conversation evolved in some unexpected directions, particularly as we examined Mike’s relationship to his dyslexia, and the way this diagnosis has shaped his life. Hope you take as much from it as Mike and I did.

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.com

My ‘lifer’ episodes are always loved by listeners. And with this week’s guest Liam Griffin, we are in proper vintage territory. For me, Liam is THE classic example of somebody who has carved out a unique career for themselves, inspired by their love of shredding, and a desire to take risks and follow their own path.

First, some background: LG is a proper stalwart of the US snowboarding industry who I first met back in the early 2000s, when he was overseeing all of Burton’s various events (including the Open series). Two things immediately struck me: his professionalism, and his geek-level love of all things snowboarding.

We became friends and stayed in touch, and in the intervening years I’ve watched on as his career has gone from strength to strength, particularly after he left Burton to set up his own event agency SuperGoodThingMaker, and began working closely with Travis Rice on his various event concepts.

If that isn’t the quintessential lifer resume then I don’t know what is. And behind the scenes Liam has quietly had a supremely important role in steering snowboarding’s development over the past two decades; efforts which have just come to fruition with Natural Selection, the event series he has put together with Travis.

Think of this one as a complement to the Travis episode, and a look at the other side of the story. How do you put something like NS together? What challenges did they face? And just how did Liam get to the point where he could help T-Rice put together the most influential event series in snowboarding?

The perfect territory, then, for a roving chinwag in the finest Looking Sideways tradition.

Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint
Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson.

Full episode and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.com

I’m used to chatting guests with massive goals or awe-inspiring achievements under their belts. Think of Ross Edgeley’s Great British Swim, or Christina Koch’s record-breaking spaceflight.

And this week’s guest Andrew Alexander King is right up there. Andrew is a surfer, climber and mountaineer who is at the beginning of an audacious attempt to become the first African-American to climb the seven highest mountains and volcanoes on each continent. 14 peaks in all, each with their own dangers and unique challenges.

As a life goal, it is frighteningly ambitious. And that’s before you factor in his Between Worlds Project, through which he hopes to subvert the “lottery ticket of birth” that currently sets your cultural path, and dictates who gets to see these environments as viable playgrounds; a subject that is currently the subject of much transatlantic discussion and controversy.

Like I said, it is ambitious stuff, and about as far-removed from the “because it’s there’ orthodoxy that has shaped the narrative of exploration for the past two hundred years as it is possible to get. Andrew’s infectious personality and compelling backstory only add to the intrigue.

Naturally, I was keen to speak to him for the show, and find out more about his quixotic quest, so in March 2021 we caught up over Zoom to discuss the whole thing. It’s a good one this. Enjoy.


Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint
Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson.

Type 2 is a podcast from Looking Sideways in association with Patagonia that explores the intersection between the outdoors, action sports and activism.

This week’s guest is Ryan Gellert who last year replaced Rose Marcario as Patagonia’s CEO, taking charge at a critical point in the company’s history. Ryan took the role following his successful six-year stint overseeing Patagonia in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, during which he helped the brand attain its leadership position in the European outdoor and environmental communities, and oversaw projects such as Save The Blue Heart of Europe and Patagonia Action Works.

Of course, as in all episodes of Type 2, we delved into Ryan’s back story and explored his own personal history of activism. But I was particularly interested in finding out more about his new position, and what he hopes to achieve during his time in the role, as we all reflect upon 12 months that have changed the world.

After all, the position of Patagonia CEO fulfils a certain totemic role in the outdoor and environment worlds, and how Ryan approaches his tenure will obviously say a lot about Patagonia the company. How is he going to use this position and power? What does he stand for? And, by extension, what does Patagonia in 2021 stand for? These are the topics I was interested in discussing and which, I’m happy to say, Ryan was equally happy to explore.

The result is a completely fascinating and wide-ranging conversation with someone in one of the most influential roles in our industry. I’m also extremely grateful to Ryan for sharing his own at times very personal story. My thanks to Ryan and his team for their help in setting this episode up. Hope you enjoy it.

New episodes of Type 2 are released every four weeks through my Looking Sideways channel. Hear it by subscribing to Looking Sideways via ApplePodcasts, Spotify or any of the usual other podcast providers. Thanks to Ewan Wallace for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson.

Bone fide legend alert!

Yep, my guest this week is a proper icon, somebody who has achieved so much in their own discipline that they’ve crossed over into the mainstream realm as the personification of their chosen sport.

Take a look at Rachel Atherton’s record and you’ll see why. Five world champion titles. 6 UCI World Cup titles. 39 World Cup events. The ‘double double’ in 2015 and 2016 - which was, also, the only perfect season ever.

It is an absolutely extraordinary record of achievement by an athlete who has achieved genuine greatness. And yet, as I discovered during our conversation, it has also come at quite a physical and mental cost, as the lengthy list of injuries and setbacks that have complemented her victories attest.

Now, as Rachel prepares to become a mum, we sat down to discuss her career so far and her plans for the future. I’ve met and chatted to Rachel a few times over the years and I’m always so impressed by her complete emotional honesty and levels of self-awareness. This is just a brilliantly revealing conversation with somebody at the absolute top of their field, full of peerless insights into the nature of success, competitiveness, and how to cope with failure.

I really enjoyed this one, and I have to thank Rachel for opening up fully and bringing the full range of her experience, insights and extremely impressive levels of self awareness to the conversation. Hope you enjoy it.

Enjoying the podcast? Want to keep it free and ad-free? Donate here: https://bit.ly/LSBuyPint
Thanks to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson.