The Surfer’s Library

Billy Jack
  • 5.0 (8)
  • History

It’s basically just a surfer reading about surfing for you to listen to when you’re not surfing. Stay surfing. Check out the library. If you want to help with podcast costs you can donate at: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary.  Or, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com

  1. May 7

    S2 E28: In the Shadow of Waimea by Chris Ahrens

    Today’s episode dives into Hansen: The Adventures of a Surfer, Skydiver, Team Roper, Entrepreneur by Don Hansen with Chris Ahrens, the story of a true original whose life went far beyond surfing. In this episode, we focus on Chapter 5, “In the Shadow of Waimea,” where Hansen spends a pivotal year on Oahu’s North Shore, pushing himself in some of the biggest waves in the world and ultimately landing a coveted Surfer Magazine cover, so let’s paddle out and drop into Hawaii in the fall of 1960 and experience this defining moment in his remarkable journey. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com.

    27 min

  2. Apr 14

    S2 E27: The Stylist: Country Livin’ With Bill Hamilton by Drew Kampion

    Today we’re jumping back into The Way of the Surfer by Drew Kampion, reading “The Stylist: Country Livin’ With Bill Hamilton.” I’m a big Hamilton fan, so I’m especially stoked to bring you this one. If you’ve been around surfing for a while, you know he’s more than just Laird’s dad, Bill Hamilton is a legend, and one of the most stylish surfers of the ’60s and ’70s. And if you don’t believe me, go back and watch classics like Free and Easy or The Sunshine Sea. In this chapter, Hamilton comes through as more than a surfer, he’s a thinker who sees riding waves as a mental and spiritual discipline, pushing past fear to become one with the ocean. Kampion explores his total commitment to life and surfing, his ability to adapt through the shortboard revolution, and his identity as both an artist and a fiercely independent spirit, capturing someone who truly lived the idea that surfing isn’t just something you do, it’s a way of being. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com. Let’s paddle out.

    30 min

  3. Mar 31

    S2 E26: Women On Waves - Chapt 23: The Resurgence of Glide

    Today, in our continued tribute to women surfers and women’s history month I will be reading chapter 23 of Jim Kempton’s book Women on Waves: A Cultural History of Surfing: From Ancient Goddesses and Hawaiian Queens to Malibu Movie Stars and Millennial Champions. It’s titled The Resurgence of Glide. Last episode, we explored the pioneering women surfers of the 1950s and 60s, those who helped establish a place in the lineup during a transformative time in surfing. Now, we fast forward into the 1980s and 90s, where women continued carving out their path in a competitive, male-dominated sport. Through the shortboard revolution and the early days of the professional tour, they weren’t just participating—they were progressing the sport right alongside the men. But this chapter offers a different perspective on progress. It reminds us that surfing isn’t only about pushing harder, faster, or more aggressively. Sometimes, progress looks like returning to something deeper—style, flow, and connection to the wave. This is a story about beauty in motion, about grace and rhythm, and about how women surfers helped bring longboarding, and the art of glide, back into the spotlight. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com. Let’s paddle out.

    31 min

  4. Mar 21

    S2 E25: Women On Waves - Chapt 6: Hollywood Malibu Magic 1945–1958

    Chapter 6 of Women on Waves: A Cultural History of Surfing from Ancient Goddesses and Hawaiian Queens to Malibu Movie Stars and Millennial Champions by Jim Kempton moves us into the early twentieth century, when surfing began spreading beyond Hawai‘i and into popular culture. During this time, women played an important role in the evolution of surfing, a role that has not always been discussed. Women like Darrylin Zanuck, Kathy Kohner, Robin Grigg, Aggie Bane, Vickie Flaxman, Claire Cassidy, the Calhouns, and Eve Fletcher who kept showing up and carving out space in the lineup and changing the direction of surfing in the process. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast, please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com. Let's paddle out.

    33 min

  5. Mar 6

    S2 E24: Women On Waves (Preface & Chapt 1)

    In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m diving into Jim Kempton’s incredible book, Women on Waves: A Cultural History of Surfing: From Ancient Goddesses and Hawaiian Queens to Malibu Movie Stars and Millennial Champions. This book is dedicated to restoring women to their rightful place in the history of surfing. Because from the very beginning, women have been in the lineup. Long before professional tours, sponsorship deals, or glossy magazine covers, women were riding waves in ancient Polynesia. They were part of the fabric of early beach communities in California. They pushed limits, challenged expectations, and carved out space in a culture that didn’t always make room for them. Kempton lays out why this history matters, how these stories were sidelined, minimized, or erased, and why bringing them forward changes the way we understand surfing itself. We’ll go back to the roots, tracing women’s surfing to its origins and exploring how history slowly, and sometimes deliberately, shifted the spotlight away from them. So in the spirit of Women’s History Month, paddle out with me as we begin rediscovering the women who were there all along and give their stories the space they’ve always deserved.

    42 min

  6. Feb 23

    S2 E23: Excerpts from Windansea: Life, Death, Resurrection by Chris Ahrens

    Today’s episode is a heavy one, in the best way. We’re diving into Chris Ahren's latest book Windansea: Life, Death, Resurrection. I’ve been chomping at the bit to crack this book open since the day it landed in my hands. This book isn’t just about surfing, it’s about place, identity, loss, and what it means to come back from the edge. Windansea isn’t just a wave; it’s a proving ground. Ahrens takes us inside one of the most intense surf communities ever, and right from the jump, you can feel the weight of what that place represents: loyalty, danger, beauty, and consequences. In these opening pages, we get the foundation of the whole story, where Windansea comes from, why it matters so much, and how it shaped the people who grew up in its shadow. People like Woody Brown, Carl Ekstrom, Mike Hynson, Pat Curren and the list goes on. This is where the myth meets real life. So settle in, maybe picture the cliffs and the lineup at sunset, and let’s paddle out into Windansea: Life, Death, Resurrection.

    43 min

  7. Feb 2

    S2 E22: John Severson, Inventing Surf Culture by Drew Kampion

    Today I’ll be reading from a book I recently picked up titled The Way of the Surfer: Living It, 1935 to Tomorrow by our friend Drew Kampion. The Way of the Surfer profiles thirteen incredible names from surf history: Woody Brown, John Severson, Dick Brewer, Nat Young, Billy Hamilton, Rolf Aurness, Gerry Lopez, Tom Curren, Lisa Anderson, Kelly Slater, and Titus Kinimaka. Today’s story is titled “John Severson: Inventing Surf Culture,” all about the guy who created the bible of our sport Surfer Magazine. It tells the story of how one surfer with a camera helped shape the look, feel, and mythology of modern surfing. Let’s paddle out and see how surf culture was born and why Severson’s influence is still everywhere you look in surfing today. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month. Also, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com

    20 min

  8. Jan 20

    S2 E21: Masters of the Universe by Matt Warshaw

    This episode we revisit Matt Warshaw’s book Surfriders: In Search of the Perfect Wave and read a story called “Masters of the Universe” In this story Warshaw takes us straight into the pressure cooker of professional surfing, where talent, ego, friendship, and fate all collide. We drop in at Pipeline in December of 1995, at the Chiemsee Pipeline Masters the final event of the season, held at the most dangerous and consequential wave on tour. The stage couldn’t be bigger: a semi-final heat that will decide the world title. On one side is Kelly Slater, already a prodigy, chasing another championship and redefining what high-performance surfing looks like. On the other is Rob Machado, smooth, stylish, and surfing with a looseness that seems almost out of place in a moment this tense. If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary. Your support helps cover the platform fees that keep the show going each month, so any little bit truly helps. Also, if you have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com Let’s paddle out.

    27 min
See All (42)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

It’s basically just a surfer reading about surfing for you to listen to when you’re not surfing. Stay surfing. Check out the library. If you want to help with podcast costs you can donate at: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesurferslibrary.  Or, if you would like to sponsor the podcast or have any story ideas or feedback for the podcast please contact us on Instagram or at thesurferslibrary@gmail.com

Information

  • Creator
    Billy Jack
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Surfer’s Library

You Might Also Like