Surf lineage, told by the people who lived it.
Host David Scales sits down with people who live inside surfing — shapers, free surfers, and elders of the sport — for conversations that unfold at their own pace. Episodes range from a working shaper's daily grind to archival Pod Aloha interviews rescued from the internet's memory hole.
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Surf Splendor has been running for thirteen years and nearly 600 episodes, and it sounds like it. David Scales hosts, and his approach is to set a guest up with real context, then get out of the way. The result is closer to a long conversation between people who already share a vocabulary than to a standard interview. Board design, old scenes, and provenance come up constantly. So do the practical details most surf media skips. Eden Saul, the Australian shaper known as Dead Kooks, talks through what it actually takes to run a custom operation — roughly 60 percent customs, days that start at seven and reach two in the afternoon before he touches a blank, and the recognition that the admin is part of the craft. Scales owns one of Saul's boards himself, a yin-yang twin built for the Electric Acid Surfboard Test. Rob Machado sits for a conversation deliberately aimed away from his career highlights, toward how he became who he is: a competitive household, and a tour life of five new boards, one restaurant, and blinders on. Brenden "Margo" Margieson, who defined the professional free surfer role through the 1990s and then vanished from view, resurfaces via social media, still surfing well, with a new chapter and new sponsors. The show also serves as the permanent home for Pod Aloha, a series produced between 2018 and 2020 in which Paul Strauch interviewed friends who pioneered now-iconic waves and the surfboard designs still in circulation. Eleven episodes were made. They disappeared from the internet. Surf Splendor brought them back. In them, Gerry Lopez and Strauch recall Waikiki Surf Club canoe paddling, an older-brother figure named George, and a trip to a marine supply store with Tom Blake to pick out balsa for a board Strauch got at thirteen. Greg Noll delivers a rescue story that ends with Buffalo demanding a shower and a four-page report. Scales is candid about the business side. The show grows organically, is supported by the Surfrider Foundation, and sells out listener trips to Chicama in Peru and Two Brothers Surf Resort in Nicaragua through Waterways Travel. Sponsor reads and trip announcements sit right at the top of many episodes. Scales also hosts the Surfrider Podcast separately. Each week closes the same way — a reminder to get back into the ocean, share some waves, and shred on.
Made for: Surfers who care about board design, surf history, and the people behind both, and who would rather hear a long answer than a soundbite. Listeners already fluent in the culture will get the most out of it, since nothing gets explained down.
What sets it apart: Beyond its own interviews, the show is the surviving home for Pod Aloha — eleven Paul Strauch conversations with surf pioneers that were produced and then lost from the internet. Add a host who orders boards from his own guests and runs listener trips to Chicama, and the show operates from inside the surf world rather than reporting on it.
Conversations and stories about surfing. www.SurfSplendorPodcast.com email: [email protected]
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
David Scales turns detailed surf conversations into a record of board craft, industry life, cultural memory, and ocean stewardship.
Surf Splendor follows surfing beyond the wave, using extended conversations to examine the boards, businesses, archives, and personal histories that shape the culture. David Scales asks guests to explain how their work actually functions.
Fin angles meet Hawaiian legends, giving your surf obsession considerably more homework.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded look at craft, custom work, and the compromises behind a sought-after surfboard maker.
Eden Saul's conversation with Surf Splendor sketches a board builder whose work is now sought around the world, while still keeping one foot on the shop floor.
Gerry Lopez turns Waikiki memory into a tactile lesson in surf lineage and board craft.
Surf Splendor follows Gerry Lopez as he traces a surf lineage that runs through Waikiki, his father, the Beach Boys, George, and family ties to Tom Blake.
Rob Machado is framed through competition, routine, and Surfrider's human stories.
Rob Machado is introduced through the habits that shaped him before the more familiar career questions come to the surface. The conversation is anchored by the Surfrider Podcast's people-first mission, using human stories and the real-world impact of environmental issues to set…
A warm, unhurried surf portrait follows Greg Knoll from San Diego and Makaha into big-wave memory and beachside storytelling.
Greg Knoll's story comes through in the roomy cadence of a surf conversation, with the episode following him from San Diego in 1937 to Manhattan Beach at six, then to Hawaii at 17 in 1954, where seven months at Makaha helped set the course.
A surf-industry life opens into a hands-on archive of the people and artifacts behind the culture.
Randy's path through surf culture starts at a side door into the business and gradually turns into something more unusual: an accidental archive of the sport's memory.
A focused, craft-minded episode about the small build choices that shape how a surfboard rides.
Surf Splendor’s conversation with Max Stewart makes surfboard design feel less like gear talk and more like a close read of touch, timing, and judgment.
A surf history episode finds its spark in a wry lifeguard rescue story.
Surf Splendor's Greg Knoll episode of Pod Aloha treats surf history as remembered company, tracing Knoll from San Diego to Manhattan Beach, into surfing at 10, and on to Hawaii in 1954, where seven months at Makaha helped shape his appetite for big waves.
Surf gossip with teeth and timing.
Surf culture from the cold-water inside.
Nilay Patel presses tech and media CEOs on how they actually run their companies.
Physician Shoshana Ungerleider pairs TED talks with interviews on aging, drug prices, and menopause.
Makua Rothman shares his journey as a big wave surfer, his connection to Jaws, and the importance of family and spirituality.
A podcast episode discussing the HBO documentary series 100 Foot Wave, focusing on surfer Garrett McNamara's quest to surf a 100-foot wave at Nazaré, Portugal, and the series' impact.
David Scales interviews Max Stewart, founder of iSymmetry Surfboards, about his journey from working at Hayden Shapes to opening his own factory at age 22.
Surf Splendor host David Scales revives a lost 2018-2020 podcast episode from the Pod Aloha archive, featuring an interview between surf pioneer Paul Strauch and legendary big-wave surfer Greg Noll.
A biography of legendary surfer Joey Cabell, covering his competitive achievements, entrepreneurial ventures, and influence on surfboard design.
David talks with Australian board builder Eden Saul, known as Dead Kooks.
Rob Machado sits down with the host.
["Surf Splendor revives the first Pod Aloha episode with Jerry Lopez, Paul Strau, and Kiernan McGuire, and David Scales frames Lopez as \"Mr.
Greg Knoll's story begins in San Diego and reaches Hawaii after his childhood move to Manhattan Beach.
Promotion for a surf trip to Chacama, Peru organized by WaterwaysTravel.com, featuring details about the all-inclusive stay and boat shuttles.
An interview with professional surfer Brenden 'Margo' Margieson, exploring his career, style, and recent resurgence through social media.
A surfer recounts a memorable encounter with legendary surfboard shaper Roger Hinds at Bolsa Chica beach.
Randy's path through surf culture began with a backdoor entrance into the industry.