Stab Podcasts

Stace G and Mikey dissect a hedonistic stint at Stab High Japan presented by Monster Energy, including winners, losers, Monster Airs, wife-swapping, judging discrepancies and more. Also, a brief chat about the recently-concluded Margaret River Pro, where the big fella Jordy Smith just became the best surfer in the world at 37.

Stab High Japan presented by Monster Energy is finally here! The event will be broadcast live on stabmag.com and the Stab Premium app at 5 pm on May 23rd and 24th (PDT), or 10 am on May 24th and 25th (AEST). In this ep, Stace, Mikey and Buck dissect everything they've seen, heard, and felt in Japan on the eve of Stab High qualifiers day.

There have been exactly 0 CT events run at the box since Kieren Perrow departed his role as Championship Tour Commissioner. We don't believe that's a coincidence. In this ep, Stace G and Mikey C dissect the 2025 Margaret River Pro, including whether or not we're likely to see carnage and glory at Main Break's feral little sister. Also: forecasts, picks, and a detailed analysis of the mid year cut — who's safe and who needs to dust off their CV.

Who should have won the Filipe v Julian Burleigh final? Well, 69% of @stab poll respondents believe the judges got it wrong — that Julian was the rightful winner of last week's Gold Coast Pro. However, when we polled a list of true surfing experts (Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, Jake Paterson, Doug Silva, and Leo Fioravanti), they had a slightly different opinion. This week on The Drop, Stace G and Mikey C dissect everything that went down at the Gold Coast Pro, and eventually we're joined by Julian Wilson to hear his thoughts on a heroic return to Championship Tour surfing.

Stace G and Mikey C meet in a dark, dank Gold Coast parking garage to trade betting tips in the lead-up to the Men's Round of 32 and Women's Round of 16 at Burleigh Heads. Caity v Steph, Jules v Italo — who are the boys taking?

The WSL dropped a bomb on the surf world this week, and like Swedish captives, we all collectively cheered. On this episode of The Drop, Stab's co-founder Sam McIntosh is joined by the WSL's new CEO Ryan Crosby to discuss the League's major (and widely lauded) around for the 2026 CT season. Here's the TLDR version, ICYMI:
- The Final Five is dead.
- So is the mid-year cut
- So is the non-elimination opening round
- The 2026 Championship Tour will feature 12 events — with a late season ‘playoff'.
- It will start at Bells Beach in April and end at Pipeline in December, where points will be weighted at 150%.
- World Titles will once again be decided by cumulative points, not a single-day shootout. After that, Mikey and Buck hop on to discuss a few other stories from the week, including an incredible Greg Browning eulogy, a piece on lineup personalities, and an academic excuse for surfing more.

After carefully dissecting the late night, soggy McDouble that was Bellls Beach, Stace G and Mikey C break down everything they purport to know about the CT's long-awaited return to the Gold Coast. With the event moving from Snapper Burleigh (blame Set — the Egypition god of deserts, chaos and storms), Stace breaks down a venue we haven't seen on the CT since 2002 — or 2000, depending on who's counting. Overdogs, underdogs, and Stace's social security number can be found inside.

Mikey is in jail so Big Dick Power Surfer and Stace Galbraith *officially* announce next month's Stab High in Japan and talk No Contest, billionaires, underdogs of the year, the ABB, and Tweed's ongoing suss-ness.

Someone's gotta clonk that thing around. In this episode, Stace recaps El Salvador with Holden TRNKA and then chats all things Torquay with former Top 5 surfer and current lord Morgan Cibilic.

'Snapt' creator Logan Dulien has lived nine lives in the space of 40-odd years. Surfer. Filmmaker. Manager. Husband. Father. Addict. Caregiver. Vigilante. Surfer (again). In this chat, we learn about his early years hanging with Andy and Bruce, becoming a band manager for Mickey Avalon, getting addicted to prescription opiates, then finally crawling back from the depths of hell and reinvigorating the independent surf film.

Surfing and politics don't mix... until a set of fins costs $400. This week, Mikey and Buck break down the economic debacle facing many of the surf world's biggest manufacturers — Pyzel, Mayhem, Haydenshapes, Futures Fins, and Creatures of Leisure. And more importantly, how it might affect our pockets. They also discuss the even in El Salvador, including the backstory behind a Raegan-era military helicopter that couriered CT surfers to a nearby point. Next up is the CT's move from Snapper to Burleigh, and finally Jai Glindeman's Stab Edit of the Year.

Reporting live from the El Salvador Pro, we hear from our correspondent Holden Trnka on everything happening in Surf City this week — including but not limited to: Filipe's blow-up on the judges, Sally's fin debacle, and some insider tips for your personal surf bets. Later, Mikey and Buck discuss a giant hole at Snapper that could wreak havoc on the upcoming CT event, a new Best Surfing I've Ever Seen ep, and some of the worst losses in WSL history.

Recent Stab Highway winner Balaram Stack joins The Drop for this week's Stab Interview, focusing on his biopic "Hail Mary' — now playing exclusively on stabmag.com.

Matt Biolos suing Lady Gaga was not on our 2025 bingo card... but here we are. The craziest part? He's probably going to win. After talking with Matt about his copyright infringement case with the mega pop star, we chat about surfing's new kiddie pool (Pipeline), hear from the world's oldest CS qualifier (Josh Kerr), discuss the latest CTer to pull out of the tour (Tatiana Weston-Webb), and finally make our El Salvador event predictions.

Rip Curl Portugal Pro winner Yago Dora joins Buck on The Drop to talk all things surfing.

Live from Europe, Big Dick Power Surfer sends incredible news from the Rip Curl Pro Portugal: CT surfers are returning to their natural habitat — the party. Also, we discuss our new film release with Noa Deane, a hot pack of sponsor changes, why Netflix hates surfing and much more.

Mikey C and Stace break down their Portugal forecast and picks before Big Dick Power Surfer swings in with a take of his own. The boys also chat about the Stab Highway finale (presented by Monster Energy), a huge surfer-led protest in Puerto Rico, how the Nile River will save Australia's waves, and Rob Machado's first thruster in 21 years.

Rasta Rob has not had a bowel movement in 11 days — how on earth is he still up for the Monster Air award?! In non-Highway news, Mikey and Buck discuss the swell heard 'round the world in New Jersey and another semi-relevant one on the Gold Coast. Back to excrement, we speak with Chris Papaleo (aka Salty Beards) who roasted covid surfers so hard on Instagram that they left a coiled brown snake on his doorstep. In more somber news, we break down the recent string of shark attacks in South Australia and a Nicholas Cage surf film in WA.

"It just goes to show how sad of a place the surf industry is in." That was Mateus Herdy, mid-Stab-Highway, as he and Ben Gravy lovingly roasted each other for the umpteenth time about their divergent paths to surfing success. The argument began when Mateus mocked Ben for dressing "like a ten year old", to which Ben responded, "It must be really hard for you that I'm not even a good surfer, and I still get paid more than you." Written on the page, that may come off as arrogant — but Ben's cheekiness and sarcasm (even when telling hard truths) is a real highlight of our 7-episode east coast road battle, now premiering on Stab Premium. Turns out that beneath all that kooky positivity is a guy who's well and truly in on the joke — and very much playing it to his favor. By the end of the trip, the sponsorship gag had developed to such a point that, either out of pity, amusement, or a genuine business opportunity, Ben Gravy offered Mateus a legitimate sponsorship deal with his own clothing line. "We had an agreement and everything," Ben explains. "I'd pay him $500 a month, and he'd rock the sticker 2/3rds of the way down his board. And he'd wear the tie dye shirt, because that's the only one from my merch that isn't too 'colorful' for him." Before the deal could be signed, Mateus was off to Portugal and Brazil for the last two CS events of the season, where he would come painstakingly short (again!) of qualifying for the CT. The copper lining, however, is that Mateus is currently in talks with a few different brands about a proper clothing deal, he's got a Snapt5 part in the works, a hot stripper wife, he's currently competing for $100,000 in our Surf100 Challenge Series presented by Pacifico, and if there's any justice in this big, wet world of ours, he'll probably qualify for the CT in 2025. Gravy, meanwhile, continues surfing shit waves surprisingly well and cashing oversized fluorescent checks. He was kind enough to join us on this week's episode of The Drop with his long-lost Rip Curl Gromsearch rival, Buck. Enjoy!

Just because it's impressive, doesn't mean we need to care — at least that's what Big Dick Power Surfer believes. In this ep of The Drop, Buck and Mikey C discuss the recent events at Nazaré and Micronesia, and where they fit within the greater competitive surfing landscape. Also, the surf sin returns for a brief yet embarrassing stint.

This week Paul Evans and Stace G breakdown all the contest news live from the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro along with all the happenings on stabmag.com. Was Filipe hard done by? Is Caity Simmers leagues ahead? Did Paul Evans get a wave and completely blow it? Find out the answers to all of this and more in today's show!

Apologies for the delay, you'll understand when you listen.

This week Brendan Buckley is joined by none other than surfing's very own Pete Weber aka Cam Richards. They break down all the surf news this week including big wave surfing psychology and all the behind the scenes moments from Episode 3 of Stab Highway East Coast, Presented by Monster Energy. Thanks for tuning in!

This week Stab's co-founder Sam McIntosh joins The Drop to discuss the new episode of How Surfers Get Paid: 'The high price of authenticity — Craig Anderson's knee doesn't bend.' Sam and Mikey C debate Craig's decision to leave Quiksilver in 2015 and whether or not Haydenshapes should have paid commission to Craig for his part in making the Hypto Krypto the best-selling surfboard model of all time. Later, Mikey and Buck discuss the controversial second episode of Stab Highway East Coast (USA), whether or not surfing needs a new rivalry, and a scroll-stopping Landon McNamara interview.

Who's gonna win Pipe, and the World Title? Stace G and Mikey C give their picks before the start of the 2025 Championship Tour season, along with some behind-the-scenes intel on the world's best surfers.

It would take a lot to kill Chippa Wilson. But 90 hours of travel + 90 degree heat + a night out in Miami nearly did it... and that was just day 1 of Stab Highway East Coast (USA) presented by Monster Energy. This week we meet the 16 characters in our newest road trip challenge series, take a hot lap around Japan with Red Bull No Contest, discuss the 30 world titles leaving the tour, new sponsor updates, Nazare forecasts and so much more.

Paul Evans & Stace G bring all this weeks news live from La Union. Plenty of news to catch up on and lots of highlights to break down here in the Philippines. Thank for tuning in!

Long or short period — which type of surfer are you? That's one of many questions asked and answered in this week's episode of The Drop, where Mikey and Buck discuss: - the surfers helping to tame the LA fires - 2025 sponsor changes - how to survive as a freesurfer - Nazare no longer has the biggest waves - what the hell is a kilojoule? - and more!

Nathan Florence won Stab Surfer of the Year in 2023. John Florence won Stab Surfer of the Year in 2024... with Nate in second. How is it possible that two brothers, who took completely divergent paths in the surf world, have found themselves sharing the throne? Let's discuss on this episode of The Drop — the first of 2025.

In a special post Rip Curl Eddie Aikau Invitation pod, we are joined by the chillest psychopath in surfing, Reef McIntosh. After a career of packing oversized meat lockers all around the world, Reef had the best seat in the house for the Rip Curl Eddie Aikau Invitational in his role as Surfer Liaison to the Judges. As a 2011 Wave of the Winter winner, 2016 Eddie Contestant and big wave surfer for the past 3 decades, Reef was asked by comp director Liam McNamara to join the 7 scoring judges in the booth for the entire day. Reef's perspective in this space is highly valued and we are grateful to have him on the show, we hope you enjoy!

We're closing out 2024 with a star-studded, action-packed episode of The Drop. This week Mikey and Buck break down the recently concluded Vans Pipe Masters and reveal their winnings from the event. We also hear from two our first Stab Surfer of the Year voters, Matt Biolos and Mason Ho. Then we're joined by competition director for the Eddie Aikau invitational, Liam McNamara, who assures us all systems are go for Sunday. Finally, we reveal the best surfboard model of 2024, as chosen by the Stab Premium audience. Last ep of 2024, enjoy the new year!

Stab co-founder Sam McIntosh explains why the Vans Pipe Masters has no "official" webcast, live from the North Shore of Oahu — along with competition updates and a potential finals day call. Sam and Mikey also dissect recent surf industry news, with ABG pulling its North American Volcom/Bong/RVCA/Quik licenses from Liberated Brands, potentially sinking Liberated in the process. How will this affect pro surfers, lineups, and the culture at large? Finally, we reveal the top 10 surfboard brands and 10 of the most magic boards on the market today, according to the Stab audience. Is yours on the list?

LAST CHANCE CYBER MONDAY DISCOUNT: Use code 'dropwallets' at checkout for 30$ off a year of Stab Premium: stabmag.com/get-stab-premium/ — available this week only. This week, Mikey, Buck and Dave Wassell make their Vans Pipe Masters predictions. Later we hear from Raimana Van Bastolaer, the man who invented screaming at people from a jetski. We also talk about the birds and the beeswax, in terms of new (green(ish)) surfboard contructions. Then we visit Honolulu with JOB and finally discuss the Best Wetsuits of 2025.

HUGE BLACK FRIDAY DISCOUNT: Use code 'dropwallets' at checkout for 30$ off a year of Stab Premium: https://stabmag.com/get-stab-premium/ — available this week only. This week we hear from the proud-to-be-oldest surfer in the Vans Pipe Masters draw, Jamie O'Brien, after his incredible double-tube with bodyboard god Mike Stewart this week. Buck and Mikey also dissect the latest sponsor news, our hypocrisy toward surf cams, the tragic comedy of Nazaré, and so much more.

Yes, the IG comments are true — John Florence's new edit 'Here' is playing exclusively on Stab Premium until November 25. Apologies to anyone this has affected emotionally, financially or otherwise. Meanwhile, Mikey and Buck shed new light on the Vans Pipe Masters news that ignited IG this week, along with event format, dates, and other details. Finally we hear from a former Drop host and the man largely responsible for Rasta's 'Electric Acid Surfboard Test', Danny Johnson, who provides some BTS morsels from the series that was.

This past Wednesday at The Northern in Byron Bay, Australia, we premiered the fourth and final episode of Dave Rastovich's Electric Acid Surfboard Test. Among those in attendance were Rasta himself, defending EAST champ Simon Jones, and several of this year's finalists. After chatting boards on stage with host Stace Galbraith, Rasta selects the winning board and invites our new EAST champ on stage for a chat.

Before making an argument for total gender parity on tour, Mikey and Buck dissect the final episode of EAST (without spoiling the winner), break down wave height discrepancies per region, and discuss the new wavepool coming out of Arizona. Also, go Mike Tyson.

This week on The Drop, we hear from Mitch Crews — former CTer and current Senior Director of Surf Abu Dhabi. Mitch breaks down what life is really like in the Middle East and gives his take on the WSL controversy around LGBTQ+ athletes traveling there for an event. Mikey C and Buck also discuss the current state of the surf industry (with the help of Evan Slater), dissect our greatest learnings from EAST (with the help of Rasta), learn how Mason Ho got into filmmaking (with the help of Dane) and so much more.

This week on the Drop, we learn about Dave Rastovich's paint job theory that is so seemingly obvious, yet nobody had bothered to state it before. Also, Mikey Feb proves that fish(es) can go backside. And an Aussie surf traveler becomes a (well-paid) Chinese Olympic surf coach. Yes, it's another fantastic week in surfing. Let's drop in.

Who's getting (re-)signed, who's getting dropped? It's that time of year when contracts either expire or renew, and we've got the inside scoop on some of surfing's most prominent figures. Also in this ep we discuss the reluctant return of Nick Rozsa, the truth about "sustainable" surfboards with Gary McNeill, and when it's okay to post about a swell on Instagram.

Former pro surfer and renowned surf writer and podcaster, Jamie Brisick, joins us for a discussion about one of surfing's most polarizing if fascinating figures — Peter Drouyn, aka Westerly Windina. Before that, Mikey and Buck break downs this week's biggest stories in surfing, including that crazy surf circus event in Waco and our best-ever ep of Electric Acid.

Brazil had 5 of the top 6 surfers on the men's Challenger Series this year and 6 in the top 10. As a result, they'll have 11 surfers on the CT in 2025, which is nearly one-third of the tour. However, Brazilians often fall off the CT only to requalify again the next year, reducing the amount of would-be rookies joining the tour. Why is this, and what does it mean for surfing? Following Saquarema, Stace G and Mikey C break down all things CS with the help of Jake Paterson and Matt Myers.

First and foremost, apologies for the distorted audio — we found this new AI tool that we thought had resolved our amateurish sound design — turns out it just makes it back in a different way. But the show must go on! In the first half of this ep, Stace G and Mikey C dissect the recently released 2025 CT schedule and preview the final CS event of the season, which kicks off this weekend in Brazil. Later, we hear from Taj Burrow about the wave of his life (he rode it this year) and his honest thoughts on the new 'Trilogy' film (now screening exclusively on Stab Premium). Mikey and Buck also break down gear week on stabmag.com and all the other happenings in the surf world, before making their betonline.ag Dog of the Week picks.

Electric Acid is officially in orbit, and Dave Rastovich is its star — this week we hear from Rasta at the world premiere of ep 1, along with his shaper Gary McNeil on the futuristic surfboard construction that encases all of our EAST crafts. Later, JOB remains how he's stayed relevant all these years, we discuss how much it costs to qualify for the tour in 2024, and Nathan Fletcher has some important words for surfing's youth.

We're back after a three week hiatus!  Mikey and Buck break down everything that's been happening lately — Stab Highway, Stab Con, the Quik Fest — before Sam McIntosh shares his exclusive post-Finals chat with John Florence. Get the full JJF interview plus other news at stabmag.com

This week on the drop Mikey C is joined by the talented, handsome, charismatic & opinionated Matues Herdy in Miami, Fl. before his journey starts on stab highway pres. by Monster Energy. Matues gives us a candid look into the finals day at Lowers and rare insight into the Brazilian Surf Scene. Thanks for your time Matues, we hope you enjoy it.

We're (potentially) two days away from crowning our world champions — who will take home eternal glory at two foot Lowers? After asking the experts — Carissa Moore, Taj Burrow, Shane Dorian etc — Stace G and Mikey C give us their picks.

It's a bridge week on the drop, between the two biggest WSL events of the season. Still, lots to discuss: - why are used boards selling better than new? - how is Ross Williams gonna coach Tati and John to titles? - why is Dane Reynolds riding a board with two tales? - is our Stab writer high? - why did Carissa unblock us? - and more! And New York residents, stay tuned to hear how you can win a free pair of Hurley Phantom boardies and a Stab Premium membership

The Cloudbreak event just ended, and Stace G is on the ground with champion Griffin Colapinto to discuss his feelings on the win and plans for the 2024 WSL Finals. Mikey and Stace break down Erin Brooks' maiden victory, the men's and women's Final 5s and more, before Buck makes his long-awaited return to the podcast. Virginia Beach residents, listen closely for your chance to win a free pair of Phantom boardshorts and a Stab Premium membership courtesy of Hurley.

Join us for another week of contest news as Mikey C, Stace G and Jordy Smith give you their Fiji and Top 5 Predictions. Swell on the way!

Or so Evan Slater says. In this week's pod, Mikey C gets on with former pro surfer and former marketing head of Hurley and Billabong to discuss: - whether Tenore will fail or succeed - the cult of Al Cleland Jr. - ethical localism & more!