The Great Dive Podcast

Last week, Jamesy and Brando coined a new word in the TGDP Lexicon, Sculture. This week the boys dive deeper into that idea of scuba culture. Sculture, if you will. What are we doing? What do we believe in? Is the idea to certify as many humans as possible just to make money? Or should we be building something better?

Does (at least) part of the issue with Scuba education and practice lie in the culture of Scuba diving? Some aspects of our Scuba culture (Sculture) seem to promote quantity over quality. Whether it is certifications or depth, the emphasis seems to be on high numbers vs. high quality of the diver doing the dive. Agencies incentivize high numbers of certifications by awarding "Elite Instructor" status (LMAO!) to instructors based on speed and numbers of students certified. This is an achievement that can only be accomplished by prioritizing speed of training (to get more numbers) over quality of training. The two are mutually exclusive. Quality takes time. It takes time because it takes work. Anything of value takes work and therefore time. An instructor with 100 dives under their belt is only going to make divers with that level (or worse) of competency. Couple this with the glorification of the depth achievement over the glorification of the quality and proper execution of the dive is also contributing towards the degradation of our Scuba culture with the constant attention to depth rather than the overall quality of the diver and the proper approach and execution of the dive. Too many people want the T-shirt without doing the hard work. Have a listen!!

James and Brando start talking about a recent weekend teaching the UTD Essentials class to a couple of scuba professionals. This class is hard, but not because of the difficult skills or impossible expectations. It's hard because it requires humility and intention, rather than learning and doing random skills underwater. Check it out.

The boys wrap up International Cave Diving Month with some final words. What can the recreational diving community learn from the Cave Diving community? Have a listen!

What possibly could be the downside of focusing education on quantity vs focusing on the quality of the education? This week the boys explore the idea of a quantity vs. quality approach to educating the scuba world. Have a listen!

This week the boys sit down and talk about Jamesy's recent visit to Florida for the NSS-CDS International Cave Diving Conference. So, I guess it is officially Cave Month. Ol' Jamesy's presentation was a philosophical look at the difference between cave diving and the rest of the scuba education.

The boys give their final thoughts on the Maldives Cave Diving Incident.

This week the boys take a week off from the Maldivian Death Cave, to bring you a special interview from this year's Thunder Bay International Film Festival. Summer is heating up and Jamesy and Brando are busy living the scuba life. Enjoy these interviews with Andrew a Great Lakes boat captain and Kate from NOAA talking about the festival and why the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is so great.

This week Jamesy and Brando join the discussion about what happened to the 5 Italian divers inside the Death Cave of the Maldives. But, we don't want to continue speculating as much as we are trying to move this conversation along. This story is about more than just those 5 divers.

A recap of the past few months episodes and best of all.... NO QUACKING or HONKING! yes, you read that correctly.... there are no censoring beeps, quacks, honks or even Brando yapping about Manscaping. Just good old fashioned scuba diving talk! have a listen!

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 458 - Good Divers Bad Decisions by Brando & James

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 457 - DeadlyAOW2 by Brando & James

Only one kind of panic is worse than bee panic, and that's underwater panic! This week the boys discuss a readers letter regarding a recent incident where panic played a role in the dive but the reason for the panic was unknown. How does this effect the way we, as divers, address the very real possibility of panic underwater. Have a listen!

This week the boys discuss an email from a bloke out in Jolly Ol' England that tells the tale of what can happen when taking unfamiliar and novice diver on even what most divers would consider a "simple" dive. Would you spot the red flags in time to prevent an issue? Have a listen!!

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 454 Deadly AOW Dive by Brando & James

The Great Dive Podcast - A Force For Good by Brando & James

This week the boys dive back into the tragic topic of Dylan Harrison, and the death of a young girl on her open water certification dives.

This week the boys continue the discussion on scuba diving related incidents with the topic of Dylan Harrison. Dylan was a 12 year old girl who became separated from her instructor and class and later found deceased in the quarry where she was being trained. What can we learn from Dylan's tragedy and can we change the system so that it's less likely to occur again? Have a listen!!

This week the boys dive into the long awaited Linnea Mills tragedy. It's a topic you listeners have been asking about for awhile. This story is made up of a lot of the issues we talk about on TGDP every week, and here we see all the holes of the swiss cheese line up on this cold water, drysuit, dawn, deep dive at truly the worst possible time for them to line up.

Finally!! We are back to normal day to day operations. Aaaaannd, we are back to tackle a highly requested topic as we begin an (as of now) innumerable part series to discuss both the Dylan Harrison and the Linnea Mills incidents. Swiss cheese, Jenga, and Bigfoot are just a small sample of the parts of the river that this topic leads us down.... Have a listen!

Warning! This episode is for TGDP True Fans ONLY! This week the boys have an unfiltered conversation about life in general, current affairs, diving, and other relevant topics. Don't go all, "FinsOnFeet" on us and start leaving bad reviews because we took the time to answer some questions, update our audience, and went off script for one episode. To our True Fan listener that's still reading this... Thank you.

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen... TGDP is back with a brand new Ice Dive. This Juicy tale will get you ready for another cold water disaster. Could this have been prevented?

A quick update from the boys following a busy few weeks and right before a few more busy weeks.

This week Jamesy and Brando sit down and talk with Stephanie Gandulla from NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Kevin Sheard from Warfighter Scuba about the upcoming Thunder Bay International Film Festival.

The boys continue their dive in to underwater photography with a discussion centered around the third leg of the photography triangle, shutter speed. Also, the listener should be warned that there may be humor of all types in this podcast. From high brow, intellectual, down to the juvenile, "Beavis and Butthead" humor. But this warning is not for the average diver/listener simply because we know that is probably a good portion of the reason why they listen to the podcast. This warning is for those "serious listeners" that feel threatened or offended or triggered by laughter...or worry they may accidentally laugh at a ball shaving advertisement and be ashamed. Have a listen!

The boys sit down and wrap up the 2025 year for TGDP.

The madness continues with the discussion of underwater photography... and photography in general. This week the boys go insane with ISO! Have a listen!!

This week your buddies talk about underwater photography again. After joining a photo club to get better at taking pictures, Jamesy start asking questions about apertures and F/stops. Of course, the Sultan of the Shutter, Brando, shines the light of knowledge on the young photographer. Join us.

Join the boys this week as they examine an 'I Learned About Diving from That' article that tells the tale of what a Divemaster Candidate learned about his ego and the trouble that may come from letting it take hold of you and actually believing what it's telling you. Listen to the deadly incident and one diver's account of a real life encounter with the deadly regulator snatching rocks of the Caribbean!

This week the boys finish their discussion about a Public Safety Diving fatality.

This week the boys discuss public safety diving. A topic sparked by a recent social media post detailing the death of a public safety diver during a training evolution. Is this a common occurrence? Do most issues and incidents go unreported if there is no fatality or injury? What does have to do with recreational scuba? All good questions plus many more come up when discussing this topic and especially this particular incident. Have a listen and let us know what ya think!

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 437 Alotar by Brando & James

Does anyone know where the love of God goes when Jamesy and Brando turn the minutes to hours? Find out this week as the boys recant the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of it's tragic demise. Have a listen!!

Get your tricks and treats out for another haunting episode of TGDP Halloween Spooktacular. This year the boys bubble up Brando's hot tub with tales of ghosts, ghouls, and sea fiends from out of the deep.

This week the boys diving in a companion journal to AquaCorps called Technical Diver. They compare this 1992 article by Michael Menduno with the state of the scuba world today. "Safety is the first priority. This is not recreational diving." That is what this episode of The Great Dive Podcast is all about.

There's only one way to follow up that great interview with Rachel Lance, and that's with the boys paying tribute to the diving community's great ambassador and friend, Michael Menduno. Ol' Jamesy and Brando pull out aquaCORPS magazine, Issue Number One and reflect on Michael's very first article called "Under Pressure". Have a listen!

Join your buddies, James and Brando as they sit down and talk with Rachel Lance. She is the author of Chamber Divers, the story about J.B.S. Haldane and other scientists who changed special operations warfare during WWII. The story is fascinating and everything you think you know about nitrox and oxygen with diving might change after this episode. You can get her book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671553/chamber-divers-by-rachel-lance/

This week the boys are back with Kenneth Donald and his Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit. At 30 years old and knowing virtually nothing about diving underwater, he was given carte blanche authority to do whatever he wanted. The most important mission, a cool name.

Momma Always said breathing oxygen at a higher partial pressure than 1.6 was like a box of chocolates.... ya neva know what ya gonna git... Join the boys this week as they continue their discussion on oxygen and it's effect on the diver. This week they look into Kenneth Donald and his book, "Oxygen and the Diver". Find out how the diving community came to the conclusion that breathing oxygen at higher than a 1.6ppO2 is really unpredictable. Have a listen!!

In this episode, the boys introduce us to a British physician named Kenneth Donald. Around WWII time, most of the oxygen studies were focused on the medical uses for it. However underwater military operations uncovered a new threat to the navy divers. Oxygen Poisoning.

What do the acronyms ConVENTID, VENTID and ASS all have in common? Well, have a listen and find out as the boys continue their journey down Highway O2 while avoiding the pitfalls of oxygen Toxicity. Have A Listen!!

This week the boys dive deeper into oxygen breathing at depth.

Shut that oxygen window!! It's getting hyperoxic in here! The boys continue their discussion of Oxygen and the role it plays in the diver's physiology!

The boys sit down and start a conversation about oxygen.

BOO-YAH! TGDP is back to the grind and we're getting back in the groove with a cool article from 1998 entitled "The Divers Bill of Rights". Do we have rights as a diver? Do we have responsibilities as a diver? Is it maybe both? Have a listen and find out!

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 423 - Summer Vacation by Brando & James

This week the boys continue their celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Summer blockbuster movie "Jaws"!! While examining the vital role Valerie Taylor played in obtaining the stunning film footage of much of the real shark action used in the making of Jaws, the boys learn of her decision to devote much of her life to helping reverse the "sharkphobia" that was created by the movie itself. This one get's deep and has me wondering if whether the boys have actually "jumped the shark" in this episode or have they made a podcast Summer Blockbuster? Have a listen!!

Jamesy and Brando celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jaws, the movie. Tune in as the boys talk about sharks, their favorite parts, and differences between the book and the movie.

This episode the boys kick off shark quarter with a Lessons For Life tale of a near death shark attack.... well, almost... well... nobody died.... and no one was attacked... but it was nearly fatal! Find out who, what,why, and how in this week's episode of The Great Shark Podcast...er.. I mean The Great Dive Podcast!!

Did you know that you can drown in only a teaspoon of water? That's right. That's why Brando doesn't have any teaspoons in his house. Look out people. TGDP is back to their old shenanigans again. We are partying like it's 1999, because it is this week. Tune in and join us for this little dive that is the total opposite of our Dave Shaw series… or is it?

FINALLY!!! It"s the end! Join us for the recap of the Dave Shaw story...!