Stab Podcasts

We're back with a double-header ep. First up, Buck & Mikey cover general surf news, including Stab int eh Dark insights and a breakdown of our audience's favorite surfers in 2026. Then Stace G joins the pod to give his Snapper preview live from the Gold Coast — spoiler: it's gonna be cooking. Also, Stab High x Monster Energy returns on May 15-16 in Virginia Beach, USA. Get Stab High tickets here: https://booking.atlanticparksurf.com/store_19?_kx=Gp3GUxykDoH2PTHVsUs2lg.VBFqD4

“You’ll see some guy run a Slayer track at Emma Wood and you’re like WTF. The music has to match the energy of the surfing. The energy of the music has to lay just below the surfing. It has to lift it up, not eclipse it.” As far as tastemakers go, no one’s warped surfing’s Spotify playlist quite like Dane. In this episode of Stab Mic: we learn da rules (loose). Pairing. Energy matching. Matt Biolos’ rockstar licensing loophole. And whether Chief Keef or 21 Savage belong in surf edits. Our guest this week is Timo Simmers. Former and Sun Bum-sponsored surfer, who speaks to: Scoring the best waves of his life as a 16-YO on Surfline’s Maps to Nowhere trip. How hard Caity charges and her meteoric, but hardly surprising, rise to World Champ. How young people consume surf media. Why he was surprised the Chpt 11 squad were “nice and normal”, not emos. Machete wars at Stab High. Sharp Eyes. And other topics… like Jordy selling his yellow jerseys for cold hard cash.

“We could never pay back Kelly Slater for what he did for Channel Islands. That’s the truth of it. What does he want? The whole company?” As you’ll remember in SITDX, Britt Merrick spoke to the fracture left by Kelly’s departure from CI – something that registered, at least to him, as something of a betrayal, and perhaps one he felt more acutely than his father ever did. Kelly, when given the space to explain himself, offered a different version of events. He’d spoken to Al, there was a blessing, and, by his account, even affection on the way out, and an “I love you” to seal it. Britt claims it wasn’t Kelly leaving that broke his heart, that part he understood, but rather the Firewire business approach, the offshore model, and the way it has diminished domestic board building, eroding the respect that once sat alongside it. Britt, in his typical calm and considered tone that softens the edges of everything he says, phones in from Torquay to join Dooma and Dane at the desk. They move through Medina ordering CIs, his rivalry with DH, his belief that Ethan Ewing is the best surfer in the world, first memories of Dane, and, of course, the question of the age: whether or not Kelly knew. Enjoy the episode.

Stab in the Dark with Ethan Ewing Episode 1 is now live, and it raises an important question. Not who he will pick as the winner — that will come — but whether a better surfer has ever existed. Mikey and Buck discuss this point, along with several other headlines from the past week: - Should Griffin have won that Dane Henry heat? - The innermost workings of Kelly's mind. - Does it matter more how a board looks or feels? - Stab High tickets for sale (for Premium members only!)

It only took us 7 years, but The Drop has finally gone to Youtube! For pre-event eps, at least. And the best part is, you don't need to look at our ugly heads the whole time — live Bells warmups are the real star of the show. Listen on your standard podcast app, or watch the full show (preferred method) here: https://youtu.be/wSuxjOW02qs

Little Weeds winner, Stab High champ, and surfing's master technician Chris Wilson joins the pod to discuss his favorite aerialists, a new sponsor and that time he nearly died surfing for a Stab film. This is Stab Mic episode 07, hosted by Damien Fahrenfort and Josiah Amico.

15-year old snow/surf phenom Patti Zhou and 3-minute tube-hunter Koa Smith join Josiah and Dooma in the StabMic studio. This ep is sponsored by Sun Bum and Roark.

This podcast is also a video, watch along here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_uNAACqhF0 Subscribe to Stab Premium: https://stabmag.com/pricing/ EPISODE DESCRIPTION: Two thousand and twelve. Kony. The predicted apocalypse didn’t come, as foretold. Spewing. 18-year-old John John Florence and 26-year-old Dane Reynolds meet in Japan for Dear Suburbia, scoring what they both still swear are the best waves they’ve ever seen. “The perfect combination of power and shape,” says Dane. “It felt like you could do anything you wanted.” “It was barreling off the takeoff, and you came out with so much speed and just had this perfect bowl bending at you,” adds John. It was the first and only time they ever went on a trip together, and possibly the last time they talked. John chalks it up to them moving through time at different paces — John getting on tour the year after Dane had already left it behind. Dane dove into filmmaking, John grew into the world title chase. Nevertheless, Dooma’s question, “why don’t you guys do trips together?” leaves them both a little quizzical. Now, 14 years later, both have left the tour. Both left the mainstream surf industry’s big payouts to launch businesses that speak to their own vision of what surfing should be. Both of them now reunite on a one-hour talk show, StabMic, to discuss all of it. Except, John’s on a boat. A fancy new one, too. There are, of course, many differences in their paths, different choices and conflicting visions of the surf industry. They get into it, though, talking about Dane’s time on tour and their shared aversion to certain aspects of competition. Some of it might surprise you, like Dane admitting his favourite part was the attention, and then there’s this quote from John: “I just wanted to destroy everyone and win everything.” Almost Machiavellian, don’t you think? This is Episode 5 of StabMic. Enjoy.

How long can Kelly Slater, star of Stab In The Dark X and, less famously, the greatest competitive surfer of all time, remain the topic of conversation at stabmag.com? Indefinitely, one suspects. He is, after all, the most fascinating and formidable of lab rats. But for our fragile neural circuits, let’s linger on Kelly one last time, in all his scheming, elegant, slightly terrifying glory. This week, Stab co-founder Sam McIntosh joins Dane and Dooma at the Stab Mic desk. They start where the conversation had no choice but to go: Kelly’s selection of his own shaper, Dan Mann, as the shaper of the decade, and the fallout that ensued. Though Sam encouraged him to cut his own shaper’s board, which is the gentleman’s agreement for every previous edition of SITD, Kelly was naughty. He raged against the system and left his Mann in play. Sam defends him: deceptive, mercurial, infuriating, sure. But a liar? Must be a brilliant one. We’re treated to SITD marginalia: Sam marooned on the beach counting Kelly’s 147 waves, navigating the small cruelties of doing business with Kel, while Dane recalls a Hawaii heat where he had Kelly on the ropes, head held to the flame, until Kelly conjured a buzzer-wave and clipped him anyway. The lads also muse with perverse delight over Kelly’s body, debate his T-shirt size, his multiple invites and refusals to Diddy parties, the possibility of his name in the Epstein files, and the tale of Sam getting slept by a former pro surfer. Enjoy the episode.

Has Fernando gone too far, or are CT surfers being petulant little children? Mikey and Buck share their thoughts on the recent ISA/WSL kerfuffle, along with: - a SITDX ep 3 breakdown + finale update - an industry report with more sticker changes than a used car lot - Italo's secret sponsorship trick - One of the world's best waves' sale price - and more!

The first (aired) episode of StabMic is here, and with a massive guest to kick things off. Watch the full show with visuals on stabmag.com or the Stab Premium app.

Massive three-part ep incoming! Not only did John Florence sit down (exclusively) with Stab's co-founder Sam McIntosh to chat about his recent departure from the tour, and what he'll be doing to grow his brand(s) in the meantime... This ep also features a Kelly Slater Stab in the Dark ep 2 breakdown, where Mikey and Buck discuss board theories, shaper rivalries, and the first elimination (spoiler alert!). Finally, we chat with our guy on the ground in Hawaii about what's been happening in and around the Pipe CS event.