About this episode

The episode explores the resurgence of skate culture in the 1990s, featuring insights from Neil Macdonald on British skateboarding history.

Diving deep into all things ’90s… In 1978, skate died for good. Skateparks closed, toys went to landfill, boards gathered cobwebs and Tony Hawk couldn’t pay his bills. But then a new wave of skaters swapped the vert for the street, new fashion brands and magazines like RaD (Read and Destroy) and Thrasher were born, and skate culture began to take over the world. When an older, maybe less cool Tony Hawk landed the first-ever 900 at the X Games it was the moment that birthed his behemothic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game franchise… and the rest is pretty much history. Writer and skater-’til-I-die Neil Macdonald has just released Elsewhere, the ultimate book on British skateboarding history – stuff you would only find in the pages of 35-year-old magazines and zines, and the rattled minds of old skaters. He takes Miranda on an ollie- and heelflip packed ride through skating in the ’90s.  ⁠Support us on Patreon Follow us on:  BlueSky  Instagram  TikTok  Subscribe to our Spotify playlist • Buy Miranda’s book Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small…

People in this episode

Host: Miranda Sawyer

Guest: Neil Macdonald

Topics covered

• skateboarding
• 1990s culture
• Tony Hawk
• skate magazines
• British skateboarding history

Keywords

• skateboarding
• Tony Hawk
• RaD magazine
• Thrasher
• 1990s
• skate culture
• video games

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: RaD, Thrasher

Books & works: Elsewhere, Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs

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