Podcast: A Chat With Nazaré Slayer and Miley Cyrus Sprayer, Mason Barnes

This week’s podcast episode features Zeke Lau’s battle with the Bermuda Triangle, France’s semi-impending doom, a Paul Evans cameo to discuss Season Two of Make or Break, and more.

In the “more” category, Mikey and Buck bring on Mason Barnes who just got back from Fashion Week, guest stars in Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” music video, and won the award for “Biggest Tow-in” at the Red Bull Big Wave Awards last year.

Mason unveiled to us the roundabouts ways that big-wave surfers make a living — you can’t just be a Nazaré nincompoop anymore.

Mason discusses how the collective attention span is so short these days that big-wave surfers can’t just put out edits of towing into the largest lumps they can find and going straight. They must catch the biggest wave of the day, immediately post it on Instagram, and hope for the best.

In essence they are to us what Spanish bullfighters were in the 1920’s. Symbols of grace under pressure. Of smiling in the face of death. Of seeming to care less about what we fear most, thereby making our fears less credible.

Companies want to capitalize on that image of the “death-beater”. And that’s at least partly the reason non-endemic companies like Tag Heuer, Mercedes-Benz, and GoPro go after big-wave surfers instead of CT superstars.

“Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bullfighters.” wrote Ernest Hemingway.

Pop in the pods and have a listen wherever you get your podcasts (Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud).