Nat Young on Byron Bay, “Magic Sam,” Surfing’s Commercialization, and Crowds 

Dubbed “The Animal,” Nat Young has spent nearly 60 years as one of surfing’s most influential and esteemed figures. At the forefront of surfing’s stylistic evolution during the 1960s, Young’s victory at the 1966 World Championships in San Diego on his self-shaped “Magic Sam” helped cement Australia’s place as a budding progenitor of high-performance surfing. In the decades since, he’s maintained iconic status both in surf culture and in his native country, while writing numerous books, making films documenting the era of transformation he helped usher in, traveling the globe to both surfing and non-surfing locales, and continuing to surf-at a masterful level on all manner of craft-at the world-class points near his home. In this episode, Young talks with show host Jamie Brisick about his long and celebrated career, his biggest influences, and the translation of style across generations.
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Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.
Music by PazKa (Aska Matsumiya & Paz Lenchantin).
Feature image by Grant Ellis.