Type 2: Episode 024 - Adam Hall

Type 2 is a podcast from Looking Sideways in association with Patagonia that explores the intersection between the outdoors, action sports and activism. This week’s guest is a surfer and activist Adam Hall. He’s Head of Sustainability for Surfdome, a trustee for POW UK, and is part of the team that just successfully ran the campaign to have the North Devon coastline designated one of only 12 World Surfing Reserves in the world, putting this much loved corner of the British surf world on a par with places like Noosa, Malibu and Ericeira, All of which would be reason enough to have Adam on as a guest for Type 2. But Adam’s story is really about how a passionate, driven individual has found a way of - yes - parlaying his own passions into positive actions on a wider scale. Which really is a key question when you get down to what it actually means to be an ‘activist’. How can we make it personal, yet impactful on a wider scale? How can we think big when we’re starting small? After all, it can be overwhelming, especially in the face of the sheer scale of some of the challenges we face, to work out how to make a difference. This is a conundrum that Adam has cracked, both through the projects that personify his take on activism, and through his passion for surfing, which is really at the heart of all his work. For me, this is what Type 2 is really about: the chance to hear from passionate, articulate, fired-up people who are out there making a difference and calling it out for what it is. We recorded this one at the Wave in Bristol after a really fun surf (it won’t surprise you to hear that Adam rips, by the way); and all-in-all it was a great day capped off by a brilliant, thought-provoking conversation with somebody who wears his principles on this sleeve and is out there making it happen in every way he can. New episodes of Type 2 are released every four weeks through my Looking Sideways channel. Hear it by subscribing to Looking Sideways via ApplePodcasts, Spotify or any of the usual other podcast providers. Thanks to Ewan Wallace for the theme tune, and to my editor Fina Charleson.