Compelling podcast examines Kelly Slater's grand conspiracy theories!
Do you remember, three weeks ago, when Kelly Slater was interviewed by the conspiracy theorist Luke Rudowski of wearechange.org?
The interview (called Kelly Slater: Vote Nobody 2016, Investigate 9/11 and Screw Monsanto!!!) is so wonderfully kooky and so strange and so lightweight you fear the principals might float away on a cloud of incense and paranoia. In response, Rory Parker, of BeachGrit, created a wonderful cartoon, which you can see here.
Briefly, Slater and Rudowski both agree that 9-11 was most likely an inside job (Zionists, CIA etc.), that Monsanto maybe has their base in Hawaii in case of a zombie apocalypse, that the Zika Virus is caused by genetically tuned mosquitoes, there’s a cancer cure and maybe Kelly has it, and the importance of following alternative media like wearechange.org.
These sorts of interviews enliven even my gloomiest day, as if it was a fairy tale about the glorification of pumpkins.
But what I enjoy even more is when someone bothers to meticulously debunk these sorta conspiracies.
Have you heard of a podcast called Surf Simply? I hadn’t until a few days ago when BeachGrit reader Craig Guy sent me episode 25, Calling Out Kelly.
Each week, the show’s three hosts, Asher King, Ru Hill and Harry Knight, provide a classy analysis of whatever’s happened in surf.
“At the moment, he’s spreading fear, mistrust, scientific illiteracy and guilt because if someone’s getting cancer or getting sick he’s alluded in the past to connections in the past between GMOs and autism. If your child’s getting leukaemia, autism, and then you’re thinking that I might’ve caused this by what I’m choosing to feed them, it’s just… awful. That is the reason why Kelly Slater is no longer my hero.”
In episode 25, it mows through Evo surfboards and the Volcom Pipe Pro before smashing Kelly’s fav conspiracies apart. Eventually, Ru Hill, at least I think it’s Ru Hill, it’s a podcast, not TV, concludes:
“The reason that Kelly Slater’s not my hero anymore is because he throws these comments out there without actually fact-checking them and I think he sorta justifies it because he does it he does it all in a hand-waving ‘Hey! I’m just asking questions! We just need to investigate! We just need to to find out!’
“But when you have a platform and a voice that’s as prominent as Kelly Slater and people listen to you, when you make implications like he does, people pretty much take them as fact. And you’ve got a responsibility to fact-check before you say things.
“In my opinion, at the moment, he’s spreading fear, mistrust, scientific illiteracy and guilt because if someone’s getting cancer or getting sick he’s alluded in the past to connections in the past between GMOs and autism. If your child’s getting leukaemia, autism, and then you’re thinking that I might’ve caused this by what I’m choosing to feed them, it’s just… awful. That is the reason why Kelly Slater is no longer my hero.”
Of course, Surf Simply quickly pulled the episode down after a fan backlash, replacing it with an explanation of why they did so. Click here.
You can listen to the episode, which is funny, smart and compelling below, and that was saved from oblivion by the aforementioned BeachGrit reader Craig Guy. Do you think Surf Simply will ask us to remove? Is free speech only free when you agree?
Below the podcast is Slater’s original interview with wearechange.org.