The History of Everything Except Surfing with Matt Warshaw!

Come get smart.

Matt Warshaw needs no introduction, here. The Dogtown-raised, Berkley-educated former professional surfer, surf magazine editor and author is both the first and last word in our favorite pastime’s history, penning such masterpieces as The History of Surfing and the Encyclopedia of Surfing (subscribe here). His weekly letters provide joy, yes, but also incomparable insight to the salt-encrusted life but is that all there is? Waves, boards, Filipe Toledo’s legendary fear of size and reef?

Hmmmm.

Yesterday, I sat down with Warshaw and David Lee Scales to plumb both his interest in and knowledge of the history of everything except surfing. There are, of course, those amongst us who cannot get enough history. Netflix binges of Vietnam conflict documentaries, reading lists filled with thick books on the Roman Empire. The famous shaper Matt Biolos, as you might know, has a penchant for World War II aircraft. Derek Rielly adores post=Balfour Declaration guides to making a desert bloom. I can’t get enough neo-classical ballet but you?

Any history kinks?

As with such important academic matters, our get together included a pop quiz featuring the following questions.

1. What was the Great Game?

2. When/where did Attila the Hun die and what was his nickname?

3. Who was the last czar of Russia?

4. Who was the last king of France?

5. When did women receive the right to vote in the United States?

6. What was the Rosetta Stone, where was it found and what languages were engraved upon it?

Well?

How did you do?

Listen for Warshaw and Scales’ grades below.

Essential.