Pauly On The Pod

Skateboarding scenes don’t magically appear. Somebody drags plywood home, straightens nails, builds a ramp, and invites the crew over until it becomes a real thing. We’re sitting down with Paul “Toothless” Vaughn, a Florida skateboarder and lifelong ramp builder, to talk about what it takes to keep skateboarding alive from the ground up. We go back to the first board, the first trip to Kona Skatep...

A cracked rib that punctures a liver. A pro-era contest scene where the most technical skating didn’t always win. A Virginia Beach style that still shows up every time the board hits smooth concrete. We’re sitting down with legendary East Coast skateboarder Julian Etheridge, and the stories go way deeper than a trick list. We talk about where Julian comes from, how he started skating back in 1988,...

A hurricane rolls through, the doctor fights pneumonia, and we’re still determined to get back to what we love: talking skateboarding, surfing, and the people who keep the culture alive. We link up with Florida’s own Drew Hoffman, a transition skater with deep surf roots and a timeline that runs from Orlando to the Gulf Coast to Jacksonville. Drew breaks down how getting a surfboard at six quietly...

Your favorite skater’s favorite skater usually has the best stories, and Tim Johnson is exactly that kind of name in Jacksonville skateboarding. We pulled up to talk about where it all started: growing up just over the Georgia line, getting hooked on skateboarding at 10, and learning style the hard way on rough terrain, homemade ramps, and whatever spots the Southeast could offer. The result is a...

You can tell when a brand comes from real skateboarding, not a trend report. We’re hanging with Jesse Farrell from Upland Clothing, a Jacksonville, Florida creator who started with DIY screen printing and turned it into a serious streetwear brand with a clean look, a strong point of view, and the kind of work ethic that doesn’t need hype to survive. We talk about learning to skate in small town Ca...

A scrapbook lands on the table and suddenly we’re back in old Jacksonville sessions, staring at Kona Skate Park photos like they’re portals. We’re joined by Travis Ochab, a true local ripper with deep roots in Florida skateboarding, and we let his stack of newspaper clippings and faded prints steer the conversation through the spots, the people, and the moments that built the scene long before ska...

Bam Margera drops a rap diss and the internet does what it always does: dares you to watch. We took the hit for you and ran the live reaction, but the real heart of this one is Jacksonville’s own Billy Winfield stepping into the studio with us to talk skateboarding, music, and how a scene shapes the person you become. Billy’s a local skateboarder and hip hop artist with a gritty, dark sound, and h...

You can trace a skate scene through its spots, but you understand it through the people who built it. We sit down at Kona Skate Park in Jacksonville, Florida with Rick Andrade, a longtime skater born and raised in Austin, Texas, who started skating in the summer of 1986 and carried that energy everywhere his Navy career took him. From backyard mini ramps and ditch sessions to the influence of Bone...

Jacksonville skateboarding isn’t just tricks and footage, it’s places, people, and the years you put in when nobody is watching. We link up with Mike Peterson, aka Dinger, a hometown hero who helped shape how a whole generation here thinks about skating: skate everything, go fast, keep your style, and keep showing up. We talk Kona Skatepark memories from the first scary day on the ramps to the leg...

One board can change a kid’s entire direction and Ron Allen is proof. We’re posted up at the legendary Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville, Florida with a guest whose name sits deep in skateboarding history: Ron Allen, widely credited as the first professional African American street skateboarder. From getting his first setup in 1973 to navigating the 80s and 90s street era, Ron brings the kind of memo...

A touring stand-up comedian pulls up to Jacksonville, skates all day, then hits the stage that night and somehow it all makes perfect sense. We’re posted up at legendary Kona Skatepark with Taylor Clark (stand-up comedian and skateboarder) and St. Augustine’s Nick Day, and the background sound of skating sets the tone for a conversation that’s equal parts funny and real. Taylor breaks down how he...