The Best Idea Yet - 🛹 Skateboard: Defying Physics & Freaking Out Parents for 60+ Years | 42

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

Imagine yourself on a sandy SoCal beach, surfboard in hand. But the ocean’s too calm: not a single wave in sight. What do you do? Well, if you’re a kid in the early 60s, you throw some wheels on a plank of wood and go “sidewalk surfing.” This one simple innovation can’t be traced back to a single inventor; it evolved more like a language than a product. Even so, the skateboard caused a revolution in sports, fashion, and culture: launching multiple billion-dollar brands and viral products. Follow the skateboard’s wild ride from the parking lots of Santa Monica to the cover of LIFE Magazine to, eventually, the Olympics. Along the way, you’ll meet incredible larger-than-life characters: from original ‘skate Betty’ Patti McGee to the King of the Kickflip, Rodney Mullen, to the Birdman himself, Tony Hawk. Learn why the best thing to happen to skateboards was getting banned… and why the skateboard is the best idea yet.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterFollow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the best idea yet early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Nick, do you remember that time we went mountain biking in Marin County? I'm going to need a trigger warning on this. Yeah. Do you remember how you described the activity of mountain biking? I believe I called mountain biking a series of extremely close calls. To the right is a 100-foot cliff. To the left are gnarly branches that would rip your face off.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie. I still don't understand what the payoff of that whole experience was, Jack. I mean, the most intense thing I've done is lacrosse, which I did get my teeth knocked out twice, and you drove me to the dentist, I believe. I know. That is a dangerous part. I had a lift for like three months, which could have really hurt my podcasting career. Well, today we're talking about a rebellious activity where falling down and getting hurt is all part of the process.

The skateboard. The Amazing Skateboard, one of the few toys capable of turning parents prematurely gray, sending kids off the wall, and medical bills into the wild blue yonder. The skateboard. A wooden plank and four wheels has defined generations of fashion, culture, and music powered by the unending fuel of Teen Rebellion. Nick, were you ever a skater boy? I said see you later, boy. Now, with today's episode, we're actually trying something a little different. Unlike the viral products we typically cover on the show, the skateboard doesn't belong to any single company or any single brand.

The skateboard transcends trademark. It evolved thanks to many different innovators, and because there's no one inventor that we can point to, it's hard to say when the very first skateboard appeared. But skateboarding in the modern sense started in Southern California in the 1960s, thanks to another adrenaline-pumpin subculture, surfing. It was a 30-something lifeguard in Santa Monica. who first harnessed this surfboard-to-scapeboard connection. Little did he know it would ultimately become an Olympic sport. Skateboarding's real impact isn't in the number of units sold, it's really measured in culture.

Just look at the lifestyle and entertainment brands skateboarding has launched. From Vans to Supreme and the billion-dollar video game series starring the physics-defying Birdman, Tony Hogg. We'll share how a band of misfits called the Bones Brigade took the sport viral thanks to a common household appliance. Along the way, you'll learn about the five forces of business. And how the best thing to ever happen to the skateboard might have been when it got banned.

So strap on those wrist guards and get ready to nail the nose grind. Here's why the skateboard is the best idea yet. From Wondery and Teboy, I'm Nick Martell. And I'm Jack Kravici Kramer. And this is the best idea yet. The untold origin stories of the product. you're obsessed with. And the bold risk takers who made them go viral.

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Ocean waves rise and break, crashing rhythmically onto the shore. Kids laugh as they build sandcastles and wait for the tide to knock them down. Someone's transistor radio blast the beach boys at Top Valley. Jack, I am definitely picking up some good vibrations. Yes, you are, Nick, because this is Venice Beach, California, summer of 1960. The temperature is high and the SPF is hard to come by. But you will see zinc oxide slathered on the noses of the lifeguard sitting in their towers. And in one of those towers sits 30-year-old lifeguard, Larry Stevenson.

Now, Larry is a beach boy through and through. Blonde hair, built body, with a Clint Eastwood squint that comes from staring at the waves all day. Like most SoCal dudes his age, Larry is an avid surfer. He eventually publishes a magazine about surfing called Surf Guide. Venice Beach is beautiful and sunny all year round, but the surf does not always rage here. You get your fair share of flat days, and a lack of sweet swells, well, it means a boring day on the board.

Good news, though. A few local surfers have found a workaround, which Larry spies one day from Auburn's Lifeguard Station. In the parking lot near the beach, a gaggle of surfers are cruising on asphalt. They stand on crudely cut two-by-four slabs attached to small wheels underneath. They're surfing on dry land. Pretty creative way to deal with the low swells out there.

So once Larry finishes his lifeguarding shift, he asks the surfers if he can take a look at these DIY boards up close. The cheap planks of wood are already scuffed and splintering at the edges. They use steel wheels repurposed from old metal roller skates, the clunky kind that strap onto your shoes. And that's when Larry's mental wheels start spinning. Larry sees potential in these primitive rollerboards. So he starts thinking, I could make something like this, but better, I could even start a business.

Larry's not just a beach boy who publishes a magazine as a side hustle. Larry is going to start a company. So just like Steve Jobs, in pursuit of the first personal computer, Larry heads straight to his garage and starts tinkering. He starts playing with different kinds of words. for the deck. That's the actual board, as in the surface you stand on. And he starts testing different wheels, settling on a more modern composite plastic known as Clay.

Larry's garage starts looking like the SoCal version of Santa's Workshop. Our buddy Larry has also got a co-founder here, too. His wife, Alan, who works with Larry to build their first prototypes. They settle on two sizes for their boards, the 29-inch long standard or the 18-inch Malibu. Both of these boards, they're shaped like surfboards. They got the pointed tip at the front. driving home that whole surfing on concrete concept. Once Larry and Helen get their product lines just right, they make it official. And they launch one of the first commercial skateboard manufacturing

companies, Makaha Skateboards. Makaha, the name of a legendary surf beach over in Hawaii with killer swells. It goes for $12.95 or $135 in today's money. So it's not cheap, but it's way less than a full-size surfboard, which might run you five times as much. But of course, what's the use of making a great product if no one actually hears about it? Which means it's time for Larry to put on his marketing hat and take advantage of that side hustle he started as a lifeguard a few years ago, Surf Guide magazine. Larry's got his own publishing vertical. So he starts writing and commissioning articles in Surf Guide all about the so-called sidewalk surfing scene. Yes, they really called it that, as you can hear from this clip from American Bandstand.

With this magazine, Larry's not just boosting his own skateboard company. He's really investing in the creation of an entire new industry here. He wants skateboarding to be more than just a cute fad for surfers when the waves are flat. He sees skateboarding as something that can thrive even miles from the nearest beach. Maybe he thinks it will one day even rival surfing and scale. So, in the fall of 1963, Makaha makes a move. legitimize this new activity. They sponsor the first ever pro skateboarding team and the first ever official skateboarding competition down in lovely Hermosa Beach, California. The competition is pretty

chill. It's more of a skills exhibition, to be honest. Everyone has a great time and of course the whole thing gets written up in Surf Guide. It really doesn't matter who wins the contest because the real winner is Larry. Well, Larry and skateboarding as a whole, true, true, because this competition functions to surface local talent, and that's key, because every sport from football to fishing relies on star talent to sustain its popularity. The champion athletes to rally around, and skateboarding is about to get a very surprising champion. Santa Monica isn't the only beach town where skateboarding is taking off. Turn south on the 405 and drive for two and a half hours, and you'll find yourself in Pointe Loma,

San Diego, home of a self-described rowdy surfer girl named Patty McGee. Patty is 19 years old, with platinum blonde hair, sprayed and quaffed to silky perfection. But, unlike her bobby pins, Patty has a hard time staying still. You see, she's been surfing with the guys since she was 13 years old. It was Patty's brother who built her first skateboard, yanking the wheels off her skates and sticking them on a deck he made in the wood shop. Patty embraces this board immediately. She even teaches herself to do a full handstand right on the board as the board is moving.

I mean, I once held a handstand for four seconds, Jack, in a yoga class. Patty is fearless. At the Orange County Fair, she has a friend drag her around on her skateboard with a motorcycle driving 47 miles per hour. Patty sets a new speed record, without pads, without a helmet. Nick, she wasn't even wearing shoes. Patty said this stunt involved, quote, helmet, no pads, no shoes, and no brains. Paddy's fame increases in December 1964 when she wins the Women's Open at that first annual national skateboard championships

in Santa Monica. She sees this win as a great springboard for a professional skateboarding career. So she gets herself some 8 by 10 glossy photos and takes them to Hobie. Hobie invented the Hobie Cat, that sailboat that you see still today wherever there's water and wind. But the renowned surfing and water sports company sees the rise of skateboarding as a chance to expand their activities from water onto dry land. It is simple, but it is strategic. Double the number of surfaces you can surf on? Double the business. So Patty shows up at the Hobie shop just as its founder and namesake Hobart Alter is dashing out the door. She waves old Hobie down and throws her photos at him. I'm the women's national skateboard champion and I want to be on your team.

He does already have a pro skateboarding team, and they're all guys. So, Hobie looks at Patty, and he asks, um, can you babysit? Incredibly, Patty does not kick Hobie right in the wetsuit after this offer. She's thinking, this guy's probably still her best chance to go pro. And eventually, Hobie does hire her to do safety demonstrations at toy and department stores around the U.S. And now, safety demonstrator isn't quite the same prestige as being on the pro skateboarding team. but it is getting paid to skate.

When you're starting out, you take what you can get. So Patty travels all around the country and is showing off what skateboards can do. Call her the ambassador of the board. Yeah. Preaching the gospel of the grind. I like where you're going. In May of 1965,

Patty lands the equivalent of a billion views on TikTok. She gets the cover of Life magazine. She's in a red sweatshirt, white pants, doing what else, her legendary handstand inversion on a moving skateboard. This cover of Life magazine kicks off a firestorm of attention for Patty. She performs with Dick Clark and goes on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Patty becomes skateboarding's first national star. Here she is on a 1965 daytime talk show doing her usual demo.

First thing I'm going to do is a kick turn. She's doing this in bare feet, by the way. Wait, Jack, roll that clip back a little bit more. The show's host is actually reading the headline from that Life article that we just mentioned. It says the craze and menace of skateboards. The craze and menace of skateboards. Turns out, the Life article ain't exactly a puff piece. Strap on that helmet, because skateboarding is in for its very first backlash.

By mid-1965, between Patty McGee's TV spots, live demos, and Life magazine covers, skateboarding's newfound exposure is massively boosting sales. not just for Hobie, but across the industry. Maccaha, Larry Stevenson's company down in Los Angeles, is manufacturing up to 2,000 boards a day. They're approaching $4 million in sales. Not bad for a former lifeguard, but this increase in popularity also leads to an unfortunate side effect.

Injuries. If you've ever sat in the ER with a shattered wrist from attempting a railroad, you already know that skateboarding can be hazardous to your bone structure. To paraphrase every toy commercial we've ever seen, not Mama Purpose. Especially since 1960 skateboards look pretty primitive next to today's models. The clay wheels don't really grip the road, and it was just too easy to wipe out at high speeds.

It was also easy at the time to slip off the top of these wooden boards. Hence why Patty liked to skate barefoot. You gotta grip these boards with your toes. Oh, and then there's that question of where to skateboard, right? Like in 1965, the number of skate parks in the United States is... It's one. There's one skate park. Yeah, Tucson, Arizona.

And aside from this one park, skaters are mostly in the road, skateboarding while dodging cars or on the sidewalk, dodging pedestrians. Either way, collisions are going to happen. And even if there's no collision, that old lady is not happy that her walk to the laundromat has new high-speed traffic on the sidewalk. It isn't just the tax-paying public going anti-scapeboard. Authority figures weigh in, too.

The California Medical Association puts out a special bull calling skateboarding, quote, a medical menace. There's that menace word. That public bulletin is the modern-day business equivalent of getting review bombed on Yelp. And Jack, the local stores are calling them a business menace too. Worried that 11-year-olds cruising the asphalt like land sharks are going to scare off potential customers. And look, some concerns about skateboarding's risks are pretty justified. But some of this backlash you can chalk up to adults overreacting to the latest team trends. Basically, anytime a product goes viral among the 18 and undercrow, adults get critical. And then they get controlling. We've seen

this before. Video games, Pokemon cards, TikTok, you name it, parents start worrying about it. They're experiencing a real Clint Eastwood get off my law in the moment. Yeah, they are. But it actually gets even worse. Local police chiefs, they start warning stores not to even carry skateboards. And by mid-1965, 20 American cities have prohibited skateboards altogether. If you carry skateboards in your store, that is an illicit product. But for skateboard entrepreneur Larry Stevenson, this culminates one shocking week in November. One day, he's getting so many orders for new skateboards that people are leaving order sheets

at his home. And the next day, he's getting cancellations by the tens of thousands. And in one single week, most of his business dries up. Macaaha wraps up 1965 with tons of unsold inventory and massive debt. The company survives, but barely. No joke, Larry has to go back to lifeguarding. And Patty McGee, she taps out of the skateboarding scene by 1967. Skateboarding has officially gone through its first boom and bust. But don't count this scrappy sport out yet.

Larry's got another trick of his sleeve to save his beloved sidewalk surfing. And he's not the only one. Today's show is brought to you by Amazon Small Business. Nick and I are obsessed with this hot, crispy chili oil called Boone. Yeah, it's great. Spicy, crunchy, goes on everything. Pasta, pizza, even paella, total game changer for my fridge. Okay, but yeties, here's what's wild.

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Nick, when we left off, the skateboard boom had just gone skateboard bust. Ever hear of pet rocks, pogo sticks, doing the twist? All mid-century fads that wore out their welcome after a few years. Trends take root, but fads flane out. But Larry Stevenson, former lifeguard founder of the trailblazing skateboard company, Makaha, isn't going to let it go that easily. In 1969, just as things look their bleakest, Larry comes up with an idea that will revolutionize skateboarding again.

Call it a minivation with max effects. Larry invents the kicktail. Behold the kicktail. This is where the back of the skateboard wings up kind of like a ski slope. And it's crucial because you use a kicktail like a lever to easily stop or change direction. It lets you avoid obstacles like oncoming cars or grandma trying to carry your laundry. But in addition to making boards safer to ride, the kicktail also makes riding more fun and dynamic

because the added maneuverability leads to some legendary tricks, like the Ollie when you stomp on the tail while jumping up, making the board pop into the air with you. Or the kickflip, an ollie where the board spins around lengthwise in the air under your feet. Or the 360 flip. A kickflip that also rotates the board 360 degrees a full circle. These specific stunts all come later, by the way,

but none of them would have been possible without Larry's elegant invention, the kicktail. This minivation revitalizes the entire sport. The ability to steer around grandma mitigates the public safety issue. and the ability to jump curves and spin in circles mitigates the potential boredom issue. Skateboards suddenly become a canvas that you can pour your creativity into.

Once people realize skateboarding isn't dead after all, other innovations start popping up. In 1973, a startup called Cadillac Wheels rolls out their signature product, sturdy, smooth, polyurethane wheels just for skateboards. These so-called precision wheels, they grip the road better, they withstand wear and tear better, even when skaters practice a thousand curb jumps in a row.

And then, Jack, there's a minivation that came from seemingly everywhere. Grip tape. We mentioned that most boards were slippery to stand on, remember? Hence your barefoot skaters like Patty McGee. But then somebody, or several somebodies, tried resurfacing their decks with a sandpapery top layer. And this provides a crucial extra bit of friction to do any of the tricks. That sandpaper surface might tear up tender bare feet. Sorry, Patty.

but it also helps you tear up the sidewalk, metaphorically. The effect of all these innovations is that skateboarding enters a more modern era and a modern crew is going to represent it. Jack, I think it's time for us to meet the godfather of freestyle. It's New Year's Day in Gainesville, Florida, 1977. 10-year-old Rodney Mullen is waiting for dad to finish his drink.

An argument has been hanging over father and son for weeks. Rodney desperately wants a skateboard, but his dad thinks they're for bums. And that's pretty much where things stand. Rodney, he's got a mop of light brown hair, round cheeks, and narrow eyes. He's also so pigeon-toed, he has to sleep in correct the boots. Rodney's kind of a misfit.

Rodney's teachers suspect he may have special needs, but no one can figure out what they are. But things start looking up when his sister's surfing body shows him a skateboard for the very first time. And here's the interesting, actually funny problem, Jack. Rodney's dad is a dentist. So when kids bust their front teeth skateboarding, Dr. Mullen is the one to treat them. Just like that California health bulletin, dad thinks skateboarding is a menace.

A bigger threat to public health than the cavity, which is why what happens next is so incredible. Rodney's father switches the last bit of ice in his glass and size. Okay, Rodney can get a skateboard. But on one condition, Rodney has to promise to protect himself, full pads, a helmet, and throw on dad's big leather work gloves while you're at it. Deal. Rodney practically floats his way to the skate shop. He cannot wait to get started. And for the next few years, his dad prays Rodney will get sick of skateboarding and take up tennis or something.

But you know what? Doesn't happen. Nope. Instead, Rodney practices compulsively. His big sis drives him after school to Gainesville's brand new skate park. And off he goes, in full pads just like he promised his dad. When Rodney skates, he looks more like a Toronto Maple Leafs goalie than a thrasher. But even though he's wearing more equipment than an astronaut, Rodney keeps at it. And in just nine months, he scores his first official sponsor. The very shop that sold him his very first board.

Having a sponsor means getting to enter competitions. And Rodney starts winning every contest he enters. Yeah, it looks like he has special needs after all. the need to shred. In 1980, Rodney enters a contest in San Diego while his family is vacationing there, and he dominates that competition. Beating the reigning world freestyle champ

at just 13 years old, this catches the eye of an ex-gater and entrepreneur named Stacey Peralta, and Stacey is about to change Rodney Mullen's life, and with it, the entire skateboard industry. The Bones Brigade. It sounds like an old-timey pirate crew led by Captain Hook, which makes sense, Jack, because every member kind of looks like a lost boy.

But in fact, the Bones Brigade is a competitive skateboard team sponsored by a Santa Barbara skate brand called Powell Peralta. That's Powell, as in George Powell, and Stacey Peralta, a former pro skater with a rebellious streak. Powell Peralta's team is the total opposite of the clean-cut Patty McGee doing handstands, Macy's. The bones kids look more like they'd be chased out of the department store by mall cops. Yeah, you see, by the early 1980s, skateboarding has gone through several boom and bus cycles. It got banned in the 1960s, and it heated up again in the late 70s, thanks to all

those design innovations like the precision wheels and the kicktail. But by 1981, business has cooled again as a new generation of parents starts worrying about broken bones and dentist bills. Such an ebb and flow in popularity might have relegated skateboarding to fast. status. Yeah, like the macarena. But underneath each market fluctuation, skateboarding has taken root in the underground scene. Exactly. Even when casual fans abandoned skateboards, the sport still flourishes within its small niche community. Skateboarding is dipping in and out of mainstream acceptance, but crucially, it is holding on to its hardcore early adopters. The Misfits. Kids like Rodney Mullen and the Bones Brigade.

Powell Peralta recruits Rodney. Rodney for their pro team before his 14th birthday. Rodney is great at all types of skating, but he proves especially adept at freestyle, meaning tricks you can do on bare pavement, no ramps or rails required. Remember the kickflip where the board spins in the air under your feet like a rotissory chicken?

Epic move. Rodney invented it. That kickflip relies on another technique called the flat ground Ollie. We get air by popping your board up from a stationary position. And guess what? Rodney invented that, too. He also invented the 360 flip, the finger flip, the pogo, and so many other tricks. He's now considered the godfather of freestyle.

He's da Vinci of DeBoer. But Jack, that's just one discipline of his. There's also street style, which uses curbs, rails, and obstacles you'd find in an urban environment. And then there's vert, the style that involves a two-sided ramp called a half-pipe or huge paved holes in the ground called bowls. Both have steep sides that go up vertically, giving the skater momentum to catch air. To master this new form of skating, the vert,

Stacey Peralta is going to have to recruit a very special young skater to the Bones Brigade. Nickname, Birdman, government name, Hawk. Tony Hawk. Picture yourself in an American living room in 1984. Lazy boy in the corner, Lego is spilled across the floor, and at the front of the room is a big, glassy color TV, wrapped in faux wood paneling propped up on a heavy stand.

See that, Nick? Yeah. Just below the TV itself, it's a brand new, shiny silver device called a VCR. Jack, you pop in a tape, the one with the black label, and it reads, The Bones Brigade Video. show. This is an amateur film shot by Stacey Peralta to showcase the scrappy skills of his teen

skateboarding army. Kick flips, rail grinds, aerial spins, Ollie's. If it's awesome or deathifying, it goes on this tape. The skateboarding legends on this tape are the Mount Rushmore of the sport. You got Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Steve Stead, and Rodney Mullin, but before any of their names are known to anybody. And then, at minute 14, A skinny blonde kid enters the frame in a bright red helmet.

He wears a yellow t-shirt with the Bones logo, a skeleton that looks like it's bursting out of the kid's back. It's the 15-year-old skateboarding phenom from San Diego, Tony Hawk. Like Rodney, Tony got recruited to the Bones Brigade before he could drive, but he's been skating in SoCal since age nine and dusting the competition since age 11. In the video, Tony is at a very... convert contest, with fans surrounding one of those big concrete bowls we told you about.

Tony skates up to the edge and then plunges in, gaining speed until he flies up the wall on the far side. His board keeps going up and up and up, selling five feet into the air until he's over some of the kids' heads. No disrespect to the other skaters on this video, but Birdman Catch an Air is the most dazzling part of the Bones Brigade video show. It just looks awesome. It does look awesome.

But let's talk about this scrappy film shot on a camcorder. It is such a strategic business move. Stacey Peralta is leveraging the 1984 VCR craze. As we've mentioned, skateboarding is a niche business prone to ebbs and flows. And the early 80s are in ebb. Powell Peralta is averaging sales of only 500 boards a month. At roughly $50,000 a board, that's only $250,000 in annualized revenue. At one point, Tony Hawk literally receives a royalty check.

for 85 cents. You can't buy a Big Mac with that payday jack. But this all changes when the Bones Brigade video show hits the scene on a VHS tape. Its loose, low-budget style matches the DIY spirit skateboard has cultivated in the underground. This first tape sells 30,000 copies, way more than Stacey expected. So they make more copies, and those sell even better. And as more and more homes get VCR players, more and more kids. get into the Bones Brigade. Those who don't have a VCR, they beg their parents to head over to

Circuit City and snag one. This creates a whole flywheel of interest, and by the mid-1980s, driven by physical videotapes, skateboarding is having its biggest viral moment yet. The Bones Brigade crew become international stars, touring the world and cashing monthly $20,000 royalty checks. At its 1987 peak, Powell Peralta does $27 million in annual sales. and 19-year-old Tony Hawk is clearing $150,000 a year personally. Across the country, kids are doodling Bones Brigade logos on their notebooks without even knowing why, which reveals a truly unique accomplishment here of skateboarding. Skate culture is pulling off a rare marketing mix that's so many brands long for.

It's rebellious and it's popular. Counter-cultural, yet culturally embraced. I mean, typically, you can't be both. And yet the skateboard is pulled in. it off. Plus, because art imitates life, fictional characters are boosting the skateboard business too. Marty McFly rides a skateboard in Back to the Future and a hoverboard in the sequel. Meanwhile, Bart Simpson sails on his skateboard through the opening credits of The Simpsons when it debuts in 1989. But, just like an airborne vert skater, the 80s skateboard craze

eventually settles back down to Earth. The Bones Brigade breaks up by 1991. Casual fans once again move on. After this high watermark, skateboards receive back to counterculture niche product. Boom bust. The sequel. That is, until the letter X gets involved.

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Let me grab my Mountain Dew, my Skechers, and my lava lamp. So is everyone at the fifth annual X games in San Francisco. In the next four sunny summer days, over a quarter million people will gather in person to watch feats of bravery, strength, and sheer badassery in a massive showcase of what ESPN is calling extreme sports. Everything from snowboarding to rollerblading to motocross. And yes, Jack did just say snowboarding in San Francisco in June.

Because the X-Games actually created a 100-foot-high jump covered in powdery man-made snow that does not melt. Skateboarding has been a staple of the X-game since they're founding in 1995. But every year since, the viewership has gotten bigger, not just in the stands, but in living rooms across the world. So on June 27th, there are millions of people watching as Tony Hawk skids to his knees again and again as he fails to nail his final trick in the vert category,

an unprecedented 900-degree aerial spin. The idea is that Tony is going to shoot up the ramp on his board, Hold his board under him as he spins around, two and a half rotations in the air, and then land on the very same board to skate down the other side. Nobody has ever done that successfully. Each time Tony tries the trick, he nails the 900-degree spin every time.

It's the landing that's not really working. Every single time he sinks back to the earth, the board skitters away, and Tony slides behind it on his knee pads. Tony is no skinny light kid anymore. He's 31. So those kneecap landing, they hit different now. Everyone can feel his pain and feel his fatigue as they're watching it on the screen.

Tony's body is getting more and more fatigue. He's pouring sweat, his face is twisted and frustration. The crowd is pulling for him, but we're all kind of expecting he's going to have to walk away and quit at some point. The 900, it's like Narnia. You have to believe in it to be true. Tony has now passed his allotted time, but the officials let him keep on trying. Some of his rivals grumble as he refuses to leave the vert. But other competitors start cheering them on, banging their boards and support as he scrambles back up for his ninth attempt.

For his tenth attempt. Here he goes for number 11. Are you kidding me? Yeah, look at this. Tony Hawk, everybody. Thank you. This is the best day of my life. Success at last.

There we go. Tony's epic 900 becomes the viral moment of the X-Games. And that's a big deal, because these games have a much wider reach than any mere skateboarding contest. ESPN is making a strategic move with these X-games by packaging different niche sports into a sort of extreme Olympics. They're bundling the customer subgroups like a cable and internet package into one particular program. Motocross, bungee jumping, sky surfing. Each your sports with a relatively small fan base. A bundle them together, you can market it to all the fans at once.

55 million people watch those 1999 X-Games on TV. That's a lot of niches. The X-Games helps break the cycle of skateboarding's fluctuating popularity and makes the case for its global appeal. In fact, skateboarding is about to go so global that ends up on an even bigger world stage. Next stop, the Olympics. Okay. As we said earlier, this episode is unique for us.

It's the first time we've done a product that no single brand owns, which means its modern legacy touches all kinds of interesting sectors. Ironically, Jack, skateboarding's biggest economic impact isn't in the boards. It's in the spin-off culture around skateboarding. That's where the real money was made. So here is a speed round of skateboarding's impact in business and in culture. First, let's talk fashion. Skateboarding has inspired hundreds of labels,

thousands of designers, and millions of outfits that make your mom go, you're wearing that to your cousin Marla's bat mitzvah? The leader of this pack would probably be the sneaker brand vans. Over 75 million pairs of vans are sold each year. What about Supreme? That label grew from a tiny New York City skate shop to a billion-dollar luxury streetwear brand. Oh, but we're not.

not done, Nick. What about skateboarding and video games? Great call, Jack, because it turns out video games are actually the biggest part of the entire skateboard industry, bigger than the actual boards themselves. Specifically, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video game series. The first version was launched by Activision back in fall of 1999, just three months after Tony landed that 900 at the X games. Nailed the timing and the move. 20 years later, World Worldwide sales of this one video game have reached $1.4 billion, and we're still counting because people are still buying. Not every kid who plays pro skater runs out to buy their first board, but every time a

new version releases, it introduces a fresh set of gamers to the sport, some of whom move further down the customer funnel and eventually become skateboarders themselves. Right now, about 85 million people skateboard worldwide, but the biggest skating scenes outside the U.S. are in Brazil, Australia, and Japan. For proof that skateboarding has officially made the big time, look no further than the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which technically took place in 2021 because of COVID. Skateboarding's Olympic debut featured competitors from all over the world.

Skateboarding may have started as a low-fi hobby side hustle in southern California's parking lots and empty swimming pools. But today, skateboarding has achieved cultural significance and full-on sports, legitimacy. We would argue that skateboarding has traveled further than any other sport in America, not as one genius's invention, but as a crowd-sourced success. And unlike Pet Rocks, Pogo Sticks, or Jack's obsession with the twist, skateboarding ain't going anywhere. Now that you've heard the story of the skateboard, what's your takeaway? Respect the five forces of business. It sounds like a scripted superhero show for CNBC, but the five forces of business are a theory from

Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter. Porter teaches you that there are five industry forces that determine profit potential. And Jack, I know you know what these five are. Competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, threat of substitution, and threat of new entry. Don't worry, besties. There won't be a quiz at the end of the pod. But for skateboarding, the competitive rivalry factor has always been high because the skateboard itself was unpatentable. So profits in selling skateboards alone were never going to be huge. If one guy makes a great skateboard, another guy can make the same skateboard for a dollar less. But Jack's skateboarding media, way less competition and way more supplier power, which is another of Porter's Five Forces.

So when it comes to media, the key suppliers turned out to be ESPN, which produced the X games, and Tony Hawk, who was the face of the video game. The X games were a huge moneymaker for Disney. They're profit puppy, which didn't face any kind of. competition until 25 years later when the Olympics started including skateboarding. And Tony Hawk's pro skater pretty much had a lock on skateboarding video games because there's only one Tony Hawk. Exactly. The biggest moneymaker in skateboarding, it isn't actually the skateboard.

It's the media spin-offs. So Besties listen to Professor Porter and respect those five forces of business, which explain the skateboard's profit potential. But Jack, what about you? Hop on the board. What's your takeaway? The best thing that happened to the skateboard? is that it got banned.

Hear me out. What made skateboarding so appealing to surfers and skate punks was that it was so annoying to parents and small business owners. This led to the latter group calling it a menace. But skateboarding endures because it's still considered an act of rebellion. And skater communities still thrive because rebellion never goes out of style. No doubt. So again, the best thing that ever happened to the skateboard was it getting banned by the law.

All right, Nick, before we scan into the sunset, it's time for our favorite part of the show, the best facts yet. Ah, the hero stats, the facts, and the surprises we discovered in our research, but we just couldn't fit into the story. Jack, why don't you kick us off over there? After talking about the rise of skate parks, we got curious. What U.S. City has the most skate parks per capita? Surprisingly, the winner is not in California.

It's Laredo, Texas, with three and a half skate parks per 100,000 residents. Congratulations, Laredo. You're the new skateboard capital. And finally, let's do a quick roundup of our stories featured players. Larry Stevenson, founder of Makaha Skateboards, passed away in 2012. He's remembered as a founding father of the sport. Patty McGee, the original skate betty? That's a cool female skater.

Well, she passed away last year at age 79. Her daughter, Haley, became a skate betty too. Roddy Mullen is definitely still with us. In addition to skateboarding, he found a second career as a speaker and advisor. He literally has his own head talk. the Birdman himself, Tony Hawk, is still shredding at the age of 57. His Birdhouse skateboard company sells boards and gear, is partnered with vans, and has supported over 600 skate parks around the country via the Birdhouse Foundation. You can check out his latest

moves on his TikTok at Tony Hawk. Okay, Jack, how come he did not call it Hawk Talk? Wow, huge mess. And that, Yeties, is why the skateboard is the best idea yet. Coming up on the next episode of The Best Idea Yet, turn up the base and fill up your cup because we're talking about hip-hop's favorite cognac, Hennessy. And don't forget to rate and review the show right now. Give us five stars, that's how we grow. And if you leave us a review,

we might cover the episode that you suggest in the future. And if we left out your favorite legendary skate punk, drop their name in the comments. Follow the best idea yet on the Wondry app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to every episode of The Best Idea Yet early and ad free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. The Best Idea Yet is a production of Wondery, hosted by me, Nick Martell, and me, Jack Carre. Ravichie Kramer. Our senior producers are Matt Beagle and Chris Gautier. Peter Raccoe is our

additional senior producer. Our senior managing producer is Nick Ryan and Taylor Sniffon is our managing producer. Our producer and researcher is H. Conley. This episode was written and produced by Katie Clark Gray. We use many sources in our research, including The Bowens Brigade, an autobiography produced by Stacey Peralta and Vance, featuring interviews with Rodney Mullen and Tony Hawk, among many others. And Patty McGee, an interview with Steve Olson for Juice magazine. Sound design and mixing by C.J. Drummiller. Fact-checking by Brian Pogne. Music supervision by Scott Velazquez and Jolina Garcia for Frieson Sink.

Our theme song is Got That Feeling Again by Blackalack. Executive producers for Nick and Jack Studios are me, Nick Martel, and me, Jack Ravichie Cramer. Executive producers for Wondery are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Erin O'Flaherty, and Marshall Louis. Navigating Family Matters can be tough. learners, we understand the challenges you face. Whether you need help drafting a pre-up, filing for divorce, or making support arrangements, at Learners, our team of experienced family lawyers are here to guide you every step of the way. These are life-altering events that come with many questions and concerns.

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