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"Unpacked in Santa Cruz" is a homegrown podcast hosted by Michael Howard that dives into the lives, stories, and salty moments of people who call this coastal community home—or have been shaped by it in some way. Whether it's a deep conversation with local surfers opening up about mental health, or a peek behind the curtain of someone who started a one-of-a-kind food spot right here in town, every episode brings something real.
You’ll hear from folks who found healing behind the lens, built businesses from scratch, or chased massive waves thanks to a lifetime spent around our local waters. These aren’t just interviews—they’re conversations that reflect the heart and soul of Santa Cruz. Raw, reflective, and rooted in community, Unpacked in Santa Cruz brings local voices to the surface.
72 Episodes
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Santa Cruz looks like a postcard, but it feels like a pit: fast, loud, and full of heart. We crack into that contradiction with Guerin Myall, a surf-skate-punk lifer whose lens has chased barrels, stage dives, and the kind of moments that never make the brochure. From junior lifeguard summers and the boardwalk’s myth to downtown’s new skyline and the angsty undercurrent that keeps the town honest, this is a tour of a place that refuses to go soft. We talk about why Santa Cruz pride starts wi...
Paradise looks peaceful from the cliff, but step onto a towboat in Monterey Bay and the picture changes fast. We sit down with captain and small business owner Anthony Capriccio to explore why he chose Santa Cruz over everywhere else, how he built a life around boats, and what really happens when the ocean stops cooperating. From routine jumpstarts to midnight salvage, from towing grounded hulls to dragging dead whales offshore with NOAA’s coordinates, Anthony shows us a working bay where ris...
The city is changing fast, and so are we. From rising rents and a shifting skyline to the quieter work of neighbors feeding neighbors, we unpack how hope can take root right in the middle of pressure—no slogans, just people doing the next right thing. I sit down with Brian Upton, the mind behind Santa Cruz Vibes, to trace his path from hometown kid to media founder and to examine a different way to build a platform. We talk about why impressions aren’t the same as influence, how abdication (...
A town can shape you before you notice. That’s the tension we explore as a longtime local sits with Jay Brown, who moved to Santa Cruz to be near his daughter and got pulled into its undertow of beauty, scarcity, and stubborn pride. We start with raw honesty—fear of influence, years of civic fatigue, and the ache of watching good ideas fall apart—and open into a bigger frame: what if surf culture explains more than surfing? Jay and I trace how point breaks trained a mindset of safety and sca...
A single dirt road outside Harare changed everything. What began as a UCSC field study became a three-decade commitment to an orphan school in Zimbabwe: ten classrooms raised brick by brick, a lifesaving well drilled through granite at 2 a.m., and a partnership powered by small donations and relentless trust. Alongside that story of patient progress, we open up about Santa Cruz—why we love it, why it hurts, and how traffic, safety, and policy shape whether we actually feel like a community. ...
What if the lost years of your career became the blueprint for a better way to lead, parent, and live? We sit down with Michael Dunn, a veteran of Apple, Netscape, and Joby, to unpack the IPO-era rush, the “sleep at the office” mythology, and the long tail of burnout that followed. This candid conversation about buying the wrong house in Texas, chasing stock spikes, and missing family dinners—became enlightening about rebuilding around people, patience, and a different kind of ambition. Mich...
The postcard says mellow. The rent, the staffing headaches, and the quiet arms race to stay here say otherwise. We sit down with Chris Buich to examine how Santa Cruz looks from the inside: a surf town where “chill” coexists with relentless drive, where class myths flatten real stories, and where small businesses survive on grit, not vibes. Chris traces his path from Carmel Valley’s rancher era to Salinas’ hard edges and into a Santa Cruz that demands excellence while pretending it doesn’t. T...
A cold Santa Cruz morning sets the stage for a warm, unguarded conversation with Alvin Medina—a Watsonville native, former college defensive lineman, college coach, and jiu-jitsu devote. We talk about what happens when the adrenaline fades, and the anxiety shows up. He takes us from scout-team hits and weight-room grit to recruiting rooms where NFL vets drop by to recruit your JUCO talent, showing how relationships—not just X’s and O’s—win the long game. The story pivots when a panic at...
The coastline can look calm from the cliff, but the people who watch it know better. We sit down with Nathan Tall, a 22-year-old state lifeguard raised in Aptos to trace a path from junior guards to first responder, and the story that emerges is bigger than waves: it’s about character, community, and the courage to keep showing up when the job stops being glamorous. We start with home—how Santa Cruz shapes kids who spend summers sprinting in soft sand and tasting salt every day. Junior guard...
A quiet kid from Soquel loses his friend group at 14 and finds an unlikely ally in the aftermath: endurance. Collin Brown joins me to unpack how betrayal became a strange mercy, why pain can be a presence without being a prison, and how hope turns from a heckler to a compass when faith gives it a bridge. We follow that thread into his life today—five kids, custom learning at home, and a coder's fascination with AI that never quite drowns out his human-first instinct. Collin’s take on A...
A short hiatus turned into a clear-eyed look at what this show stands for: celebrating the normal, telling honest stories, and making love a verb. I open up about rescheduling interviews, moving house, and why I’m choosing to weave my own perspective into the conversations you hear—so you know the “why” behind every question I ask. That takes us straight into the question people keep sending: are you a Christian? I walk through why I stepped away from denominational leadership out of integri...
The story starts with following Chris Balthasar from a Swiss-American childhood in Philadelphia and winds through Hollywood backlots, a B-movie alligator, and a surreal day in a Sonic the Hedgehog suit getting heckled by Tony Danza all day-then pivots into law, environmental advocacy, and a move to Santa Cruz that finally felt like home. Chris takes us on a winding road with uncommon honesty, connecting big breaks and bigger heartbreaks to the simple habits that keep him grounded: food ...
What happens when a kid from São Paulo lands in Santa Cruz and discovers a town where surfing, jiu-jitsu, and community can actually shape the way you live? We go deep with Rafael Eboli—longtime local, Cafe Brazil mainstay, and black belt professor at Claudio Franca Jiu Jitsu Academies—on how a six-month plan turned into a life built around waves, trust, and family. Rafael shares why Santa Cruz clicked: the ocean as a daily classroom, in a culture that rewards respect over noise, and a gym w...
Mercy isn’t the word most people expect from a fighting art—but that’s exactly where we start. We sit down with Master Claudio Franca, who left Rio de Janeiro in the mid-90s with little more than a gi, a surfer’s heart, and a mission to plant Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Santa Cruz long before it anybody have ever heard of it. He opens up about early challenge matches, skeptical onlookers, and how a rough surf town learned to love the “gentle art” that wins with control, not damage. From choosing ...
A shy kid from Live Oak skates to school, paddles out at Pleasure Point, and learns quickly that lineups have rules you won’t find on the beach signs. Then a jiu-jitsu academy opens behind his house, and everything changes. Nathan Mendelsohn’s story isn’t a straight line from surf to mats; it’s a layered map of belonging—how a combat art became a family, how Brazil reshaped a Santa Cruz mindset, and how loyalty can feel both territorial and generous depending on which door you walk through. ...
Aiming to stop conflict nearly broke us; learning to create peace brought us back. That’s the arc we explore with our guest, Graseilah Coolidge—born in Iowa, raised in Venezuela through coups and shutdowns, trained in nonproliferation, and recruited into intelligence after 9/11. The work was high‑stakes and mission‑driven, until a harsh realization landed: data doesn’t always drive decisions when agendas are in play. When that worldview cracked, she didn’t double down on noise; she went to th...
What does it truly mean to coach youth sports in today's hyper-competitive world? In this candid conversation, host Michael "Coach Powers" Howard sits down with Little League coaches Matt Kuhn and Frank Schonig to unpack the beautiful mess that is youth baseball in Santa Cruz County. The trio begins by sharing their uniquely Santa Cruz upbringings – from Frank's "mountain boy" childhood with dirt bike tracks and paintball courses on 10 acres of redwoods to Matt's journey from Ben Lomon...
Ever wonder what it's like to grow up inside "a bubble within a bubble"? Neil Sprenkel takes us into the unique world of Capitola, California—where neighborhoods feel like sanctuaries and surf spots become territories with unwritten rules that shape young lives in profound ways. When his parents divorced during his seventh grade year, Neil found himself drawn deeper into surfing—not just as a sport, but as therapy. "I would go underwater and scream until I felt that energy leave my body," he...
Have you ever looked in the mirror and suddenly realized you've been playing a role in your own life? After mysteriously disappearing for five months, I'm finally breaking the silence to share the profound revelation that stopped me in my tracks. What began as a celebratory moment—watching my podcast metrics climb after a wonderful interview with Natalie—transformed into an existential crisis during what should have been a dream surf trip to Chile. Picture this: perfect left breaks (heaven f...
A quiet retail revolution is unfolding in Santa Cruz, and Natalie Wegrich of Toasted Jewelry stands at its forefront. From the mountains of Scotts Valley to the beaches of Pleasure Point, Natalie's entrepreneurial journey captures the essence of what makes our coastal community special—authenticity, craftsmanship, and an unapologetic pursuit of happiness. With the tick-tick-tick of hammers in her workshop, Natalie and her team of eight women create affordable, high-quality jewelry that captu...
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