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- [00:00]
Monica Lewinsky
Wondery subscribers can listen to Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. Hi. In today's episode I spoke with the very cool and very kind skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk. You probably know him as the most famous skateboarder in the world. And and to be honest, I was kind of nervous to talk to him because I'm not very skateboard literate and I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to anything physically dangerous. Although I did bungee jump once. Story for another time. But because I've been so impressed with his vulnerability and how much attention he's given to changing the narrative around men's feelings, I really wanted to talk to him for the show. And if you don't already adore Tony Hawk, know that he arrived at our interview with a signed skateboard deck for me. My brother is very jealous, so double win. Anyway, I hope you find something in our chat to connect to and thanks for joining us on Reclaiming. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, audible explore over 1 million audiobooks, podcasts and exclusive Audible originals that'll inspire and motivate you. Visit audible.comreclaiming to find your next listen. Thank you to our exclusive fashion partner, Reformation. I honestly can't tell you how many of their pieces have become my go to favorites. Their sweaters have this incredible way of being both polished and comfortable. And in fact, when we recorded my own Reclaiming story for the podcast, I was wearing the same Reformation sweater as the producer interviewing me, but thankfully we had the Clara on in different colors. Their clothes work for all moments in my life, whether it's a casual day out or a more formal occasion. I always find myself reaching for my Reformation pieces. Visit reformation.com to see why. They're one of my favorite brands for stylish and sustainable fashion. Tony Hawk, welcome to Reclaiming.
- [02:15]
Tony Hawk
Thank you.
- [02:16]
Monica Lewinsky
I am so excited to talk to you today. Even though I couldn't ride a skateboard to save my life, it's not required. Okay.
- [02:23]
Tony Hawk
Good to talk to me.
- [02:25]
Monica Lewinsky
Ok. By the way. All right. But I was thinking about how we met originally. I was someone's plus one to a party you had in 99.
- [02:35]
Tony Hawk
Our mutual friend was Tom Green.
- [02:38]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [02:39]
Tony Hawk
And Tom told me that you were at an event and I was like, oh I'd love to meet her. And then I can't remember how it all transpired, but we ended up we did meet at that point, but very briefly. And then you came to. I think it was actually one of our video game release parties.
- [02:57]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was thinking about that. And then the second time, I think was sort of a slightly fuzzy. I may have blocked it out on purpose, which was. Were we on Jimmy Kimmel together? And then Marilyn Manson.
- [03:12]
Tony Hawk
Wow.
- [03:13]
Monica Lewinsky
Played and was like, sort of rude. I feel like that Perry might be an amalgamation.
- [03:18]
Tony Hawk
That's an amalgamation of the early 2000s, so.
- [03:21]
Monica Lewinsky
Yes, totally. Right. Sounds good.
- [03:22]
Tony Hawk
Sure. Yeah. And Motley Crue was probably there. And Everclear played, like all those shows and stuff. I mean, it sounds a little gratuitous, but I was doing a lot of those shows too, so.
- [03:34]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. And then I felt like, in a way, we sort of remit as adults. That's how it felt to me at the Qualtrics conference in Utah. And you were very kind in mentioning my anti bullying work to me, which made me feel really good. And then I roped you into being in our PSA campaign that year, which was around just trying to help young people take the sting out of name calling. So.
- [04:02]
Tony Hawk
Yeah.
- [04:02]
Monica Lewinsky
Which was. Which was very generous.
- [04:04]
Tony Hawk
And, you know, honestly, I had the same kind of journey not. Not as you, but as. As the kids, in terms of, you know, not being. Being made fun of, being picked on. Like, in our day, it was picked. You get picked on a lot.
- [04:19]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, yeah. Right, yeah.
- [04:20]
Tony Hawk
And you come to realize that later, like, oh, no, I was bullied as a kid.
- [04:24]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [04:25]
Tony Hawk
I was bullied because I was small, because I skated. Skating was like the furthest thing from cool. And I feel like as we both kind of made it through that fire, you and I really identified with each other in that. Oh, yeah. We got to the other side of it and we can speak from experience, Right?
- [04:41]
Monica Lewinsky
Exactly. And especially I think that's what all of those campaigns we were doing, but that one in particular, because it was all people like yourself, who are well known to young people, older people, talking about the names they were bullied with.
- [04:58]
Tony Hawk
Yeah.
- [04:58]
Monica Lewinsky
When they were younger. And so showing people, I think that idea of, oh, my gosh, you know, like, Tony Hawk was called skinny piece of crap when he was a kid.
- [05:06]
Tony Hawk
True.
- [05:07]
Monica Lewinsky
But I feel like it's so interesting because you're known for being the most famous skateboarder in the world you've created. I think it's hundreds of tricks, right?
- [05:20]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's weird in the skate world. Cause, you know, you can combine an existing trick with another one, and voila, you have a new Trick. So they're not all, like, the baseline. Are not all mine.
- [05:32]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, yeah.
- [05:33]
Tony Hawk
But I was able to develop them.
- [05:35]
Monica Lewinsky
I was really drilling myself earlier because I was like. I call them routines sometimes when I was looking at them and I like, no, no, they're tricks. They're. This is not gymnastics.
- [05:45]
Tony Hawk
You can say that, though. Not a routine if you're linking tricks together, especially with what I do, because I sk. Half pipes, okay? So I do.
- [05:53]
Monica Lewinsky
And a half pipe is a half.
- [05:55]
Tony Hawk
Well, a half pipe is literally. Okay, here's a little. Little history lesson of skateboarding. Okay. They used to skate these. These full pipes, like actual sewage. Giant sewage pipes out in the desert. That. That was a way to skate and kind of mimic riding waves because, like, one part of it looked like a wave face. Right. And then someone got the idea of, what if we cut one of these in half, build it out of wood, and that'll be a half pipe.
- [06:24]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [06:25]
Tony Hawk
That's where the term comes from.
- [06:26]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, cool.
- [06:27]
Tony Hawk
And then at some point, we realized, hey, if we put flat in between the walls, we have time to kind of organize and set up for that. That wall. So. So what I skate is. Is half pipes or vert ramps. And so the. The actual top of it is. Is vertical, 9 degrees.
- [06:43]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. I mean, you do crazy. Crazy. Like pure wedding in the air. And. And then somehow landing on these. On these ramps.
- [06:54]
Tony Hawk
I'm just gonna go with your terminology from now on. Pure wedding and routines.
- [06:57]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, exactly. Like, I talked to a girl who's not very athletic, and it's.
- [07:03]
Tony Hawk
I mean it. Whenever I have likened skateboarding to anything, especially from the outside's perspective, I try to say it. You know, there is. It's like gymnastics. It's like. It's a bunch of really technical tricks and routines, and it's a lot of the nuance you're not going to get, but it's very difficult, and it takes a lot of practice.
- [07:26]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. One of the things I was really curious about was around trust and how you trust your body. Like, because you do all those things and you're doing it all in the fucking air and. And then you land on the ramp with the. Or the pipe. The half pipe, now that I know what it's called. Not the ramp. Vert ramp.
- [07:46]
Tony Hawk
You know, it's a vert ramp. Either way.
- [07:48]
Monica Lewinsky
Vert ramp.
- [07:49]
Tony Hawk
You're right.
- [07:50]
Monica Lewinsky
I think it's so cool by the end of this chat. Yeah. And so you started skating at 9, and you're doing these things. How did you learn to just trust your Body. In a sense, I think that I.
- [08:03]
Tony Hawk
Was naively confident in the early days of my skating.
- [08:07]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [08:07]
Tony Hawk
Where I just. I just projected myself being able to do these things. I saw in the magazines and whatever else and thought I was capable of them, but at some point got hurt along the way and realized that it's not as easy as I think it is. Maybe my skill level is not there yet. Maybe my body type is not of someone that could do these things. But I didn't care about getting hurt. That's not to say I wanted to get hurt. I didn't have a death wish or anything. I just didn't mind it.
- [08:38]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [08:39]
Tony Hawk
Right. So injuries were just kind of roadblocks that I had to get through. It wasn't some sign from, like, oh, this. This is the end. I gotta quit doing this. Because I was like, no, I am going to get better. And I'm going. I'm going to learn from my mistakes and I'm going to keep trying this stuff and keep trying at a higher level. I think it wasn't until I got into my teens and I finally got really confident with my skating that I trusted my body and that I could visualize new moves and go forth and make them.
- [09:13]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, how interesting. Yeah.
- [09:14]
Tony Hawk
Because at that point I realized I know what I'm capable of. I know what I'll push. I'll know how far I'll push something. And this thing, it's totally possible. And I feel like I might be the only one with the skill set to go do it or the. Of the interest. That one. Because there were some tricks that I learned, especially in the early days. People just thought. They literally said, like, you're a circus freak. It's like you're twirling a baton. Like, who cares? This is dumb.
- [09:43]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, my gosh. I mean, I'm not very athletic. I'm a total pussy when it comes to anything dangerous, like physically dangerous. And I feel very disconnected to my body in some ways. And basically, I think there's just that sense I'm in awe of somebody who can just look, you know, I guess look fear in the face.
- [10:07]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. I guess that's what it is. It's not that I've. It's not that I'm fearless.
- [10:12]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [10:13]
Tony Hawk
Fear definitely keeps me in check and has, you know, has definitely helped me to navigate situations where I probably saved me from doing something that I really shouldn't have been doing. But when I look at something we call an nbd, A Never been done.
- [10:30]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [10:31]
Tony Hawk
Right. That if I Approach it. I know I have all the pieces to this puzzle. I've done this trick. I've done this body motion. I've done this board manipulation in some other form, but all it takes is doing it in this direction. But I already have spun this direction. You know what I mean? It's kind of like I've done every piece of it in some other form, so I just have to put them all together.
- [10:55]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [10:56]
Tony Hawk
To. To fix that puzzle. So then it's like, now all there is is to commit to it.
- [11:00]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [11:01]
Tony Hawk
And because I have all that in my mind that I've done this, I've gotten every piece of it. Just make it. That's the moment of truth, and that's the commitment that it takes to. To do what we do. For the most part, it's gone well, but sometimes it doesn't because, you know, like, especially with some of the. The higher impact tricks.
- [11:22]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [11:22]
Tony Hawk
If it doesn't go well, it's a disaster.
- [11:24]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay. What. What's your worst disaster?
- [11:27]
Tony Hawk
Ha. Honestly, three years ago, almost to the day, I broke my femur.
- [11:35]
Monica Lewinsky
Ooh. That's supposed to be really painful, right? For recovery.
- [11:39]
Tony Hawk
It was. It was really painful. Yes. There was a moment where I was. I was sliding across the bottom of my own ramp, and I knew my leg was disconnected from my body. You know what I mean? I could just tell that I have no control over this limb.
- [11:58]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow.
- [11:59]
Tony Hawk
And I look back, and it's dangling way behind me.
- [12:02]
Monica Lewinsky
Holy fuck. Oh, my God.
- [12:05]
Tony Hawk
And instinctually, I mean, you do a lot of weird things in trauma, obviously, but instinctually, I grabbed it and I put it back in place.
- [12:13]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow. Oh, my God.
- [12:17]
Tony Hawk
I was fixing it. I just wanted it to look relatively normal. Right? Yeah, that was. That was hard.
- [12:24]
Monica Lewinsky
I think I'm so terrified of something like that happening to me. I'm so terrified of that physical pain.
- [12:32]
Tony Hawk
That's. I guess that's the thing is. Is, yeah, the pain sucks. But from my perspective, and I've actually talked to people about this recently, actually, one of my kids.
- [12:44]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [12:44]
Tony Hawk
Where you get an injury that you know is significant, it's not, oh, this is going to hurt. It's. Damn it. I'm going to be out for X amount of time or I'm going to have to work extra hard to get back to the level I was at. And I was in complete denial when I broke my leg where I was like, give me six weeks.
- [13:05]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [13:05]
Tony Hawk
That truly was my attitude.
- [13:07]
Monica Lewinsky
And how long did it take?
- [13:09]
Tony Hawk
Oh, it took. Well, I tried to get back within that Limited time frame. And I ended up moving the bone out of place because I was putting so much pressure on it. Trying to skate like an idiot. No, but it was. And to be honest, it gave me a better sense of my mortality and my place in life because before that I was Peter Pan. Like, I was still doing tricks that I had Learned in my 20s, stuff that people do at X Games. And, and I, I saw no end inside. And I wasn't really accepting my limitations, you know, And I'm not the whole everything happens for a reason. It was just more like, oh. That taught me the best lesson of my adult life. Which was, which is you're old. Like, don't take this for granted. You know, don't, don't risk everything for what, another McTwist? Like, it's not worth it. Uh huh. So I have like this baseline of skating now that I truly enjoy and I almost appreciate it more than I ever have.
- [14:13]
Monica Lewinsky
Was that hard for you to accept that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, still are.
- [14:18]
Tony Hawk
Like, I, I, I can't, you know, I can barely do tuckney grabs anymore. People back, you know, skaters out there will understand what I'm talking about.
- [14:25]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [14:25]
Tony Hawk
But because of this injury and tuck knee was one of my signature moves, that's super hard to swallow. But if it means I still get to skate, I accept it.
- [14:36]
Monica Lewinsky
And psychologically, what do you feel when you're sort of saying, okay, I had to accept that I'm old. What does that mean for you?
- [14:48]
Tony Hawk
I think it's more embracing maturity to me now. Before it was like, no, I still got this, I'm gonna fight through it. And I was through my second recovery still trying to kind of fight through it to get to that same level. And at some point it was like, this isn't worth all the effort and what am I really doing it for? And you know, I, I have a loving family. I have a grandchild on the way.
- [15:14]
Monica Lewinsky
Like, yeah, well, I mean, you are the coolest grandpa.
- [15:17]
Tony Hawk
Oh, well, thank you.
- [15:18]
Monica Lewinsky
Right. So your son Riley, right. Is married to Francis Bean Cobain.
- [15:23]
Tony Hawk
Francis Bean, yeah.
- [15:24]
Monica Lewinsky
Right. And they have a kid that, that.
- [15:25]
Tony Hawk
Is my only grandchild. Yes.
- [15:27]
Monica Lewinsky
Are you enjoying it?
- [15:28]
Tony Hawk
Oh my God, it's the best.
- [15:29]
Monica Lewinsky
I think I read somewhere that you had bought Kurt Cobain's skateboard. Is that accurate?
- [15:36]
Tony Hawk
I bought a skateboard that he painted for a friend in high school.
- [15:40]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [15:41]
Tony Hawk
Who? They were really good friends. And I've gotten to know his friend Cameron pretty well since then. I used to have a bit of an addiction of buying Movie props.
- [15:54]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, okay.
- [15:55]
Tony Hawk
You know, there's certain movies I just love, and I was, like, really cool to. I like the Big Lebowski.
- [16:00]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay. Do you have stuff from those movies?
- [16:02]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. Yeah.
- [16:03]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [16:03]
Tony Hawk
I have a plaque that is on the actual Big Lebowski's wall.
- [16:08]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow.
- [16:08]
Tony Hawk
Like, a plaque of recognition. I have the sign for Big Tuna, Texas, from Wild at Heart. I was. There's some deep cuts, but at some point, I had to stop.
- [16:20]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. I have a crystal addiction, so. I totally understand.
- [16:24]
Tony Hawk
It was like, this is just. This is just the endless vortex. Right.
- [16:26]
Monica Lewinsky
And I mean, I. Because we're. You're a little older than me, but we're both Gen X, right?
- [16:31]
Tony Hawk
Yes.
- [16:32]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. So, I mean, we grew up kind of watching movies. The highlight of the week was going to the video. Like, for us, it was video tech here.
- [16:39]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. You had to get there early because all the good stuff was gone, and.
- [16:42]
Monica Lewinsky
Yep. Yep.
- [16:43]
Tony Hawk
I mean, those. That was like. That was like going to a nightclub.
- [16:46]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, it was.
- [16:46]
Tony Hawk
It was going to Blockbuster.
- [16:48]
Monica Lewinsky
It was. My brother somehow hid from my parents that, like, we rented ET and he kept hiding it. And so we had it for 13 weeks.
- [16:56]
Tony Hawk
It was night fees.
- [16:58]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
- [17:00]
Tony Hawk
But to go back to how I got the skateboard is I finally have limited my searches to skateboards used in movies. So I'm no longer a movie prop addict. I'm a skateboard movie prop addict. So I have the skateboard from Hook.
- [17:18]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [17:19]
Tony Hawk
I have a hoverboard from Back to the Future.
- [17:21]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, wow.
- [17:23]
Tony Hawk
Please, you have to get that.
- [17:24]
Monica Lewinsky
Right?
- [17:25]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. And then the skateboard came up. That was in a music auction, and it was painted by Kurt Cobain for his friend, who. His friend, I learned later, paid him $10 and a bag of weed to paint an Ironman logo on the board. And he. Cameron was skating on it, and one of the trucks broke, and he never got it fixed.
- [17:50]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [17:51]
Tony Hawk
That's how it. That's how it remained like that. That's how it survived.
- [17:54]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow.
- [17:55]
Tony Hawk
Because it never got written again. And he was. He. He literally had it in his room, and his wife used it as a bra holder. So I saw it, and I was like, that's amazing. And I did verify it with Francis, which was. Is weird that I have that. That loophole connection.
- [18:15]
Monica Lewinsky
So you bought it. Did you get it before she was in your family?
- [18:18]
Tony Hawk
I showed it to her, and she's like. She's like, yeah, that sounds legit.
- [18:22]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [18:23]
Tony Hawk
She was excited, and she said we should recreate that board and sell it for charity for suicide Awareness or suicide.
- [18:30]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, what a great. What a great idea.
- [18:33]
Tony Hawk
That was really cool.
- [18:34]
Monica Lewinsky
Have you guys done that yet?
- [18:36]
Tony Hawk
We did that. Yeah.
- [18:36]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [18:37]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, we made a very limited number. The proceeds went to suicide prevention and also to the Skatepark Project, which is my charity for public skate parks. It was cool. She's very private, and for her to do something like that, that was on a much more public scale. I was honored that she trusted me enough to do that.
- [18:55]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, that's really meaningful. I mean, especially. I think it's interesting. I don't know about the other generations, but I feel like for Gen Xers, the day Kurt Cobain died was like. You remember where you were in one of those. Yeah, I was in line to go watch. My friend's husband was working on the Bill Maher show.
- [19:15]
Tony Hawk
I was. I was. I was at an ice rink in Santa Rosa.
- [19:20]
Monica Lewinsky
My gosh.
- [19:21]
Tony Hawk
Warming up for. They had covered the ice rink, and they were doing a big rollerblade show. And I was the special guest skateboarder in the rollerblade show. And we were. We were rehearsing. And I remember, like, I remember exactly where I was in the arena, skating across the floor.
- [19:38]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. Well, and it's so. I mean, it's interesting, too, because in those days, we didn't have. You don't have access to information in the same way that we do today.
- [19:47]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. Somehow we thought MTV News was like.
- [19:49]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [19:50]
Tony Hawk
Was like the ap.
- [19:55]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, my God. I think we could totally revive and give MTV a lot of credit. Like, give them a new. A whole new life. Right. The AP for old Gen Xers.
- [20:06]
Tony Hawk
I know. We need Kurt Loder giving us a lowdown.
- [20:09]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. It's so interesting. But with all of that, though, I mean, we sort of kind of became mega. Well known, mega famous in the late 90s. You were famous before, but then you stepped into. Right. When you did the 900. Did I say it right? Yes, you completed it. And therefore also introduced that trick now. Right. This is so embarrassing. I'm so uncool.
- [20:39]
Tony Hawk
You're right. But there was kind of a perfect storm in 99, in that we had been working on a video game for about almost two years up to that point, and it was about to release that fall. And then that happened at X Games, which was unplanned, something that I've been trying to do for, like, 10 years, and finally figure it out in that moment in front of all those people and cameras. And I think that boosted my awareness, obviously, skateboarding's awareness. And then also. And then to have the Video game, sort of get the one, two punch in terms of that getting released. Not long after that, suddenly thrust skateboarding and my name into a totally different stratosphere.
- [21:23]
Monica Lewinsky
Do you remember how you felt in that moment when you landed it?
- [21:28]
Tony Hawk
I was just relieved.
- [21:30]
Monica Lewinsky
Relieved. Okay.
- [21:31]
Tony Hawk
That's interesting, because I had been trying that trick off and on for. For over 10 years. Wow. And gotten really hurt a few times when I. When I would commit to it. I mean, that's the kind of trick that, like, you can. You can spin it all you want, but once you commit to it, you're probably going to take some slams. And when I finally did commit to it the first time, I broke my ribbon.
- [21:53]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [21:55]
Tony Hawk
And there were no cameras around. There was no espn, didn't care about skateboarding. I had to go pick up my son Riley from preschool.
- [22:03]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [22:04]
Tony Hawk
You know, with. With a broken rib. Like, I'm having a hard time breathing. It was like, that was the state of things, you know, that was 1995, and I had learned seven twenties, which is the. The spin before 900. I learned that on a. On a ramp with three people watching in Sweden in 1985. You know, I'm just trying to give it context. Yeah.
- [22:25]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [22:25]
Tony Hawk
In these years, no one just. It didn't matter.
- [22:28]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [22:28]
Tony Hawk
You know what I mean? And then suddenly we get to X Games, and it's starting to be really popular among youth. Our sports are starting to get a lot more attention. And the fact that I did it there, you know, I was still shocked and anyone even cared, it was more. Cause so it was just a personal mission for me. And so when I finally did, it wasn't like, yes, I, you know, I get all this glory and there's gonna be newspaper articles. It was more like, oh, I can finally get off that trick. Like, I'm finally done with it. That's the only feeling I had that's.
- [23:02]
Monica Lewinsky
So interesting to me. I've been thinking about it a lot because we sort of officially launched the show. There was so much preparation, and I was so anxious and basically this feeling of, okay, I didn't fall on my face and fail. And instead of being able to feel happy, I just felt relief and gratitude. But to me, I mean, I think some of that comes from trauma of. I mean, that's what my therapist says, that it takes a long time of things being different.
- [23:35]
Tony Hawk
Oh, for sure. I mean, in that moment, I didn't think I had. I don't know, I didn't think I had created some revolutionary moment or that it was even Gonna resonate beyond our little crew of half pipe skaters. You know what I mean? That was it. Like, there was. It was. It was such a small collective of people that were even interested in that. In. In what we did.
- [23:56]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [23:56]
Tony Hawk
Or the nuances of spinning. But they just love that. The way it was kind of laying the way it was. It was all falling into place and that my. My competitors and my peers were getting behind me to do this trick that had never been done. Yeah. It ended up being this. This big deal. I mean, after that, like, I was getting recognized everywhere. People were stopping in airports, like, dude, 900. And I was like, what is going on here? But I think to your point, later on, I understood what that all meant.
- [24:29]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. I just. You know, I don't know if this will sound weird or not, but I so admire you. I so admire your dedication to sort of taking something on and to keep at something for 10 years that's physically harming you. It's just. It's really impressive to me. I don't know that my ego would let me do that.
- [24:54]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, well, I. From this side, it feels just more like there's a stubbornness, you know, Like, I just wouldn't let it go.
- [25:02]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. Were you. Were you always stubborn?
- [25:04]
Tony Hawk
Yeah.
- [25:05]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
- [25:07]
Tony Hawk
And determine. You know, my. My mom. I think my mom said it best when she's like, he's very determined. When her friends are like, he's a nightmare.
- [25:16]
Monica Lewinsky
Why? What would you do?
- [25:17]
Tony Hawk
I was just. I was just always. Well, I was very energetic. And when I was a kid, my parents were much older when I was born, so it was like. I grew up with grandparents.
- [25:26]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [25:26]
Tony Hawk
All my siblings had already moved out of the house by the time I was going to school. So I was just really determined to get my way or get to do the things I wanted to do and just harassing my parents for rides to the skate park or the arcade or to Wendy's, whatever. You know what I mean?
- [25:42]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, no, it's. I was. I was. My parents teased me that. I think one of my first complete sentences was my hands on my hips saying, you are not the boss of me. You know? And then when I was in my teens, I was such a nightmare. I mean, like, obviously, we all know I was a nightmare in my 20s, too, but I was a nightmare in my teens. I told my mom, I said, okay, well, here's how this is gonna go. So I can either tell you where I'm going and you can't stop me, or I'll lie to You. You know, and she just. She was just not one. I know. She was just not one of those. She's so sweet. She was just not one of those moms. She was not strong enough for me in that way. So I. I totally get that. What was it like for you having parents who were older? Did. Did it register for you at all or.
- [26:31]
Tony Hawk
Not really. They were active until they're older, aged. So, you know, my mom would go body surfing with me when I was, like, 10.
- [26:39]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [26:40]
Tony Hawk
And so by then, she's 53.
- [26:43]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow.
- [26:43]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. I mean, I never really.
- [26:44]
Monica Lewinsky
So you're basically saying I could still be body surfing?
- [26:47]
Tony Hawk
I think so, yeah. Yeah. But my dad was. Was pretty out of shape, and he had already had two heart attacks by the time I was born. He wasn't concerned about what he ate or what he put in his body, and so I think that also gave me incentive to try to be healthier when I got older.
- [27:04]
Monica Lewinsky
Did you have any thoughts as to why he did that or.
- [27:08]
Tony Hawk
Oh, no, he said it. He said it very much. Because a few times where I would try to complain, we didn't have a very. It wasn't a very emotional connection, and there wasn't a lot of deep discussions in my home. So when we would even approach the subject of him trying to eat healthier, he would be like, I'd rather die younger, eating happy. I'd rather be eating the stuff if it kills me younger than eat stuff I hate and live longer. There wasn't much arguing with that.
- [27:44]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, interesting. So it was not a very emotional environment growing up.
- [27:50]
Tony Hawk
No, no. And I. And my. My mom and dad's relationship had gone pretty cold by the time I was born. They were children of the. Of the depression, and I was definitely not planned. You know, their. Their relationship had already chilled by the time I came around, but I didn't have another example to go by. So for me, it was like, well, they're just roommates.
- [28:11]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [28:11]
Tony Hawk
And they're. They're just functional parents. Like, they did provide for me, and they did get me the places that I wanted to go for the most part, but they both worked, and I was a latchkey kid and, you know, come home, make myself snacks, watch cartoons, go do whatever out in the neighborhood.
- [28:28]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [28:28]
Tony Hawk
Until I found skating.
- [28:30]
Monica Lewinsky
Do you feel like that there's this connection at all of having been in a home where there's, you know, not necessarily a lot of talk about emotions and what I imagine having to shut down emotions like fear when you're skating or, you know, a Sadness. I mean, not just in skating, but I think especially for young men, if you got hurt, did you feel like you could cry?
- [29:01]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, my mom was pretty nurturing.
- [29:03]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [29:05]
Tony Hawk
So that, that was helpful. You know, my dad, I think if one thing I learned from my dad was resilience. Cause I would see him, he did a lot of woodwork and stuff and he'd come in and his hands are just bloody. And it was like anyone else that I knew that was straight to the hospital and he's just like, you know, go and fix it up himself. And so I kind of learned to be self sufficient in that way and not overreact injuries and stuff like that.
- [29:34]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [29:35]
Tony Hawk
But I did go through a string of injuries when I first started skating that ended up. I mean, I got, I got a. I got a concussion early on, but my. Broke my front teeth. I basically dislocated my shoulder. And at some point they took me to the hospital and the doctor pulled me away from them into a separate room to ask me if anything was going on at home.
- [30:03]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh.
- [30:03]
Tony Hawk
Oh, really? Yeah. I didn't even know what that meant.
- [30:05]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [30:06]
Tony Hawk
I didn't even. I didn't know.
- [30:07]
Monica Lewinsky
So they thought you were you. They thought I was getting abused. Wow. Wow.
- [30:12]
Tony Hawk
But also, that also speaks to the fact that my parents let me keep doing it.
- [30:16]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [30:17]
Tony Hawk
You know, it was, they weren't negligent, but it definitely was the 70s and they'd already raised three kids.
- [30:23]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [30:23]
Tony Hawk
And it was like, just let him.
- [30:24]
Monica Lewinsky
It was the 70s. Like, that's all you have to do.
- [30:26]
Tony Hawk
You get a good cuss and it's like, oh, you rang your bell.
- [30:28]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [30:30]
Tony Hawk
No one's worried about the long term effects of that.
- [30:32]
Monica Lewinsky
But it's funny, I was just listening to you talking about these injuries. I'm like, I need Xanax. But so it's really interesting to me because I feel like I learn from all these conversations that I'm having with people of there's something for me to explore personally around. Why am I. Why does it make me so anxious to think about sort of physical pain that way?
- [30:57]
Tony Hawk
Yeah.
- [30:58]
Monica Lewinsky
You know, I'm thinking about. There's this great quote that you said. I learned I didn't want fame. It's the worst drug. I didn't like myself. And I started to.
- [31:07]
Tony Hawk
I had a taste of fame in my late teens, kind of early 20s, in the 80s when skating was. Was a fad. That's. I mean, that's pretty much how I could sum it up. Like it was in back to the future. And suddenly there was a. There was an interest in skating. There were skate parks opening. I was on the bones brigade, which was considered the elite team.
- [31:34]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, yeah.
- [31:35]
Tony Hawk
And, you know, we're on tour all the time, and we're in our late teens, and girls suddenly are giving you attention. And, you know, all that was. Was very intoxicating, but it all fell off very quickly. And I found myself age 24, with a child on the way, two mortgages, my income just taking a nosedive every month because it's all based on royalties. So I kind of, you know, I went. I lived through the lean years. I did what I could to make ends meet. And then X Games came around. You know, we had our video game. A lot of success. We did a huge tour. That's when I'm in my early 30s and I was riding that wave and. And it felt kind of surreal. But also I was so fixated on. On the actual skating that I kind of lost sight of relationships, like, personal relationships, truly. Because suddenly it was like all this. All my life that I've devoted to this skating is suddenly appreciated on a scale that I never would have imagined.
- [32:40]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow.
- [32:40]
Tony Hawk
Right. So then I'm just chasing that and chasing it to a fault because I'm so caught up in it.
- [32:48]
Monica Lewinsky
When you say sort of not paying attention to relationships, what does that look like?
- [32:54]
Tony Hawk
It's just a lack of intimacy and.
- [32:57]
Monica Lewinsky
Emotional.
- [32:57]
Tony Hawk
Emotional. Yeah. And then I don't want to blame. I'm not going to blame my upbringing, but that was the example that I was. That I saw growing up. So I didn't really have any other example to emulate. But regardless, like, I could have. You know, I. I could have paused and maybe tried to figure all that out, but I was on this rocket ship of success, and I. I chased that. And then at some point, the. The fame aspect of it, you know, I never got into skateboarding to be rich or famous. You couldn't be rich or famous, get skateboarding when I was kid.
- [33:29]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [33:30]
Tony Hawk
No one was.
- [33:30]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [33:31]
Tony Hawk
Right. So when it suddenly came, it was like, oh, this is. This is what I'm supposed to do now. I'm supposed to do the famous things and go to the events and, you know, probably places we saw each other.
- [33:45]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [33:45]
Tony Hawk
Where it was like, I'm invited. I should go. Right. Like, I don't belong in these situations. And I know fame's not the worst drug.
- [33:54]
Monica Lewinsky
Right, Right.
- [33:56]
Tony Hawk
We know there are plenty of drugs that are true killers. And so I mistakenly said that at some point. But it's Bad. And if you keep chasing it, it's not gonna come well.
- [34:06]
Monica Lewinsky
And it's. I think it is, in a way, it's actually a gateway drug. Right, sure. So, I mean, I think it is.
- [34:13]
Tony Hawk
Sort of in terms of the endorphins and the excitement.
- [34:15]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. And I think it can.
- [34:17]
Tony Hawk
You try to, you try to fulfill that in other ways.
- [34:21]
Monica Lewinsky
Right. And it can lead to, as we see with so many well known people, it can lead to them taking their own lives. So I mean, it is, it can have that same, that consequence.
- [34:30]
Tony Hawk
And as I kind of got wrapped up in that and, and definitely could recognize something in myself that I didn't like in terms of the choices I was making. And I just didn't have the tools to make better choices. And I knew I had to do something about it. I just knew like I was headed for disaster. And in a lot of ways I already was in a disaster because I was just ruining relationships left and right and wasn't connecting with my kids on a level that I felt I should have been or was capable or that where they really wanted to share with me. And so, yeah, I sought help and I got very lucky in that. My wife, Kathy, she, you know, she was my, she was my beacon of hope the whole time. And it was like, if I can get to this and I can just through the discipline I've learned from skating, if I can redirect and truly connect emotionally and if I can have a life with her and our children, like that is the biggest prize I could ever ask for. It didn't come easy. You know, it took a lot of work. You know, I'm still trying to be better at everything.
- [35:48]
Monica Lewinsky
It's always an ing, like it's always still going, you know, making progress.
- [35:51]
Tony Hawk
Of course.
- [35:52]
Monica Lewinsky
Right, exactly. I'm just so curious about what kind of help you sought and what did that look like and what did you discover about yourself in it?
- [36:01]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, just a lot of therapy and trying to figure out, like, how can I be a better father, partner, husband, person. And yeah, I learned a lot. You know, I, I did, I leaned into it, but. But also, it wasn't some magic pill. It was something that, that I, I learned some tools. I started to figure out how I could cultivate my relationships in a better way, especially with my kids, how I could keep skating at a professional level, which, you know, I'm in my 40s. Like that seems unheard of. But now I'm in my 50s and I'm still talking about it, so.
- [36:41]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. Do you still skate?
- [36:42]
Tony Hawk
I Was skating an hour ago.
- [36:44]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, really?
- [36:44]
Tony Hawk
Yeah.
- [36:45]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, wow.
- [36:46]
Tony Hawk
Right down the street.
- [36:47]
Monica Lewinsky
So is it, is it kind of like meditation for you in a way?
- [36:50]
Tony Hawk
Absolutely. Yeah.
- [36:50]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, yeah.
- [36:51]
Tony Hawk
I got actually. Well, I live in San Diego, so.
- [36:53]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, so you should have. Here.
- [36:55]
Tony Hawk
We're in la. I got here almost an hour early because I always have to account for traffic. And there is a skate park, the Culver City Skate park, right down the street. And I drove by, no one was there, so I just was skating there for like half hour.
- [37:07]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [37:07]
Tony Hawk
Stretch my legs.
- [37:08]
Monica Lewinsky
All right. Very cool. Do you, do you get recognized at skate parks still? Yeah, yeah. And, and what does that feel like for you now?
- [37:17]
Tony Hawk
It's fun, but. But it, you know, then they expect you to perform magic and I'm just trying to cruise around and, you know, get. Get a little loose before I come here. So I'm not going to be doing the things they see me do on tv. So for me, I guess it's more of an issue of pride. Just like. Yeah. Hi, how are you? I'm not going to do anything impressive, but good to see you.
- [37:39]
Monica Lewinsky
Art Simpson, thumbs up. Yeah, yeah. Thanks so much to Audible, our presenting sponsor. Let Audible expand your life by listening. Look, we're all trying to better ourselves, right? And sometimes finding the time to sit down and read can feel impossible. With Audible, you'll have access to over a million audiobooks and podcasts right at your fingertips, whether you're going for a walk or just making dinner. And by making dinner, I also mean ordering delivery. You can tap into all this amazing content, from thought leaders to experts who really get it. And let me tell you something, whatever you're interested in, it's there. If you're into health and wellness, they've got you covered. Trying to get into meditation, there's stuff for that, too. Looking for a good laugh? Oh, my gosh. So much good content. And being able to listen while you're doing other things makes it so much more doable. Let Audible help you reach the goals you've set for yourself. Start listening today when you sign up for a free 30 day trial at audible.com reclaiming. Thanks so much to our sponsor, Reformation. I want to take a second to talk about one of my favorite clothing brands, Reformation. You've probably seen Reformation on Instagram or at a wedding. They make the best guesting dresses. But if you're like me, you may have thought that's all they do. Well, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Last year, they worked with Yours Truly and Vote.org on a campaign to empower voters to take part in the democratic process and show off their workwear. From doing the campaign and getting to know the brand even better. I love their sweaters, blouses, workwear, shoes, and bags. But most important, I love how confident I feel in their stuff. Plus, it really holds up since they make everything with super high quality, sustainable materials. Reformation is also a brand that uses their growing platform to do good in the world, and especially in the sustainable fashion space. As they say, being naked is the number one most sustainable option. Reformation is number two. If you're looking for clothes you want to feel great in and feel better about, head to reformation.com. you know, you were in this incredible documentary called until the Wheels fall off on HBO. And in it, you talk about how in your 40s, you had to reclaim your emotional life. For me, after 1998, I had to learn to sort of trust my intuition again and learn to try to find ways to trust myself. And so, yeah, I know what you're saying.
- [40:16]
Tony Hawk
I think what I learned mostly, especially in the years that followed after, after going to therapy, is to put up boundaries.
- [40:27]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [40:27]
Tony Hawk
And that was hugely important and still is. I was just. I was. I didn't like to disappoint people, so they're always like, yeah, sure, okay, yeah, just do that. And then I was just giving myself away in terms of my time, my energy, time away from my family, and I learned to say no. I mean, that was a huge skill.
- [40:50]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. No. Oh, no. I am a people pleaser, and I really struggle with boundaries, too. And, I mean, maturity has helped, but I find it really hard still to kind of just to be able to balance those things. And do you feel like, have you tried to teach your kids boundaries?
- [41:12]
Tony Hawk
And I think more by example than anything. And I think that they see that I'm very particular about things that I choose now.
- [41:23]
Monica Lewinsky
Well, and I'm doubly honored that you.
- [41:26]
Tony Hawk
Well, yeah, but I think these conversations are important.
- [41:28]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [41:28]
Tony Hawk
And especially important for people who are at a crossroads, like, which way do I go? Or if they have success or they do they want success. You know what I mean?
- [41:38]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. Well, I think it's.
- [41:39]
Tony Hawk
Watch what you wish for.
- [41:41]
Monica Lewinsky
I don't have kids, but most of my friends have kids. And so I think in the process of watching them go through their teens now into their 20s, particularly with the boys, there just seem to be no role models for how to really develop an emotional landscape and the language or to recognize when something goes awry and to sort of seek help in ways So I just, I find it really inspirational.
- [42:12]
Tony Hawk
I will say that my oldest son has definitely done a lot of work on himself over the last few years and I can tell has become a role model to his younger siblings. Interesting. I can see how they see him now and how they would like to emulate him just in terms of his, his approach and his motivation. And it's really cool. And I'm not taking credit for that. I'm just, I'm just excited that, that they have some sort of beacon.
- [42:46]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [42:47]
Tony Hawk
And because they, you know, for the most part they're all, they all got the same DNA so they can figure out. It is funny though because we have, so we have, we have five boys and my daughter's 16. She's the only one that's still at home. But how different they all are. Even with, with some of them having the same genetic makeup, you know, it's, there's, there's so much nature over nurture.
- [43:12]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, yeah. No, that's interesting. I mean, what do you. Do you see yourself in all of them or different aspects of yourself?
- [43:20]
Tony Hawk
Sure, yeah. Yeah.
- [43:21]
Monica Lewinsky
The good stuff, I think that. Well, yeah, I think like are they committed? Do they Because.
- [43:28]
Tony Hawk
Oh yeah, yeah. No, I know you're. Well, when you said the good stuff, I mean. Yeah, like I see that with obviously rose colored glasses. Sure. And the bad in terms of their stubbornness, determination. But yeah, for sure. I can see it. I see. And they're all highly motivated and I think that if there's one through line I can see is that they're all motivated to keep getting better at what they do. That at the core is what I have always done.
- [44:00]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [44:01]
Tony Hawk
In terms of skating. Yes. And personally. But I just mean like I always wanted to keep. And still to this day, you know, I'm old af, but I love trying new tricks. I still love it.
- [44:12]
Monica Lewinsky
Really?
- [44:12]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. They're much more low key technical. They're not going to move the needle. You're not going to see them on ESPN highlights. But, but they give me that feeling of validation and that's all that matters to me.
- [44:25]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I guess we talked a little about the technical. Some of the technical things just so people think I'm cool. So I'm trying so hard to be cool, but just. I don't know, like, maybe this is dumb but I don't understand the physics of how you. I, I saw in the documentary, I saw there was this, I think it was you who did this trick. It was video of a lot of different things happening and you swap skateboards in the middle of a thingy and you're, you know, I just don't understand how that even happens. Like, you're in the air and you, somebody gives you, you swap skateboards.
- [45:08]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, I mean, that, that's kind of a, that's kind of a novelty trick, but.
- [45:12]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, I mean, but how do you do that? How do you, you have to be.
- [45:16]
Tony Hawk
With someone that is very much aligned with what you do to understand, like, the flow and the arc of how that's gonna happen. Do you know what I mean?
- [45:25]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [45:26]
Tony Hawk
So it's, it's very much like dancing.
- [45:28]
Monica Lewinsky
Almost, in a way, kind of.
- [45:29]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. Where my, my doubles partner, Andie MacDonald, we did doubles for, like, X Games for, like, six years.
- [45:37]
Monica Lewinsky
What does that mean?
- [45:38]
Tony Hawk
That means it's like, it's tandem, okay? Not tandem, but two people on the ramp at the same time going over, under, together. That's what you saw, was a clip of that.
- [45:47]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay?
- [45:49]
Tony Hawk
And, but, but when you're that in tune with the, the mechanics of, of, of halfpipe skating, avert skating, you know exactly what the arc is going to be for handing off a board. Right? That does sound like that's. But, but it's kind of, it's kind of a novelty. But in terms of, you know, just the physics of skating, a lot of people don't understand, like, how does the board stay on your feet? Well, the, the technique is the ollie, okay? And it's exactly how you, you, you maneuver your feet. You, you snap the board upward, you slide one foot forward to level it out, and then you keep your knees bent, and you, and you keep on pushing it so that gravity will keep the board on your feet until you actually land. That's the baseline of how we do that.
- [46:39]
Monica Lewinsky
My God, I'm gonna have to try out all these new terms on my brother to see if he. I know it's a good. But I, I feel in my 50s, so I'm, I'll be 52 in July. I've now reached that marker, you know, the marker. So the first, once you turn the year, and then you sort of go, oh, I'm 51 into my 50s. Yeah. Or, or, but now I'm like, oh, now, now we're in the year. Now it's gonna be closer to July. So now I start saying, well, I'm almost 52, but whatever. But in I, I, I'm not looking.
- [47:07]
Tony Hawk
Forward to 57, so I'm gonna 50.
- [47:10]
Monica Lewinsky
But 57 is a good number. Like, that's a good number. You're still not that 60 is bad, but you're still sort of, you know, you still have a few years to see.
- [47:19]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, I'm in my. I don't know. I have not put ultimatums on anything at any age, obviously.
- [47:23]
Monica Lewinsky
Right.
- [47:24]
Tony Hawk
Maybe to a fault.
- [47:25]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [47:26]
Tony Hawk
So I feel as good as I did last year, maybe better because I'm way more recovered in my legs. So.
- [47:31]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [47:32]
Tony Hawk
All right, let's bring it on. 57. Let's go.
- [47:34]
Monica Lewinsky
So you brought up resilience. If you could say something that you think could help somebody have resilience or find resilience, help them to build that muscle. Do you have any thoughts on that?
- [47:49]
Tony Hawk
My best answer is, is to convince yourself that you're capable of whatever this is or overcoming this challenge. And sometimes that's really hard to visualize. Sometimes that's really hard to break through. But if you can be steadfast and say, I got this, and it might take a while, and it might be super hard, it might be super painful, but I am capable, I think that's it. It's just telling yourself and visualizing the outcome. I shouldn't be able to do any of these things that I do on a skateboard, considering how terrible I was at. In the beginning. I was like, my first competition. I got second to last place.
- [48:37]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow. Okay.
- [48:39]
Tony Hawk
And I don't even know if the guy who got last place showed up. You know what I mean?
- [48:45]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah.
- [48:46]
Tony Hawk
So none of this stuff came naturally. I didn't just get lucky. Like, it was. It was all based on perseverance, resilience, determination, and not letting. Just. Just not giving up. That's it. Not, don't give up. That's. That's my best answer. Like, give up. Yeah, Keep trying. Just keep getting up and trying till.
- [49:11]
Monica Lewinsky
The wheels fall off.
- [49:13]
Tony Hawk
Yeah. My wheel actually fell off. My wheel actually fell off, like, a month ago.
- [49:19]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, really?
- [49:19]
Tony Hawk
Skating? Yeah. And I thr. And this is kind of a funny story. I threw my board, and it actually went over the back of the ramp.
- [49:26]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [49:26]
Tony Hawk
So it landed straight on the ground. Usually it lands on the ramp and slides down. And then I went and picked it up and went up to the top, and I was just about to drop in, and my friend's like, tony, you're bored. What? And I look. And one wheel had broken off.
- [49:42]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, my gosh.
- [49:44]
Tony Hawk
So I was the living example of until the wheels fall off.
- [49:47]
Monica Lewinsky
Right. Wow.
- [49:48]
Tony Hawk
But I went and got a new wheel and put it on, kept skating.
- [49:51]
Monica Lewinsky
That's what. That's what we do in our 50s. We just go get a new one.
- [49:54]
Tony Hawk
Until the wheels fall off. Then you go get a new wheel.
- [49:57]
Monica Lewinsky
Exactly. The question I ask everybody at the end of our chat is if there's anything you're working on reclaiming right now, and it could be a thing or.
- [50:09]
Tony Hawk
Well, for me, it's an easy answer.
- [50:10]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, great.
- [50:11]
Tony Hawk
Good.
- [50:11]
Monica Lewinsky
Make it easy for you.
- [50:12]
Tony Hawk
I am reclaiming our video game series in the form of three and four. Remaster.
- [50:20]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, my gosh.
- [50:21]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, that. That news just broke.
- [50:23]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay. Oh, very cool.
- [50:25]
Tony Hawk
Very excited. It's got new, you know, a lot of the. The legendary skaters, you know, legendary parks and maps, but also new ones. New skaters, new tricks, new challenges. I'm so excited. I. I like. I can't believe we've kept it under wraps as long as we have.
- [50:44]
Monica Lewinsky
That's so cool.
- [50:45]
Tony Hawk
It's. It's. In terms of fans of the series, it's been really hard to keep them at bay, and they had basically given up on three and four being remastered.
- [50:57]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [50:57]
Tony Hawk
I mean, we're. We're 25 years.
- [50:59]
Monica Lewinsky
Wow.
- [51:00]
Tony Hawk
After the fact, so.
- [51:01]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, my gosh.
- [51:02]
Tony Hawk
It's so exciting. And, like, same. A lot of the same soundtrack, but also new music.
- [51:07]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [51:07]
Tony Hawk
So.
- [51:07]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, very.
- [51:08]
Tony Hawk
That's always a big thing for. For our game.
- [51:11]
Monica Lewinsky
And do the skate parks. Because you've built skate parks with your charity. Right. Your foundation, and so do those feature, like. Is there a way. Have you married that? Because that's really interesting. There are such a nice.
- [51:25]
Tony Hawk
Some parks that we've supported. A lot of the parks that were in the game were. The. The game happened before the foundation.
- [51:34]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [51:35]
Tony Hawk
Right. So they're just legendary parks that have legacy. I would say the best example is Burnside in Portland. It's just.
- [51:42]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, okay. I lived in Portland. I know Burnside.
- [51:45]
Tony Hawk
So, you know, under the Burnside Bridge, that was just done by the skaters.
- [51:48]
Monica Lewinsky
They had no.
- [51:49]
Tony Hawk
They had no approval.
- [51:50]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. You know, wow.
- [51:52]
Tony Hawk
They just started building a skate park, and then we put it in our game, and then we donated money to the Burnside project so they could expand on it.
- [52:00]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. Oh, cool. Yeah. I went to college in Portland, so.
- [52:03]
Tony Hawk
Oh, cool. So the version of Burnside that's in the game is kind of locked away from 1999.
- [52:10]
Monica Lewinsky
Okay.
- [52:11]
Tony Hawk
But. But now it's way more expanded upon. So if you go to Burnside, it doesn't really match the game version.
- [52:15]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah. Yeah.
- [52:16]
Tony Hawk
Which is amazing because that just means that the city has finally given in and, like, okay, it's yours. It's skaters.
- [52:24]
Monica Lewinsky
It's really incredible. I think I hadn't thought about what it sort of means to be living through this birth of something so big that changes the culture that I think it's interesting because really with almost every other sport, I think baseball, football, hockey, they all existed already. They were already sort of, I don't know, codified and I don't know if that's the right word there, but they were established. Yeah, they were established. So it's just really interesting to think about, you know, and now kids who were born today, my nephew, you know, like skating, It's a thing.
- [53:01]
Tony Hawk
It's unreal. Well, that's the thing is like when I grew up, there were hardly any skate parks. And then there were even less as I got into skateboarding. So I grew up near one of the last parks in the us There were maybe four or five at that time, literally across the US and nowadays I just skated a park that's five minutes from here.
- [53:18]
Monica Lewinsky
Right. Do you know how many parks are in the world?
- [53:21]
Tony Hawk
I don't know exactly how many, but we've helped to fund or develop over 800.
- [53:27]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh my gosh. Wow.
- [53:29]
Tony Hawk
In the US alone.
- [53:30]
Monica Lewinsky
Oh, my gosh. Okay. Wow, that's really cool. Well, thank you for doing that. I think that's. It's so important for young people and older people to have a place to. But to have a place to go.
- [53:42]
Tony Hawk
To and congregate and belong, that's the most. That's the best work that I could do, I think, with. With my success. And I think the coolest part, like you said, you know, all these sports, they're already established. The coolest part is that I get to live through this generation and participate like that, to me is absolutely living the dream because, you know, yes, I'm watching it, but I'm also, I get to be out there skating with them. It's crazy. I'm skating with 10 year olds that could do 9 hundreds.
- [54:12]
Monica Lewinsky
It's amazing.
- [54:13]
Tony Hawk
But I'm still in the mix like that. That's just some unreal time warp continuum.
- [54:19]
Monica Lewinsky
Yeah, I know. This was, this was so great. Thank you so much for doing this.
- [54:24]
Tony Hawk
Yeah, thank you.
- [54:25]
Monica Lewinsky
Really, really. And my board, Reclaiming with Monica Kalinsky is hosted and executive produced by me, Monica Lewinsky production services by WTF Media Studios. Our theme song is by Ben Benjamin and our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez. Our story producer is Elna Baker and our senior producer is Megan Donis for Wondery. Eliza Mills is the development producer. Our managing producer is Taylor Sniffin. Nick Ryan is our senior managing producer. Senior producers are Candice Manriquez Wren and Emily Feldbrake, and executive producers are Dave Easton, Erin O'Flaherty and Marshall Louie.