The New Yorker Radio Hour: Episode 4 – Surfing Lessons in a Warming World
Airdate: November 13, 2015
Host: David Remnick
Featured Guests: Bill Finnegan, Elizabeth Kolbert, Nick Thompson, Roger Pasquier, Sue & Hector Bideau
Episode Overview
This episode masterfully blends three signature New Yorker Radio Hour elements: profile reporting, on-the-ground storytelling, and conversation on current affairs. The main theme explores finding meaning and joy—whether it be in surfing, coin collecting, or the hard choices of unconventional family life—in a warming, increasingly unstable world.
- Surfing: Editor David Remnick joins writer Bill Finnegan for a surfing lesson and a deep discussion about obsession, meaning, risk, and aging.
- Climate: Elizabeth Kolbert offers a “state of the climate” report ahead of the Paris climate talks.
- Family: Larissa MacFarquhar profiles the Bideau family, who adopted 22 children, exploring their motivations, struggles, and the real outcomes of extreme altruism.
- Quirky Interlude: Nick Thompson accompanies Roger Pasquier, a man obsessed with coin collecting.
Below is a breakdown of the episode's key conversations and moments, organized by segment.
A Walk with Roger Pasquier: The Art of Coin Collecting
[00:09–02:00, 21:17–22:40, 33:46–35:32]
Key Points
- Roger Pasquier—a scientist, birder, and urban street-comber—has developed a hobby (almost a science) of picking up lost coins around New York.
- He describes the technique—using peripheral vision, focusing on gutters ("the best place to find coins").
- Pasquier has picked up $36.52 this year (so far).
- He shares tips and offers wry encouragement for would-be city coin hunters.
Memorable Quotes
- Roger Pasquier: “Finding anything of value on the street is irresistible to me to pick up.” [00:12]
- Roger Pasquier: “The gutter...despite its unattractive name, is the best place to find coins. Because look at this sidewalk, how it rolls down...coins naturally seem to land there.” [01:13]
- Nick Thompson: “Roger is walking into, it looks like the parking lane next to the bicycle lane and picking up 35 cents, which I did not see, and I was looking.” [21:37]
- Roger Pasquier: “For me, the coin is the luck.” [33:50]
Surfing Lessons with Bill Finnegan: Obsession, Joy, and Risk
[02:00–20:09]
Key Points
- Surfing as Obsession: David Remnick joins reporter and longtime surfer Bill Finnegan (author of Barbarian Days) in Rockaway, Queens, for a hands-on surf lesson. They discuss what makes surfing so compulsive for its devotees.
- Learning Curve: Surfing is not an easy sport—years to get “halfway decent,” high physical risk, and a unique relationship to time and mastery.
- Metaphysics of Surfing: Surfing for Finnegan is a metaphor for both intense immersion in nature and the pursuit of a "useless" joy.
- Risk: Finnegan recounts his injuries, brushes with serious peril, and the dangers of ego overriding judgment. Still, he is drawn back, feeling never done.
- Aging & Mastery: How aging surfers “become kooks again,” and the humility of finding limits with age.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- Bill Finnegan: “The North Pole of irresponsibility is surfing. You have to be ready if you’re going to surf to, like, ditch all engagements and flee your desk.” [09:24]
- David Remnick: “My usual experience of the ocean in New York City is when I would go with my grandmother...and she would just yell at me and say, watch out for the syringes.” [11:16]
- Bill Finnegan: “It’s the most useless thing you could possibly do. ...You’d rather do it alone, usually. Although there’s a performance aspect.” [16:56]
- On aging:
Bill Finnegan: “As a surfer, you can read waves just as well....And what do you know, you’re not as quick or as strong as you used to be.” [18:55] David Remnick: “Although, for the record, you’re by far the best surfer out here, no matter what the age. I’m just gonna make that call.” [19:23] - On masculinity and surfing: David Remnick: “And it has to do with masculinity.”
Bill Finnegan: “Not necessarily. Some women surf beautifully, but...it’s a continual proving ground.” [17:16–17:25]
Reflecting on Global Warming: Paris Climate Talks Preview
[22:40–33:26]
Key Points
- Guest: Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and longtime New Yorker climate reporter.
- Mood: Remnick highlights Kolbert’s realism—often mistaken for pessimism—around climate change.
- Paris Climate Talks: Hopes for a meaningful agreement, skepticism rooted in previous failures (Kyoto, Copenhagen).
- China & U.S. Roles: Both are key as top emitters. China’s political system offers flexibility to make swift changes, yet trust remains an issue.
- Obama’s Legacy: The U.S. is bringing more to the table (Clean Power Plan), but political and diplomatic constraints mean no binding treaty will emerge.
- Finance as a sticking point: Developing nations demand $100 billion climate finance from rich countries—far from being realized.
Memorable Quotes
- Elizabeth Kolbert: “A reasonable person could look at both the geophysics and the economics and the politics and despair. That is, I think, a very reasonable response.” [32:09]
- David Remnick: “But we don’t have to be religious to know that despair is the one unforgivable sin.” [32:26]
- Elizabeth Kolbert: “The hope is that we sort of commit to commit to peaking emissions...” [25:06]
The Bideau Family: Radical Love, Real Consequences
[35:32–54:13]
Key Points
- Profiled by Larissa MacFarquhar: Sue and Hector Bideau, inspired by stories of mega-families, adopted 22 children—many with disabilities, trauma, or from sibling groups no one else would take.
- Motivations: Compassion, religious faith, a desire to help those with the least chance, and a sense of a calling.
- Realities: Chaos, exhaustion, severe emotional and practical hardship. Their children faced challenges—early pregnancies, deaths, prison, and trauma.
- Persisting Love & Commitment: Despite outcomes, their commitment did not waver. They see themselves as breaking cycles, even if only over generations.
- Criticism & Doubt: Some call them saints; others, egotists or naive; both parents are candid about the hard, dark times and regrets.
- Intergenerational Impact: Hope that real stability and change will come in future generations.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- Sue Bideau: “Our family turned out better than anything that I imagined from those ... books. The downs, the valleys, the trenches, have been worse than anything I imagined.” [51:04]
- Hector Bideau: “This is what we're good at, and this is what we're doing.” [46:26]
- Sue Bideau: “The commitment, it's going to be a few generations....I thought we were going to adopt them. Everything's going to be wonderful.....But the commitment, it's going to be a few generations.” [51:55]
- Sue Ann (adopted daughter): About realizing she had a family: “I didn't really understand what adoption was until ... you go to court and you're allowed to change your name and be who you want to be and start a new life...” [41:08]
- Hector Bideau: “My thinking has evolved over time, but especially when we first started having to deal with pregnancies. I was like, if you're gonna have kids, you're gonna have to take responsibility.” [48:20]
- Sue Bideau: “If I see someone that's put their whole life goal is to do something really risky and crazy like ... climbing Mount Everest ... If that's that person's passion, then who am I to question them?” [53:46]
Episode Highlights & Takeaways
- Surfing isn't just a pastime—it’s an existential pursuit, a proving ground, a form of worship—and also a lens on aging and purpose.
- Climate action is framed as both urgent and frustratingly incremental, hostage to political realities and laced with hope—however faint.
- Family: Radical acts of compassion, like the Bideaus’, invite both admiration and sober reckoning with the limits of what love and structure can achieve.
- Everyday Joys: Even simple obsessions like coin collecting can carry meaning, intent, and satisfaction.
Bonus: Quick & Quirky Conclusion
Back on the streets, Nick Thompson and Roger Pasquier finish their coin hunt ("For me, the coin is the luck." [33:50]), underscoring the episode's undercurrent: meaning and value can be found in the smallest, often overlooked things—even in an anxious, warming world.
Timestamps Reference
- 00:09 Coin collecting with Roger Pasquier
- 02:00 Surfing segment begins (Remnick & Finnegan in Rockaway)
- 09:24 Finnegan on the joy and irresponsibility of surfing
- 13:40 Finnegan’s surfing injuries
- 16:56 Surfing as “useless,” the existential aspect
- 22:40 Elizabeth Kolbert joins for climate talk
- 32:09 The “despair” quote
- 35:32 The Bideau family profile begins
- 41:08 Sue Ann on when adoption became real
- 51:04 Sue and Hector reflect on expectations vs. reality
- 53:46 Sue Bideau on extreme passions
- 54:40 Final quirky coin sounds segment with Nick & Roger
This summary captures the narrative arc, the rich voices, memorable moments, and topical urgency of a standout episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour.