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Looking Sideways Action Sports PodcastPresented by Matt Barr, Looking Sideways is a pod Author: Matthew Barr
Presented by Matt Barr, Looking Sideways is a podcast about the best stories in skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, and other related endeavours. www.wearelookingsideways.com Language: en Genres: Hobbies, Leisure, Sports, Wilderness Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Episode 260: Lesley McKenna - Risk Aesthetic
Friday, 6 March, 2026
Welcome to the second of three post–Winter Olympics episodes in which I am examining the recent Winter Olympics from a variety of different perspectives.In this second episode, I’m joined by Lesley McKenna, one of snowboarding’s great original thinkers.A pro skier, snowboarder, coach and team manager, she is herself a three-time Olympian, and helped run GB Park & Pipe in the years when Jenny Jones and Billy Morgan won their medals.She has spent the last few years working on a Phd that analyses the tension that exists between a traditional sporting structure as epitomised by the Olympics, and a none-conventional action sports culture such as snowboarding. She’s has called it the Risk Aesthetic Framework, and it is fascinating stuff.Why does this matter? Because while snowboarding now looks fully integrated into the Winter Olympics, its relationship with the Games has always been complex — and at times uneasy. In this conversation, we dig into judging controversies, cultural friction, performance vs. progression, and ask whether something essential is gained — or lost — when snowboard culture enters the Olympic machine.As ever with Lesley, this is a mind-bending conversation: endlessly intellectually-stimulating, and full of the ideas and provocations that mark her work out as so original. If you care about snowboarding and its culture, don’t miss this one. --This week’s codes to use for some big old savings: LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for HUGE savings on ski and snowboard hire with Intersport this winter.LOOKINGSIDEWAYS10 for 10% off any order from Finisterre LOOKINGSIDEWAYSXDB for 15% off anything from DbLOOKINGSIDEWAYS2026 for 15% off any Albion purchaseLOOKINGSIDEWAYS for a whopping 20% off anything from Goodrays.LOOKINGSIDEWAYS for 15% off any Stance order--To find out more about what I do, you can sign up as a subscriber to my Substack newsletter here. There's a brilliant community and much more than just the podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wearelookingsideways.com/subscribe
