Jonathan Harms gives us a full history lesson on skateboarding — from its earliest days in the 1960s, riding clay wheels while barefoot, to the revolution sparked by surf culture, drained swimming pools, and backyard halfpipes.
We talk about how skateboarding exploded in the ’70s, nearly disappeared in the early ’80s, and found new life through DIY culture, magazines like Thrasher, and later mainstream moments that helped push it back into public view. Jonathan walks us through the early skateparks in the St. Louis area and shares what cities get right (and wrong) when building skateparks today.
Decades after first stepping on a board, Jonathan reinvented himself as an elite slalom racer, competing nationally and internationally against some of the best in the discipline. Along the way, he’s documented the culture he loves, with his skate photography appearing in print magazines. He’s still in it, racing through cones, traveling to competitions, and preserving the scene through his lens.
This episode is local history, skate history, and cultural history all rolled into one.
Click here for the full version on YouTube.
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For more information:
https://www.instagram.com/jbh_stl
https://www.instagram.com/khvt.official
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Mentioned in this episode:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059725
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6794450
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362487
https://www.instagram.com/alteredskatesofamerica
https://www.facebook.com/dsmskatepark
https://www.konaskatepark.com
https://skateboardinghalloffame.org
https://www.facebook.com/TonyHawk/videos/1015605357631469
https://www.pbs.org/video/living-st-louis-skate-park
