Surf gossip with teeth and timing.
The Grit! with Chas Smith is surf culture talk with a loose grip on the steering wheel. One minute it is Gabriel Medina, Italo, Bells, or longboard politics; the next it is Tom Curran's parrot, DNA leaks, burritos, or why work feels fake.
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The Grit! with Chas Smith is surf-world conversation with sand still in the machinery. It is not tidy. It likes the argument, the tangent, the half-serious accusation, and the tiny piece of beach culture that somehow explains everything. Recent episodes move from Gabriel Medina and Italo scoring debates to Bells Beach chatter, longboarder grievances, SUP resentment, BeachGrit comment threads, and live-show plans in New Smyrna Beach. Then the conversation swerves. Tom Curran's parrot becomes a recurring comic presence. A burrito article turns into a place for World Surf League comments. A thought about St. Patrick's Day becomes a question about DNA leaks. A comparison between Josh Brolin and Chris Hemsworth becomes both a pretend fight card and a sincere surf-style debate. That is the show's core trick: surf minutiae is never just minutiae. It becomes a way to talk about status, taste, aging, family life, online weirdness, celebrity, work, and the particular madness of people who spend decades trying to look good on moving water. The surf analysis is real, especially when the talk turns to judging, style, control, erratic airs, or why a surfer can be talented without being pleasing to watch. The comedy is real too. Listener calls, rude comparisons, doppelganger jokes, and running bits give the show a shaggy social texture, like a parking-lot conversation that keeps finding another reason not to end. Its best fit is the already-converted surf listener, especially someone who follows competitive surfing, surf media, and beach-side tribal arguments closely enough to enjoy the references without needing every name framed. It can be blunt. It can be unfair on purpose. It can also pause, briefly, for gratitude, family logistics, or the odd sincere admission about not being very good at surfing despite decades in the water. That mix gives The Grit! its charge: insider surf analysis with the discipline of gossip and the attention span of a group chat.
Made for: For surf fans who follow contests, personalities, BeachGrit-style arguments, and the strange social rules around boards, beaches, and style. It best suits listeners who enjoy fast banter, dry judgment, and insider references.
What sets it apart: The show turns surf coverage into a running cultural argument instead of a straight news recap. Its edge comes from mixing serious taste in surfing with absurd listener bits, petty grievances, and sudden broader-life tangents.
The Grit! is a weekly show co-hosted by David Lee Scales and Chas Smith discussing the most scintillating headlines from the surf world and BeachGrit.com. Part of the Surf Splendor Network.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Scales and Smith turn surf judging, etiquette and personality into funny, exact arguments about what good surfing actually looks like.
The Grit! with Chas Smith runs on the argumentative chemistry between David Lee Scales and Chas Smith. Surf-world debate moves through jokes, personal stories and frequent attempts to sharpen or revise a point in real time.
Surf judging becomes a style trial, with parrots and burritos waiting to hijack your attention.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Surf judging, Triumph nostalgia, and grateful grousing give this loose episode a sharp technical spine.
The episode opens with a voicemail from Tom Curran's parrot, then eases into why Triumph the Insult Dog worked and why roast humor can age into a clearer kind of sense.
A doppelganger joke turns into a loose, funny run through surfing modesty, Beach Grit comments, and an Easter-basket scramble.
The installment starts with an anonymous David Lee and Byron Noem comparison and lets the joke breathe, turning resemblance, eye spacing, and imagined familiarity into a funny little study of how people picture someone before they have really seen him.
A loose surf-world riff on parrots, belief, and the suspicious pull of a shared first name.
The March 27, 2026 show starts with confirmed Tom Curran parrot sightings and quickly turns Curran's sunglasses into a funny little study of gas-station shades, possible alien eyes, and how a public figure can become strangely unreadable.
A loose surf conversation that moves from parrots and office confusion to a firm glare at SUPs.
The Grit! opens with a first-day-of-spring greeting and quickly drifts into a loose, funny meditation on influence, work, and lineup politics.
A celebrity surf matchup turns into a loose, funny argument about style, size, and Ren Con history.
The episode works best when it lets surf talk stretch into strange shapes. A date mix-up around February 20 leads into listener feedback from Japan and a quick pass through Valentine's Day customs there, before the conversation swings toward Josh Brolin and Chris Hemsworth.
October stress, a Boardroom Show marathon, and olive juice shape Noble Rot Episode 7's loose surf-world pulse.
Noble Rot Episode 7 turns October pressure into a loose, revealing check-in on being stretched thin and still choosing to show up. The host catches up with David Lee Scales, who describes the month as both the greatest and the busiest, then folds the Boardroom Show at the Del…
A parent's old quarrel with maths turns into a lively rethink of learning, usefulness and second chances.
Chas returns to maths as an adult and finds that a few old principles finally begin to make sense. That modest breakthrough leads into a sharper question: what should a parent expect a child to get from the subject?
Surf lineage, told by the people who lived it.
Surf culture from the cold-water inside.
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Big Cat and PFT Commenter cover the NFL, March Madness, and NHL for laughs.
Ryen Russillo runs weekly NFL and MLB recaps with beat reporters like Jeff Passan and Mike Sando.
Chas Smith and David Lee Scales discuss the concept of fandom beyond sports, exploring personal loyalties to foods, brands, and experiences.
Hosts David Lee Scales and Chas Smith explore the art of speaking, prompted by the death of voice icon James Earl Jones.
Chaz Smith rants about the overuse of the name Kai, comparing it to a tribal tattoo and predicting unremarkable futures for those named Kai.
The Grit!
Chas Smith and David Lee Scales open on Kristi Noem and Byron Noem photo jokes, including the listener who compared Byron to 'Kid Rock' and the resemblance they keep seeing in the eyes.
["The Grit!
The Grit!
Chas Smith and David Lee Scales discuss the ominous date of Friday the 13th, the six-year anniversary of the COVID shutdown, and their plans for St.
A listener defends longboarding and asks the hosts to reconsider their stance on longboarders.
Kolohe Andino said, "the kitchen is fully on fire," then crawled through black smoke to find missing family members.
Chess Smith and David Lee Scales discuss existentialism, ballet, and announce a live show with Luke Cederman and John Philbin.
The host and guest discuss their current location at a Venice airport Marriott, their loyalty to Marriott Bonvoy, and their frustration with the points system being a scam.
The host describes getting sick with a fever and night sweats while traveling to a barren, moonscape-like location for surfing.