Episode 253: Seth Hughes - Apprentice to Land and Sea

Filmmaker, surfer, seeker and - OK, then - influencer: Seth Hughes is one of British surfing’s most thought-provoking creative presences.

We’ve been friends for a few years now, and like everybody who follows him on Instagram, over the last few years I’ve been following his ‘apprenticeship to the land and sea’ with fascination and interest.

I’ve also appreciated the increasingly searching and occasionally uncomfortable questions he likes to pose.

How to regain a new understanding of health and wellness. How to regain our lost relationship to nature. How we escape the pernicious power of addictive technology. And how to reconcile our ‘real’ and public-facing selves, and the many masks we wear.

These are Seth’s preoccupations and themes. And they were among the many topics we discussed in this meandering, insightful and hugely enjoyable exchange, recorded during my visit to Cornwall at the end of October 2025.

We began this conversation on the site of the old mining slag heap that forms a backdrop to our mutual pal Chris Hines’ beautiful property, before heading inside to record this evocative conversation.

I’m very grateful to Seth and Chris for the lovely afternoon. I learned a lot from our conversation, not least about my own views and behaviours.Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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