Unpacked & Naked Podcast

About Unpacked & Naked Podcast

"Unpacked in Santa Cruz" is a homegrown podcast hosted by Michael Howard that dives into the lives, stories, and salty moments of people who call this coastal community home—or have been shaped by it in some way. Whether it's a deep conversation with local surfers opening up about mental health, or a peek behind the curtain of someone who started a one-of-a-kind food spot right here in town, every episode brings something real. You’ll hear from folks who found healing behind the lens, built businesses from scratch, or chased massive waves thanks to a lifetime spent around our local waters. These aren’t just interviews—they’re conversations that reflect the heart and soul of Santa Cruz. Raw, reflective, and rooted in community, Unpacked in Santa Cruz brings local voices to the surface.

Publisher

Mike Howard

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

17 Jun 2023

Latest episode

24 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

114 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Episode 96: Bobby Ladesma: What Do We Owe The Places That Made Us And How Do We Interpret What’s Next?

   Santa Cruz can feel like paradise and pressure at the same time. I’m sitting down with Bob Ledesma, a longtime Santa Cruz surfboard shaper who has watched the town transform from a place where surfers were outsiders to a place everyone wants to claim. We talk honestly about that weird mix of love and concern: the world-class coastline, the daily ritual of checking the ocean, and the reality that it is getting harder and harder to survive here, let alone own a piece of it. Bob takes us into t...

2. 

   10 Sept 2026

   Episode 95: Joe Schirmer: Where Politics Meets Policy Around The Dinner Table, And How A “Pulling Up Your Bootstraps” Mentality Says Nothing To Our Realities Around The Food We Eat

   Dead seals on the beach. Algae blooms in the bay. Nitrates in wells. A heat wave that can ruin a tomato crop before you even see the damage. We record a raw, grounded conversation with Santa Cruz farmer Joe Schirmer about the real cost of feeding people, and why so many farmers are carrying a level of stress that the rest of us rarely see. We start with the mental health crisis in agriculture, including farmer suicide, anxiety, and the identity trap that comes with generational work and “man...

3. 

   1 Sept 2026

   Episode 94: Chapter XVII: Our Tower of Babel: Politics, AI, Algorithms, and Our Separation By a Common Language

   We have a shared language, so why does it feel like we cannot talk anymore? I step into a solo, personal soliloquy about the post-COVID shift I see everywhere: families avoiding hard topics, friends splitting into factions, and everyday conversations turning into coded arguments about money and politics. I use the Tower of Babel as a modern metaphor not to preach, but to name the feeling that we built something too big to understand, and now we live inside the confusion. From there, I ...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

10 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

25 ratings

Contact Unpacked & Naked Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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