When we sat down recently with the ASP World No. 1, he had so much to say — so much more than would fit in the pages we’d allotted in SURFING’s Competition Issue . Here’s a bit of what was chopped. Check the magazine for the finer cuts.

Kelly Slater:

On life after competition

I got really worked up about politics for a while — everything from health to politics to news. Look at news channels, and I don’t care if it’s CNN or Fox, it’s all sensationalism. You have to create this grand story, and most of the time I don’t think these people have even looked into the issue. You need to watch documentaries for that stuff. But sensationalism is what attracts advertising — which is trying to sell a product that’s probably bad for you anyway.

On political apathy

The more I’ve listened and read and studied about the way the world works, the less interested I am . Because basically you have two sides — especially in America — you have two sides, Democrat and Republican, and all they’re doing is stealing a little something from the other side, and neither is bringing people together and making our situations better. They spend a shitload of time and money wasted on trying to get their guy into office, and as soon as they get in office there’s a little down period before all of a sudden they start campaigning again.

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