Sports
Shaun Tomson and the Evolution of Instinct
The former world champion surfer is honored with a lifetime achievement award.
Santa Barbara’s Conner Coffin Vies for World Surf Title
The championship will be held later this month at Lower Trestles in San Clemente.
Film
SBIFF: By Hand is an Epic Ocean Adventure
Film documents two brothers who stand-up paddle board from Alaska to Mexico.
Sports
Santa Barbara ‘Heads-Up’ Swimmer Has Olympic Hopes
Jesse Zastrow adopts an old technique that had won gold medals but fell out of fashion.
Sports
Santa Barbara Attempting to Break World Record for “Largest Backwards Walk”
The Guinness-sanctioned event is scheduled for June 2 on State Street.
Books
‘Path of the Puma’ Inspires
Peppered with gorgeous wildlife photography, the book is equal parts adventure story, personal memoir, and mountain lions.
Film & TV
‘On the Edge of a Dream’ Premieres in Santa Barbara
Documentary chronicles surfing legend George Greenough’s pursuit of hydrodynamic nirvana.
Dr. Richard L. Miller on the Potentials and Pitfalls of Psychedelics
Are they a shortcut to enlightenment and mutant healing powers?
Psychedelic Scholar Robert Forte Talks Conspiracy Theories and Consciousness
There’s a dark side to the drug renaissance, he says.
Books
Captain Liz Clark Comes of Age in 'Swell'
The sailing surfer’s autobiography is a page-turning high-seas adventure.
How to Keep Your High Happy
Tips for responsible use in the new era of legal recreational marijuana.
Can Cannabis Cure My Cancer?
A desperate man turns to marijuana oil and finds survival.
Martin Ball’s Modern Psychedelics
Santa Barbara–raised professor comes home to discuss entheogens and healing on March 3.
Film & TV
Films to Find at the Festival
Our selected highlights from SBIFF 2018, based on prescreened films.
Environment
SBIFF’s Climate Change Films
Social justice for Mother Earth takes center stage at this year’s festival.
Channel Crossing Taps Ocean-Sized Compassion
Fundraiser takes cancer fight into deep waters.
Film & TV
‘Fishpeople’ Film Gets S.B. Premiere
Keith Malloy’s sophomore effort is visually arresting and inspirational.
Dope Economics Onstage
The rush to capitalize on California’s maturing marijuana industry comes to town on March 15.
Books
Conversation with Cancer Expert Siddhartha Mukherjee
Pulitzer Prize-winner discusses the disease with writer Ethan Stewart.
Film & TV
The Crest
Improbable story of two long-lost surfing cousins from America who descend from an Irish king.
Film & TV
Gaviota: The End of Southern California
Homegrown nature documentary of world-class proportions about the Gaviota Coast.
Film & TV
Given
The Goodwin Family is a modern-day Swiss Family Robinson in search of things big and small.
Film & TV
Gaza Surf Club
Unflinching look at the men and women making a surfing life along the shores of the Gaza Strip.
Film & TV
Your Name
Body-swapping fantasy film meets classic teenage love story in this popular anime flick.
Film & TV
Bluefin
Travel to the frontlines of one of the most mysterious and controversial fish stories in the world.
Film & TV
At Your Doorstep
Solidarity and struggle shine in this heart-wrenching look at 2007’s financial crisis in Spain.
Film & TV
The Distinguished Citizen
Dark drama unfold as writer returns to his hometown in Argentina after decades of estrangement.
Outdoors
Abby Brown’s Homegrown Paddling Power
The 19-year-old prone paddler from Santa Barbara is competing in the world championships this week
Best Of
Best of Santa Barbara® 2016: Media
The time for action is now. There is a decades-old injustice in this town, and we canine folk must help right it.
Best Of
Best of Santa Barbara® 2016: Sporting Life
Holy tennis balls!!! It’s amazing what happens when you trade in the wickedness of a Midwest winter for the regular perfection of Santa Barbara.
Best Of
Best of Santa Barbara® 2016: Living Well
A life well lived seems to be par for the course here on the Central Coast.
Best Of
Best of Santa Barbara® 2016: Eating
Lick those chops, and ready your begging game because this town takes the fine art of eating seriously.
Best Of
Best of Santa Barbara® 2016: Little Creatures
I have always felt that there is a wicked and limiting ageism in the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”