You may think you know Hawaii. But there’s more to these stunning islands than white-sand beaches and breezy palm trees. 

Beyond the surf breaks and world-class sunsets, Hawaii has a complex story. Navigators were born here. There’s an unmatched reverence for the land. It’s a place once—and still—filled with warriors, working hard to fight for their cultural preservation. And as our guests share, Hawaiian culture isn’t just alive on the islands—it touches the far corners of the world, too. 

In this week’s episode of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies, we’re exploring Hawaii through the voices of cultural practitioners, historians, and teachers, including Evan Mokuahi Hayes, a Hawaiian historian who returned to the islands in search of healing. He found it, unexpectedly, in a taro patch.

“Hawaii has this beautiful way of, even when you have nothing to give, it will meet you there,” he shares on the episode. “It has a way of healing broken parts of you, essentially, and filling those empty spaces.” 

That connection to ʻāina—to land and Earth—runs deep for many. As Dr. J. Uluwehi Hopkins, a professor of Hawaiian history, explains on the episode, “We have cosmogonic genealogies … that say we grew right out of the land here, that the land itself is our ancestors.” The result is a worldview built on stewardship, not ownership.

That view was almost shattered in the late 1700s, when Western contact reshaped the islands’ political and spiritual landscapes. 

“Our Hawaiian chiefs wanted to form a government that other nations would respect and therefore interact with in an equal way,” Hopkins explains. “And the Hawaiian people actually didn’t want land ownership, but the government enacted it because they realized that if we established land in a way that had an owner, if another foreign power came and took us over, they had to respect the landowners.” 

This episode also explores the arrival of American missionaries in the 19th century, the rise of the sugar industry, and the illegal overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani. “She crafted this really wonderful, brilliant response in which she says, ‘I will yield my authority until the U.S. president realizes the illegality of his own minister,’” Hopkins shares. 

Through it all, Hawaiian culture has endured, especially in hula. “Hula is exactly what people see,” says Hokulani Holt, a kumu hula, or teacher of the art of hula. “It is the visual representation of the words that you are hearing. You cannot have hula without words.” Holt adds, hula is not merely a performance; it is history in movement. 

To get to know Hawai‘i on a new level, listen to this week’s episode of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies. It’s available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Player FM, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Former UFC champion B.J. Penn is in trouble with the law once again.

UFC legend B.J. Penn is in trouble with the law again.

The former two-division UFC champion was arrested this past Sunday in Hilo, Hawaii, on charges of abuse of a family or household member, according to the Hawaii Police Department media booking log obtained by MMA Junkie. The news was reported Tuesday by MMA Fighting.

Penn, 46, also posted a video documenting the arrest to his Instagram account. He was taken by police and later released on $2,000 bail. Penn was due in court Tuesday.

Penn’s video shows him laying in bed, questioning multiple officers for the reason of his arrest, which they communicated was for harassment. After a back-and-forth, Penn stood up from the bed, was handcuffed, and taken away.

Penn posted a caption along with the video:

“In Hawaii, ‘impostor theft’ refers to instances where individuals falsely impersonate others, often to steal their identity or commit fraudulent acts. This can involve using a fake identity to obtain documents, financial accounts, or even posing as law enforcement or other professionals to commit crimes.”

In recent months, Penn has claimed in numerous posts that his parents and siblings were murdered and replaced by impostors. These adamant and continuous claims have worried many in the MMA community, including several of his fellow fighters such as Brendan Schaub and Jason Miller.

This isn’t the first time Penn has been involved with the law. In the years before and following his retirement in 2019, Penn has experienced a number of legal troubles, including DUI arrests and a bar brawl assault that led to his UFC release.

Penn is considered one of the greatest lightweights of all time and a pioneer for the division. He’s a former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion. Penn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2015.

Penn fought 32 times as a professional fighter, a career that spanned from 2001 to 2019. Penn, who was known for his durability and skill, lost four times by TKO/KO and was involved in many wars. Some have attributed his troubles and erratic behaviors in recent years to brain trauma.