Flightless Bird

Flightless Bird

Flightless Bird follows journalist David Farrier as he learns about what makes America special from his unique perspective as a Kiwi accidentally marooned in the Land of the Free. Infinitely curious but never judgmental, each week, David (along with cohost and American Rob) seeks to understand what makes America so unique, strange, and wonderful.

Episodes

Scientology

June 10, 2025 • 100 mins
In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob explore Scientology in LA and beyond. David goes on a mini tour of LA Scientology, attempting to visit the Museum of Psychology, Big Blue and the Celebrity Centre to varying degrees of success. He looks at how this church/cult recruits members, before meeting someone who joined and spent around $50,000 on courses before leaving. He then meets Mike Brown, someone raised in Scientology, e...
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Sperm Donation

June 3, 2025 • 74 mins
In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob look at the USA’s very unregulated sperm doner market. Along the way David meets Sheena, who recently met her biological father and discovered over 80 half-siblings… and counting. Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Live show tickets for Denver on July 3: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiDEN Live show tickets for Chicago on July 10: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiCHI Links: - Sperm donor who fathered...
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Live in San Francisco: Smart Vibrators, Zizians, & The Room

May 27, 2025 • 104 mins
This week’s Flightless Bird is live at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Musician Kelcey Ayer reimagines the FB themesong, before David and Rob share their thoughts on the city and peruse the headlines. Their special guests include Anna Lee of Lioness who has created a smart vibrator, and journalist Io Dodds who has been investigating the Zizian cult. Greg Sestero talks The Room film, and then there’s a Q&A with guests! ...
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Topps Trading Cards

May 20, 2025 • 84 mins
On this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob look at the history and current trajectory of Topps Trading Cards. They talk baseball cards and baseball cards, before looking at all the strange trajectories this bubblegum company went in - including War trading cards, Garbage Pail Kids, and Mars Attacks! cards. They look at the most expensive cards of all time, and the act of wonderment that delving into this topic brings. Rob also c...
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Blockbuster

May 13, 2025 • 83 mins
In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob visit the last Blockbuster videostore in the world in Bend, Oregon. On the way they stop off at the Overlook Hotel (sort of) and discuss their love of physical media. This week’s feedback is all very emo (in a good way). Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com LINKS: - Robin Hood change: https://nichegamer.com/robin-hood-film-censored-to-remove-anti-establishment-intro-message/ ...
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Emo Music

May 6, 2025 • 110 mins
In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob look at emo music in the United States, from its origins to where it is today. Rob presents David with a lesson in emo bands and reaches out to them to ask whether they consider themselves emo or not. David plays some of his old emo reporting from back in New Zealand in the mid 00s, before attending an infamous Emo Night event in LA where he talks to founders Morgan Freed and T.J. Petra...
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Autism Reveal Party

April 29, 2025 • 71 mins
In this week’s Flightless Bird, David talks to Lisa Didion, an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Kansas. Lisa wrote in after the Fake Seizure Guy episode, saying that Flightless Bird should take a deeper dive into autism in America. With RFK Jr’s recent unhinged comments on autism, it felt like the right time to clear up some misinformation. On top of this - David got invited to an Autism Reveal Party. W...
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Live in Portland: Bigfoot, Beavers, and the Oregon Trail

April 22, 2025 • 106 mins
This week’s episode is from our live show in beautiful Portland that happened on April 13. David and Rob share stories from their time in Portland, before turning their attention to Bigfoot - talking to Cliff Barackman, the man behind the North American Bigfoot Center. Cliff has been doing bigfoot field research since 1994. His expeditions have taken him to 46 states and five continents in search of evidence supporting the existenc...
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The Cheesecake Factory

April 15, 2025 • 59 mins
In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob visit one of America’s most iconic restaurant chains: The Cheesecake Factory. They discover its humble origins as a small cheesecake shop in 1940’s Detroit - eventually launching an empire with one of the lengthiest menus in the USA. They discuss decor, the toilets, and of course - the cheesecake. Links: Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Upcoming live shows and t-shirts: www.flig...
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Flights of Fancy: Cheese, Kony 2012, Hot Air Balloons, Troubled Teens, Ice Machines

April 8, 2025 • 71 mins
In this week's episode, David and Rob take calls from Flightless Bird listeners, who pitch the topics they want them to investigate! From a man who tells of being woken up at age 13 to two men in his room with zipties who abducted him to a controversial “Wilderness Therapy Camp”, to someone involved in competitive air ballooning, to an intern involved in the infamous “Kony2012” campaign, we hear from Birdies with stories to tell. ...
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Deported

April 1, 2025 • 76 mins
In this week’s episode, David and Rob look at the recent cases of ICE and other agencies detaining and/or deporting various US residents who are in the US 100% legally. David interviews Canadian Jasmine Mooney, who found herself imprisoned for two weeks after arriving in the US for her job. David wonders how safe he is being critical of the current US administration while here on an 01 Visa, and the practical dangers of even doing ...
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Quiverfull

March 25, 2025 • 65 mins
In this weeks Flightless Bird, David sets out to understand the Quiverfull movement, which advocates for having lots and lots of children. He talks to a Zach, a man raised in this environment, before find out his parents literally wrote the book on Quiverfull - so David calls Zach’s mom. Upcoming live shows: - Portland on April 13: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/80185968/flightless-bird-with-david-farrier-portland-revolution-hall ...
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Goodyear Blimp

March 18, 2025 • 82 mins
In this weeks episode, David goes for a ride on the Goodyear Blimp in an attempt to learn more about this iconic piece of America, celebrating its 100th birthday this year. He is shocked to find out that it's not even a blimp! Get tickets to our live shows: - Portland on April 13: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/80185968/flightless-bird-with-david-farrier-portland-revolution-hall - San Fransisco on April 18: https://www.ticketmaste...
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Prisons

March 11, 2025 • 66 mins
In this week’s Flightless bird, David looks at the American prison system, attempting to understand why the US has the largest prison population in the world - with around 1.9 million people incarcerated here. He interviews Bianca Tylek of national advocacy group “Worth Rises” about problems in the prison system, and meets Robert Craig, associate director at Abolish Private Prisons. He then travels to San Diego to meet Alana McMain...
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Focus on The Family

March 4, 2025 • 83 mins
This week on Flightless Bird, David looks at Dr James Dobson and Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs based fundamentalist Christian group formed in the 70s. Using his status as a child psychologist, Dobson wrote over 30 parenting books, creating a media empire that changed how many parents raised their kids. With a very strong focus on discipline and breaking the will of the child, Dobson’s ideas travelled far and wide, ending ...
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Live in Seattle

February 25, 2025 • 91 mins
David and Rob take Flightless Bird to Seattle, doing a live episode to a sold out crowd at the Neptune Theatre. They interview a former homicide detective who penned a book on Seattle’s forgotten serial killer Gary Gene Grant, before turning their attention to the Rain City Jacks - a “jackoff club” preparing to celebrate its 20th year. What makes a group of over a 100 men come together to masturbate, and why? Rob and David also sha...
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Gallagher

February 18, 2025 • 70 mins
In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob are joined by Gareth Reynold’s from “The Dollop” and “We’re Here To Help” podcasts. Gareth tells them about the story of Gallagher, an American comedian who pioneered the "Sledge-O-Matic" - and got into a bitter feud with his younger brother Ron. Along the way they talk infomercials, Carrot Top, and the dangers of impersonating someone else. LINKS: Mental Floss story: https://www.ment...
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Kanye's Squatter

February 11, 2025 • 62 mins
This week, David meets the man who squatted in Kanye West’s Simi Valley house, sleeping in Kanye’s bed, eating Kanye’s pasta, and shitting in Kanye’s backyard. While there, John wrote a book called “Squat” which is, in this podcast’s opinion, fantastic. David then has an update about Melbourne’s Fake Seizure Guy, and reads listeners emails about other local legends around America, Canada, and the world. NOTE: While this episode a...
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Australia: Fake Seizure Guy

February 4, 2025 • 76 mins
"In this week’s Flightless Bird, David continues his series in Australia. This week, he arrives in Melbourne to try and solve the mystery of “Fake Seizure Guy”, a local man who appears to fake having a seizure so locals can sit on him. Why does he want people to sit on him, and how long has this been going on? Do you have more information? Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Links: - Webworm article on Fake Seizure Guy: https:...
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Inauguration Week

January 28, 2025 • 81 mins
In this week’s episode, David and Rob take a pause on regular programming to try and make sense of what’s happened since the inauguration of Donald Trump. From social media chaos, Elon Musk’s “hand gesture” and mass deportations, to the new D.O.G.E logo and presidential pardons - we are all just trying to make sense of this together. Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@flightlessbird...
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