Flightless Bird

David Farrier
  • 4.9 (3K)
  • DOCUMENTARY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
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.

  1. 2D AGO

    Live in Denver: Cryonics, Hearse Club, Ice Core, & Wolf Reintroduction

    This week’s Flightless Bird is Live From Denver! Rob and David explore the sights and sounds of Denver, CO, presenting their findings to a very fun crowd at the beautiful Cervantes Ballroom. They are joined by four guests that each bring a fascinating aspect of Denver and Colorado to life: The CEO of a cryonics company who has 250 human bodies and heads on ice, the head a hearse club, an expert from the largest Ice Core story facility on the planet, and a professor deeply involved with reintroducing gray wolves to Colorado. Musician Matthew Logan Vasquez provides live music including his rendition of the Flightless Bird themesong, and Happy Cones, founded by New Zealander Hap Cameron, delivers some hokey pokey ice cream to Rob! Thanks to our audience for their wonderful questions. Email us with your thoughts and ideas: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.comMerch & Show Info: www.flightlessbirdpod.com ABOUT OUR LIVE GUESTS + LINKS- James Arrowood is the CEO and President of ALCOR, a non-profit organization dedicated to cryonics here in America: They have over 1500 members, 250 who are currently frozen, waiting for science to catch up: https://www.alcor.org/ - Zachary Helm is leader of the Denver Hearse Club, and has the best haircut in the whole of Denver: https://hearseclub.com/about/about.htm - Richard Nunn is Assistant Curator at the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility in Lakewood, Colorado. There he oversees ice cores from places like Antarctica and Greenland, that are stored in a large freezer kept at -36 degrees. His primary job is to distribute samples of this precious ice to scientists all around the world - as they look at perfectly preserved gas bubbles trapped in the ice to find out what the heck is going on with global warming: https://icecores.org/ - Joanna Lambert is an environmental studies professor at the University of Colorado. She has been deeply involved with the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, and for some reason she agreed to come talk at a show that featured a Cryonics Expert, the leader of a hearse club and a mad scientist obsessed with ice: https://www.joannalambert.com/ - Matthew Logan Vasquez: @matthewloganvasquez- Happy Cones Ice cream: https://happyconesco.com/ - Photography: Andrew Rowley @guacarowley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    2 hr

  2. JUL 8

    Candy

    In this week’s Flightless Bird, Rob takes David to Vons. There they each pick their five favourite American candies, ready to taste test back at the studio. They also pick a bunch of American candy David has never tried, so he can fill his blood with American sugar and become 200% more American. Live show tickets for Chicago on July 10: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiCHI If you want to contact Flightless Bird, we are always at: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.comT-shirts are available here: flightlessbirdpod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    50 min

  3. JUL 1

    Prison Firefighters

    Trigger warning: Today’s episode is very much adults only. In this week’s episode, Flightless Bird explores incarcerated firefighters, talking to former inmate Matthew Hahn who signed up to fight fires when he was serving time. Hahn brings his lived experience to this episode, talking about his time inside and his rehabilitation and road to recovery. The episode takes a turn when we discover what led Matt to this prison term - and how he got out early. Links:Matt can be found @hahnscratch on social media, or at www.matthewhahn.comLive show tickets for Denver on July 3: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiDENLive show tickets for Chicago on July 10: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiCHI Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 16m

  4. JUN 24

    Subway

    In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob look at Subway - breaking down what America loves about the sandwich, before dining at a Subway and ordering all things footlong. Of course, they also examine the Jared Fogle disaster - and read some of the favourite listener feedback. Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Live show tickets for Denver on July 3: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiDENLive show tickets for Chicago on July 10: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiCHI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 7m

  5. JUN 17

    LA Protests

    In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob sit down to record on June 10th - a few days after David got a dose of pepper spray to the face at Sunday’s protests outside the Metropolitan Detention Centre were members of the LAPD and National Guard were posted. David and Rob discuss what the hell is going on as Trump sends 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, along with 700 marines. They talk to a former National Guard member about what they do, before David recounts his experiences Sunday near City Hall, and Monday night in Little Tokyo. Email us feedback: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com LINKS: Guardian opinion piece: We are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/09/trump-police-state-robert-reich Live show tickets for Denver on July 3: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiDEN Live show tickets for Chicago on July 10: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiCHI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 14m

  6. JUN 10

    Scientology

    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, eventually joining the Sea Org before managing to escape. He takes David through his experience and his own theories about the church today in 2025. Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.comLive show tickets for Denver on July 3: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiDENLive show tickets for Chicago on July 10: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiCHI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 40m

  7. JUN 3

    Sperm Donation

    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 550 children ordered to stop: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65429936 - Lawsuit alleges ex-Harvard Medical School professor used own sperm to secretly impregnate patient: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lawsuit-alleges-ex-harvard-medical-school-professor-used-sperm-secretl-rcna129696 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 15m

  8. MAY 27

    Live in San Francisco: Smart Vibrators, Zizians, & The Room

    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! Contact us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com LINKS: - Io Dodds on the Zizians’ Trial: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/zizians-murder-trial-witness-court-b2736777.html - Anna Lee and Lioness: https://lioness.io/ - Kelcey Ayer: http://instagram.com/kelceyayer - Photos by Jim McCambridge - Flightless Bird Live in Denver on 7/3: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiDEN - Flightless Bird Live in Chicago on 7/10: http://bit.ly/lostkiwiCHI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 44m
See All (142)

Hosts & Guests

4.9
out of 5
2,988 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    David Farrier
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    142
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Flightless Bird

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada