Flightless Bird

In this week’s Flightless Bird, Rob schools David on Nickelodeon, the American TV channel launched on April 1, 1979, when David was just three years old. Nickelodeon gave us Rugrats, Doug, and SpongeBob SquarePants - and a bunch of shows David has never heard of like Are You Afraid of the Dark, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Keenan and Kel, and CatDog. What did it means to be a kid in America growi...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, Rosabel muses on the fallout from her episode a few weeks ago, before David and Rob set off for Hooters - absolutely terrified to their core that they will be cancelled in the process by saying the wrong thing or looking in the wrong direction. They hear from a variety of former “Hooters Girls” (their term, not ours) over the last few decades, before talking to curr...

In this week’s Nest Session, we’re joined by Peter Matthew Bauer of The Walkmen, who brings in a fresh Kentucky Southern Casserole for David and Rob to sample. Peter shares some pie, as well as what it was like growing up as part of a meditation cult, the oddness of astronomy to the current moment, and how saying no to your own destruction can be fun. Peter then preforms his songs Doom, Knife Figh...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David meets Doretta, an American who met and fell in love with a New Zealander - a man who happened to be one of NZ’s most well known celebrities: The Milky Bar Kid. Sort of. Back in the late 80s and early 90s the Milky Bar Kid starred in NZ’s biggest commercial. How did he end up in America, and with a woman who also has a past forged in chocolate?- Support Flightl...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David meets Phil - a man who’s been playing the same Dungeons and Dragons campaign since D&D was first released in 1974. Phil explains what’s so important about the game, and the friends he’s made and lessons learnt along the way. David then talks to the team behind D&D, to discus how the game has transcended generations and continues to grow in relevance after 50+...

On this week's Flightless Bird, David Farrier temporarily halts his New Zealand holiday to bring you the guest to end all guests: Rosabel. If you've listened to Flightless Bird for awhile, you will be familiar with the Rosabel calls that kick many episodes off. You may also recall the time David cracked an egg on Rosabel's head. In this episode, let's learn a little more about Rosabel - and whethe...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David explores the world of the tribute band - meeting “Dirty Deeds”, America’s best AC/DC tribute band (yes, there are lots of them). With their youngest member in their 30s and their oldest in their 70s - David explores how these American friends ended up choosing to portray Australia’s biggest rock band, learning that the world of the tribute band is expansive, s...

In this month’s Nest Session, David and Rob are joined on the couch by Chat Pile, one of David’s favourite bands who hail from Oklahoma. Raygun Busch and Stin talk about their shared - and differing - experiences being sent to church camp growing up, and explain the origin of their name, referencing the massive hills of hazardous waste found in their home town. If you want to find out what a “chat...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David looks at Best Friends, one of America’s largest animal rescue groups. Promoted by the likes of Mark Wahlberg, and with its own Nat Geo show “Dog Town”, David discovers Best Friends had its origins in a cult called “The Process Church Of The Final Judgement”. They wore a lot of black, had big big iron crosses around their necks, and liked keeping big dogs as pe...

Before Flightless Bird takes a few weeks off for the holidays, we hear from self-proclaimed parasocial podcast listener Nick. He emailed us with a story he wanted to share - explaining how it all started on a Zoom call with his boss, when suddenly he felt like he’d been hit over the head with a bat. We think Nick’s story is intriguing and inspirational - and we wanted to share it with you as we he...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob delve into the deeply American world of Reality TV. They talk to Sara Reddy - one of the minds behind Honey Boo Boo and a number of record-breaking reality TV shows - before meeting reality TV veteran Jordan Wiseley. - JOIN US ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/flightlessbird - Email us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com - Follow us on Instagram: https://www.insta...

In this month’s Nest Session, David and Rob are joined on the couch by Nathan Willett and Matt Maust of Cold War Kids, an indie rock band from Long Beach, California. They talk about their love / obsession with collecting very specific vintage t-shirts, before sharing their memories and passion for their friend and collaborator, musician and producer Richard Swift, who passed away in 2018. They ar...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob meet Betsy, a librarian who one day found herself being harassed by a “First Amendment Auditor” - a man in a hoodie badgering her endlessly for her name, salary and employment details. After calling the police, she discovered they could do nothing - and Betsy’s footage was uploaded for 100,000 people calling for her dismissal, and arrest. Farrier inter...

In this week’s Thanksgiving-vibed Flightless Bird, David sets out to learn about the iconic American staple on the Thanksgiving table: Pumpkin Pie. Rob and David blind taste test three pumpkin pies - from supermarket scraps to high end Hollywood - to see if they can tell the difference. Rob then surprises David in the studio with Jordan Kahn, the chef behind incredible restaurants like Vespertine...

In this week's Flightless Bird, David and Rob attend Medieval Times in California - and are joined by Rob's son, Calvin. They set out to discover if it's still the same experience documented in the 1996 hit film The Cable Guy, before talking to a former worker at Medieval Times. JOIN US ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/flightlessbirdEmail us: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram: https://...

This week on Flightless Bird, Rob takes the reins and tells the story of Tom Pfaeffle - a mentor, musician, and the quiet force behind Seattle’s sound. What begins as a look into a mentor’s lasting influence becomes a haunting mystery: a motel shooting, a vanished gunman, and a community searching for answers. Rob speaks with Wild Orchid Children’s Kirk Huffman and Thomas Hunter, who share the sto...

Once a month, Flightless Bird will release “The Nest Sessions,” a new music-focused series where each week Rob and David have a different musician in the studio to talk about a piece of American culture they’re obsessed with, before they share some live music in the studio. The Nest Sessions debuts with Anthony Green from Circa Survive, L.S. Dunes, The Sound of Animals Fighting, and Saosin. Anthon...

In this week’s spooky Flightless Bird, Rosabel reveals her thoughts on the afterlife and ghosts, before David meets a bunch of Americans who’ve taken part in, or run, Christian Hell Houses. What is a Hell House, and what do they have to do with Halloween? David then drives to visit his first Hell House, learning about the myriad of ways humans can die, and what hell looks like. Flightless Bird on...

In this week’s episode, Hayden explains why his old band broke up and David reveals some shocking news: Rosabel’s name is not “Roosevelt”. Next, Rob takes David deeper down the emo rabbit hole. They’re joined in the studio by Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) and Nick Thomas (The Spill Canvas) to break down the genre, before they share some acoustic songs. Saosin and Days Away also perform!...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, we reveal the results of the competition to guess Rosabel’s filthy email address, before David travels to Portland to see if it really is a raging city out of control. Rob also talks to some locals to get their take about what is going on in their city at the moment. Email us your feedback: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David talks to a man who lived as a train hopper for two years. They talk about the lifestyle, dangers and chaos of illegally hitching rides across America using the railroad system. The country’s first train tracks were laid down in the 1820s - and since then, America has gone on to have the largest rail transport network in the world - over 136,000 miles of train...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David attends his first Homecoming football game and Homecoming dance - and Rob and David discuss their feelings around dances, balls, and weddings. Note: As discussed in this episode, Flightless Bird is hiring! We are looking for a “channel manager” to help look after a Flightless Bird’s Instagram, YouTube page, and other social media accounts. This is a paid posit...

In this week’s episode, David looks at the downfall of one of the world’s biggest Christian stars, Michael Tait. The (now former) frontman of The Newsboys, and former member of DC Talk, Tait led a secret double life that all came crashing down this year. Farrier talks to two journalists who covered the story, Jessica Morris and Josiah Hesse - as well as whistleblowers and victims like Israel Anthe...

In this week’s episode David and Rob look at the world of Christian Contemporary Music, or CCM for short. Born out of the 1960s Jesus Movement, CCM was a way for kids to listen to “cool” music without any of the sin, and it became embedded in large parts of American culture. They’re joined in the studio by Underoath’s Aaron Gillespie who knows a thing or two about Christian music - and they talk a...

In this week’s Flightless Bird, Rob takes David to his first ever Chipotle Mexican Grill experience, before teaching him about what makes this American food chain so iconic, important and delicious. Founded on July 13, 1993, we learn about its history with McDonalds to its attempt at being sustainable, they try to answer the eternal question: Is Chipotle better than fast food or slightly better th...