Webworm with David Farrier

This week I started each day how I usually do: with a strong coffee as I read through your thoughtful comments. The stuff you shared around my piece musing about fate and destiny, chance and chaos, was particularly real and heartening . “Even if it's down to random chance rather than some cosmic alignment, I find it so comforting to know you're grappling with the same questions and uncertainty in...

For pictures and more: https://www.webworm.co/p/pureunadulteratedcharge Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes . It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”. Connor Ratliff had been up for a small part in episode five, and while it wasn’t a major role — at the time, for an up and coming actor, it felt...

Joshua Drummond has a theory about why so many of the loud voices we meet online are so fundamentally… offensive. You may remember Josh’s earlier pieces about being trapped by climate change, or what’s at the heart of Evangelical Christianity — two of my favourite old reads on Webworm . His idea is deceptively simple and something that’s easy to overlook — and yet it instantly explains so much of...

The internet isn’t just full of bad ideas: It’s dying . The idea of a dead internet isn’t new, and full disclosure — it started life as its own conspiracy theory. Dead Internet Theory posits that most of the internet is just bots — and that these bots are being used to manipulate the human population. While I don’t see some grand scheme playing out online to infect the internet with garbage, I thi...

America is a big like a deranged child, celebrating nearly every day of the week: There’s Pie Day on January 23, Burger Day on May 28, and Icecream Day on July 21. But “Transgender Day of Visibility” on March 31 hit a nerve, Republicans horrified that Easter Sunday had suddenly been taken over by trans people — a group allegedly not fit to consume neither Jesus, nor easter eggs. What the fuming ma...

True Crime is a genre I’ve certainly watched a lot of, and have dabbled in it myself with things like Tickled (true crime where nobody dies) and Mister Organ (some death, no murders). We’ve always been fascinated with hideous things happening to other people, either as a way to make ourselves feel better, or to try and understand the things we’re afraid of. To make sense of the world. Sometimes, t...

In this episode I took at "Fatca" - the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. This particular act was passed in 2010, and means that if you live in America and are involved in its tax system ( which I am, thanks to my podcast work ) then America wants to tax everything you have, in any country. Only two countries in the world insist on doing this — America… and Eritrea, a country in East Africa. Thi...

This is a conversation between Webworm's David Farrier, and his friend Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe

Webworm regular Hayden Donnell with an essay about the incompetent executive class. Much has been written about the structural factors accelerating the media’s demise. Tech giants have hoovered up its ad revenue like the sandworms from Dune . Its audiences have migrated to TikTok, or worse, X, where they routinely mistake the deranged inner monologue of @MAGAJackie28743781 for objective journalism...

Note: A lot of you seemed to appreciate that I recorded last week’s story, “Gary”, as a mini-podcast . So I’ve done that again today. I can’t do this every time, but when I can, I will. Listen or read, you choose. Hi, Greetings from Austin, Texas. I’ve been lucky enough to run into a few Webworm readers here, and also got to meet some pretty great animals — which is my therapy. I also ended up at...

Hi, I wanted to tell you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour. It’s a story I’ve wanted to tell for ages, in a variety of forms. It’s been a podcast series in my head, and sketched out as a much more detailed piece than what you’ll read today. The main issue I have is that my friend, Gary (not his real name), is reluctant to have me tell it. And I get it. The story I want to te...

Episode 15: In this episode, David Farrier chats to Webworm writer Hayden Donnell, before reading his latest piece about the megarich refusing to admit they just got lucky. Farrier then interviews Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 14: In this episode, David Farrier reads some feedback from Webworm readers, before Hayden Donnell witnesses the "comeback" of Arise's John Cameron, as John attempts to speak in tongues. This is a look at how Pentecostal Christians tend to be a tight club - and how staging a comeback is part and parcel of anyone's fall. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other sub...

Episode 13: "I talk to the guy behind Paul T Goldman, 2023's best documentary". David chats with Jason Woliner, creator and director of Peacock's PAUL T GOLDMAN. Visit www.webworm.co for more, and to join journalist David Farrier's Webworm community. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 12: "Bad News: ChatGPT Isn't Going to Take Our Jobs". Hayden Donnell looks at what AI like ChatGPT means for the future of human work. The short answer? We're not retiring anytime soon. Visit www.webworm.co for more, and to join journalist David Farrier's Webworm community. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit...

Episode 11: "The Life and Death of P22". A mountain lion walked the streets outside my house, and now it's dead. I'm curious what this fact says about us, and our relationship to nature. This includes an interview with journalist Rob Chaney, author of The Grizzly in the Driveway. For more details see https://www.webworm.co/p/episode11 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with ot...

Episode 10: "I was shot with two arrows — first in my stomach, second in my chest — by a man in the depths of the jungle." In this episode I read an essay by New Zealander Matt Scheurich, who back in 2011 found himself face to face with death after being shot by two arrows. He writes about the experience, and how it changed his ideas about death. See www.webworm.co for more details. Note: this pod...

Episode 9: In this episode, I answer questions submitted by Webworm readers over on the Webworm app. From "how do you make a documentary?" to "what product is in your hair?", this is 60 minutes of informative fun. See www.webworm.co for more details! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe

Webworm ’s first ever live event, Webworm, Arise! Earlier this month around 400 Webworm readers packed into Auckland’s St Matthew-in-the-City for a cathartic night that looked to unpack and reflect on Webworm 's megachurch reporting over the last year. Kiri Allan chaired a panel on Arise and megachurch culture, consisting of Hayden Donnell (Journalist and Webworm regular), Michael Frost (former me...

Episode 8: Arise & Me: Not a Love Story. It’s been a while since we talked about Arise megachurch. I figured it was time for an update. I also became curious what Arise leaders, and the board, thought of me since I started writing about them in April of last year. I am not a mindreader, so I decided to do the next best thing: I made a Privacy Act request, asking for all Arise emails, texts and ele...

Hi, Hope the weekend went well. I had a blast reading your stories under my secret societies newsletter. Especially loved this from Steff: “In university I won a ‘Freemason’s Scholarship’, which is hilarious because I had to go to an interview with 10 masons — and I’d just seen the movie From Hell, and all I wanted to talk about was conspiracy theories. I won, and I got invited to attend a dinner...

Hi, I had my first surfing lesson this month. I wasn’t very good. It started off okay: I was pretty good at paddling, and smashing through some (tiny) waves to get out. I managed to keep by surf board straight, and I could up sit up and turn around pretty quickly. I could even paddle and catch a wave. The problem was standing up. How in God’s name are you meant to stand up? What, you’re meant to g...

Hi, I’ve decided to launch a Webworm podcast, and I wanted you to be the first to know about it. God, how many times that phrase been uttered: “ I’ve decided to launch a podcast. ” Good Lord. Okay — so let me explain the “Episode 5” thing. When Webworm started, I experimented with four podcast episodes last year. I’ll list those at the end, as they’re all available along with today’s episode. But...

These are the words of Joseph Uscinski , Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Miami. I spoke to Joe for Webworm , and our conversation made me wonder if things aren’t quite as fucked up as they seem. So I guess today’s newsletter is… hopeful , somehow? Joe Uscinski wrote American Conspiracy Theories (an excellent book) and as you probably gathered from the title, he’s very...

In this Webworm episode, I talk to science fiction writer Sonny Whitelaw — who after writing some Stargate books, discovered some fans thought Stargate was very, very real. We discuss what this says about conspiracy theory culture in 2020. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit webworm.substack.com/subscribe