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75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

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.

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

139:14

Reality TV

Flightless Bird ·

2025/12/09

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.instagram.com/flightlessbirdpod - Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@flightlessbirdpodcast Learn

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54:51

Nest Sessions: Cold War Kids on Vintage Shirt Collecting

Flightless Bird ·

2025/12/04

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 are then joined by their bandmates to perform some of their tracks for your enjoyment. “The Nest Sessions”

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77:22

First Amendment Auditors

Flightless Bird ·

2025/12/02

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 interviews Kristina Wilson and Kristi Nickodem, both experts in Public Law and Government, to find out what

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64:29

Pumpkin Pie

Flightless Bird ·

2025/11/25

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 and Meteora (with French Laundry, Per Se, Alinea and Michael Mina also in his CV) who has made the

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58:54

Medieval Times

Flightless Bird ·

2025/11/18

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://www.instagram.com/flightlessbirdpod Watch on YouTube:

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76:17

Black Shiny FBI Shoes

Flightless Bird ·

2025/11/11

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 story of Tom’s influence, and journalist Trent Moorman unravels the strange events that unfolded at the

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53:52

Nest Sessions: Anthony Green on Sobriety in America

Flightless Bird ·

2025/11/06

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. Anthony talks about his battles with sobriety on the road, and reveals his favourite American snack to David

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90:05

Hell Houses

Flightless Bird ·

2025/11/04

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 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flightlessbirdpod Email us your feedback and ideas:

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83:26

Emo Music Pt II

Flightless Bird ·

2025/10/28

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!email us: Flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Youtube:

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81:15

Portland Protests

Flightless Bird ·

2025/10/21

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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

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87:50

Train Hopping

Flightless Bird ·

2025/10/14

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 lines weaning their way across the USA. Which is why train hopping is part of America’s history.Based

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66:24

Homecoming

Flightless Bird ·

2025/10/07

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 position working 15 to 20 hours a week. If you are creative, organised and experienced please email us a

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77:47

Christian Chaos

Flightless Bird ·

2025/09/30

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 Anthem. Farrier discovers a world of coverups and legal action in the world of Christian rock - learning

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78:15

Christian Music

Flightless Bird ·

2025/09/23

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 about everything from Hell Houses to the good and bad of Christian music.Aaron Gillespie:

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66:20

Chipotle

Flightless Bird ·

2025/09/16

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 than fast food?Flightless Bird merch: https://www.flightlessbirdpod.com/ Email Rob and David:

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69:16

Tunnel Girl

Flightless Bird ·

2025/09/09

In this week’s episode, David flies to Washington, DC to meet with Kala - AKA “Tunnel Girl” - a woman digging a tunnel under her suburban home. David descends into Kala’s tunnel, trying to figure out what motivates her to do this. Along the way they talk about her fame on TikTok, the controversies she’s faced, and what you can learn from a tunnel fire.This episode was based on original reporting done for Webworm: https://www.webworm.co/tunnelgirl Flightless Bird merch:

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81:22

Kony 2012

Flightless Bird ·

2025/09/02

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David looks back at Invisible Children’s “Kony 2012” documentary through the eyes of Lilly, an intern at the time - and Jedidiah Jenkins, the director of idea development for Invisible Children in 2012. Lilly and Jed take David inside the viral hit - the first ever video to reach 1 million likes on YouTube, the speediest ever to reach 100 million views. A Pew Research poll at the time indicated more than half of young adult Americans had heard about Kony 2012 in the

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73:58

Streisand Effect

Flightless Bird ·

2025/08/26

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier meets Mike Masnick, the journalist and entrepreneur who came up with the term “The Streisand Effect” 20 years ago. The term has its origins in Barbara Streisland suing someone for $50 million for daring to take a photo of her house - only to have the photo spread to millions of people. Since then the Streisand Effect has been used to describe the effect of the rich and powerful trying to shut down information. Farrier and Mike discuss the legacy of what

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83:37

Cryonics

Flightless Bird ·

2025/08/19

In this week's Flightless Bird, David Farrier explores cryonics - freezing human corpses in the hope they may one day be resurrected by future humans! We interview James Arrowood, CEO of Alcor, America’s biggest cryonics outfit, to talk about the perception of this practice and what it means for Alcor’s 250 bodies on ice. Email us your feedback: flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com Links - Death To Dust: What Happens To Dead Bodies? http://www.galenpress.com/extras/extra32.htm - Melbourne Woman

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85:42

Pokemon Cards

Flightless Bird ·

2025/08/12

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David and Rob discuss Pokemon Trading Cards. They’re joined in the studio by Alex (@chantastic_collection) to get schooled on Pokemon fandom and trading cards (David and Rob open their first deck ever!), before David heads to New York to meet Dave Suchmann, a man who’s combined his love of Pokemon with his computer savvy to try and make a sustainable business trading Pokemon cards. Now of course Pokemon comes from Japan, but when it was introduced to America, and then

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