Flightless Bird sees journalist David Farrier learning 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 seeks to understand what makes America so unique, strange and wonderful.
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Three best buddies - Rhys Darby, Dan Schreiber, and Leon 'Buttons' Kirkbeck bring you The Cryptid Factor - a podcast dedicated to all things weird that are yet to be defined by science.Since 2008 they have passionately (and often awkwardly) been discussing 'cryptids' and monsters like Yeti, Chupacabra, Bigfoot and Nessie - as well as weird news of the world, UFO's, Time travellers, robots and space stuff.Though they take these pseudosciences as seriously as they can, they struggle to take th ...
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The journey in this life is filled with wonder, humor, sadness, and everything in between. Scott talks about life - especially spiritual aspects of it, promoting kindness, self-reflection, and love.
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier discovers that Rhode Island is not in fact an island. If not an island - what is it? Farrier talks to linguist Kate who has a true love for Rhode Island - and she educates David about the vampire buried there, the food Rhode Island loves, and its place in pop culture. Along the way Farrier discovers Rhode…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier investigates why American opossums are so different to New Zealand possums. Speaking of which - why does one have an “O” in front of them? To find answers, David meets up with a possum called Horace, and learns that contrary to popular opinion possums are not related to rats. In fact possums have many ama…
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Here we go again! In here you'll find a GI hunting for a costume, dead rockers in finger tattoos, vampire and bogeyman warfare, and monoliths found in the wild (yet again) Also you'll hear of self cloning mutant crayfish become old news and an eyewitness account of bad parenting. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…
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This episode is for all the aliens and wave-chasing, space-travelling future Cryptid Knights out there! In here Dan has Druid news for Buttons and at last Rhys gets his very own (and very noisey) museum piece. There's news of a time-travelling Simpson, an elaborate intestine restaurant ruse, and a freaky human skinned robot face. There's also fish …
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In this episode - Rhys is ahead of his time, Dan is listening to the band 'The Lip Slitsticks' and Buttons employs the 'Trisand' effect - making it highly likely that this will be the most listened episode ever! Also In here there's old men failing at reminiscing, Goonies Tridems, buried Mash, banned books on banned books, cheap top-secret Chinese …
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier investigates why American chocolate tastes so different to New Zealand chocolate - and more specifically, why Hershey’s chocolate allegedly smells a little bit like vomit. Farrier talks to a former Hershey’s worker to try and get to the truth, learning about various theories and stumbling on an old rivalr…
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In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier goes to his first Monster Truck Jam to try and understand why Americans love big vehicles so much. There he meets Krysten Anderson, who drives Grave Digger - and tells David what it’s like to be a female driver in a male-dominated sport. David then joins Dax Shepard who explains why Americans like big w…
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This episode has the team in their usual places... that is if you can count Buttons being somewhere unusual as usual. You'll find news of hidden microphones and camouflaged cigars, Ray Jay getting busy changing the fabric of time, Magical Banks getting full of tellers, underground dino-aliens from Harvard... along with lots of family Cameos! We als…
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In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets off to understand America's frozen food obsession. Each year Over 80% of American households will eat frozen dinners this year - making the frozen food market worth over $65 billion dollars. Monica Padman takes Farrier frozen food shopping, introducing him to her favorite frozen foods. They then pu…
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"In this week’s Flightless Bird, Monica, David and Rob discuss their favourite (mostly American) TV shows. Because occasionally on Flightless Bird, we break from the usual format and do something a little bit different. You saw that with Flights of Fancy about a month ago, where we got your expert insights into very American things - and also with …
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#094 The 'This Paranormal Life' Special Issue
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**SPECIAL ISSUE** Rhys and Dan are in London - and take the opportunity to storm the secret studio of podcast cousins Rory and Kit from 'This Paranormal Life'. With Buttons dialed in, they catch up and cover off a great deal of usual weirdness, along with the unusual addition of some ghost stories! There's also time-traveling Albert Einstein and re…
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In this week’s Flightless Bird, Farrier sets out to understand why Americans call “Snakes and Ladders” something completely different: “Chutes and Ladders”. Farrier meets with Hasbro’s Brian Baker, senior vice president for board games. Farrier learns the surprising origins of Chutes and Ladders - as well as other popular American board games like …
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In this epic episode we gain the second ever entry into the Cryptid Factor museum... a 135 million year old mystery! Also in here there's UFO wreckage being 'drug' out, a pigeon spy being detained, delayed phone calls being made from the dead, lemonade lazy code, a Thylacine musical, some OK ABC DNA proof and screen-shares within screen-shares! Als…
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In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier goes to eat at iconic American restaurant chain the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Back in 1994, Forest Gump was box office gold - the highest grossing film in America that year. Forrest Gump also did something not many films have ever done - something truly magical - it leapt out into real life. Because on any …
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In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier throws himself back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth during the 1500s. Why? Because Americans love Renaissance Fairs. The whole idea of the Renaissance Fair started back in 1963 - when teacher Phyllis Patterson held an event for her students in her backyard. A few months later her and her husband Ron put…
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A Kiwi in America: David Farrier's Weird and Wild Journey
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David Ferrier, journalist and documentary filmmaker, shares insights about his life and career, including behind the scenes events while discussing his films "Tickled" and "Mister Organ" as well as his Netflix series, "Dark Tourist." He also talks about Webworm, his email newsletter and the community around it. Topics range from the importance of s…
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We’re trying something a little different today - something we’re calling “Flights of Fancy.” Now awhile back, if you follow David Farrier on Instagram, you would have seen a prompt where he wanted you to pitch a deeply American topic YOU could speak on. Maybe it was a job you had, or some other personal insight you could give into something AMERIC…
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Here we are again - in a scarily regular type fashion! In here theres there's your usual Schreiber wang-ons, Buttons blah-blahs & Darby breakdowns - but in amongst it all there's an ACTUAL EARTH RUMBLING! Also you'll find flying zombie salt shakers, flying spaghetti monsters, haunted swag dolls, Donald Duck call-ups, unlicensed cut-outs, mountain c…
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What happens when your fairy tale story turns into a nightmare? Rebecca Craig talks about this very thing - how she, a female pastor, survived a relationship with a narcissistic, abusive man who had perfected gaslighting, lying, and manipulation. Her vulnerability and honesty make this a gripping true life tale as described in her upcoming book rel…
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In this week's Flightless Bird, David Farrier talks to the author of 50 Pies 50 States, Stacey Mei Yan Fong. Farrier sets out to discover why Americans love pie so much, declaring January 23rd National Pie Day back in 1986. Farrier and Fong discuss what makes the pie so American, before looking at Stacey’s top 3 American pies - which David, Monica …
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...aaaaand we're back! This episode sees Hollywood, the UK coast and a dodgy basement come together to bring you: a Texan sized underwater model anomaly, an earthquake predicting doomsday fish, and SpiceGirl singing humpback whale helping humans talk to aliens! Theres also in-mate dating apps, time travelling thespians, vortex ship size guest appea…
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In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier looks at the process of gaining American Citizenship, and what it means to become truly American. Why over the last decade did over seven million non-Americans choose to become American? And what does this process look like? David talks to a New Zealander who chose to Naturalise before looking at some A…
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Satanic Panic, Trauma, and the Value of Faith Rooted in Ambiguity
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Dave Canfield, a former member of Jesus People USA, shares his journey from being a holiday Catholic to joining the Christian counterculture community. He discusses the vibrant music scene, the impact of Christian rock and roll, and his involvement in promoting concerts and working backstage. Dave also talks about his experience with Mike Warnke, a…
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In this week's Flightless Bird, David Farrier looks at how America surveils its own citizens and asks why America is a “spying superpower.” In 2022 alone, 145,000 Facebook users and 100,000 Gmail accounts were rifled through by the US government’s spy agencies. How come? Farrier delves into America’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and “Secti…
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In this week's Flightless Bird, David Farrier starts to ponder his own mortality and why despite America spending more on healthcare than any other nation on earth - it’s only 59th on the life expectancy list. To find some answers, he heads to Loma Linda: population 9000, an average life expectancy 10 years longer than the average American.…
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In this week's Flightless Bird, a new format that we will bust out occasionally called "American Gods." David, Monica, and Rob pick an American that's reached fever status. They share their initial thoughts, before going away for a week of research and "assignments" to do - gathering together again to share what they've learned. This week, we look …
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In this week's Flightless Bird, David Farrier talks to Terra Newell, who you may well know from the Dirty John podcast. We look at what makes the True Crime genre such a big deal, and some of the ethical questions it raises. David also shares his favourite 10 True Crime bits of media with Monica and Rob.…
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Beyond Fear: Healing from Religious Trauma
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In this episode, I dive into fundamentalism and fear-based Christianity. This includes a revisit of the Satanic Panic of the 70s and 80s, Jack Chick, and movies like The Burning Hell and A Thief in the Night. What's it like to grow up in a church that uses the fear of Hell to convert lost souls? How does it impact people later in adulthood and what…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier looks at why so many Americans don’t take their shoes off indoors. A poll by CBS last year found “the majority of Americans don't ask their guests to remove their shoes when they come to visit, and this is particularly true of older Americans.” David wants to find out why, so meets with etiquette coach El…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier still finds himself stranded back in New Zealand, waiting for his new Visa to be issued so he can make more American Flightless Birds. Cut off from America, he decides to do one of the most touristy things he can imagine: He sets off for Matamata and the tiny sleepy village of Hobbiton. Left over from the…
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In this episode, I interview Reverend Joanna Fontaine Crawford, lead minister for the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in Cedar Park, Texas. Joanna talks about her experience growing up a UU in Texas, how she came into the ministry, and the importance of building a spiritual community outside of traditional religions.…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier finds himself stranded back in New Zealand, waiting for his new American Visa to be issued. He decides to investigate New Zealand’s most famous fruit - not the kiwifruit, but the feijoa. They’re an icon in New Zealand, put in everything from chocolate to vodka. Farrier then sets out to understand why the …
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand the origins of Smokey Bear, an educational mascot who’s turned into the longest-running PSA in American history. Farrier then gets a tip that there is a real Smokey Bear, so travels to the sleepy town of Capitan, New Mexico. Farrier searches for Smokey’s alleged gravesite, meeting w…
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Well, here we are in 2024 - and while we wait for Ep88 to become hot enough to drop... we have for you here the second recorded episode to be released first (in typical Cryptid Factor confused fashion!) In it you'll find news of disappearing towers, Uri Geller blowing his own mind by remembering he saw aliens, lots of bugs up a Florida mans nose, a…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand Costco, the giant membership warehouse club loved by millions of Americans, a store that now pulls in $64 billion in revenue each year. Farrier meets up with a friend of the show Andy, who takes David inside Costco for his first shopping trip. David is so impressed he signs up as a …
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to the town of Roswell, New Mexico - home of the 1947 UFO crash that ignited the imagination of the entire planet. After visiting the Roswell UFO Museum, Farrier sets out to see what makes Roswell, well, Roswell. He meets up with artist Michael Beitz who runs the Meow Cat Sanctuary, before gettin…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand why Americans guzzle down over 10 billion donuts every year. He sets off with his friends Andrew and Lauren to sample some Californian donuts, before meeting up with Emily Taing. Tang is behind Pink Box Stories (@pinkboxstories) on Instagram and educates David about the origins of t…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier tries to understand why his entire street smells like semen. He finds himself in the world of the Callery Pear Tree - also known as the Linden Tree or the Bradford - AKA “the cum tree”. David talks with Theresa Culley, a professor at the University of Cincinnati - who knows a lot about this particular fou…
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What are the Akashic Records and how do they work? I talk about them, another experience with Emily, and a surprising discovery about one of my past lives.By Scott Schalchlin
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In the last of the 'All Together in LA' series, Rhys kindly pops back from one of his many other dimensions to join a very tired Dan and Buttons in the task of stringing sentences together. In here you'll find an (almost) concise history of a Giant Rock and the people that lived under it, a dead Vampire lair dug up, a billionaire blood junkie, some…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier dives headfirst into one of America’s favorite foods, the humble hot dog. He learns that Americans eat around 20 billion hot dogs a year, which means the average American eats about 70 hot dogs per year. Why? How did this simple food get so popular here? To understand, Farrier decides to talk to the Natio…
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This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier takes Monica’s advice from an earlier episode and investigates America’s obsession with quilts. He begins his journey by interviewing quilting podcaster Ashelyn Downs of “The Grateful Thread”. Farrier discovers that quilting is not just oldies sitting by the fire, but that there’s a new movement of younge…
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