Hi! Webworm is me, David Farrier, worming my way into weird corners of the internet and beyond!

I’m a journalist and documentary maker who, like anyone, likes a good story.

Based in New Zealand, I tend to tell stranger stories, I suppose.

I made a film about Competitive Endurance Tickling called Tickled in 2016, and then a series for Netflix about dark tourism called Dark Tourist. Both highly imaginative titles, huh.

I also do a monthly podcast called Armchaired and Dangerous with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman. And I write this newsletter: Webworm. Recently I’ve been writing a lot about conspiracy theory culture. You might have heard me talking about some of this on Armchair Expert, too.

But my greatest achievement to date is probably this tweet, which seems to have been flung around the internet since I tweeted it in 2016.

David Farrier @davidfarrier

i paid for in-flight wifi so i could tweet this immediately

Oh, how normal shit was back then.

So, what is Webworm?

Webworm is me doing what I love the most: worming my way into strange areas of the internet and real life, to bring you strange and fascinating stories from the edges of reality. The kind of stuff I’ve always loved exploring with my documentary work.

Webworm is my way of making a sense of the world. And in doing so, I hope I get to help you make sense of things, too. Webworm is a newsletter you sign up for that’s delivered direct to you inbox. It’s all 100% original writing and thoughts from me to you.

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Why subscribe?

The idea is my weird journeys and thoughts end up in your inbox. Stuff like this.

It’s simple, you won’t miss anything, and a few times a week you’ll be taken to some strange and interesting places.

You can sign up for free and get the occasional Webworm delivered, or if it won’t cause you any financial hardship, you can become a paid member.

In return for that, you’ll get more of my writing — and additional stuff like monthly AMAs, behind-the-scenes of my work and access to all the archives.

You can also engage the comments and take part in the community I foster here.

As a paid member, you are directly supporting my work here on the newsletter, and beyond. You’re also helping me keep the important stuff coming out for free — including my writing around conspiracy theory culture. I think it’s vital this stuff goes as far and wide as possible.

A membership is $6.99 a month, or $69.69 a year (USD). If you get sick of me, you can opt out whenever you want.

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If you become a paid subscriber, you’ll get stuff like:

Monthly AMAs, like this one
Behind-the-scenes of projects I’ve worked on, or am currently working on
More personal essays (no nudez), like this one
Me exploring the weird stuff that ends up in my mailbox like letters from Canada’s infamous murderer, Luka Magnotta
Pulling back the curtain on the stories I write, like The fallout from the Lonely story
Newsletters directly related to documentary making — from tips I’ve learnt in the field, to developing your ideas and making them your own… to pitching them to places like Netflix
Some insights into journalism — paths into it, changes in the field, tips and tricks, and what you can expect if you’re just starting out
Access to the archive of all my old stuff I’ve written here.

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It’s nice to have you here. Welcome to Webworm.

David.

PS: not everyone is a fan!