Flightless Bird AMA
Please ask me anything about the Flightless Bird podcast, or anything else on your mind!
Hi,
It’s been ages since I’ve done an AMA on Webworm — and so, as per usual, ask me what you want in the comments section, and over the next few days I’ll dive in and answer things. This is a lil’ perk for paying Webworm members that keep this place ticking, so — thanks:
I like to have an overall “theme” for these things, so if you want a prompt, I’m certainly happy to answer questions about Flightless Bird, the weekly podcast I make with Rob Holysz.
We’ve done about 22 new episodes since going onto our brand new feed, but if it’s one thing that I’ve learnt it’s that podcast listeners are creatures of habit — and some seem to think Flightless Bird has vanished from the face of the earth:
I get these questions a lot! So, if you thought Flightless Bird had ended — it hasn’t! I think the show is getting better, and you are catching up I’d suggest these episodes to start with:
(Those are all Spotify links as they embed easily, but episodes are found wherever you listen to podcasts: linktr.ee/flightlessbirdpod).
We are also on YouTube — so if you want to watch instead of listen, you can at www.youtube.com/@flightlessbirdpodcast.
If you’re unfamiliar, whether you’re watching or listening, each episode kicks off with me calling a friend in New Zealand to check in on the week’s topic. Then it’s in the studio with me and Rob, before we play a 20-minute audio documentary (which is illustrated over on YouTube) about the distinctly unhinged American topic at hand.
There’s more discussion, then each episode ends with Rob’s ridiculously cute son, Calvin:
We’re also trying something new this year — a live show.
To try out the concept, we booked a theatre in Seattle called The Neptune, for February 8. To our surprise all the tickets sold out… so I guess now we have to do a show.
Depending on how it all goes, we’d love to do some other cities around America (assuming America is still standing), and of course Rob and I are scheming on how we can bring this down under to New Zealand.
Also for the Seattle show, we had these tees designed by Dave Kloc and printed in a limited run using silkscreen. This is a sample shirt showing how they turned out!
They’re kickass tees, so with Webworm readers spread out all over the world I’m gonna put 10 aside, and mail them out to some randomly-picked full members who want them. If you’re interested — mention in the comments what you dig about the t-shirt (along with any questions you have):
Also, a huge thanks to anyone who’s “liked and subscribed”, and even more importantly left a rating on Apple or Spotify. This helps the show get picked up by the cursed algorithm so it has a greater chance of being listened to. We have over 12,000 five star ratings on Spotify which is a huge help, and a bunch on Apple. If that was you — thank you.
Now — see you in the comments for the AMA.
David.
PS: As part of my prep for the Seattle show, I unearthed an old digibeta tape of an interview I did with Seattle grunge legend Chris Cornell (RIP). I did this in New Zealand many moons ago, and it will be making an appearance at the show. As a huge fan of Chris Cornell, this was a really special memory for me. I’ll also make the whole 30 minutes available on Webworm in February for any grunge-heads.
So young and innocent!
NOTE: Jan 30, 2025: I just emailed the 10 winners of the Flightless Bird tees. If you didn't get an email, check your junk folder! If it's not in your inbox or your junk, you didn't win sorry!
Thanks for being here.
I've been meaning to send an email with this small tidbit from my own flightless bird (my French father, who got to the US in 1979) - when he arrived in the US, he was mystified by the newspaper boxes that used to be on every street corner, where you'd put a quarter in and the door would open and you could take a paper. He asked my mother how the first person wouldn't take every paper for their quarter, and she was baffled - what would they do with twenty of the same newspaper?
And that's when he learned that Americans are not quite as capitalistically ingenious as he'd thought (in France, apparently, someone would quickly take them all out for one quarter then sell them for 20c each while standing next to the box and make a quick couple bucks).
Anyway, this story made me laugh and think about your podcast!