12 Webworms, 1 Guinea Pig

Hi,

A stranger accidentally airdropped me some photos, and I had to share them with you. I have never seen such an anxious guinea pig.

With that out of the way, it's getting to that time in the year where everyone is just try to hold it together as we feebly limp towards these arbitrary dates we've invented as a society to "take off" in order to "relax", "stay sane" and "attempt to remember what the fuck we're meant to be doing on this spinning globe hurtling through space."

I am not a big one for taking a break. I feel angsty with nothing to do, and my mind spins in directions I'd rather it didn't. I'm happiest when I'm chasing something (or someone is chasing me), because for whatever reason (leave that to the therapist) I am happiest when I am stressed out and highly stimulated by a problem. And stories are problems to crack.

That said, as the holidays approach I am going to attempt to slow down a little, if that's OK with you. I'm serious when I ask if that's "OK with you". I write, in large part, for you. You literally allow me to do this with your monthly or yearly subscription – and I do not take that lightly. I am not funded by giant advertisers or sponsors. My work is not funded by The New York Times or Netflix. It's funded by those who choose to pay for it.

I'll still be writing stories – and some of my time will be spent going through a myriad of tips I've received that I haven't gotten to yet – but in amongst that, I'm going to be formulating a few "lists" that sum up 2025. By their nature, "lists" are a little easier to create than a fresh column or investigation, and they're also satisfying to write. It's my hope you'll find them satisfying too.

I'll be sharing some of my favourite experiences of 2025, and collating my favourite films, TV and music that have enhanced the experience of the last 12 months.

But today I am doing something incredibly self-involved and sharing my favourite Webworm pieces of 2025 (so far). I decided on what to include by looking at stories that were well read, stories I felt proud of, and stories that I felt summed up the array of stuff Webworm tends to do, from dead serious to more lighthearted. For whatever reason, I ended up with 12 pieces.

I say that little PSA because while Webworm is doing good, there is usually a slow drop in its success month-to-month, as people either cancel on purpose (that's ok, I never want Webworm to be a financial burden for anyone) or forget to update their payment details.

As you will recall, I took a moral, ethical (and hopefully logical) decision to leave Substack in August of this year. That means I'm missing out on its algorithm, which helped new people find me to offset those leaving. And so I feel that burn a little.

Now, onto my Top 12 Webworms of the year: Feel free to sound off in the comments about other stories that may have stuck with you – from both here, and beyond (I don't mind you sharing anything that's not Webworm, I am here for it).

David.

PS: I'll conclude with some kind reader feedback I've received over the last few weeks. which warmed my cold dead heart. Again – thanks.

January 4: "It’s Sad Watching Desperate Dave”

A few days ago, I tweeted about Nick Mowbray’s flood of tweets in support of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, linking to my 2022 Webworm piece about Zuru’s legal action against Glassdoor. At some point over the last 12 hours, New Zealand’s biggest success story responded:

In a way, he’s right. I am always trying to drumb (his spelling, not mine) up subs for this little blog. Webworm is not Zuru. Webworm is fucking tiny. No argument there — I am about as far from a successful businessperson as one could imagine.

And I do feel desperate. I feel a deep sense of both desperation and dread at the people we hold up as successful. As aspirational heroes. For years the media has largely held up an uncritical, glowing narrative around Nick Mowbray. Nick is unstoppably rich — that will never change — but we can at least stop pretending he’s someone we should celebrate and admire.

To share: webworm.co/desperatedave

January 8: Missive From The Fires

2025 is off to what we could only expect from 2025, I guess. The thing I am finding a little difficult to figure out (and I am going to explain this clunkily) is exactly what to be concerned about. There is a certain sense of unrealness to the world at the moment. Ideas feel hard to grip, somehow. Putting it another way, there is too much to be concerned about, and it makes my brain hurt.

To share: webworm.co/missivefromthefires

January 26: If It Looks Like a Nazi & Quacks Like a Nazi…

We’re in another place now where, for whatever reason, humans are actively choosing to embrace the slip en masse, putting all critical thinking skills aside and cowering to the system we find ourselves trapped in. And that brings us to Elon Musk’s Nazi salute. His two Nazi salutes.

To share: webworm.co/lookslikeaduck

February 17: "I’ve Seen Enough: Donald Trump is the Antichrist

We all owe the evangelicals an apology. The agnostics like me were wrong. The atheists, as they always suspected, were complete idiots. The Antichrist is here, and he’s wearing fake tan. Isn’t that good news? Revelation 14 describes what will happen next. Jesus will return to usher in the new kingdom. The beast will be thrown into the lake of fire. Meanwhile, those who wore his mark upon their forehead will “drink the wine of the Lord’s fury”.

“They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name,” says The Holy Bible. Not ideal, but fair’s fair. Maybe hide your MAGA hat if you see the skies parting.

To share: webworm.co/antichrist

April 24: The Men Commenting on Lorde

I spent some time trawling through the social media pages of various New Zealand news sites. I found their posts sharing stories about Lorde’s new song and performance, and then I looked at the comments section.

There were some fans in there, but largely it’s New Zealand men (and some women) taking to their keyboards for some reckons. If you click through into their profiles, you often see they have partners. Some of them have kids. Sons. Daughters.

That is to say, they’re not in a vacuum — they have people around them, they understand society a little — and yet they find what they say online perfectly acceptable. And while I don’t like focussing on people’s physical appearance, it can’t be denied that these men all have a certain vibe.

webworm.co/mencommentingonlorde

April 28: "You and me need to hang out. As in, just us 2!”

This piece is about how a church youth group leader in Melbourne abused children in his care  - and how years later, they sought justice. These stories are important to tell, even if they don’t technically serve this Webworm project well: 3 new people decided to sign up to pay for Webworm after reading it, and 14 people cancelled.

To share: webworm.co/citylifemelbourne

June 8: Tear Gas & Rubber Bullets: The National Guard Has Moved In

Rubber bullets pelted and hit, and tear gas canisters rocketed through the sky. I was far from the front line but I couldn’t see and everything burnt and everyone was yelling, coughing, screaming. That’s the audio you hear at the end, if you’re listening along.

But, in all of it, defiance. That guy I was talking about earlier — the one telling them they were short and bald and had small dicks and wore glasses — he was right up the front, metres from them. I talked to him after — he was 24, and brave as hell. Some kid who worked at a local university paper got a blast direct to the face, too. In all of this shit, it was nice to be reminded that everyone here cared.

To share: webworm.co/teargasandrubberbullets

June 15: The Life and Death of Alex

Angel — who perhaps knew Alex more than many — has been reflecting on RNZ’s story too. About how their friend was portrayed, and how that portrayal has now spread like wildfire across social media.

“As somebody who has experience with welfare systems and their typical standard of care, many people die like this because these systems favour those who speak out and advocate for themselves over those who suffer quietly. But even though Alex was afraid of being controlled and abused and hid his disorder, he wanted to live and be himself and be free, and he expressed this countless times. At no point did he ever renounce his identity or blame it for his eating disorder or vice versa. This was not a phase for him or a case of a teenage girl coping with heartbreak and trauma. His account made it clear that he was traumatized and that things got significantly worse after he came out as trans. Recovery and healing starts in the home. Alex deserved a home.”

Alex deserved a home, and so many other things. Things he openly spoke about online.

“I'd like to get a well-paying job, travel the world, live in Hawaii, somehow get over my fucking awful procrastination habits and get really damn book smart, get PHD's and degrees in something (Engineering?? Physics??), possibly physically transition, and get a girlfriend lmao.”

Alex deserved the future he’d dreamed of.

To share: webworm.co/lifeanddeathofalex

August 25: Tunnel Girl

"I do live in a predominantly minority neighborhood, and so there was this whole line of logic that this is a racist project. That it is being done purposefully in a minority neighborhood where people are not likely to contact the authorities, and it's putting all of their lives at risk. That it is creating these environmental health hazards. 

And then from that, it became a rumor that I was threatening to have people deported. And that never happened, but that was a rumor that went around and that got millions and millions of views. And I got so many hate comments, and hate mail, and people coming around and taking pictures of the house with bad intentions. It was terrifying."

To share: webworm.co/tunnelgirl

September 8: "He’s The Devil”

“You need to know man, like the story is so much worse than people know yet. And it's so much deeper. Literally yesterday [August 29] the detectives that are investigating had come by to pick up - and here's the thing, it could be a coincidence - but there's been four different calibers of bullets left on our doorstep since the story dropped. I threw away the first one because I thought it was an accident, but then I kept the next three.”

Link: webworm.co/thedevil

September 25: The Bravest Person I Know

Things go on, now. She will do amazing things. I don't think she realises how strong she is, and of what she showed everyone in that court this week: That we're capable of being so much bigger than we ever imagined. She could consume entire planets, this woman.

Link: webworm.co/bravest

November 12: Am Grateful

I ended up face to face with the guy who pops up in my dreams from time to time. I want to write "nightmares", but that sounds too dramatic. We'll call him Dr D (I don't want to get sued this year). He struck me as about 80 years old when he walked in and looked at my MRI, not once making eye contact. As he stared at the images, I stared at his filthy lab coat. What was that sticking to it? After a few minutes – still not meeting my gaze – he told me I'd never be the same again.

He said I needed a spinal fusion, and not just one – but several. And soon. As if to hammer home the point, he said if I didn't get it now I'd walk back into his office in six months in even more pain, and more crippled. I freaked out.

Link: webworm.co/grateful

Reader Feedback (Thankyou)

A: Thanks for all that you do to expose things that just aren’t right in the world, as well as the interesting stuff like the ‘Tunnel Girl’. I always love seeing a new Webworm in my inbox and am one happy subscriber.

K: Will gladly be renewing. You are a sane voice in this insane world. I enjoy reading your work - it is somehow comforting, even when you are exposing the crazies. 

J: I wanted to send you a mihi and say kia kaha. My partner put me onto your work a while ago and we both read your newsletter every week. We carry a paid subscription in the house to support you and second so we can both read immediately but I can see it’s tough. That said, we need you more than ever because it’s a really weird and quite awful time in Aotearoa and the USA at the moment and the bad guys aren’t even lying and pretending they’re good anymore. But your truth telling around fascism, the rights of trans people and exploitation in megachurches is like gold shining out from the pile of shit. We need more of you - artists, healers, truth tellers - in times like this, especially for te ao Māori, which is taking a hammering in mainstream media (always but particularly) recently. Please know that your mahi is seen and appreciated as a voice of reason amongst the nonsensical words and that still means something to some people. You’re amazing, keep up the amazing work - mahi tika ana!

E: I've thought about writing to you for bloody ages. I don't have anything groundbreaking to say, I just get this hard jolt of recognition in almost every article I read and this line (from ‘The Curious Case of Robert Purchase’) gave me the final push:

“As journalists, we enter into things with an air of good-will. Our starting point is not assuming we are definitely being lied to. And then stuff like this happens.”

After many years of dealing with the most insidious psychological abuse and fucked-up behaviour from a man I unfortunately can't completely escape, I finally managed to let go of my guilt around feeling responsible for the situation because I 'chose' to have a child with him. And that line was the epiphany. I assume people are telling me the truth and give them the benefit of the doubt. Because assuming everyone is lying all the time would be fucking exhausting, right? And weird! I don't want to be that person.

S: We appreciate you and I’m not going anywhere! You give me faith in journalism and just general hope in humans.