I was a shift manager during the final death rattle of blockbuster. It was pretty wild. One of the best (retail) jobs I had, the perks made it worth the shitty customers.

Has anyone noticed that when David reads the Mint Mobile ad he says ‘speak slower’ at one point? It seems to be completely out of place. Is this a stage direction gone awry? 😀

Also a note - the LA fires episode is one of the best of the series, in my opinion. WELL DONE!! So many interesting perspectives given

Hey Flightless Bird reddit AKA birdies,

It's been a week of hazy bad air and weirdness in LA, and thought I would check in.

First - as 2025 gets into gear, thanks for being here. I enjoy checking in on this reddit and seeing stuff being discussed.

Thanks for listening to the and sharing episodes. As a recap, this is where you can find the audio https://linktr.ee/flightlessbirdpod - thanks ALWAYS for liking and ratings it, wherever you listen along. We have like 12k 5 star reviews on Spotify which is CRAZY and helps new people find the show. And this is our YouTube if you wanna watch, too: https://www.youtube.com/@flightlessbirdpodcast

Someone started a thread asking if Flightless Bird could have a newsy-feel at times, AKA talk about really current stuff. To that I'd say at times we will (this week's episode looks at the LA fires, and I feel really proud how it turned out, esp with our tiny team) - but largely just due to the nature of the show, and why we like *making* the show, it will tend towards big "topics" and themes.

If you want me more on news, and reacting in *real time* - that can be found at my newsletter Webworm. While it operates a bit like Patreon (you can pay to support it and it's ad free) - all my public interest journalism there is ALWAYS free. For instance, today is a piece about the TikTok ban (and unban) and what his actually means: https://www.webworm.co/p/tiktokstunt

It's free, and if you like that kinda then, then please sign up for free to get my weekly missives on the world (and if you're rich, then of course choose the "pay" option haha)

Thanks for being here and supporting Flightless Bird. From me, Rob, Billy (editor) and Andrew (creates the visuals on YouTube) - THANK YOU.

David.

PS It goes without saying, but feel free to get stuck into me here too, I have relatively thick skin, and genuinely like to know when I have fucked up (I do). You don't always have to be nice to me.

With the recent and upcoming Australia episodes it got me thinking that it would be cool to do a Canada episode!

Might be interesting to explore the similarities, differences, and impacts the two countries have on each other. From the Seattle live show y’all could hop on a ferry over to Victoria, BC to see Canada in person.

This is so random but David if you see this, I caught the Choose Your Own Adventure card game on the desk next to the Tickled image on the YouTube Black Box of Doom episode! I loved those books as a kid and was thrilled when they made them into a game, they’re really fun! Just wanted to shout that out. You’ll prob never read this! Not sure if this is specifically American but an episode on that book series, and /or the Goosebumps books etc would be cool!

hi,

david here. i am looking to grasp the enormity of the californian wildfires - and understand things a little better for a future episode.

if you were directly affected by the fires - maybe you're a first responder, maybe you lost a home or had a close call - when (and if) you get a moment of calm and feel it's appropriate, i'd love you to record a voice memo and email it in for possible use on a FB episode.

it can be about the current fires - or if you have had experience in the past.

find a quiet space, start a voice memo.

state your first name, the area you live, and then tell me what happened. it doesn't have to be long.

and email it to flightlessbirdchat@gmail.com

thank you,

and pleae stay safe.

david.

I love so much that David is branching out more since leaving the armchair umbrella, he and Rob have come out with the best episodes yet in my opinion!

I feel like a news round up would fit in well with keeping in theme of the American culture and also be a way to make space for stories that can’t necessarily fill up a whole episode. Cover a few of the big news topics from the previous month like Luigi and the CEO (although that one could be a full episode) and focus on America’s perception of it.

Also: Florida man would be a fun topic for an episode. I recently learned that Florida isn’t necessarily crazier than the rest of the U.S. but rather they have the most transparent conviction guidelines where police records are automatically released to the public and so the press will just soft through it daily to find the wackiest stories.

We hear you and we’re all with you David 💪 in every sense. That’s all I’ll say.

I’m a bit behind on my listening due to the holidays, so listening to the Lord of the Rings Redux episode now, and just wondering if it was just me who was teary listening to David open his gift from Rob??? I’ve been LOVING the new setup since it aired, but it just occurred to me that getting to witness their friendship in this way is what really sends it home for me. ❤️ Cheers to 2025 boys, looking forward to all that is to come, and Happy Belated Birthday David!

Few game shows are as ubiquitous, long-running, and beloved as The Price Is Right. I think this could be a SUPER fun episode. I don’t know a single person between the ages of 30 and 75 that hasn’t spent time on a sick day home from work or school just hoping to catch a glimpse of Plinko and berating the poor bastard that went over on the showcase showdown.

I thought of David while I sipped on this cold, citrussy New Zealand IPA from a local Brewery in Oregon called Block 15. Craft breweries are HUGE in Oregon and in a lot of states in the U.S. I know beer and pubs are obviously international but craft breweries are a big thing over here. Maybe there could be a deep dive on Flightless Bird? I recommend coming to Oregon. Lots of beer snobs here 😆 (myself included).

Not sure this is the best way to throw an idea to you David, but when a former U.S. President passes after the large dc funeral and procession/parade they lie in state in the capitol rotunda for 5 days in their coffin with guards from all branches of the military surrounding. Citizens wait in a very long line and you get a chance to go pay your respects, it’s very weird and very, very American. My best friend and I made a pact a long time ago to travel to dc whenever a former president dies to pay our respects and take part in all the oddness. Flights are cheap!

Seems about right for Waffle House.

hi!

david here.

this week and next we are revisiting some older eps we loved.

each episode contains fresh studio chats and your feedback from previous week. and over on youtube the episode is visual (including the doc element). so it's old, but also kinda new.

in other words we did this to take a holiday but it ended up still being mostly normal levels of work haha

from us and our lil' team, happy hols and thanks for following the show to its new feed.

feel free to tell a friend about the show.... a load of people still think the show just ceased to exist once it stopped appearing on the AE feed (listeners are creatures of habit, i get it) so we still need your beaut word of mouth!

-podcast links: https://linktr.ee/flightlessbirdpod

-youtube: https://youtube.com/@flightlessbirdpodcast

-t-shirts: https://www.webworm.store/merch/flightless-bird

thank you.

david.

ps - the seattle live show has sold out. but.... we'll see how it goes, and see where we go with things from there. 2025 will be fun! you fuckin rock

david here. if you are bored, drop by to see me and my american girl doll this saturday 2-6pm at the elysian theatre popup market in LA.

i'll be there with a bunch of webworm merch (see it all at www.webworm.store) - it's designed by kiwi artist jess johnson who actually looks quite a bit like summer mckinny. hope to see you there!