Webworm with David Farrier
17 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★★ - 29 ratingsJoin journalist and documentary filmmaker David Farrier as he explores various rabbit holes, trying to make sense of the increasingly mad world around him.
www.webworm.co
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Episodes
Calvin Reviews Lord of The Rings
May 08, 2024 16:07 - 7 minutes - 4.96 MBCalvin is seven, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. In today's podcast, Calvin watches and then immediately reviews Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I hope you enjoy it. It’s Calvin, being interviewed by his dad Rob. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.webworm.co/subscribe
Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
March 18, 2024 16:46 - 7 minutes - 4.88 MBWebworm regular Hayden Donnell with an essay about the incompetent executive class. Much has been written about the structural factors accelerating the media’s demise. Tech giants have hoovered up its ad revenue like the sandworms from Dune. Its audiences have migrated to TikTok, or worse, X, where they routinely mistake the deranged inner monologue of @MAGAJackie28743781 for objective journalism. Less has been written about the incompetence of the media’s executives. Vice was home to some...
Webworm Goes Behind the Scenes as John Cameron Attempts a Comeback
June 15, 2023 16:39 - 20 minutes - 14.1 MBEpisode 14: In this episode, David Farrier reads some feedback from Webworm readers, before Hayden Donnell witnesses the "comeback" of Arise's John Cameron, as John attempts to speak in tongues. This is a look at how Pentecostal Christians tend to be a tight club - and how staging a comeback is part and parcel of anyone's fall. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.webworm.co/subscribe
I talk to the guy behind Paul T Goldman, 2023's best documentary
January 25, 2023 17:04 - 45 minutes - 20.7 MBEpisode 13: "I talk to the guy behind Paul T Goldman, 2023's best documentary". David chats with Jason Woliner, creator and director of Peacock's PAUL T GOLDMAN. Visit www.webworm.co for more, and to join journalist David Farrier's Webworm community. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.webworm.co/subscribe
The Life and Death of P22
December 18, 2022 22:21 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MBEpisode 11: "The Life and Death of P22". A mountain lion walked the streets outside my house, and now it's dead. I'm curious what this fact says about us, and our relationship to nature. This includes an interview with journalist Rob Chaney, author of The Grizzly in the Driveway. For more details see https://www.webworm.co/p/episode11 This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.webworm.co/subscribe
“I was shot with two arrows — first in my stomach, second in my chest — by a man in the depths of the jungle.”
December 15, 2022 16:59 - 20 minutes - 13.8 MBEpisode 10: "I was shot with two arrows — first in my stomach, second in my chest — by a man in the depths of the jungle." In this episode I read an essay by New Zealander Matt Scheurich, who back in 2011 found himself face to face with death after being shot by two arrows. He writes about the experience, and how it changed his ideas about death. See www.webworm.co for more details. Note: this podcast contains coarse language — if you’re listening with the kids in the car, maybe drop the aud...
Podcast: Webworm, Arise!
November 17, 2022 18:17 - 1 hour - 137 MBWebworm’s first ever live event, Webworm, Arise! Earlier this month around 400 Webworm readers packed into Auckland’s St Matthew-in-the-City for a cathartic night that looked to unpack and reflect on Webworm's megachurch reporting over the last year. Kiri Allan chaired a panel on Arise and megachurch culture, consisting of Hayden Donnell (Journalist and Webworm regular), Michael Frost (former megachurch staffer and host of the In The Shift podcast) Reverend Frank Richie (who recently publish...
Arise & Me: Not a Love Story
October 16, 2022 17:46 - 27 minutes - 38.1 MBEpisode 8: Arise & Me: Not a Love Story. It’s been a while since we talked about Arise megachurch. I figured it was time for an update. I also became curious what Arise leaders, and the board, thought of me since I started writing about them in April of last year. I am not a mindreader, so I decided to do the next best thing: I made a Privacy Act request, asking for all Arise emails, texts and electronic correspondence mentioning “Webworm” or “David Farrier.” All Webworm and reporting about ...
“I've been on the run since 2014. I try & keep myself a moving target”
November 15, 2021 18:32 - 19 minutesHi, Hope the weekend went well. I had a blast reading your stories under my secret societies newsletter. Especially loved this from Steff: “In university I won a ‘Freemason’s Scholarship’, which is hilarious because I had to go to an interview with 10 masons — and I’d just seen the movie From Hell, and all I wanted to talk about was conspiracy theories. I won, and I got invited to attend a dinner at their Auckland lodge with my mum and my best friend. So we go off to find the bathroom, and...
“I've been on the run since 2014. I try & keep myself a moving target”
November 15, 2021 18:32 - 19 minutesHi, Hope the weekend went well. I had a blast reading your stories under my secret societies newsletter. Especially loved this from Steff: “In university I won a ‘Freemason’s Scholarship’, which is hilarious because I had to go to an interview with 10 masons — and I’d just seen the movie From Hell, and all I wanted to talk about was conspiracy theories. I won, and I got invited to attend a dinner at their Auckland lodge with my mum and my best friend. So we go off to find the bathroom, an...
Episode 6: Imprisoned in a system that won’t let us act
August 20, 2021 18:13 - 18 minutesHi, I had my first surfing lesson this month. I wasn’t very good. It started off okay: I was pretty good at paddling, and smashing through some (tiny) waves to get out. I managed to keep by surf board straight, and I could up sit up and turn around pretty quickly. I could even paddle and catch a wave. The problem was standing up. How in God’s name are you meant to stand up? What, you’re meant to go from this wonderful lying down position to magically standing and balancing while a wave th...
Episode 6: Imprisoned in a system that won’t let us act
August 20, 2021 18:13 - 18 minutesHi, I had my first surfing lesson this month. I wasn’t very good. It started off okay: I was pretty good at paddling, and smashing through some (tiny) waves to get out. I managed to keep by surf board straight, and I could up sit up and turn around pretty quickly. I could even paddle and catch a wave. The problem was standing up. How in God’s name are you meant to stand up? What, you’re meant to go from this wonderful lying down position to magically standing and balancing while a wave t...
Episode 5: The Webworm Podcast - Covid madness
August 12, 2021 18:01 - 20 minutesHi, I’ve decided to launch a Webworm podcast, and I wanted you to be the first to know about it. God, how many times that phrase been uttered: “I’ve decided to launch a podcast.” Good Lord. Okay — so let me explain the “Episode 5” thing. When Webworm started, I experimented with four podcast episodes last year. I’ll list those at the end, as they’re all available along with today’s episode. But as of today I formally, officially and excitedly launch the audio component to Webworm! I’m ...
Episode 4: I love "The Boys" because it features a psychopath with strong hints of Trump
September 03, 2020 19:05 - 26 minutesIn today’s Webworm I talk to Ant Starr, fellow New Zealander and star of The Boys — one of my favourite graphic novels, and more recently — favourite TV shows. It’s the antidote to every Marvel film ever made in that it’s surprisingly violent, incredibly dark, and fucking funny. And my friend Ant plays Homelander, an All-American psychopath who reminds me a lot of Donald Trump. I am not alone in this: “A lot of my character has been based on Donald J Trump, so there is a lot of that extr...
Episode 3: Make up something fucking new, so that I can actually give a shit!
August 26, 2020 19:02 - 35 minutesThese are the words of Joseph Uscinski, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Miami. I spoke to Joe for Webworm, and our conversation made me wonder if things aren’t quite as fucked up as they seem. So I guess today’s newsletter is… hopeful, somehow? Joe Uscinski wrote American Conspiracy Theories (an excellent book) and as you probably gathered from the title, he’s very passionate about conspiracy theories. He’s a member of the University of Miami U-LINK team, ...
Episode 2: Sloppy Nonsense
August 16, 2020 18:51 - 30 minutesIn this Webworm episode, I talk to science fiction writer Sonny Whitelaw — who after writing some Stargate books, discovered some fans thought Stargate was very, very real. We discuss what this says about conspiracy theory culture in 2020. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.webworm.co/subscribe
Episode 1: a week of conspiratorial madness
August 14, 2020 02:00 - 23 minutesThis was not planned; it was not expected. But I turned my mic on, and just decided to reflect back on this unhinged week of conspiratorial madness. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.webworm.co/subscribe