Getting tear gassed by the National Guard fucking sucks. Everything stings, you can’t breathe, and you can’t see. You can hear just fine — the almost comical pop-pop-pop of more tear gas canisters arcing over the crowd. It strikes you how everyone has their own unique cough; their own way of sounding when they splutter. Like many of you, last night I heard that Donald Trump was allegedly sending 2000 members of the National Guard to LA , all with the purpose of stopping the terrible violent prot...
Jun 09, 2025•15 min
Hi, Tear gas in the air, a lot of coughing. A lot of guns. And anger. But so far, peace. I’ll be going live throughout the day here on Webworm . If you have the app, you’ll automatically see when I go live. UPDATE, 7.45pm PT: For anyone who missed the lives — the quality was pretty patchy, so I have summed up my experiences and interviews (with much better audio) here : David. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ww...
Jun 08, 2025•9 min
I wanted to share the short audio documentary I created for Flightless Bird about the execution of a quite possibly innocent man, Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams. I travelled to Jefferson City, Missouri, as both the victim’s family and the original prosecutor in the case urged lawmakers to halt the execution — saying terrible mistakes had been made in the case. This was all based on the reporting I did for Webworm back in September last year . Some of you are Flightless Bird listeners and will ha...
Jun 02, 2025•35 min
In this Webworm podcast, a story I've been working on for some time. Just over a year ago — in March of 2024 — I got an email from Jake. He had a story he wanted to tell, and he wanted to find a way to tell it that could help others. A warning, of sorts. And so over the last year, as a court case played out — I’ve been working on this story. It takes place in and around CityLife church in Melbourne. And while this story is a warning, I also think it’s a story about the truth, justice, and pushin...
Apr 28, 2025•25 min
Something is killing the birds in a sleepy Auckland suburb. The locals are on a witch hunt. Alexandria Edwards was playing Pokemon Go in her car when she saw the sparrows. Dozens of them were strewn in various states of stupor on the grass nearby. Some had passed out. Others were struggling and failing to fly. Magpies were swooping at the ones who couldn’t get away. She got out to shoo the bigger birds. Help arrived promptly. A call had gone out on the local Facebook community page. Come down, i...
Mar 27, 2025•7 min
Today's guest essay is from Kath: It’s a tough time for librarians at the moment. Here in Aotearoa we’ve just recently seen an Auckland library hosting a science performance (about the weather of all things) by a drag king stormed by black shirted thugs instructed by their leader to “shut it down”. The United States is currently facing the highest rate of attempted book bans it has ever faced, even to the attempt to criminalise librarians who loan these books. Libraries around the world are fiel...
Mar 17, 2025•6 min
Today on Webworm I wanted you to share a conversation between two New Zealanders raised by parents who embraced Focus on the Family. Because Focus on the Family travelled far beyond America. It went global — and during the 80s and 90s in particular, millions of kids were raised in the ways of Dr James Dobson. Michael Frost and Shane Meyer-Holt are my friends, and run a podcast called In The Shift , in which they discuss coming to terms with exiting a very certain breed of Christianity. They are ...
Mar 04, 2025•14 min
An essay from Hayden Donnell arguing that according to the Bible, Donald Trump is definitely the antichrist. Hayden urges us to engage in some heavy duty Hail Marys, because if recent events have taught us anything, it’s that being an irredeemable moron with a repellant personality and the countenance of a salamander wearing human skin is, if anything, an asset when it comes to inflicting misery on a global scale. See you in the comments at https://www.webworm.co This is a public episode. If you...
Feb 17, 2025•7 min
I was still working for TV3 news and living in New Zealand, but had found myself in LA, working on the final stages of Tickled . I knew Cornell had an upcoming solo show back in New Zealand, so I’d reached out to the music label to see if could get an interview. He said yes. And on a Sunday morning in 2015, on a day off, Chris Cornell drove across town to my hotel and sat down for a 30 minute interview. There was no junket hotel, no label people — just a musician driving out of their way to meet...
Feb 11, 2025•28 min
Webworm can report that a man has been charged with “sexual assault by compelling sexual touching” and “public nuisance” in Melbourne, Australia. The charges were laid on Monday. Webworm has been in touch with the latest victim, who outlined an M.O. that sounded all too familiar: A man fell down in front of him, appeared to be having spasms, then asked to be sat on and restrained him. The man has been released on bail and will appear in Court on April 24. This is a public episode. If you'd like ...
Feb 05, 2025•30 min
A short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini . It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now. "I finished making this video essay a couple of days before the fires took over wide swaths of Los Angeles, where I live. And while it might not seem directly connected—the assassination of a healthcare CEO and wildfires ravaging LA — after walking through the wreckage of the Altadena fire to survey the damage of my friend’s home, I couldn’t help but fe...
Jan 11, 2025•7 min
My friend loaded about a year’s worth of our text history into Google’s AI ( privacy, what privacy? ) — and instructed the AI to create a podcast about me based on those texts. That’s what today’s podcast is — just a couple of AI people talking to each other about me, based on nothing but a text thread between me and my friend. It’s truly awful and I told Aaron as much. On top of this Joshua Drummond shares his latest big of art around New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. This is a publ...
Oct 01, 2024•12 min
A conversation with someone I find endlessly fascinating to talk to — one of my favourite authors, Jason Pargin. He’s perhaps most well known for writing John Dies At The End , or a host of other books that all have amazing titles including This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It, What the Hell Did I Just Read , and If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe . His latest comes out this week , and is called — in true Jason style — I Am Starting to Worry About This Bla...
Sep 23, 2024•42 min
When I was 14 I was obsessed with a band called Creed. I’d come home from school, and the first thing I’d do is go to my room, shut my door, get out my discman, and put on Creed’s 1997 album My Own Prison. Now, 27 years later I attend my first Creed show... where I find a lot of support for Donald Trump. 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...
Sep 04, 2024•10 min
Today’s Webworm is a podcast episode which tells the story of Barry. More specifically, it’s a story about Barry as told by my neighbor and friend Noah. Noah lived with Barry for six years, first as a housemate and then as a friend. This all seems pretty normal, until you realise that Barry was about 50 years older than Noah. I guess you could say it’s more a story of friendship, but one based on a fairly big secret. As usual, I will be in the comments all week at www.webworm.co if you listen an...
Aug 25, 2024•58 min
I’ve been thinking a lot about Corey Harris, the 44-year old man who went viral after Zooming into his court appearance while driving. The headlines generated were basically all the same: “ Man With Suspended Driver's License Dials Into Court Hearing While Driving”. The video of Corey’s confused expressions went viral on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok — no-one really stopping to think why he looked so confused. He looked confused because a judge ordered his driving suspension be lifted over two ...
Jun 04, 2024•5 min
Calvin 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...
May 08, 2024•7 min
The internet isn’t just full of bad ideas: It’s dying . The idea of a dead internet isn’t new, and full disclosure — it started life as its own conspiracy theory. Dead Internet Theory posits that most of the internet is just bots — and that these bots are being used to manipulate the human population. While I don’t see some grand scheme playing out online to infect the internet with garbage, I think it’s happening organically and it’s happening fast . This is a public episode. If you'd like to d...
Apr 11, 2024•9 min
This is a conversation between Webworm's David Farrier, and his friend Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. 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...
Mar 23, 2024•16 min
Webworm 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 of t...
Mar 18, 2024•7 min
Episode 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...
Jun 15, 2023•20 min
Episode 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...
Jan 25, 2023•45 min
Episode 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...
Dec 18, 2022•16 min
Episode 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 audio d...
Dec 15, 2022•20 min
Episode 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 ab...
Oct 16, 2022•28 min
Hi, 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 she g...
Nov 15, 2021•19 min
Hi, 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 threatens...
Aug 20, 2021•18 min
Hi, 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 going ...
Aug 12, 2021•20 min
These 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, which c...
Aug 26, 2020•36 min
In 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...
Aug 16, 2020•31 min
