"In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand why Americans love leaf blowers so much. Plagued by leaf blowers around his tiny one bedroom apartment,

David attempts to reach President Joe Biden to discuss leaf blower use at the White House. Failing miserably, he has to settle for another politician - also powerful - Pleasentville Village Trustee, Nicole Asquith. Why are various cities and States attempting to phase out gas guzzling leaf blowers, and what are they so dangerous? David speaks to Seattle Met magazine journalist Benjamin Cassidy, who recently wrote about the Seattles leaf blower turf war, before musing on American’s obsession with the perfect lawn.

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"In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand one of America’s grandest animals, the Grizzly Bear. Emblazoned on the California flag and seal, what does this giant predator have to say about the American people? David discovers that animals kill about 400 Americans every year… how many of those deaths involve bears? To get some perspective on this often misunderstood creature, David sits down with journalist and newspaper editor Rob Chaney, who wrote an incredible book about Grizzlies called “The Grizzly in the Driveway”. What are the main misconceptions about the Grizzly bear, and why does the population of Grizzlies in major parts of America still face being wiped out? Why can other countries co-exist with this giant beast yet America is still struggling? David also learns about how to best protect yourself from a Grizzly attack, what happens to the human body in a Grizzly attack, and why despite their size this spectacular megafauna” still tends to come out the loser when it comes to humans.

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In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to find the perfect turkey, and in doing so discovers what Thanksgiving is all about. Somehow, Farrier gets acclaimed celebrity chef Michael Voltaggio to cook him, Dax, Monica and Rob a full Thanksgiving meal - which involves a lot of turkey, sides, stuffing and pies. Voltaggio and Farrier discuss turkey jacuzzis, and where Michael can be found most Thanksgivings. Puzzled by the origins of Thanksgiving, David talks to Crystal EchoHawk, founder & Executive Director of illuminative.org - to find out the real origins of Thankgiving and how to best spend the Holiday - including just checking an app like Native Land to clock the history of the land we live on. Kristen and Dax smell the turkey in the air and decide to show up for a tasty Voltaggio meal - and the whole Flightless Bird team gives thanks.

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand the American airport, and what makes it tick. Why are the top seven busiest airports in the world all based in America, and what does that mean for the traveler? David sets off for the world’s third business airport - Denver - to dig into the various conspiracy theories surrounding the airport. Why does it greet passengers with a giant terrifying mustang with glowing red eyes, and did it really kill the artist who made it? David descends into the huge underground network of tunnels under the airport to find out what’s really going on there, and tries to find answers to the strange, apocalyptic artwork on display at the terminals.

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David sets out to understand American Network News, and the country’s obsession with rolling 24/7 news coverage. Why does the Fox News Channel average more total viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined, and how is American TV news faring in the wake of Twitter and TikTok? David talks to Stacy Scholder, a professor at the University of Southern California who teaches TV journalism. What is she teaching the next generation of TV journalists, and what was it like covering OJ Simpson’s escape on the LA freeway? He also meets Victor Vlam, a 38 year old man in the Netherlands who has the biggest collection of news theme songs on the planet. Why does he have 876 hours, 2 minutes and 52 seconds of news music? Victor explains the importance of news theme music, and what it says about the news you’re about to hear. What’s the best news theme song, and the worst?

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand why Americans say “math”, while New Zealand - and most of the rest of the world - says “maths”. He speaks to Dean Koorey about the mysteries of language, before stumbling into the depths of math/maths and the perils of the metric system. How many ounces in a pound? How many pounds are in a stone? And why is America stuck using the imperial system when the rest of the planet loves the sensible metric system? Farrier is shocked to find that NASA once lost a space probe thanks to a metric conversion disaster, and meets with aerospace engineer Omar Abed to get to the bottom of the mess.

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets to understand where the heck Halloween came from, a holiday which generates over $10 billion in retails sales in the US each year. Why does an average American spend $60 on the scary day, and is it more tied in with paganism, Christianity, or scary monsters? David meets with Regina Hansen - a writer and scholar who teaches at Boston University - to talk about why we used to carve turnips instead of pumpkins, before calling up professor of philosophy and religion Justin Sledge to talk horror movies. Finally, David decides to use the spooky season to try and communicate with a ghost that’s been waking him up every morning at 3am.

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand why America - despite all its advancements in innovation and technology - has decided to stick with the puzzling shower curtain. Why, while countries like New Zealand embrace the shower door, is America stuck in a long-term love affair with the fabric (or sometimes plastic) mistress? David calls his old friend Harvey from the Toilets episode to discuss American showering habits, before spending the day with the self-proclaimed “Glass Queen” who spends her days removing shower curtains and replacing them with glistening shower doors. He talks to professor David Schmidt about his complex mathematical simulations of shower curtains, to discover why the shower curtain insists on sticking to your body while you shower. Maybe this is a clue to why 66% of Americans shower daily, compared with 80% of Australians… and why 10 million Americans shower once a week or less.

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to understand the Amish, a group of Swiss Germans slash Alsatians that chose America as their home away from home. Why does a country that embraces fast cars, fast money, and fast food also embrace the very slow-moving Amish? David discovers why back in 2000 there were only 178,000 Amish in the US, and why that number has climbed to well over 367,000 - an increase of 106%. David sits down with Susan Trollinger, a professor from the University of Dayton, to talk about Amish tourism and culture. He also talks to Misty Griffin, who wrote a book critical of the Amish called “Tears of the Silenced” and consulted on the Peacock documentary “Sins of the Amish.” She discusses why she had a terrible time being Amish and the problems she says exist in the Amish community.

In this week’s Flightless Bird, David Farrier embraces the American institution of game shows. He sets out to understand how in this time of high-caliber TV, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune still manages to pull in four million ahead of shows like Dateline, Undercover Boss, and Masterchef. David joins fellow kiwi Rhys Darby as he’s invited on Celebrity Family Feud - thrilled at the idea of meeting comic, actor, author, and Emmy Award-winning talk-show host Steve Harvey. Quickly David is shocked to learn he is not only attending a taping but also going on Family Feud as part of Rhys’ Kiwi “family.” Squaring off against actor and comedian Jay Pharoah (and Jay’s actual, real family), how will Rhys Darby and David Farrier cope? Will they be crushed or come out triumphant? Who will be the best team at guessing what the average American would answer? The American team or the New Zealand imports? Be warned: This episode quite possibly makes David the most American he’s ever been.