Leaf Blowers Revisited

Summary

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Flightless Bird – "Leaf Blowers Revisited" (Dec 24, 2024)

Host: David Farrier
Cohost: Rob
Guests: Nicole Asquith (Village Trustee, Pleasantville), Benjamin Cassidy (Seattle Met Magazine)

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Episode Overview

In this holiday episode, David Farrier, a New Zealander living in America, revisits one of Flightless Bird's most memorable topics: the American obsession with leaf blowers. With the team taking a break for the holidays (and David’s perpetually overshadowed Christmas birthday), this show offers a blend of nostalgia, updated reporting, and listener engagement. It examines the cultural, legislative, and environmental noise around leaf blowers, considers updates on bans and technology, and explores why Americans remain so fixated on pushing leaves from place to place.

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Main Discussion Points

1. The Kiwi Perspective on Leaf Blowers (00:35–02:46)

• Unique Experience: In New Zealand, leaf blowers are rare; Rob finds them novel rather than annoying.
  • “They seem like a novelty to me... I’d feel curious rather than annoyed.” – Rob (01:41)
• Leaf Slipping Story: Rob recounts once sliding on a wet leaf—a rare ‘hazard of unblown leaves’ (02:05).

2. David's Deepening Hatred (03:51–04:56)

• David’s frustration has only intensified since the original episode.
  • "If anything, my distaste for this pointless polluting machine has only increased tenfold, possibly a hundredfold." – David (03:57)
• Holidays marked by leaf blower noise rather than peace.

3. American Norms and Listener Feedback (05:02–05:44)

• Shoutout to overwhelming (often terrifying) feedback about American Girl dolls—"Please stop emailing in your American Girl doll photos because they're terrifying..." – David (05:08)
• The tendency to email horrifying vintage dolls, adding comic relief amidst the main topic.

4. American Leaf Blower Ownership and Habits (05:44–06:42)

• Ownership: One guest admits to owning an electric blower, mainly used for “host prep.”
• Where Do Leaves Go?: Often just into a corner or under a car—“They just kind of sit in the corner.” (06:29)

5. Leaf Blowers as a Daily Nuisance (06:42–08:55)

• Work Disruption: Leaf blowers commonly sabotage David’s recording days.
  • “Some days I just give up. Like Wednesdays, it's a big leaf blowing day.” (06:42)
• Safety & Annoyance: Concerns about distracted workers with blowers wandering into roads.

6. The Leaf Blower Mini-Documentary (07:42–13:24)

• Authentic Audio: Includes field recordings of blowers overwhelming David’s apartment.
  • “This puts me under tremendous pressure and stress because if I don't make this show… I'll become an illegal flightless bird.” (09:19)
• Environmental & Health Cost:
  • 30 minutes of gas blowing = 4,000 mile car trip in emissions (12:04)
  • Two-stroke engines emit gases and kick dust, pollen, chemicals—linked to asthma and cancer risks.
• Legislative Smokescreen:
  • Seattle has only a non-binding ‘resolution’ to phase out gas blowers—“Resolutions… are a statement… but not actually an enforceable policy.” – Benjamin Cassidy (13:24)
  • California legislation offers actual bans, but with a years-long delay.

7. American Lawn Culture & Peer Pressure (18:06–19:12)

• Cassidy and David connect American "leaflessness" to social pressure and the perfect-lawn aesthetic.
  • “It’s keeping up with your neighbor whether it’s real or imagined competition.” – Benjamin Cassidy (18:23)
• Satirical homage to “The Truman Show” (18:34): perfect fake American towns, perfect fake lawns.

8. Lexicon of Pointlessness – Nicole Asquith on the Challenges of Change (20:57–25:09)

• Noise is Universal: Even Pleasantville isn’t immune—from background to foreground noise.
• Pandemic Surge: Work-from-home brought greater awareness and complaints.
• Legislative Pushback:
  • Efforts to ban blowers have split communities in half.
  • “There was a strong contingent… that said this is a discrimination against landscapers.” – Nicole Asquith (25:19)
• Public Health & Inclusion:
  • Noise particularly bothers families with autistic children and others sensitive to constant sound.

Notable Quote

“Whatever it is disappears, it’s just going somewhere else.” – Nicole Asquith (24:51)

9. Law, Enforcement, and Loopholes (27:44–28:27)

• Enforcement is Mild: Violators are rarely punished—infractions may call the building department or (rarely) police.
• Persistence of Problem: Bans are tough to enforce and even tougher to ingrain when existing blowers are grandfathered in.

10. Updates Since the First Episode (30:37–32:59)

• California’s Ban (2024): Legal sales of gas blowers are over, but many old ones still in circulation (30:37).
  • “There’s definitely still like thousands of these things out in California doing their thing.” – David (31:06)
• Electric Blowers: Quieter, but still noisy; debate centers on whether any leaf movement is necessary.
• Argument for Fire Safety: Clearing leaves can mitigate wildfire risks—this is the first convincing rationale David hears (32:25).

11. Celebrity Outrage (33:05–34:55)

• Hugh Grant:

  “Anyone who uses a leaf blower or hires anyone else to use a leaf blower should have it rectally inserted.”
  – Hugh Grant (as relayed by David, 33:42)

• Cate Blanchett:

  “If I see a leaf blower, I will… I go from naught to a thousand... I cannot. It’s all that is wrong with the human race…”
  – Cate Blanchett (as relayed by David, 34:23)

• Both non-Americans, both shocked by American standards.

12. Living with Noise – Tolerance & Cultural Attitudes (35:21–36:48)

• Some Americans appreciate background city noise (trains, horns); absolute quiet feels unnatural to them.
• The sound of leaf blowers evokes exasperation—compared to the “uselessness” of constant car horns in NYC (36:24).

13. The Economics of Banning and Switching (37:13–44:49)

• Local government faces huge bills to replace fleets with electric versions (e.g., $476,000 in Greenwich for new blowers).
• New regulations appear, but entrenched habits (like Daylight Saving) die hard.
• Partisan split: David speculates Democrats support bans/conversion to electric, Republicans resist (39:28).
• Gas-powered power tools remain tempting for power and durability, especially in polluted cities like LA.

14. Philosophical Wrap-up: Is There Any Point? (41:47–45:33)

• No More Blowers?: David's unequivocal stance:

  "No, I want none." (41:53)

• Nature Should Reclaim: The presence of leaves is natural, provides ecological benefits, and doesn’t intrinsically harm lawns—aside from fire hazard exceptions.
• Mowing Paradox: Odd exception—David freely admits he likes mowing, despite its noise and supposed pointlessness.

15. Enduring Frustration and Technological Resilience (44:25–45:21)

• Gas blowers likely to last 10+ years—so noise and pollution will linger despite bans.
• Electric blowers often less powerful and need constant charging or corded power.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “They just kind of sit in the corner.” – Unknown Female Guest (06:29)
• “This puts me under tremendous pressure and stress because if I don't make this show each week, I'm pretty sure Dax will revoke my visa and I'll become an illegal flightless bird.” – David (09:19)
• “30 minutes of leaf blowing with a gas...is roughly the same as a 4,000 mile drive from Texas to Alaska.” – David (12:04)
• “Lawns themselves, I think, are a fascinating subject… we imported it from England... It’s just a really fascinating phenomenon.” – Nicole Asquith (25:19)
• “If I see a leaf blower, I will... I cannot. It's all that is wrong with the human race.” – Cate Blanchett (34:44)

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Notable Segments with Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------|--------------| | Intro chat & Kiwi perspective | 00:35–02:46 | | Rant about leaf blowers | 03:51–04:56 | | Listener feedback on dolls | 05:02–05:44 | | Electric vs. gas leaf blowers | 05:56–06:42 | | Sonic evidence: field recordings | 07:42–09:19 | | Health/environmental dangers | 12:04–13:24 | | California & Seattle legislation | 13:24–14:09 | | American lawn culture | 18:06–19:12 | | Nicole Asquith interview | 20:57–28:27 | | Fire hazard debate | 32:25–32:59 | | Celebrity rants (Grant, Blanchett) | 33:05–34:55 | | Greenwich government cost | 37:13–37:49 | | Philosophical wrap up | 41:47–45:33 | | Mower nostalgia/logic | 42:21–43:33 |

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Episode Tone

• Curious and Wry: David’s dry humor carries even the driest leaves into absurd territory.
• Self-deprecating: His own foibles—birthday woes, ghost stories—infuse warmth and humility.
• Sardonic and Analytical: Frequent joking contrast with stats and legislative details.
• Relatable: Listeners share in the bewilderment and exasperation, whether raised amidst blowers or not.

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Summary Takeaways

• Despite legislative movement (notably in California), gas-powered leaf blowers stubbornly persist—due to existing machines and a patchwork of weak or unenforced resolutions.
• The debate touches every theme: health, environment, urban design, class, and even personal identity (what kind of noise can you live with?).
• Celebrities from outside America are particularly astounded by America’s leaf obsession and noise tolerance.
• Americans—and David—may never fully resolve the tension between order and chaos, tidiness and nature, progress and pointless ritual.
• Leaf blowers are more than landscaping tools—they’re a symbol of uniquely American contradictions: progress at the expense of peace, order at the cost of nature, new laws haunted by old habits.

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For Next Time:

If you have stories about leaf blowers, fan mail, or episode ideas, email [e-mail].

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Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday (to David)!

Transcript

[Rob]

Oh, wow, look who came crawling back.

[David Farrier]

Hey, Roosevelt, how are you? You sound a little bit sleepy.

[Rob]

I'm having a little break from all my meetings today.

[David Farrier]

How many meetings have you had?

[Rob]

Let me think. 1, 2, 3, 4. 4 meetings.

[David Farrier]

And now a beautiful phone call from your friend David.

[Rob]

Yes, it's the cherry on the top of the cake.

[David Farrier]

I've got a confession to make. I'm calling for the podcast.

[Rob]

What about friendship?

[David Farrier]

We'll get to that. We'll get to that later. It's the important stuff first. Okay, so kind of to allow the podcast team to have a little holiday, we're revisiting an older episode, one that really resonated at the time and we're kind going to update it. It's the one about leaf blowers. Did you ever listen to that one?

[Rob]

I did listen to it.

[David Farrier]

You know, at its most basic, the episode is about America's obsession with leaf blowers and leaf blowing. And I'm just wondering, as a New Zealander, if you have any thoughts on leaf blowers.

[Rob]

Sorry, is that really loud?

[David Farrier]

What was that big bang?

[Rob]

There's some men on the roof and they're. I think they're like replacing the roof.

[David Farrier]

Maybe.

[Rob]

But they're throwing stuff off the side of it at the moment.

[David Farrier]

It adds some good texture to our chat.

[Rob]

Sorry, what was your question?

[David Farrier]

I was wondering if you had any thoughts on leaf blowers because they're not nearly as common in New Zealand.

[Rob]

Yeah, I think because I haven't had that experience that you've had, they seem like a novelty to me. Like if someone had one or was using one, I'd be. I'd feel curious rather than annoyed.

[David Farrier]

So I guess my other question for you, living in a country that hasn't embraced the leaf blower, have the unblown leaves in New Zealand caused you any problems?

[Rob]

Okay, well, I don't want to be pro leaf blower because I don't think I am, but I have slept on a leaf before. When it was raining and the leaf was wet and my shoes didn't have good grip.

[David Farrier]

Oh, that's awful. I'm sorry.

[Rob]

Well, it doesn't. It sounds like you're laughing, so not sure if you are sorry, but I think it was similar to a banana. You know, when people slip on a.

[David Farrier]

Banana, was it just one single leaf that you slipped on?

[Rob]

I think so. And it was on a concrete floor. But I didn't fall over. I just sort of slid along the pathway for a little bit. It was a bit shocking.

[David Farrier]

But you made a graceful recovery.

[Rob]

That time I did.

[David Farrier]

I'm David Farrier, a New Zealander accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure out what makes this country tick. Now, you may have not noticed, but tomorrow is a very big day. Possibly the biggest day. It's my birthday. Yes. So while many of you are out there celebrating Christmas Day in some form or another, I'm destined to spend yet another December 25th being ignored and outshone by one of the biggest holidays of the year. Maybe I will bake my own tiny birthday cake and sing myself Happy Birthday. Don't worry, I'll be fine. But let's not make this all about me. I wouldn't dare do that. To celebrate the holidays and to give the Flightless Bird team a little bit of time off this holiday week, Today we revisit one of our favorite episodes and discuss what's changed since it was first broadcast on the podcasting airwaves. From my perspective, very little has changed because I still have a deep hatred for of the leaf blower. If anything, my distaste for this pointless polluting machine has only increased tenfold, possibly a hundredfold. So prepare to have your peaceful holiday period ruined by the loud, grating, irritating, insufferable, galling, maddening sound of a leaf blower. Because this is the Leaf Blowers Redux episode.

[Rob]

Flightless.

[David Farrier]

Flightless Bird Touchdown in America. I'm a flyless bird.

[Rob]

Touchdown in America.

[David Farrier]

Hi, Rob, how are you? I'm good.

[Unknown Female Guest]

How are you?

[David Farrier]

I'm good. I felt myself getting fired up just reading that introduction to Leaf Blowers. I've just got back from Australia and New Zealand. Every morning I would wake up, it was peace because there were no leaf blowers.

[Unknown Female Guest]

You almost had your newscaster voice, but it was a little more angry.

[David Farrier]

It was coming on. It had been triggered. I want to say I think most of this episode is going to be the end when we discuss the feedback to American Girl. There is so much that has come in and I'm going to go through some of it. One thing I would like to say as a psa, please stop emailing in your American Girl doll photos because they're terrifying. Especially if you've got the one you had when you're a kid and you're saying, I don't want to see them too scary.

[Unknown Female Guest]

The old fashioned ones get the older.

[David Farrier]

The creepier, the amazing emails. Just please, no more photos.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, DM the photos. DM them and tag him in them, but not to our email address.

[David Farrier]

I'm wondering, Rob, if since we first talked about leaf Blowers, which would be years ago now. Have you had any other thoughts, experiences? Do you own a leaf blower?

[Unknown Female Guest]

I own a leaf. Glorious.

[David Farrier]

Of course you do. Electric or gas?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Electric.

[David Farrier]

That's good.

[Unknown Female Guest]

It's not super loud and I need an extension cord.

[David Farrier]

What are you blowing? You don't have a lot of trees. Do you have trees on your property?

[Unknown Female Guest]

We've got a big tree in the backyard.

[David Farrier]

Okay.

[Unknown Female Guest]

So I'm mostly using it. If we're having people over, I need to like blow the trees stuff off of the deck.

[David Farrier]

And where do the leaves bow onto the lawn?

[Unknown Female Guest]

To a corner somewhere.

[David Farrier]

So you blow them into a corner and they sort of sit in the corner or do you put them in a bin from that Point. Point.

[Unknown Female Guest]

They just kind of sit in the corner. Okay. And my driveway? Yeah, I'll sometimes just blow it down the driveway.

[David Farrier]

Okay. Fair.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Into the front part of my driveway where just like it goes under my car.

[David Farrier]

It still causes me problems, like voicing these little audio docs I do from my apartment. And some days I just give up. Like Wednesdays, it's a big leaf blowing day. And so I just know that day I can't record voiceover because there'll be about 10 of them out the window.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I think the thing for me with the leaf blowers is the guys leaf blowing usually are wandering very close to the street and it's loud. I feel like they don't hear cars coming. So half the time when I'm driving on a residential street and I see one of them feel like they're just going to wander into the road.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. Because they've got no sense. That's the thing.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I don't know if they have no sense.

[David Farrier]

Well, they've got no ear sense. Like, they're literally. Their senses are blocked. So like, you might like, stumble in front of you.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah. And they like usually a bandana over their face and.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Maybe obstructing their vision a little bit.

[David Farrier]

Well, they're surrounded by like a cacophony of. Of dust and leaves, and it's awful.

[Unknown Female Guest]

So I'm always like a little on edge when I'm watching of like, oh, this guy's going to jump in front of my car now.

[David Farrier]

There's been a few updates. I've got. How do we want to do this? Should we play the documentary? And then I do like, update since or is that a good way to do it? Yeah, yeah, I think we should do that. I've got a few updates. I've been going through old news articles and Sort of seeing where those stories have gone. Because a lot of updates about electric versus gas, they're still in the news. People are still getting irritated. A lot of actors have weighed in on the bandwagon as well, which I'm very excited about. But let's, yeah, let's revisit the doc and then we will do some incredibly important updates afterwards. I've been documenting leaf blowers for a while now. Wednesday morning. Here we go. This will go for like another half hour at least. This leaf blower was across the street from where I live, but it still cut through my windows and walls. A verbal assault to an otherwise quiet one bedroom apartment. And they're just moving leaves from one part of the pavement to another.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

Ugh.

[David Farrier]

Another day, another leaf blower. Leaf blowers. There's two of them going out there. Two of them. Two too many. On some days, it interrupts my work. I go to record a voiceover like the one you're listening to right now, and someone turns on a leaf blower. This puts me under tremendous pressure and stress because if I don't make this show each week, I'm pretty sure Dax will revoke my visa and I'll become an illegal flightless bird. I was in the middle of recording a voiceover for flightless bird, and yeah, this happens. They're surrounding me right now. Sometimes they just idle, which I see as a direct threat from the leaf blower. It's saying, don't you dare sit down and get any work done or I'll fuck you up. I'm not even by the window anymore. I'm sitting at my desk trying to work. Ah, stop blowing. Between the ghost that wakes me up at 3am and this constant leaf blowing, something has to change. Or at least I had to try and understand why this was happening. The reason for this torture. See, back in New Zealand, we have a natural leaf blower which we call the wind. It doesn't require gas and it's pretty quiet. If that doesn't work, we get out something we call a rake.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

So my name is Benjamin Cassidy. I'm a senior editor at Seattle Met magazine in Seattle, Washington.

[David Farrier]

I'm talking to Benjamin because he recently wrote a passioned plea about the use of gas guzzling leaf blowers.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

Living in this city around so many landscaping crews that are coming through on city streets and blowing the sidewalks where seemingly there are no leaves to be found. And I've wondered why that is. And it seems like many people in the city are wondering the same thing.

[David Farrier]

This is a whole other Issue people blowing leaves where there aren't any leaves. I watched a TikTok the other day of a man on an apartment rooftop who had a leaf blower and he was just wandering around blowing nothing, absolutely nothing. He was using air to blow air. It's deranged behavior. Lock him up. Have you gotten to the bottom of why this is happening In a city where you're dealing with leaves? What are they blowing? Dust, bits of dirt, dog shit. What are they up to?

[Benjamin Cassidy]

The explanation you hear from some folks is, well, on certain streets there are some leaves and you need to be able to clear those sidewalks for folks who might have a hard time getting around the city. But at the same time, there are in Seattle the resolution that was passed to phase out gas powered leaf blowers. There are still electric leaf blowers that could be used or rakes, brooms, etc. To clear a sidewalk. So not against clearing the sidewalks of anything. I'm just against using this device that has negative health and environmental effects.

[David Farrier]

That's why Seattle has passed the resolution to phase them out. They're not only annoying to your ears, they're unhealthy. A study from back in 2011 found that hydrocarbon emissions from 30 minutes of leaf blowing with a gas burn powered leaf blower are roughly the same as a 4,000 mile drive from Texas to Alaska. That's because the two stroke engines found in most gas powered leaf blowers are not great. They combine oil and gas in a single chamber which gives it grunt and keeps it light enough to carry. But according to a piece in the New York Times, up to a third of the gas is spewed into the air. Evaporated poison. Two stroke engines dish out chemicals and they whip up dust. Dust that's full of pollen, mould, old dried dog shit and chemicals from pesticides. Ultimately, this means more risk of things like lung cancer, asthma and heart disease developing when you suck this stuff into your body. And has that law actually come into effect as far as not being able to use the gas elite blowers, does that come into effect yet?

[Benjamin Cassidy]

No. No. First of all, it's a resolution, so it does not have the force of law. Resolutions are kind of interesting at the city council level because it's in some ways a statement of what our policy is, but not actually an enforceable policy.

[David Farrier]

Useless. No. To be fair, it's a positive step, but a long step. A five year deadline to phase them out. California is actually set to become the first state to ban gas powered lawn equipment. But you'd hardly Know anything listening to the cacophony of leaf blowers outside my window. California's Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that said all small off road engines need to be zero emission by 2024. He's thrown 30 million towards making that happen, which is great, but it's still two more years of me slowly going insane. California is following in the footsteps of around 100American cities and towns that have also banned gas powered leaf blowers. It's good news for people who make electric leaf blowers. It's their time to shine. One brand says while they used to ship 9 million units back in 2015, by 2020 it was 16 million. A leap of 75% in five years. Not bad. Stay tuned for more Flightless Bird. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsors. Support for Flightless Bird comes from Quince. Now, when it comes to winter, which it is right now, that's why you're feeling a little bit cold. It's like survival of the fittest out there. And I'm willing to do or buy whatever I can to stay cozy for the ultimate cold weather necessities made from prem of materials. You've got to check out Quince. I just got a puffer jacket from Quince. I've never owned a puffer jacket before in my life. I don't know why this is.

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[David Farrier]

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[Unknown Female Guest]

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[Unknown Female Guest]

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[Unknown Female Guest]

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[Unknown Female Guest]

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[Benjamin Cassidy]

I don't know. Because in some ways America is also obsessed with the concept of fall, right? Pumpkin, spice, latte and this whole environment. So yeah, that is sort of a tough thing to balance. I would say it's keeping up with your neighbor whether it's real or imagined competition.

[David Farrier]

I think of that scene in the Truman Show. The perfect fake American town, all those perfect lawns. It's enough to drive you to the edge of your sanity. Truman.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

Truman.

[David Farrier]

I think I'm gonna throw up.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Me too.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

I just think it's funny that like many things, it's all or nothing. It's like, well, if we don't have the gas powered leaf blowers, then how are we gonna ever clear leaves? Which doesn't seem like it speaks well to our ability to innovate, which we love to celebrate and beat our chests about in this country. Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, this is the biggest environmental or health negative effects for us to tackle. But it does seem like a little thing that we can change these little annoyances that you would think we would have a solution to. By now.

[David Farrier]

I've been thinking about what I've learned so far. That America is phasing out gas powered leaf blowers, but that for all of Seattle's posturing, it's still five years away from actually getting rid of the demon known as the gas powered leaf blower. California's made a big song and dance about getting rid of them too. But not for another few years. I'll probably be dead by then. I'll have choked to death on the fumes of leaf blowers that surround my apartment. I needed to talk to someone in power, someone in charge of all this mess. I tried President Biden. Okay. White House. The White House. Oh, hi, it's David Farrier speaking. I'm just wondering if there's a way to talk to President Joe Biden or to get a message to him. That's easy, sir. All you have to do is write him an email or a letter and.

[Rob]

Request for a phone call at his convenience.

[David Farrier]

Okay, and is it best you think for email or a physical letter, what do you think has the best result?

[Rob]

It doesn't manner, because if with email, it's here instantaneously if you go to.

[David Farrier]

The White House website. Okay, great. Now I can do that. And look, quick question for you, out of curiosity. Do you use leaf blowers around the White House to get rid of the leaves?

[Rob]

Oh, I would not know anything about that, sir. That belongs to the groundspeople.

[David Farrier]

Okay, fair enough. Hedo, I really appreciate your help. Thank you so much. I didn't rate my chances of getting a reply from the President, so I tried some senators and governors, but none of them wanted to talk to me. I worked my way down the list of power and eventually got to the most powerful person who'd talked to me. Village trustee Nicole Asquith.

[Nicole Asquith]

So I'm on my local village council, we call it the board of trustees.

[David Farrier]

Nicole is on the village council of a town called Pleasantville. Pleasantville. Sounds like a made up place. But I looked it up on Google Maps and apparently it's real. Found in upstate New York, I suppose.

[Nicole Asquith]

Like you, but in a different way. I have not always lived in a situation where leaf blowers were ubiquitous the way that they are here. In fact, they are currently playing part of the soundtrack of our interview.

[David Farrier]

I thought we were safe. The leaf blowers in my LA neighborhood were, for once, silent. But almost 3,000 miles away in a town called Pleasantville, they'd just fired up. There really is no escape. Nicole shuts the window, which makes very little difference.

[Nicole Asquith]

And I have found it to be overwhelming at times. But there also has been a vocal contingent of our community that felt that there was too much of the leaf blowers for some time. But there was a significant uptick during the pandemic because, as you know, all of a sudden there were a lot more people working from home.

[David Farrier]

This is exactly what Ben from Seattle Met magazine had told me earlier.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

I've been spending, like so many people over the last couple years, much more time in my apartment during work hours. And hearing how frequently these devices are being deployed has been shocking in the part of the city that I'm in. I would not have expected that.

[David Farrier]

Like the Aliens and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, leaf blowers had essentially been invading our lives for decades without us ever noticing. They're taking you over, cell for cell, atom for atom. Suddenly what? While you're asleep, they'll absorb your minds, your memories. But being stuck at home all day, America finally woke up.

[Nicole Asquith]

Yeah, exactly. And so we had many, many more residents writing in and saying, what is it with the constant leaf blowers? This is too much. You know, you have to do something about it.

[David Farrier]

I don't want any part of it. You're forgetting something, Miles. What's that? You have no choice.

[Nicole Asquith]

There had been attempts made over a number of years to legislate leaf floors in some ways. And where I live in New York State, there's no state regulation at this point, but many municipalities near where I live had already passed some kind of regulation. And so it's a little bit of the scattershot approach. And to be honest, if everybody had the time and the energy to take care of their own lawns, it probably would not make as much of an impact, because who has the time to be out all the time blowing the leaves around? Sorry, I'm so distracted right now. It's so distract, Demi. And it has to do with the kind of noise that particularly gas powered leaf blowers produce. Right? They have this, like, low. What do you call it?

[David Farrier]

Nicole is so distracted by the leaf blower outside her window she can't get her words out. So let me take over and voiceover because I have no leaf blowers to distract me right now. Two stroke leaf blowers emit a sound that has a really, really low frequency. Up close, they pump out up to 100 decibels of low frequency brain penetrating sound. As much as a plane taking off.

[Nicole Asquith]

Exactly. So what I was saying is that really the more FL egregious contributors to the problem, and this is nothing against landscapers, but it's the landscape companies that show up sometimes with 2, 3, 4 backpack blowers at a time. And obviously that produces a lot more sound. But in the summertime, leaf blowers are used to blow off grass clippings. Companies come through and they mow the grass and then people like to have the little bits of grass blown off.

[David Farrier]

That's one of the most deranged things I've ever heard in my life.

[Nicole Asquith]

Well, I mean, I hate to say it, but like, you see some sort of ridiculous situations. You know, you see people blowing particulate matter from one property literally to another property, or blowing into the street. I mean, part of the thing with leaf flowers is it's not. Whatever it is disappears, it's just going somewhere else.

[David Farrier]

Nicole says that even with all that noise, as people blew leaves and grass around, willy nilly upsetting the pleasantness of Pleasantville, banning leaf blowers still proved difficult.

[Nicole Asquith]

There was a strong contingent at a certain stage that said this is a discrimination against landscapers. Basically, you know, you're telling landscapers how to do their business. And we changed what we proposed too. Initially there was a desire just to have a seasonal ban on all leaf blowers. And we got a lot of blowback on that. I would say it divides roughly in half of people who are in favor of legislation and people who are against legislation. And it raises this interesting question too, of what do you do when even a minority of a community is adversely affected by something? Because the truth is, it affects people in different ways. So take the noise sensitivity, for example. We spoke to people who had children who suffered from autism, whose children were particularly disturbed by the noise. For them, it has a much stronger impact depending on where you live, it might affect you a certain way, depending on how you work and so on. So if it really doesn't bother certain amount of the community, but you have, say, a minority that feels that their quality of life is really affected by it, then what is the role of government? Which just is an interesting question, I think. Lawns themselves, I think, are a fascinating subject. When it comes to this country, because we imported it from England. The kind of grass we grow here is not at all designed for even an east coast climate. It's what they call cool season grasses. It's not like the native grasses we had here at all. And so we have to fuss over them and put such ridiculous amount of work in order to get the grass to survive. It's just a really fascinating phenomenon. I think it's really interesting to think about where it comes from and what we're signifying by having these immaculate lawns in front of our houses. We have our own little castles. And there are people who study this, who are interested in from an anthropological perspective. There are people who speculate that it goes back to Africa. We're sort of naturally attracted to these landscapes in which we can see things from a distance. You know, you could sort of see the predators from afar and things like that, which I find kind of interesting. I mean, don't get me wrong, I can be seduced by a beautiful lawn, too. I get it on a certain level. It's just that I also know what tremendous trouble it is not that I succeed in maintaining a nice lawn, but, you know, the pesticides that are required, the mowing, the now blowing, in some cases, it's really a phenomenal amount of work.

[David Farrier]

Before I let Nicole return to local body politics, I had one final question about leaf blowers and the changing regulations, laws, motions and resolutions governing their use. What happens if people violate that? If people are just saying stuff you to the law, I'm going to do what I want. I'm an individual. I have my rights. I'm going to blow these leaves all year long.

[Nicole Asquith]

Technically, what happens is that people can call up either the building department or the police.

[David Farrier]

All right? The police could potentially turn up for this.

[Nicole Asquith]

They could potentially, yeah. It goes first to the building department, and then outside of normal business hours, it goes to the police department. But they can technically call the police at any time. I doubt they're going to be super punitive, especially for a first offense.

[David Farrier]

I think the police should lock people up immediately if they flout this law, Lock them up. I thank Nicole for her time and for being the only American political figure brave enough to talk to me about leaf blowers. I sat down and looked out the window at the beautiful country called the United States of America. I took that precious moment to take it all in, knowing that sometime very soon, and without warning, the tranquility would end. Stay tuned for more flightless bird. We'll be right back After a word from our sponsors. Support for flight this bird comes from Aura Frames. From big events to the moments you capture every day, doesn't it sometimes feel like all of your favorite photos are just stuck on your camera roll? They definitely are on my phone. I have about 10,000 photos sitting there. Wouldn't it be great to have an easy way to share and enjoy them with friends and family where they're not just stuck on your phone? That's where Aura comes in. Name the number one digital photo frame by Wirecutter. Aura makes it effortless to upload unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone, so your favorite memories are always within view. Plus, you can personalize and preload an Aura frame for a truly special, unforgettable gift. I have done this for my parents. I've talked about this many times before I gave them a photo frame. I filled it up with about 50 photos from my life here in the states. And they catch up on what I do via the Aura frame, which I update once every week. Now you can save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off Aura's best selling Carver matte frames by using promo code BURD at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code BURD. This deal is exclusive to listeners, so get yours now in time for the holidays. Terms and conditions apply. What a beautiful trip down memory lane. I did some fierce googling while that was playing and basically this year California banned the sale of them. So no more gas powered leaf blowers for sale. You're not meant to be using them. People around my house are definitely still using their existing gas powered leaf blowers.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

So it's basically no new sales. But I think until these things like run out of gas, literally, they're just going to keep blowing them. So I'm glad no more are being sold. But there's definitely still like thousands of these things out in California doing their thing.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

Horrible.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah. I mean it mostly just comes down to sound pollution. You're against all sound pollution.

[David Farrier]

I've seen both of them in action. I've tried an electric leaf blower just to see what it's all about. It's fun blowing stuff around. They're definitely quieter, but it is, it's the noise. It's the crazy noise. And it still comes down to that thing of like, why are we doing this? Right. Like leaves on the ground are okay. Like Rosabelle slipped on one leaf. It was a freak accident. I mean there's a lot of Places that have leaves on the ground. Little insects are laying their eggs in there. It's a great ecosystem. I don't know why we're needing to move them in the first place. It seems like this kind of invented problem that America has with cleanliness. Well, yeah, I mean, just with nature. It's like leaves fall from the ground, they decompose naturally, they disappear. I think, like, that's what should happen. I don't know why we're blowing them.

[Unknown Female Guest]

So are you opposed to, like, raking and tidying up your lawn?

[David Farrier]

There's actually a saying that's come out in all this debate, make America rake again. Which I find very funny. I'd rather you rake than leaf blow. But I also don't see a problem with a leaf on a lawn. Like, I don't look at a lawn that has leaves on it and feel like, that's horrific. I'm like, that's nature.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Well, but there's also, like, brush issues in California. Like, you need to tidy that up.

[David Farrier]

Oh, like a fire hazard.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, it's a larger potential for fire.

[David Farrier]

All right. This is a point that's potentially getting through to me. So get that out of the way.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Because if you have a bunch of dead leaves, they're very flammable.

[David Farrier]

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. Okay, that's the first good argument I've heard for getting leaves out of the way. I mean, what you've done in your yard is just create a little fire hazard in the corner because all these dry leaves are, like, piled up and like a little ready to burn pile.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, but it'll be contained.

[David Farrier]

But it'll be a contained fire in the corner.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, exactly.

[David Farrier]

Okay, so a couple of celebrities have joined in the hatred. Hugh Grant, he's in a 20. Have you seen Heretic yet?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yes, I did.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. Did you like it?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, it was fun.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, it was fun. It's like. Basically, it's just like a big analysis of organized monotheistic religions with Hugh Grant being like, it's fun seeing him play a creepy bad guy.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, that part was fun. And both the actresses in it were great too.

[David Farrier]

They were cool. So on the press run, he went on an extended rant about leaf blowers, which I really like, and leaf blowers.

[Nicole Asquith]

You're not a fan.

[David Farrier]

I think that anyone who uses a leaf blower or hires anyone else to use a leaf blower should have it rectally inserted. So I've got a big advocate in Hugh Grant. He agrees. Agrees with this campaign. Obviously British, so not American and Cate Blanchett also. This was during the rounds when this played the first time. I just hadn't come across it. She's obviously. She's Australian, and she also has some beef. I don't understand leaf blowers and I don't understand golf, but leaf blowers. If I see a leaf blower, I will. Leaf blowers. I go from naught to a thousand. What, do you not like one place to another? You blow leaves from one side of the pavement to the other side of the pavement, only for them to be blown back again. And then you go, I'm going to blow them again. To have the wind go and blow them back in the first place, it just. I cannot. It's all that is wrong with the human race. I could be here for three hours talking to you about leaf blowers. So just from junket interviews, she's brought it up again and again and again.

[Unknown Female Guest]

She is not a fan of leaf blowers either.

[David Farrier]

No. So multiple junkets, multiple interviews. She has just gone on tangents about the leaf blower.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean, there's a common denominator between these celebrities that are putting up. Not Americans, they're not American. They're coming from a place that they don't exist and they're not used to.

[David Farrier]

Then. Yeah, we're stunned by it. Like, we're stunned by the obsession. We're not used to it, and I don't think we ever will get used to it.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah. I mean, to me, leaf blowers, though, like, I don't like it too quiet. I. I come from living in Chicago and, like, there's trains coming by all the time. Yeah, you got cars honking, like.

[David Farrier]

So you're. Yeah, you're almost saying that, like, some noise pollution is better than nothing. So you hear a leaf blower and you're like, I'm in a city that's full of life and people, and that brings you a sense of comfort.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean, I don't know if specifically leaf blowers are doing that for me, but, like, the absolute quiet I don't love either.

[David Farrier]

There's something about the leaf blower, though. It's the. Like, a train is like. It's a rumbly train. It's kind of exciting, like hearing a subway go past or something. If that's around, I'm like, that's okay. A train. There's something about the leaf blower that's just like. I just want to scream.

[Unknown Female Guest]

It's just the functional usage of it.

[David Farrier]

It's two things. It's the noise and it's the fact that you've just got men blowing things from one place to another. It just. There's something about that that fundamentally just makes me feel wild somehow.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I think the equivalence to that for me is going to New York and hearing how much people honk their car horns. The constant that is not helpful. And like you say at a hotel in the city, you are hearing that all night.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, yeah, right. And it's right, right, right.

[Unknown Female Guest]

That car is not moving any faster because you're Hong. Like, they've totally devalued the usage of that horn. People are using it non stop constantly.

[David Farrier]

No, I think that's a really good point. It's just they're sitting. Good luck. There's no point in doing it. And because everyone is doing it constantly, it means nothing. It means nothing at all. I think it's a really good comparison. A few articles that have come out since that story first ran. Headline out of Greenwich, Greenwick. Greenwich. Who's to say Connecticut?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Greenwich.

[David Farrier]

Greenwich. Greenwich. I'm just going to say Greenwich. I'm not from here. I can say what I want. Cost to convert entire Greenwich fleet to electric leaf blowers. Shell shocking officials say Big story from just one week ago. Town officials voted to enact a summertime ban on gas powered leaf blowers earlier this year. And now the bill is coming due. The Department of Public Works and Parks and Rec have requested Finance officials provide $476,000 to buy new electric leaf blowers. And that has got everyone in a tailspin.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I feel like this is just gonna end up like the daylight savings legislation that's passed in California.

[David Farrier]

Excuse me. I've completely missed this.

[Unknown Female Guest]

They like passed the ability to make it not happen. But this was like years ago. And everyone thought, like, all right, it's gone now. We're done with this. But yeah, they just passed the ability to do it and then they haven't.

[David Farrier]

Done it and they haven't done it.

[Unknown Female Guest]

So it's just not happening.

[David Farrier]

I did not know that was a thing here. Yeah, I support turning daylight savings.

[Unknown Female Guest]

A lot of people do. I remember the year after it happened. Like, everyone's like, why are we doing this? I thought this passed and.

[David Farrier]

And it just hasn't.

[Unknown Female Guest]

There's some like, weird thing with it where they can change it if they want.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Unknown Female Guest]

There's still all this stuff that needs to happen.

[David Farrier]

How long ago did this happen?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Like three, four years ago.

[David Farrier]

So I would have been here when it happened. Yeah, I somehow missed all of that. That's incredible.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I think We've probably had a conversation about it.

[David Farrier]

Completely forgotten.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

Leaf blowers will not go quietly. This is from bloomberg.com Scores of U.S. cities are trying to muffle the seasonal din of gas powered leaf blowers. But new regulations and fines are generating resistance. There's a huge story here. Everybody should have their freedom to choose whatever they want to use on their property. Because again, it's supposed to be America, said Hector. You're supposed to have freedom to work, Augusto. Comfortably.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I do wonder how much the new administration's gonna affect any of.

[David Farrier]

Any of these kind of like environment, environmentally friendly changes.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Republicans and Democrats, where do they normally fall on the leaf?

[David Farrier]

I would say that Democrats would go electric or ban them. Republicans, gas powered all the way. That's how I feel it goes.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean, last Tesla puts out an electric leaf blower.

[David Farrier]

Oh my God. I wouldn't put it past much to do something like that. Town of Huntington to begin banning gas powered leaf blowers in January. So next year the town of Huntington is a step closer to banning gas powered leaf blowers. These articles just go on and on all across different states, basically saying they're being banned, but people that have gas powered ones are still just using them anyway. So same as California, same everywhere else.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

Horrible.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I do kind of want a gas powered power washer.

[David Farrier]

I don't. What is that?

[Unknown Female Guest]

I like the thing to clean. Clean decks and swing sets.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, yeah. It takes mold and stuff off or like moss and stuff.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I've tried the electric ones and they have not gone well. I've got one and it just like dribbles out. It's my hose, I think sprays harder than it. And I think the gas powered one's the way to go.

[David Farrier]

But how often are you needing to like water blast, like things like, is this a common thing?

[Unknown Female Guest]

The air in LA is so bad also.

[David Farrier]

It's just everything's coated with.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Everything in our yard is just caked with stuff. If we don't have a cover on something. Yeah, like it's just caked.

[David Farrier]

I've noticed that like in the house. Do you notice like in la you get like a thin layer of like dust over everything, like very quickly. So that's just the horrific air we have here.

[Unknown Female Guest]

But I mean, put something outside and see it like get even worse.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, okay. See, I'm in an apartment, so I don't have to deal with outside stuff like you do. LA nightmare. Remember how we did the shower curtains episode and the New York Times reviewed all those shower curtains. New York Times also has a Whole set of best leaf blower reviews. I'm not going to advertise them here. I'll put in the show notes. I just find it very funny. The New York Times, this prestigious paper, has best lists of shower curtains, best list of leaf blowers. It's just very funny to me.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Is it a list of electric ones?

[David Farrier]

All electric. All electric, yeah. All electric, yeah. And yep, a lot of people reviewing electric leaf blowers in very serious ways. This headline, I tried the new battery powered Toro leaf blower and here's how it went.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Well, I'm a little confused though, what your stance is. Are you pro electric leaf blower?

[David Farrier]

No, I want none.

[Unknown Female Guest]

None.

[David Farrier]

Let's be clear. I want none. They're all terrible.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yep.

[David Farrier]

I think it's better to be using an electric one because it's not as loud and not as annoying.

[Unknown Female Guest]

But you'd rather the city just be messy, covered in shit and easily lit on fire?

[David Farrier]

Yeah, I want. Yeah, technically.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Okay.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. I want nature to take over and do its thing. And I think once, like nature is allowed to come back, I think the city would just calm down a little bit. It and it will be a net bonus.

[Unknown Female Guest]

How do you feel about mowing lawns?

[David Farrier]

It's a good question. I love the smell of freshly mowing grass.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Gasoline mixed with chopped grass.

[David Farrier]

Just the chopped grass bit.

[Nicole Asquith]

Okay.

[David Farrier]

No, I see what you're doing. You're trying to get around my logic because lawnmowers are loud and horrible and also technically pointless because grass should be allowed to grow and do its thing.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean, tidied grass is not the worst thing. We also don't live in a place with a ton of grass. Like growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. Like, yeah, as a kid I would mow the lawn at my parents house.

[David Farrier]

So we both do that. We had such similar upbringings. Yeah, I was up like, like a couple of times a week. Well, a couple times a month, like.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Mowing grass, it was like once a week. Get 20 bucks to mow my neighbor's lawn.

[David Farrier]

No. For some reason I don't have the same level of anger against the idea of mowing a lawn. And I don't know why that is. Maybe it's because I'm used to it in New Zealand. And as you said, like coming to America, it's a bit of a shock having the leaf blower.

[Unknown Female Guest]

A lawnmower is not that much quieter than a leaf blower.

[David Farrier]

Loud.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, it's really loud.

[David Farrier]

I always found it scary. Like the idea of like you'd always Think of like accidentally running over someone's foot or something and like chopping toes off. They're scary things.

[Unknown Female Guest]

You heard the stories of like someone reach like family, something else friend that was missing like like parts of his fingers because he like reached in to clean the lawnmower and then horrible forgot to turn it off.

[David Farrier]

We had briefly a ride on lawnmower. I think we borrowed it off a neighbor and that thing was pretty fun.

[Unknown Female Guest]

My grammy had one.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. Because it's like you're driving on the lawn, it's exciting.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah. And you're nine and you're nine.

[David Farrier]

It's like, yeah, this is incredible. And it's loud and it's exciting. So okay, you might have caught out my logic slightly there. Just slightly. A little bit. But in short, not a lot has changed. They've stopped in a lot of states selling gas powered leaf blowers. They're electric now but that hasn't stopped people using their existing gas powered one. It's still loud out there, it's still irritating and I'm still going to be annoyed about it.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Do you know the lifespan of a gas powered leaf blower?

[David Farrier]

No idea.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Because I mean they could be 10 years before they stop working.

[David Farrier]

I think that's probably right. I think they're probably pretty hardy.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I also feel like the gas powered one's probably mechanically, it's built mechanically better than an electric one.

[David Farrier]

You're probably right.

[Unknown Female Guest]

But something about just like the gears and the gas powered portion, they're going.

[David Farrier]

To just soldier on forever. The electric runs are going to be falling over. They're going to be terrible. People aren't going to want to convert over to them.

[Unknown Female Guest]

The electric one I have is not, it's powerful. Yeah, it blows hard. I. It does not have a battery pack. It might get, might be able to get one but you gotta charge it up.

[David Farrier]

No, I'm always gotta be corded in.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, I've got extension cords around that. I'm like trying to find outlets that I'm plugging into and trying to find a long enough cord to get into this corner.

[David Farrier]

A true nightmare. How often, just final question for you. How often are you using it?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Would you say twice this year?

[David Farrier]

I think that's, I think that's acceptable. Yeah, I think, I think my beef comes from just the volume of usage and just seeing so many leaves being blown just to a different patch and not like put away or like throwing thrown out but just like moved from one place to another. I think that's what it comes down to. You're moving the problem from one place to another and you're not solving a problem.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Well, I mean, ideally, like you in the courtyard, but ideally, like the gardener that's using it is blowing it and then. And then getting. Blowing them into a corner doing it.

[David Farrier]

I've never seen it happen.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean.

[David Farrier]

All right, all right. Now a lot of feedback to American Girl. American Girl. I haven't got feedback from their head office yet. I like to think that they will be thrilled with the episode. Just before it aired, they did send me an email saying, we'll be sending you our 2025 Girl of the Year, Summer McKinney and Disney Princess Tiana. So I have those. So I'm going to just show you these to you, Rob. Okay. This is.

[Unknown Female Guest]

They come with a nice little stand.

[David Farrier]

This little stand. So this is Princess.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Maybe turn it towards that.

[David Farrier]

Hey, that is Princess. Princess Tiana that I've just put out there. And this is Summer McKinney. A present for you, Rob. That is Girl of the year 2025. That can be your own 18 inch buddy. So you notice it'll come with a. What does it come with there?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Her eyes are closed.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. I think they open when you put her upright. So, yeah, when she sleeps, the eyes close, which is kind of incredible.

[Unknown Female Guest]

So that is so creepy.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. Isn't that amazing technology?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Have you done that?

[David Farrier]

I have. I. I have experimented a little bit.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

And.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. Activates. So that is.

[Unknown Female Guest]

She's freezing from the dead.

[David Farrier]

That is Girl of the Year. She comes with a little. A little purse. You get a booklet in there that's kind of has their backstory.

[Unknown Female Guest]

She's got some glasses.

[David Farrier]

I got to put the glasses on. That's really important, Rob. I think I can see some joy in your eyes. I gotta say. Beautiful as you can see. A very. Not to make this a commercial for American Girl, but that's them. And I thought important for people to kind of, you included, Rob, to sort of witness it in the flesh. Feelings, reactions, I think still terrifying.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I do feel might be mean.

[David Farrier]

You can be mean.

[Unknown Female Guest]

No. Okay. Put them in Calvin's room so that he wakes up and.

[David Farrier]

Oh, no, that's a castle. So just staring at him.

[Unknown Female Guest]

He had these baby Yodas, the Grogu, and he just started getting real freaked out by, like, they were up on his, like, bookshelf.

[David Farrier]

Oh, just having the eyes there.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah. And I get that. I remember coming in one morning, they were, like, turned around.

[David Farrier]

Oh, little guy.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

Get Summer in there staring him down.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I don't think you're like that I might.

[David Farrier]

My friend Dylan wrote in. I'm saying I was listening to Flight this Bird and the interview with American Girl Girls marketing person and thinking, is David selling out?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Absolutely.

[David Farrier]

He said no. It took me a second but I realized that marketing stuff absolutely fits and belongs. The US is so shaped by consumerism, capitalism and marketing. You have to hear from the corporate side of things to get the full picture. Same for the Olive Garden.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I do feel like we do an okay job of staying objective even if we're being sold from.

[David Farrier]

Oh, I think we do. And I think no, it is. It is. For me it is still like a joy to hear from a marketing exec person who is so instilled in the language of the place. It's so. It's just sort of funny to me. Okay. A lot of feedback. Kim wrote into flightless breadchatmail.com she said, it really hit home for me growing up. I had a huge fear of dolls. All thanks to a dream where I had an American Girl doll chasing me around a doctor's office with a butcher's knife. Despite this completely rational fear, every Christmas when my family asked what I wanted, I'd still rattle off the name of an American Girl doll. To this day I'm not sure why I did this or why they kept buying them because once I got them, I never played with them. Instead, every night before bed, I'd have to check that the dolls were safely locked away where I tucked them in my parents bedroom closet. It was the only way I could sleep knowing the dolls couldn't escape and kill me with their kitchen knives. To this day, there are upwards of 10American Girl dolls still locked in that closet.

[Unknown Female Guest]

She almost finished set up to a horror movie.

[David Farrier]

She said at the end. I recently had my first child and my fear of dolls has been rekindled. I'm fighting a very real internal battle. Do I gift these dolls to her or keep them securely locked away in my parents house? That's the setup for the film.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I think you burn them, you burn them immediately. Yeah, I don't think absolutely keep them locked up. I think that's even scarier that they're locked up in the closet.

[David Farrier]

Imagine if they sell that house and the next family that buys it.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, cut knocks down the door because there's six padlocks on it.

[David Farrier]

Just ten dolls falling out. Absolutely horrific. Laura wrote in saying, apparently you can rent out American girls from libraries. She said, here's an article from the Times from 2013 about American Girl dolls being lent out in a library in New York City and coming back with different hairstyles and new clothes, clearly being loved and having adventures along the way.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I guess we know who's coming to your birthday party this year. Get about 75American Girl dolls in Florida.

[David Farrier]

I think it's cool you can get them from the library. I'm curious how many you could rent out at once. You know, I knew you could get films from libraries. Incredible that you can also get American Girls.

[Unknown Female Guest]

American Girl dolls, David.

[David Farrier]

American Girl dolls separate things. Important. That's. That's a different podcast. They also added, my dad has worked for many years with the Olive Garden. They do employ real Italian chefs and have an actual Tuscan cooking school in Tuscany. The brother of Rob's friend Michael Bottaggio, Brian has consulted with him in the past. And so there you go. Just saying how America, how Olive Garden is legit. Danielle.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Danielle or Danielle.

[David Farrier]

I'm going with Danielle.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Is this one word or are you saying Danielle? Danielle. Danielle.

[David Farrier]

Danielle.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I thought you're saying, like, Danny. Last name starts with L. So like Danny. David.

[David Farrier]

F. No, Danielle.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Danielle.

[David Farrier]

You do like names, don't you? You call me out of names. 4.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I just want to understand what you're saying.

[David Farrier]

D, A, N, I, E, L, L, E. Yeah.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Danielle.

[David Farrier]

Danielle. I got such a kick out of the American Girl doll episode because growing up in the late 90s, I was very much into the craze. I remember having Kaylee, the American surfer with the golden retriever. I grew up in the middle of the woods in central Virginia, so Kaylee had the beach life I always wanted. Isn't that nice? Tell Rob. This is from Maddie. M a D D I E. There is an American Girl doll store in Chicago at Water Tower Place, and it's huge. Like, it's truly theme parked size. So there you go. Chicago. Kyle. Possibly Kylie. K Y Ali.

[Unknown Female Guest]

That's Kyle.

[David Farrier]

I wanted to mention that one of my most vivid American Girl memories is of the American Girl Hospital mysterious mailing address where you sent your dolls to get patched up if you played with them too aggressively. And we mentioned this in the episode briefly, my sister famously nibbled the fingers off her Kirsten doll. Still remains a nail biter to this day. She also used to swing the doll around in circles by its arms and eventually dislocated one of the arms. Kirsten. It's intense. Kirsten K I R S T E N had to make a harrowing journey to the hospital to get arm replacement surgery and returned it with not only fresh arms, but a perfectly coiffed hairstyle. Did she also get a head transplant while she was there or just a new wig? I'm unclear. She had a little hospital going on when she arrived home to us in a tiny get well balloon. They fucking commit to the baby.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, the ecosystem of it is impressive.

[David Farrier]

Bonkers.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

I didn't realize they went that hard.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean that's like a branding wet dream of like.

[David Farrier]

Emily also sent her girl into the hospital. Her girl doll. They fixed the gnarled mat of her hair. She came back in a hospital gown complete with grippy socks and an ID bracelet. Insane. Long dog Dandy. Message me on Instagram. Does anyone else remember the Grinpins? I was like what is a grinpin?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Nope.

[David Farrier]

AmericanGirl.Fandom.com says grin pins, also called the Grin Pin Collection, are a series of pin buttons released by American girl starting in 94. Discontinued by the early 2000s. Mary Kate said, I'm so glad you touched on the non doll related books would venture to say a majority of millennial women learned about puberty and periods from the Care and Keeping of you, which was an American Girl produced book. It's legendary. Okay, this one blew my mind. Mag said you have to go to the Cabbage Patch Kid Hospital where Cabbage Patch Kids are born. Were you aware of this?

[Benjamin Cassidy]

No.

[David Farrier]

There's a thing called the Babyland General hospital in Cleveland, Georgia. Been voted one of the Travel Channel's top 10 toylands. I went to the website.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I'm so confused.

[David Farrier]

You know, so cabbage pat Kid Cleveland.

[Unknown Female Guest]

But in Cleveland, Georgia. Not Cleveland, Ohio, Georgia, Cleveland, Georgia. The state or the country?

[David Farrier]

Don't know.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Probably the state.

[David Farrier]

I imagine the state. So Cabbage Patch Kids. Little creatures, Little children.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Dolls.

[David Farrier]

They're dolls. I went to their website. I'm just going to read it because it sounds like some kind of acid trip. Mother Cabbage is always on display beneath the branches of the magic crystal tree, pollinated by fanciful bunny bees. Our magical cabbage patch is tended by our licensed patch doctors and nurses. Babyland General Hospital is the only place in the world where you can witness the birth of a hand sculpted Cabbage Patch Kid. The self guided tour allows you to take as much time as you like touring Babyland and playing with our Cabbage Patch Kids. With thousands of Cabbage Patch Kids throughout the hospital, you're sure to find your perfect match. Take the oath of adoption and your new baby will give you unconditional love.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean, the fact that they're calling you to hospital creeps me out a little bit.

[David Farrier]

You want to hear something else? Alicia wrote in at their previous Hospital. Oh, no, this is back to. Okay, this is back to American Girl now. That previous hospital was actually a real hospital at one time. It's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot. I like that America takes. They don't just give you a doll. They also give you a location where you can witness one being like birthed.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I mean, I guess they're trying to teach kids how babies are born.

[David Farrier]

I guess it's also like teaching every kid that this is what you have to do. Like you have to, like you're here to have a child. And like, this is how it all works, just in such an intense way.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

Gotta get new workers to work at Elon's factories. Erica said, my friend, we're almost at the end of the American Girl doll feedback. This is about, by the way, like 1 2/200th of what came through. Erica said, my friend had an American Girl doll that I was so jealous of. When she went away for spring break one year, she wanted me to babysit it. I took the doll for the week and bought over her and all of her clothes and accessories into a suitcase. It was the best week of my nine year old life. S wrote in first initial, New Zealand has a ripoff version called Our Generation. My son always wants to play with a giant camper van. When you go into Farmers, that's a local. That's like our Target and request farmers it for birthdays and Christmas. It's called Farmers. There are no farmers there. You can get beds there, toys. It's kind of like Target without the groceries. There's nothing farmy about it. There's no farmland, no cows, no sheep. I don't actually know why it's called.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Farmers, but you're one Google search away.

[David Farrier]

From finding out if you were doing this podcast in New Zealand. If you were me, here we are. This is Farmers. I'm in New Zealand. This is Wacky place. Why is it called Farmers? No farmers here. Okay, a little bit of other feedback. Our Seattle show has sold out. We're excited. Thank you to everyone who has written in with Seattle show ideas, places that we can visit. Keep them coming. Flightless breadchat gmail.com.

[Unknown Female Guest]

The weirder the better, I think.

[David Farrier]

The weirder the better. Yeah, there's some good stuff coming in, but keep it coming. Like we're looking for those magical little things we can do while we're there.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah, like. Like you got a name with a serial killer.

[David Farrier]

And yeah, ends are good. Like ends are like a really good thing for us to have because we're looking for show ideas, but also just things to do.

[Unknown Female Guest]

If your grandpa designed the Space Needle.

[David Farrier]

Is that a tower in Seattle?

[Unknown Female Guest]

Oh, Space Needle. Yes. It's a cool.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, ends are good. Like if you've got like a personal inn and we can just come to your grandpa's house because he's designed the Space Needle, we'll be there.

[Unknown Female Guest]

As long as he's not like Spaceman Barry.

[David Farrier]

As long as he's not a Spaceman Barry type.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yes.

[David Farrier]

I also remembered, of course Starbucks is all there. They've rejected me in the past. If you know anyone in head office at Starbucks that can pass on a message saying that I'm to be trusted, then please relay that on. I would love to hear from you.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Or if Starbucks wants to donate drinks to everyone in the audience.

[David Farrier]

Oh, that would be so good. Yeah, Keep everyone, like, completely, like, caffeined up. John wrote in just briefly saying, david immediately dismissing sleep apnea and committing to the ghost theory makes him 800% more American. Push healthcare to the side and embrace madness. America. I really like that comment.

[Unknown Female Guest]

How many days have you been home?

[David Farrier]

I've been back for three days now.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Every night. Are you waking up?

[David Farrier]

I've actually slept through. Yeah, that's actually a really good point. There's a slight chance that I've possibly embellished the ghost story. I had a feeling because ghosts probably aren't real, but it's a fun narrative. It's a good bit and I enjoy arguing with people about it a lot, so.

[Unknown Female Guest]

So you've actually only woken up, like three times.

[David Farrier]

I haven't woken up very often.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

I'm gonna be on. I'm coming clean. It's just for your birthday. It's just for my birthday.

[Unknown Female Guest]

David from Bethlehem, but not really from Bethlehem.

[David Farrier]

I just like the idea that you can talk about ghosts and people do take it seriously.

[Unknown Female Guest]

I do like that every year around your birthday, you do a reveal that you've been lying about something for a very long time.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, yeah. The last year. Common thing, everyone thinks I was born in Bethlehem, which is a city in New Zealand, a town in New Zealand. But I simply went to high school and Beth am. So the big reveal this Christmas, I don't have a ghost. I really like this one from Lace. I'm visiting New Zealand right now and think of you often. New Zealand. Chocolate pies, coffee, fish and chips. Have ones hands down. Kids can wear shorts in any weather and not be cold. I'm heading into Central north island today. Finished up my south island tour. Thanks for being my inner voice as I adventure through your country. I really love it here. I thought that was a nice one to end on. So, in summary, a lot of Americans are really obsessed with American Girl dolls. That really hit me, like, so much feedback. If you've got any feedback for this episode, any thoughts on leaf blowers? Maybe you're involved in some leaf blower legislation. We're flightless bird chat gmail.com. if you want to watch this podcast, we're on YouTube at Flightless Bird Podcast. You can watch what Rob's face did when he saw an American Girl doll open its eyes for the first time as it rose up from its box.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Not my favorite.

[David Farrier]

Christmas very soon. Merry Christmas.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Christmas Eve. Happy birthday.

[David Farrier]

Thank you so much. That was a test and you passed right away. Oh, my God, that's so nice. Yeah. Thank you. I'm gonna have a beautiful birthday. I can't wait. And you have a beautiful Christmas.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Thank you.

[David Farrier]

Thank you, Santa. All that stuff. Calvin, Vincent, all that. They'll love it.

[Unknown Female Guest]

Yeah. It's too bad you guys don't have Christmas in New Zealand. You enjoy it.

[David Farrier]

I know. Yeah. That's crazy. Just, we only have my birthday. Yeah, that's all we have.

[Benjamin Cassidy]

All right.

[David Farrier]

Merry Christmas.