Flightless Bird: “Rosabel”

Podcast: Flightless Bird
Host: David Farrier
Cohost: Rob
Date: January 20, 2026
Episode Theme: A deep, playful and honest exploration of David Farrier's long-time friend and housemate Rosabelle, as she steps from her usual off-mic cameos to a true guest-of-honor interview. The episode becomes a warm, often hilarious examination of friendship, differing cultures, and personal quirks—with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, direct emotional honesty, and one egg-based prank.

Episode Overview

David Farrier, joined by cohost Rob (in Los Angeles), records remotely from New Zealand, where he is staying with longstanding friend and former roommate Rosabelle. Instead of the usual call-in, Rosabelle is present for a candid interview, offering corrections to David’s previous on-air stories about her, sharing the truth about their friendship, and yielding new insights into life as a Kiwi (well, technically, an expatriate Aussie). The free-flowing conversation dives into personal idiosyncrasies, the challenges of living together as adults, miscommunications, and the enduring affection that binds chosen family.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Breaking Format: Introducing the Real Rosabelle

[00:00–08:28]

• David explains the unusual recording setup, with him in New Zealand and Rob in LA, and Rosabelle physically present (“Prepare to have your mind blown, because this is the Rosabelle episode.” [00:58])
• The hosts warm up with stories about American “mum movies,” sex scenes in media, and Rob’s mother’s evolving understanding of gay relationships.

Memorable Moment:

“Where was that phone call at the beginning of the episode? Where's Hayden? Where's Rosabelle? What's going on?... Prepare to have your mind blown, because this is the Rosabelle episode.” – David [00:00–01:00]

2. How David and Rosabelle Met: The Real Origin Story

[08:28–13:13]

• Rosabelle shares their meeting at a student media awards, poking fun at David’s “supermarket tote bag.”
• The confusion with the similarly named public figure Dave Farrar gets clarified.
• Their initial impression: mutual admiration and a sense that David stood out as a “sane” person in a drunken student crowd.

Notable Quote:

“I'd never heard of you...I kind of thought you were him a little bit. Well, I didn't know. I quickly realized that you were not.” – Rosabelle [09:28–10:09]

3. Housemate Tales, Friendship Dynamics, and “Negging"

[13:13–29:38]

• David and Rob reflect on road trips and the formation of “Flightless Bird.”
• The trio candidly discuss roommate pet peeves (David’s abandoned coffee mugs; Rosabelle’s need for attentive listening; David clomping around for attention).
• The “egging incident” resurfaces: David once cracked an egg on Rosabelle’s head (and had to really bash it several times to break it).

Notable Quotes:

“David does this thing... If you're having some me time in your room and he wants some attention, he'll walk really loudly outside your door so that you're aware of his presence...” – Rosabelle [27:07]

“I just remember the egg being a clean break as I smashed it on Rosabelle's head. But apparently it was like, after a lot of repeated hits, which is... does sound like, as I said out loud, it's sort of assault. But it's okay. We're okay.” – David [25:02]

4. Culture Clash: Flirting, Friendship, and National Identity

[29:38–30:19]

• The trio reminisce about their transpacific friendship, New Zealanders’ awkwardness with flirting, and David’s American adventures.

Notable Quote:

“People in New Zealand are really bad at flirting. It’s not like in America. So I think even when someone is flirting, you really can’t tell.” – Rosabelle [13:35]

5. On Attachment Styles and the Social Science Experiment

[30:19–34:33]

• Rosabelle describes a research project observing couples handle conflict and listing things they would change about each other—an experiment in honesty and discomfort.

Notable Quote:

“They would identify the top three things they wanted to change about their partner and rank them from the most deal-breaking thing to the third most deal-breaking thing...” – Rosabelle [31:22–31:34]

6. The “Airing of Grievances”: Live Experiment

[34:33–41:09]

• The group gamely plays a modified version of Rosabelle’s experiment, listing three things they’d change about each other.
• David accuses Rosabelle of undermining social situations “by lobbing conversational grenades.” Rosabelle calls David out for taking credit for other people’s potluck dishes and for his “little white lies.”
• Rosabelle notes David often doesn’t listen (or won’t accept information from women until a man repeats it).

Notable Quotes:

“You love to do a little white lie... at parties sometimes, a guest will bring a carefully prepared dish… and then pass it around as though you have just made it.” – Rosabelle [35:12]

“... if information is told to me by a woman, I do tend to sort of not really take it in until it's repeated by a man. Sometimes in the same night or in the same room.” – David [41:00]

7. Reflections on America, Travel Anxieties, and On Being “Producer”

[47:46–54:12]

• Rosabelle describes her impressions of America (“really great storytellers,” everything is “big”).
• The logistics of Rob potentially traveling to NZ: Rob admits he’s never flown over an ocean.
• Rosabelle attempts to explain what she actually does for a living as a freelance producer in art, dance, and public installations.

Notable Quotes:

“I would say that I’m a producer and I like saying that because no one wants to ask any questions after that.” – Rosabelle [52:43]

“I have only been to LA and New York, so there’s a lot of America I’ve not seen.” – Rosabelle [48:18]

8. Egging Redux: Retribution and Closure

[58:43–63:03]

• A major Patreon milestone triggers a live recreation of “the egg incident.” Rosabelle cracks a (pre-cracked, for effect) egg on David’s head while he’s still recovering from his shower.
• David is genuinely surprised and grossed out, giving comic, visceral commentary on the mess.
• Emotional coda: David apologizes to Rosabelle for the original egging; Rosabelle admits enjoying holding it over him, and feels their dynamic has been reset.

Notable Quotes/Exchanges:

“I'm so annoyed that my brain was so slow to know, like, there might be a little, like, gag coming.” — David [60:14]

“I actually feel really bad because he just had a shower before this.” — Rosabelle [63:11]

Notable Moments & Quotes (With Timestamps)

• David on friendship honesty:
  “We got into a bit of a fight to text...I see something was off in the air and I sort of had to text, ‘Are we fighting?’ and Rosabelle sort of said, I think we are. But we didn’t know what it was about.” [29:00]

• Rosabelle’s own correction of David’s ‘spoilers’ myth:
  “I have never [read movie spoilers on Wikipedia]...You will go...and you read the entire plot, and then decide whether you want to go. I’ve never done that.” [23:31–23:52]

• On David’s “moods” at work:
  “You get moody sometimes...I can tell just from text responses that you’re in this kind of mood that sometimes takes a bit for you to get out of.” – Rob [44:42]

Episode Summary & Takeaways

• The episode is heartfelt and comedic, blending the mutual razzing and emotional directness that mark long friendships.
• Rosabelle emerges as witty, grounded, and quietly formidable—a necessary foil to David’s self-effacing, sometimes chaotic energy.
• Throughout, there is a focus on the quirks that bond friends, the small resentments that accumulate in shared living space, and the subtle ways personal biases (listening more to men, letting moods dictate communication) can enter even our most cherished relationships.
• The live egging serves as comic catharsis—and a symbolic restoration of balance in their friendship.
• The show closes with community feedback on past episodes, reinforcing the show’s spirit of curiosity, humility, and the ongoing learning journey.

Major Themes

• Friendship as Chosen Family: Supporting and annoying each other in equal measure.
• The Value of Honest Conflict: Airing grievances is both cathartic and growth-promoting.
• National & Generational Differences: On flirting, emotional reserve, and cultural assumptions.
• Listening, Gender, & Recognition: David’s (and by extension, society’s) tendency to unconsciously trust male authority.
• Closure & Forgiveness: The egg prank ends with mutual understanding, a literal and figurative renewal.
• Behind the Scenes: Clarity on what being a creative “producer” actually entails.

For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode is an essential, richly human portrait of the relationships beneath Flightless Bird’s usual investigations. It’s light on external reporting, heavy on self-reflexive humor, and full of moments that would resonate with anyone who has ever navigated adulthood, friendship, or the chaos of creative collaboration. Rosabelle, long a voice from the margins, finally gets her due: she is as warm, sharp, and capable as the show’s best fans always suspected.

Memorable Sign-Off:

“I always want to come off as the hero of the show... And the trouble with Rosabelle is that she tends to outshine, trump me on all those things. But look, it’s making me a better person...” – David [64:44]