This episode was recorded in early January before my summer vacation, and it includes a conversation

about living in Los Angeles, in which I make fun of that city in an affectionately cynical way.

This was before the LA fires. It would certainly seem tactless if we had known what the town was about to endure.

I considered cutting that exchange, but it is a tribute to my faith in the greatness of Los Angeles

and the resilience of its people that, for the sake of posterity, I'm including my now-tineered

joshing about Los Angeles's failings. L.A. will quickly, I'm sure,

resurrect itself to greatness, and my jibes will once again be taken in the spirit of affection

for L.A. with which they were intended. Enjoy.

Gahy humans. Welcome to the safe space for dangerous ideas. Here's a biggie for you. Here's a big,

controversial, dangerous question. Why is it that Americans use shower curtains so much

instead of enclosed glass shower stalls as much of the rest of the civilized world has chosen to do.

This is one of the many conundrums that David Farrier has encountered and wrestled with

as a New Zealander living in Los Angeles. He has a podcast called Flightless Bird.

It's produced by Dax Shepard's podcast production company of armchair expert

fame. And he wrestles with the incongruities of American life, from shower curtains to the

baffling popularity of the olive garden chain of restaurants. He and I get into all of that,

along with questions about whether or not Los Angeles is truly as foul as I claim it is. So he's a big advocate for the City of Angels.

David premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with an amazing feature-length documentary that he made called Tickled.

I highly recommend it.

You should check it out streaming wherever you can.

He's a frequent collaborator with Reese Darby from the Flight of the Concords.

And he recently stopped by the

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