local loser

Multi-hyphenate poetic talent Jackson McCarthy streams in to local loser from Wellington to talk about his new book Portrait.

Damien Levi does his due diligence and pulls some of his favourite lines to chat about, as well as getting into pop music, blonde boys, Toni Morrison, and perk butts wrapped up like presents, among other engaging topics.

Some links you may be interested in from this episode include ⁠one to purchase ⁠Portrait, Paula Green's chat with Jackson on NZ Poetry Shelf, and Jackson on ⁠Instagram⁠.

Books mentioned:
Portrait by Jackson McCarthy
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad
Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
Distinction by Pierre Bourdieu
No Name in the Street by James Baldwin
What to Wear by Jenny Bornholdt
How to Be Happy Though Human: New and Selected Poems by Kate Camp
Mixed Feelings by Maddie Ballard
The New Animals by Pip Adam
kluge by Pip Adam

Other notable figures mentioned:
James Tate, James Brown, Dougal McNeill, Frank O'Hara, Anthony Zemke, Toni Morrison, Charlie Rose, Kura Forrester, Graham Tipene, Edward Glissant, Simon Frith, Cadence Chung, Chris Tse, Keira Batten Coogan.

Damien can be found on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Joseph Trinidad joins the local loser family as he visits Tāmaki Makaurau for the Auckland Writers Festival.

Damien Levi chats with him about his debut essay collection, Lucky Creatures, shared connections to place, the power of memory, and Joseph does a reading from his book.

Some links you may be interested in from this episode include ⁠one to purchase Lucky Creatures, Mikee Sto Domingo's short story 'The Duende' and Joseph on Instagram.

Books mentioned:
Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
This Watery Place: Four Essays on Gestation by Emma Heaney
Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood by Lucy Jones
My Dog Tulip by J. R. Ackerley

Damien can be found on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien Levi and local loser are back for a second season! Is the audio still unreliable? Yes! Should you still listen anyway? Please!
For the first episode of season two, Damien chats with playwright/zinemaker/artiste Nuanzhi Zheng about receiving Creative New Zealand money for something unexpected, the role of Head Girls in society, art schools, eating disrespectfully, and more.
As always, we can only hope the guest's audio improves across the season, but we thank you nonetheless for listening.
You may want to find Nuanzhi on Instagram or Substack, by a copy of her play Yang/Young/杨 (cowritten with Sherry Zhang) in Traces, or look at her website.
Damien can be found on Instagram or at his website.
The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien is solo in the local loser studio today, recording a round-up/recap of reading in 2025, thanks to voice notes from past guests.

Alongside favourite reads from Nathan Joe, Sherry Zhang, Saraid de Silva, Josiah Morgan, Laura Vincent and Gabi Lardies, Damien adds in a running commentary and some of his own favourites from the year.

local loser will be back in 2026, but for now, some links you may be interested in are: the preorder link for Childish Palate by Shariff Burke, Damien's The Big Idea article, Torrey Peters and Andrea Long Chu in conversation on Stag Dance, and Josiah's review of Brandon Taylor's The Late Americans.

Damien can be found on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

It's a surprise Friday episode from Damien Levi to coincide with the official publication date of Hoods Landing, the debut novel from his guest, Laura Vincent.

There's lots to learn about Hoods Landing, but Laura and Damien also get into what it means to let go of your book, ask why there are so many vape shops, decide they both actually like Auckland and lament bad writing.

Some links you may be interested in from this episode include ⁠a link to purchase Hoods Landing⁠, Laura's food blog hungryandfrozen.com, Jean Teng's Cringe, Emma Gleason's Crust, folu's unsackable and Laura's Instagram.

Damien can be found on ⁠Instagram⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.