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 (https://aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/portrait/), Paula Green's chat with Jackson on NZ Poetry Shelf (https://nzpoetryshelf.com/2026/07/03/poetry-shelf-conversation-and-reading-jackson-mccarthy/), and Jackson on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jrtmccarthy/).
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 (https://www.instagram.com/damienlevi/).
The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.
23 May 2026
Theatre Kid Energy with Joseph Trinidad
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 (https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/lucky-creatures?srsltid=AfmBOorREKIEWVH4s73nZ5LU-dNseYVhBCGCguV9ZnFFl05-qgNpV3_P), Mikee Sto Domingo's short story 'The Duende (https://www.waikato.ac.nz/assets/Uploads/About-us/Faculties-and-schools/School-of-Arts/Sargeson-Prize/Sargeson-Prize-winners/2021/OPEN-SECOND-The-Duwende-by-Mikee-Sto-Domingo-FINAL.pdf)' and Joseph on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/trinidadandtobajoe/).
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 (https://www.instagram.com/damienlevi/).
The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.
2 May 2026
I Do Not Give My Permission with Nuanzhi Zheng
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 (https://www.instagram.com/breakfast.express/) or Substack (https://substack.com/@nuanzhi), by a copy of her play Yang/Young/杨 (cowritten with Sherry Zhang) in Traces (https://www.playmarket.org.nz/bookshop/playmarket-play-series/traces), or look at her website (https://nuanzhizheng.com/).
Damien can be found on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/damienlevi/) or at his website (https://www.damienlevi.com/).
The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.
4 Dec 2025
Local Loner 2025 with Damien Levi
Host Damien Levi presents a recap of favorite books from 2025, featuring voice notes and commentary from Nathan Joe, Sherry Zhang, Saraid de Silva, Josiah Morgan, Laura Vincent, and Gabi Lardies.
30 Oct 2025
Sticking the (Hoods) Landing with Laura Vincent
Author Laura Vincent discusses her debut novel, Hoods Landing, with host Damien Levi, exploring themes of letting go, Auckland's culture, and the challenges of writing in this interview.
18 Oct 2025
Grow Up Baby, Mama's Here with Faith Wilson
Host Damien Levi interviews writer Faith Wilson about grief, motherhood, and arts criticism while navigating the distractions of a baby, offering insights into balancing creative work with personal life.
12 Oct 2025
Earning the Runtime with Josiah Morgan
Host Damien interviews Josiah Morgan about literary influences, the writing process, and revisiting one's own work to refine artistic expression.
6 Sept 2025
Girl Who's Gonna Be Okay with Saraid de Silva
Host Damien Levi interviews Saraid de Silva about her experiences in Wellington, digital age detachment, and rediscovering music, offering insights into self-discovery and earnestness.
23 Aug 2025
Pulling the Leaver with Nathan Joe
Damien Levi interviews MFA student Nathan Joe about his move to Austin, Texas, and embracing his next adventure.
3 Aug 2025
Writing In Residence with Chris Tse
New Zealand Poet Laureate Chris Tse discusses his three-year tenure, including travel, poems, diversity in publishing, and the literary gap between New Zealand and Australia, in an interview with Damien.
12 Jul 2025
San Francisco to Tāmaki Makaurau with Nicola Andrews
Host Damien interviews Nicola Andrews, a poet and librarian, about her book Overseas Experience, her work in the USA, and the 'Oasis Summer,' offering insights into her creative process and experiences.
28 Jun 2025
Book Design Energy with Gabi Lardies
Damien interviews Gabi Lardies about book design, dead CD stock, and the Objectspace Book Fair, revealing insights into publishing and creative inspiration.
15 Jun 2025
Feeling Pressed with Ash Davida Jane & Stacey Teague
Damien Levi interviews Ash Davida Jane and Stacey Teague from Tender Press about the world of independent publishing and their upcoming writing projects.
3 Jun 2025
A Captive Dilemma with Tony Guo
Host Damien Levi interviews painter Tony Guo about his artistic practice, exploring cultural references from literature to pop music and offering insights into contemporary art.
11 May 2025
Making (Melbourne) Moves with Maddie Ballard
Damien Levi is in Naarm for the Melbourne Writers Festival and seizes the rare chance to sit down and chat with essayist and sewist Maddie Ballard (because he's staying at her house).
Their conversation touches on topics such as the festival itself, unpopular literary opinions, reading—or not reading—Australian literature, moving to Melbourne, and a small disagreement about novellas.
You can read Maddie's book as Bound (https://theemmapress.com/shop/prose/essays/bound/) in the United Kingdom and New Zealand from The Emma Press right now, and as Patchwork (https://tinhouse.com/book/patchwork/) in the United States from Tin House on 21 October 2025. Follow Maddie on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/maddieballard27/) for updates and on Substack (https://fieldnotesonfeeling.substack.com/) for more writing.
You can find Damien on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/damienlevi/) or Substack (https://damienlevi.substack.com/).
local loser's theme song is by Karen Hu.
25 Apr 2025
H*rny 4 Comics with Sloane Hong
Cheers! This is local loser's first nighttime episode, and so Damien has cracked open a drink to sit down and chat with illustrator and comic artist Sloane Hong.
Together, they talk about what Sloane's been up to, her comic Marrow & Other Stories (https://bookhub.co.nz/p/marrow-other-stories) and trying to get back into reading when you have ADHD. Damien pulls an ASMR segment and reads a meme from his phone.
Find some of Sloane's work on her website plaest2k.xyz (https://plaest2k.xyz/), follow her on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/plaest2k/) and catch her at Auckland Writers Festival's STREETSIDE in 'Fresh Fruit (https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/programmes/event/fresh-fruit-/1555310/)' on Friday 9 May.
Follow Damien on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/damienlevi) or Substack (https://damienlevi.substack.com/).
local loser's theme song is by Karen Hu.
16 Apr 2025
Being a Pick Me with Cam Yates (sybs)
local loser is a work in progress and we promise the audio will get better as we go!
In this episode of local loser, Damien is joined by the hottest, gayest candlemaker in Aotearoa, Cam Yates aka sybs.
Their conversation jumps from Ocean Vuong to gay rugby, doing a Master's thesis on The Great Gatsby, and to Damien spiralling from learning a new skill (podcasting) and being bad at it.
Visit sybs (https://sybs.nz/) for your own hot gay handmade candles and follow Cam on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sybs.nz/).
Follow Damien on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/damienlevi/) or Substack (https://damienlevi.substack.com/).
local loser's theme song is by Karen Hu.
5 Apr 2025
Under the Sheet with Sherry Zhang
For the first episode of local loser, Damien Levi is joined by Sherry Zhang to record under a sheet in his apartment. They chat about local and international reading, arts practice and writing, recent gigs in Tāmaki Makaurau and Damien almost dies choking on water.
Who has been a guest on local loser
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Nathan Joe
Sherry Zhang
Saraid de Silva
Josiah Morgan
Laura Vincent
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 32 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
63
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
0
Contact local loser
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