Mohamed Hassan is an old friend, but he is also one of the most talented poets, writers and journalists I have ever met. We talk about the politics of poetry, and the poetry of politics.

Katie Rickson is a writer, editor, poet and founder of Compassion Poetry - an online collection of poems and essays about life with a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Katie and I talk about the way writing can help ground you, help you explore your world with wonder and compassion, and the importance of emotional intelligence in surviving our current landscape.

Sheldon Rua is a poet and dancer from Tāmaki Makaurau South. In this kōrero dig into the roots of spoken word poetry here in Auckland, and unsurprisingly find the oral history of our Māori and Pasifika people.

Grace Shelley is the editor of Overcom, a queer literary journal published here in Tāmaki Makaurau. We talk about the subtle sexiness of queer poetry, the blossoming world of page poetry, and the role of the English Teacher in fostering a love of poems.

Carrie and Liv are the Taylor Swifts of poetry. They tell us about the ways their growing and shifting friendship has contributed to growth in their work. We talk about poetry crowns, and imposter syndrome, and the way misogynists (inadvertently) publicised their first show.