Late-night New Zealand talkback, sideways and alive.
Marcus Lush Nights runs on phone-in momentum: a loose premise, a local detail, then whatever the next caller brings. It suits listeners who like sport beside everyday strangeness, from Crusaders traditions to mushroom dresses and diesel-tank questions.
PRESS PLAY
Marcus Lush Nights is late-night talkback with a loose grip on the steering wheel and a strong sense of place. Marcus opens the line, names the hour, checks the weather, checks the sport, and leaves enough space for the night to misbehave. The show is filed under New Zealand rugby culture for good reason. Crusaders traditions, stadium rituals, and sport as public habit all sit comfortably in its lane. But the programme is broader than match talk. It moves from cricket to World Cup football, from a disallowed try to a caller with no television, from a petition about horses to a memory of loaves of bread being thrown at halftime. Then it swerves again. A dental filling can become a minor event. A mushroom dress can become a full conversation. A question about storing diesel in a secondhand water tank can briefly feel like a national safety inquiry. The callers give the show its best texture. Shirley's family history turns into a picture of work, loss, and a crowded house. Pat's tunnel-collapse story brings danger and memory into the line. Rob's stolen-car story has the shape of old trouble retold with age on it. Josh's school story is smaller, but it lands because the show lets embarrassment take up room. Marcus keeps nudging, interrupting, clarifying, laughing, and occasionally shutting down a pointless row. The result is not polished magazine audio. It is live, local, curious, and a little unruly. For listeners who like their sport beside weather warnings, roadside stories, and caller-led detours, it has a durable late-night pull.
Made for: For listeners who enjoy caller-driven radio, New Zealand sport culture, local weather chat, and stories that begin ordinary before turning strange. It especially suits people who like rugby-adjacent talk without needing every minute to stay on the field.
What sets it apart: The show's edge is its willingness to let everyday calls become the main event. Sport, public projects, family history, and odd domestic problems all share the same open phone line.
Marcus Lush engages Kiwis from all walks of life, discussing the issues that matter most on Newstalk ZB.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Marcus Lush turns live scores, viewing details and caller opinion into sports talk grounded in the texture of an ordinary New Zealand evening.
Marcus Lush Nights moves easily between live scores, sporting opinion and the conversations callers bring through the door. Marcus Lush can follow basketball and football as they unfold, note a potentially historic cricket result, then make room for a caller's view of the mental…
A mushroom dress gets Marcus asking about cap sleeves, and somehow you're invested.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Caller-led talkback that ranges from cricket and eagle rays to rail arguments and family memory.
Marcus Lush Nights opens briskly, moving from cricket and the World Cup to the Porirua beach eagle rays before the phones take over. The appeal lies in the way the show turns a local oddity into broader late-night conversation, with Marcus giving callers enough room to shape the…
A frost forecast, a filling, a mushroom dress, and football keep the night moving.
Marcus Lush Nights starts with a very nice day down south and a frost forecast, then veers into a dentist filling before opening up into calls about a mushroom dress, a power cut, and football.
Live scores, football talk, and a broad New Zealand talkback night.
Marcus Lush Nights treats sport as part of a wider live talkback evening rather than a sealed-off segment. Basketball and football move through the running order, with the 67-64 New Zealand update, the final 22 minutes of Australia football, and practical pointers for watching…
A fuel-storage query opens into oil prices, caller chatter, and a wary night of preparedness.
A listener's practical diesel query gives this Marcus Lush Nights segment its hook, with the host returning to the same grounded concerns: a 1500 litre stainless steel water tank from Facebook Marketplace, the water already inside it, the risk of sparks, and the awkwardness of…
A loose Halloween call-in moves from costumes and candy to birthday warmth, bread crusts, and Mai Tai concern.
Halloween gives the episode a relaxed late-night shape, with the conversation wandering from Invercargill weather and Friday-night crowds into the shifting ritual of dressing up.
Marcus Lush hosts a talkback episode exploring public anxiety over a potential fuel shortage triggered by Middle East tensions.
Halloween is the starting point.
Marcus Lush interviews Pat, a 78-year-old former tunneller who was the first person rescued after the Kaimai Tunnel collapsed 56 years ago.
The host opens with spring, cherries, and the night's basketball and football.
Marcus Lush marks 40 years since Roger Douglas introduced New Zealand's 10% GST in 1986.
Marcus Lush discusses the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, recalling New Zealand’s 1950, 1974, and 1990 events and questioning whether the competition is nearing its end.
Marcus opens Monday night on June 29 and moves through cricket, a surprise World Cup elimination already in motion, and eagle rays washing up on Porirua beach before turning things over to callers and the usual number.
Marcus opens on a clear southern evening with a frost due later.
This episode features a casual, lighthearted conversation between host Marcus Lush and a caller named Cheyenne discussing local weather conditions in Canterbury.
This episode discusses a road accident in Invercargill, weather conditions, and an online petition to keep horses at the Crusaders rugby team, touching on sports traditions and culture.
A listener emails about her husband stockpiling diesel in a repurposed stainless steel water tank bought on Facebook Marketplace, prompting a discussion on the safety and practicality of storing fuel.
A caller named Pat shares his firsthand account of being the first man rescued after the Kaimai Tunnel collapsed, detailing his experience of being trapped for hours and his background as a tunneller.
Rob shares a story about stealing a Mark I Cortina as a teenager, joyriding with a friend, and getting caught by police.
A caller named Josh shares a humorous and relatable story about his first day of fourth form, where he planned to reconnect with a girl he asked to be his girlfriend before the holidays, only to be surprised by her new haircut.