#7: The Losers

from Recurring Character · host Holly Friend

In this episode, we honour the beautiful universality of loserdom. From America's bromance comedies to the UK's weirdo sitcoms, we explore the 2000s tropes for the genre, and whether two misfits can cancel each other out.We also deep-dive on Ghost World, the 2001 indie cinema classic that not only bridges the generational loser divide, but asks a question that, in today's loneliness epidemic, has never been more relevant: can loser friendships save us?Show notes:TV Tropes: The Loser archetypeThe Loser Canon by Crooked MarqueeLosercore by Nymphet AlumniThe Mainstreaming of Loserdom by Tell the BeesMark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk at fashion weekSuperbad (2007)An Oral History of Superbad by Vanity FairThe Inbetweeners (2008–2010)Booksmart (2019)Peep Show (2003–2015)Peep Show Still Proves That Self-loathing is Pretty Universal by The New York TimesSuccession Owes its Genius to Peep Show by iFour Naan, Jeremy?Ghost World (2001)Discussing Ottessa Moshfegh on STARGIRLTypes of Social Networks: Samplers on TikTok

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 24, 2026

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#7: The Losers

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Hamza Yusuf Muslim Central Hamza Yusuf is a cofounder of Zaytuna College, located in Berkeley, California. He is an advisor to Stanford University’s Program in Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. He also serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, one of the top jurists and masters of Islamic sciences in the world. Recently, Hamza Yusuf was ranked as “the Western world’s most influential Islamic scholar” by The 500 Most Influential Muslims. Hamza Yusuf has also authored several encyclopedia articles and research papers. His published books include The Burda (2003), Purification of the Heart (2004), The Content of Character (2004), The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi (2007), Agenda to Change our Condition (2007), Walk on Water (2010), and The Prayer of the Oppressed (2010).Shaykh Hamza was born in Washington State and raised in Northern California. In 1977 The Saint Entertainment Radio The Saint was a radio adventure program in the United States that featured a character ("a swashbuckling, devil-may-care Robin Hood type who, in his attempt to help people, remained just one step ahead of the police and crooks—both of whom he combatted") created by author Leslie Charteris. As the program's introduction said, The Saint (the alias of Simon Templar), was "known to millions from books, magazines, and motion pictures." Several versions of the program appeared on different networks.

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This episode was published on March 24, 2026.

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