One thing I love about podcasts is that you can kind of carry them with you, almost like your thoughts, while you’re doing something else. I love listening to podcasts while I go for a walk or exercise, and there are plenty of podcasts on creativity that I’ve discovered this way, and that have enriched my life.
Looking for some auditory inspiration and practical creative advice? These podcasts got you covered!
The Moment (10/10)
omwow rating: 10 of 10
Host: Brian Koppelman, screenwriter, showrunner (website)
Time active: February 2014
Typical episode length: 1 hour
The Moment with Brian Koppelman podcast is a wonderful podcast on creativity by the co-creator of HBO show Billions, screenwriter of movies like Solitary Man, Ocean’s Thirteen, Rounders, and Runner Runner. Koppelman shares top-notch screenwriting advice, but also explores other topics around the creative process in any artistic field, be it writing, music, and walking the tightrope of success. He has on fascinating guests, from great novelists like Paul Auster to legendary music producers like Rick Rubin, filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, to innovative thinkers like Seth Godin, billionaire entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban, actors like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or spiritual leaders like Sadhguru help you get your creative juices flowing.
The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers (8/10)
omwow rating: 8 of 10
Host: Joanna Penn, author (website)
Time active: September 20
Typical episode length: 1 hour
The Creative Penn Podcast is a longrunning podcast for writers, approaching almost 700 episodes now, and a total of over 8 million downloads. Host Joanna Penn has been a trusted voice for aspiring authors for many years now, and her deep knowledge of the publishing industry (self-publishing in particular), combined with her enthusiasm for new technologies like AI and ChatGTP always make for an interesting and worthwhile listen. A great way to keep up on new developments and to stay updated on emerging opportunities as a writer.
Broken Record (10/10)
omwow rating: 10 of 10
Host: Rick Rubin, music producer (twitter)
Time active: November 2017 and still running
Typical episode length: 1 hour
Broken Record is a podcast where Rick Rubin, legendary music producer and co-founder of Def Jam, talks with musicians and other members of the creative community on what’s involved in creating art. It’s one of the best podcasts for creatives where Rick, in collaboration with Malcom Gladwell, shares genuine conversations that are both insightful, interesting, and simply soothing to listen to. With almost 250 podcast episodes published so far, this is a treasure trove for everyone who wants to live a more creative life.
Questlove Supreme
Host: Questlove, musician (twitter)
Time active: November 2019 and still running
Typical episode length: 1.5 hours
Questlove Supreme is a podcast by none other than Questlove (yup, from The Roots) and his crew where they have conversations with musical and creative legends, and guests include people like Chris Rock, Shaggy, Usher, Weird Al, Chaka Khan, Seth Rogen, and many more. Episodes are more freeflow conversations than revolving around a certain topic, so this is a good podcast to listen to when you just want to kick back and virtually hang with some truly talented folks.
Song Exploder (10/10)
omwow rating: 10 of 10
Host: Hrishikesh Hirway (website)
Time active: January 2014 and still running
Typical episode length: 20 minutes
Song Exploder is a beautifully produced podcast where each episode dives into one song with the artist who made it. It’s beautiful to hear musicians tell the story behind a song and get an insight into the mind of greats like Hans Zimmer, Björn, Madonna, Aurora, Imagine Dragons, Cat Stevens, Billie Eilish, Jewel, the Deftones, Meek Mill, Slipknot, Sheryl Crow, The Cranberries, Yo Yo Ma, Fleetwood Mac, Empress Of, R.E.M, Nine Inch Nails, Rachel Platten, The Roots, Metallica, Iggy Pop, and many more. Browse through the more than 270 episodes already published, you’ll sure find a song or artist that you love.
Magic Lessons
Host: Elizabeth Gilbert
First episode published: Do What Ignites Your Soul (July 2016)
Status: No longer active (Final episode published in September 2016)
The Magic Lessons podcast is no longer active, but it’s still absolutely worth listening to. I love Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic, and when I discovered that she had a podcast I was both happy and sad—because she’s no longer publishing it. In this podcast, she has conversations with both established an aspiring artists (she calls up Neil Gaiman in one of the episodes) and talks with them about overcoming fears and creating more joyfully. Definitely one of my favorite podcasts on creativity.
The Accidental Creative
Host: Todd Henry (website)
First episode published: 2005
Typical episode length: 20 to 40 minutes
The Accidental Creative podcast is one of the longest running creativity podcasts out there. Its host Todd Henry does both solo-episodes, as well as episodes where he has conversations with other creative professionals. He explores where great ideas come from, how to stay prolific as a professional, running creative teams, and other aspects of maintaining a creative career. Having run his podcast for almost two decades now, with more than 10 million downloads, he’s definitely someone worth listening to.
Creative Pep Talk
Host: Andy J. Pizza, illustrator, storyteller (website)
Time active: October 2018 and still going
Typical episode length: 1 hour
Creative Pep Talk is a weekly podcast for creatives where illustrator Andy J. PIzza (gotta love that name) shares sometimes solo-episodes, sometimes conversations with other creatives. Topics range from how to deal with your inner critic, imposter syndrome, authentically engaging on social media, finding your style, building your creative practice, and what to do when you feel like giving up.
99% Invisible
Host: Roman Mars (website)
Time active: September 20
Typical episode length: 30 to 50 minutes
99% Invisible is a podcast about design about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about: the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world. Top-notch production value, around 500 million downloads (yup, this is a major player in the world of podcasting), and features in many media outlets from the New York Times to the Chicago Tribune, this is a podcast you probably have at least heard about at some point.
A Beautiful Anarchy
Host: David duChemin (website | instagram), photographer, author
First episode published: Imposter Syndrome (September 2019)
Status: No longer active
A Beautiful Anarchy by David duChemin is a wonderful collection of creative audio essays. Sadly, David has (for now) run out of things to say in his podcast—the last episode has been published in February 2022. But the archive contains 80 episodes that are still a treasure trove of short audio essays (typically around 15 minutes) that touch on topics like the emotional and philosophical aspects of the craft, the pressure to produce, the freedom of being wrong, and many other wonderful ruminations creative people will enjoy. Many of the episodes also were recording during Covid lockdowns, and touch on the subject of how to be as a creative during the pandemic.
The 21st Century Creative
Host: Mark McGuinness, poet (website)
Time active: May 2017 – September 2022
Typical episode length: 1 to 1.5 hours
The 21st Century Creative podcast features a nice mix of inspiration and practical guidance for creatives in showbiz. Host Mark McGuinness has conversations with filmmakers, authors, creative entrepreneurs, musicians, digital artists and others. One of my favorite things about this podcast is the weekly creative challenge that listeners are invited to participate in.
The Daily Creative
Host: Todd Henry (website)
Time active: Relunched in February 2023
Typical episode length: 2 to 5 minutes
The Daily Creative podcast is another podcast by Todd Henry (yup, he doesn’t just preach being prolific, he is prolific) where he shared a daily dose of creative encouragement. There used to be a big archive of old episodes from way back, but it seems like they’ve relaunched the podcast and started releasing new episodes in February 2023, the latest one being about writing morning pages. (If you want to write morning pages yourself, check out my morning pages prompts.)
Design Matters
Host: Debbie Millman, writer, designer, brand consultant (website)
Time active: August 2009 and still running
Typical episode length: 30 minutes
Design Matters by Debbie Millman is one of the longest running podcasts on creativity where Host Debbie Millman is interviewing graphic designers, photographers, filmmakers, best-selling authors, actors, brand consultants and other creative professionals. Guests include people like Seth Godin, Nick Offerman, James Clear, Susan Cain, Ethan Hawke and many others.
The Allusionist
Host: Helen Zaltzman (twitter)
Time active: January 2015 and still running
Typical episode length: 30 minutes
The Allusionist is a podcast about language, and if you have any linguistic passions you might enjoy this very cerebral podcast that takes a very creative approach of looking at how the spoken and written word impact our lives.
Being Freelance
Host: Steve Folland, video & podcast producer (website | twitter )
Time active: 2016 and still running
Typical episode length: 45 minutes
Being Freelance is a podcast for creative freelancers where host Steve Folland interviews freelancers from a wide array of fields: fashion photographers, marketing consultants, graphic designers, writers, illustrators, email strategists, motion designers, creative directors, voiceover talent, editors, sound designers, web developers, and many more. If you’re interested in growing a creative business, then going through the archive and finding episodes which are relevant to you can be a good idea.
Changes
Host: Annie Macmanus (website | Instagram)
Time active: June 2019 and still running
Typical episode length: 30 minutes to 1 hour
The Changes with Annie Macmanus podcast is all about experiencing and managing change as creatives. The host talks with actors, writers, musicians, actors, and artists from all kinds of fields about pivotal moments in their life, how they dealt with change and how it helped them become the creative person they now are.
Longform
omwow rating: 7 of 10
Hosts: Aaron Lammer, Max Linsky, Evan Ratliff
Time active: August 2012 and still running
Typical episode length: 1 hour
Longform is one of the more cerebral podcasts on creativity and features thoughtful interviews with writers, journalists, filmmakers and others in the creative industry. What I love about this podcast is that it often features writers that haven’t yet made the bestseller lists, despite their writing being top-notch, so you often discover interesting new voices and stories here.
On Being
Host: Krista Tippett, journalist (twitter)
Time active: September 2001 and still going
Typical episode length: vary greatly, from 2 minutes to 1.5 hours
On Being is one of the OG’s of podcasting, a show which actually started out on public radio, has released more than 940 episodes, and has been downloaded more than 400 million times. It’s a show where host Krista Tippett talks with creatives from all walks of life about all aspects of life: actor Nick Offerman talks about working with wood and the meaning of life, Sylvia Boorstein on Lovingkindness meditation, or bestselling author Pico Iyer has a conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert. The probably most spiritually inclined of the podcasts on creativity listed here.
Creativity in Captivity
Host: Pat Hazell, actor (Instagram)
Time active: May 2021 and still running
Typical episode length: 1 hour
Creativity in Captivity is a podcast where host Pat Hazell talks with creatives from various disciplines. Guests include comedian Jerry Seinfeld, special effects designer Adam Savage, author Steven Pressfield, art curator Maria Brito, bestselling author Austin Kleon, choreographer Sarah Kawahara, former HBO network executive Kelly Edwards, and others.
The Unmistakable Creative
Host: Srinivas Rao (twitter)
Time active: January 2014 and still running
Typical episode length: 1 hour
The Unmistakable Creative by Srinivas Rao is one of the longest running podcasts on creativity that shares inspiring stories and practical advice from creatives, entrepereneurs, and generally just interesting people that do things on their own terms. With more than 1,300 episodes already published, this is a creative treasure trove of conversations with fascinating changemakers. Whether it’s Pico Iyer discussing his latest book, Austin Kleon on how to keep going when you feel like quitting, or Seth Godin on the emotional journey of shipping creative work—there’s something for everyone.
Outstanding episodes from various podcasts on creativity
There are plenty of individual podcast episodes from podcasts that aren’t actually podcasts on creativity, but that are nonetheless worth listening to, and I wanted to have a space for these here.
Lex Fridman podcast #275 with Rick Rubin
In episode #275 Lex Fridman and Rick Rubin sit down together and talk about creativity, philosophy, why Rubin seeks simplicity in the music he produces, he tells fascinating stories of musicians and musical genius. Rick also talks about his struggles with depression and how it affected and changed him. They discuss how art and business intersect, where ideas originate from, what role conformity plays in Rubin’s life, and much more. A wonderful 2+ hour conversation between two great minds.
Andrew Huberman podcast with Rick Rubin on How to Access Your Creativity
This episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast features Rick Rubin, and the conversation between him and Andrew Huberman makes for a fascinating listen. Huberman is very familiar with the neurophysiology on the subject of creativity, while at the same time being very open-minded to more artistic perspectives. They discuss the impact of emotions, language, the power of restraints, how perception relates to creativity, the creative process, collaboration, meditation, and much more. A three hour conversation that is a deep-dive into the world of creativity.
Tim Ferriss Podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert on the Creative Path
In episode #430 of Tim Ferriss talks with bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert about creativity, intuition, how she organizes her work, the Artist’s Way, and much more. A two hour conversation packed with nuggets for writers and other creatives.
Tim Ferriss Podcast with Guy Raz on how he built “How I Built This”
In episode #462 Tim talks with Guy Raz, who created “How I Built This”, an inspiring podcast for founders and entrepreneurs that tells the stories of people who built great companies through determination, creativity and a few other magic ingredients. It’s a wonderful storytelling podcast, and especially because so many artists have a strenuous relationship to success, it’s great to listen to stories of creative and resourceful people who became successful while also staying true to themselves.
Do you have a favorite podcast on creativity, or a particular episode from a podcast that you love? Let me know in the comments and I might add it to the list.