10 Unexpected Podcasts to Help Creative People Stay Creative!

We all need something buzzing in our ears while we let the creative juices flow.

For some, this is music. For others, audio books. For me, it’s podcasts.

Lots and lots (and lots) of podcasts.

Here are 10 unexpected podcasts I have found to keep me going, keep the creative juices flowing, and help me break out of my funk when I need a kick in the pants.

Keep You Going

These are the podcasts to help you keep moving forward. Sometimes you need something meditative or thoughtful or encouraging or all of the above to keep you moving and growing. These are the ones which hit the spot and keep me (and hopefully you) motivated to keep doing my best!

1. The Bright Sessions

The Bright Sessions is a work of audio fiction centered around people with super powers through the lens of their interactions with Dr. Bright who is trying to help them cope with their powers and the world around them. It is tragic at times but also so incredibly hopeful. I am not kidding when I tell you this podcast brought a tear to my eye (out of happiness) more than once. It has since wrapped up, the story being told, but the backlog of episodes is amazing for those who are motivated by triumph in the midst of suffering!

2. Building Relationships

If you have ever read “The Five Love Languages” then you know Dr. Gary Chapman. This podcast is all about, well, relationships. Not just romantic relationships either. It’s about siblings and neighbors and co-workers and kids and relatives and so much more. If you are a human being, then you have relationships in your life. If you have relationships in your life, then you have screwed up at least one of those relationships at some point. This podcast teaches strategies and processes to make us all a little more kind, loving, and understanding towards one another. [PSA: there aremany Christian roots in this podcast. If this is a problem for you, then it’s probably best to avoid. I encourage you to give it a shot, though, because there is a lot of great stuff here.]

3. The Empty Bowl

This podcast is the most underrated podcast you’ve never heard of. Get this. It’s about cereal. I’m not joking. It’s a meditative podcast about cereal. It may sound ridiculous but I have listened and re-listened to this podcast because it’s like meditation for me. It’s a real chill, uplifting time about a simple topic but it has been great to have in my ears for keeping me focused but restful. We all need a restful experience to help us strike a good balance of work and relaxation. I can’t sell this podcast enough. There are some great laughs to be had along the way, too. It’s an added bonus.

4. Fictional

Have you ever wanted to read or listen to those great books discussed in your literature classes from high school and college but also it sounds totally awful to read them? Well, Fictional is a great way to absorb the classics in a contemporary and engaging audio fiction style. They are, by no means, a replacement for reading the classics, but they are a great way to engage with the classics and learn something new from some of the greats!

5. Radiolab

If you didn’t see this one coming, then I don’t know what to tell you. Radiolab is one of the most wildly popular podcasts out there. It has engaging journalism from all different stances on subjects from gonads to linguistics to race politics and beyond. If you are wanting to keep moving forward and learning and growing, then you need to experience, in some format, the world outside of yourself and come to learn and understand more of the world around you (and in you!), and Radiolab is the ultimate way to do so in the form of a podcast!

Keep the Creative Juices Flowing

These are the podcasts to keep your creative juices flowing! Now, this can be extremely subjective so take these suggestions with a grain of salt. These are the ones which have struck the exact right chords for me to excite me and keep my creativity nice and limber. They may not do the same thing for you but give them a shot!

6. The Adventure Zone

Three good, good boys and their dad engage in some Dungeons & Dragons antics in this podcast. They started out with a podcast I will mention later and then dipped their toes into a live-action D&D podcast and it became a sensation in the Nerd Realms & Beyond! If fantasy isn’t your thing, try it out anyway. If D&D isn’t your thing, try it out anyway. I have never heard someone listen to this podcast and not thoroughly enjoy it. The boys are so wild and the stories are heartfelt and raunchy and thrilling. Nearly every episode made me want to go write or create my own D&D campaign. Some of them did! They are now, at the time of this writing, on their third story arc and there is an enormous backlog to enjoy.

7. Imaginary Worlds

This podcast is some mix of autobiography and documentary about the human imagination. Truly, there is nearly no subject about worlds and realities created by humans left untouched at some point in this podcast. Some of these worlds and realities are things like fandoms but others are about the world of romance novels or the idea of a Utopian (or dystopian) society or even religion and faith. Seeing all the ways humans have created inspires me to create more and join them. This is a great podcast for some inspiration (and education) on imaginary worlds and “how we create them and why we suspend our disbelief.”

8. Myths and Legends

The creators of this podcast have had another podcast mentioned in this list (Fictional) but for a different reason completely. Myths and Legends retells the stories humans have passed down from one to another for centuries and millennia in a modern way. Humans have been creating stories to help us cope with the world around us since we first created language. We have thousands of years of human history and their stories to keep reminding us of the struggles we have had, the demons we have wrestled with, and the fears which still haunt us. This podcast takes us on a tour through some of the best and worst stories humanity has to offer. Each of these give us a well of sources to pull inspiration from for whatever creative outlet we may be working towards!

Break You Out of the Funk

We have all been there. Writer’s block. Or whatever particular form of creative block you may have. We want to do something, but we can’t seem to work our way out of it. These podcasts have helped me reset and refocus. For me, the best way to do this is to have fun and laugh. So, here are some delightfully funny podcasts guaranteed to make you chuckle and feel positive again!

9. Mission to Zyxx

Now, this is specifically a sci-fi audio drama. But, the best piece to it all is they place an emphasis on the improv comedy within the audio drama. There are jokes made in episode 1 coming back up in episode 48. There are moments in this show so absurd I have awkwardly laughed when I was supposed to be working. The hilarity doesn’t stop at awkward laughter, though. Oh, no. On more than one occasion I have started choking, in public, because I was awkwardly laughing and trying to hold it back, which only made it all the more embarrassing. And I’m not even mad about it. Because it brought such joy to my life! Seriously, the sci-fi audio drama is the backdrop for what is essentially some roughly-scripted improv comedy and it is amazing.

10. My Brother, My Brother, and Me

Here it is. One of my all-time favorite podcasts. The second podcast from the MaximumFun organization and the original podcast of the McElroy brothers who created the aforementioned The Adventure Zone is an advice podcast. Except 99% of the advice is awful. And 99.9% of the situations soliciting this advice are delightfully hysterical. There are jokes running 300 episodes. There are podcasts within the podcast. And podcasts within those podcasts! There are hot grapes and mango cults and shrimp scampi guns and condiment flavored ice cream. Not an episode goes by where I don’t burst out laughing. I mean, people, I can’t say there is anything in this world where I legitimately “lol” anymore. This podcast has gold in every episode. I feel so great after listening to an episode of MBMBAM because, for a brief moment, no matter what was going on around me, I got to laugh and smile and sometimes cry from laughing so hard. What a gift in a dark world! This podcast WILL break you out of a funk. I have no doubt in my mind.

Podcast and Create

There you have it. 10 podcasts for 3 purposes when it comes to being a creative. Hopefully all of them were unexpected and all of them unexpectedly help you keep being creative. It’s a rough life out there for those of us creative types, so I truly hope you find something here to help you do your thing.

I believe in you.

I love you.

You’re the best!