I love podcasts. I listen to them when I work, when I work out, when I do the dishes, when I drive. I pretty much listen to them all the time. For those who don’t know, they’re kind of like free downloadable radio shows for your phone. In other words, they’re great.
There are tons of podcasts for writers out there. Here are some of the best I’ve heard. They’re all free to download, so check them out!
Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy
Geek’s Guide has been my favorite podcast for quite a while. If you like fantasy, science fiction, and geeky stuff in general, it might become your favorite too.
Each week, host David Barr Kirtley interviews writers, movie producers, scientists, theorists, journalists, and more. Some of the show’s more notable guests have included George R.R. Martin, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Ursula K. Le Guin, Simon Pegg, and Michael Chabon.
Recently, author George Saunders joined the show to discuss his new novel Lincoln in the Bardo. This episode will make writers salivate. Saunders goes in-depth on inspiration, speculative elements in fiction, and his origins as a writer. Really good show here.
This American Life
If you loved Serial (of course you did), you’ll love This American Life, too. It’s a similar structure, only instead of one story told for an entire season, each weekly episode examines three to five smaller ones.
Though this show isn’t aimed specifically at writers, this show is sure to inspire you. Depending on the week, you’ll get stories that are amusing, strange, profound, exciting, or tense (plus some other adjectives I can’t think of).
One of my absolute favorite episodes features a story about two comedians who just so happened to appear on Ed Sullivan on a very special night in 1964. I won’t say anything else.
Dissecting Dragons
I discovered this show a few weeks ago, and I already love it. Hosted by authors Madeleine Vaughan and Jules Ironside, the show explores every aspect of writing speculative fiction.
The hosts are well-read and have a tight grasp on what makes stories tick. When they discuss a subject, they go in depth. For example, their episode on dragons covered all sorts of dragon myths from numerous different cultures, as well as more contemporary fiction. They even have a establish the key distinctions between dragons and wyrms, so you know they did their research.
Those are just a few of the podcasts I enjoy. What shows are you listening to? Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks for sharing these, Kyle. I’m definitely going ti check them out. I’ve been listening to Writing Excuses for a couple of years now because the there are frequent guests and great discussions and lessons on a variety if writing related topics.
Agreed, it’s a good one. Glad you found this helpful!