What are the best podcasts for creatives?
Whether you listen to them on a walk or have them on in the background while you work, there’s a podcast for pretty much every niche. But podcasts are also a great source of inspiration, learning and professional tips for people in the creative industries. From entrepreneurship and freelancing to marketing and design insights: here’s our guide to ten of the best podcasts for creatives. All the podcasts mentioned in this article and are free to stream or download.
How To Fail with Elizabeth Day:
https://howtofail.podbean.com/
Listen for: Inspiration and entertainment
Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Podbean, Audible
Author, journalist, and podcaster Elizabeth Day has made quite a success out of failure. Inspired by her best-selling book of the same name – How To Fail is based on the principle that our failures can often make us more successful in the long run. Each episode, she interviews a guest about their life and they choose three failures to discuss. Although many of her guests are famous, including climate activist Greta Thunberg and actress Minnie Driver – there are plenty of episodes featuring less well-known creatives and entrepreneurs including fashion designer Henry Holland.
Ctrl Alt Delete with Emma Gannon
https://www.emmagannon.co.uk/award-winning-podcaster
Listen for: Inspiration and entertainment
Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Podbean
Another book-inspired podcast for creatives is Ctrl Alt Delete with author and podcaster Emma Gannon. Gannon’s podcast is aimed at people who want to shape their careers, rather than be defined by what they do. Each episode features interviews with creatives and business owners. Like How To Fail, there are a lot of famous names in there, and they’re an entertaining listen. But there are some standout episodes that might feel closer to your experiences, such as creative coach Sara Tasker on how she built her business, behaviour expert Dr Katie Tryon on hybrid working, and journalist Anna Codreo-Rado on freelancing.
The TED Interview
https://www.ted.com/podcasts/ted-interview
Listen for: Inspiration and ideas
Where to listen: TED.com, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music
Like the TED Talk series, The TED interview dives into big ideas on everything from tech innovation to climate change. Host Steven Johnson talks to creators and thinkers from around the world including former White House photographer Pete De Souza. As well as fascinating stories and insights – there are also some episodes on relevant topics including economist and sociologist on the benefits of a four day working week, and Harvard professor Francs Frei on leadership. Listen on TED.com to get the transcripts.
Being Freelance
https://www.beingfreelance.com/the-best-freelance-podcast
Listen for: Freelancing and advice
Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts
Hosted by freelance video and podcast producer Steve Folland, Being Freelance is actually a whole community of freelance creatives including copywriters, illustrators, company directors, graphic designers and marketing professionals. Steve chats to creatives like marketing consultant Nadine Campbell and creative director Reuben Krabbe for candid chats about freelance life, how they got started and their hopes for the future. It’s worth a listen whatever stage you’re at in your freelance career. And there are useful insights from specialism-focused episodes, to tips on building a freelance network and finding clients.
Creative Rebels
https://www.instagram.com/rebelscreate/?hl=en
Listen for: Inspiration, insights and advice
Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify
As the name suggests, The Creative Rebels is a podcast by and for people who have rebelled against the 9-5. Hosts David Speed and Adam Brazier are co-founders of Graffiti Life and Parlour Tattoo. Some episodes focus on creative advice based on their own experiences, but they also interview interesting creatives including The Business Survival Kit authors Bianca Miller Cole and Byron Cole and Lucy Wener, founder of PR and design consultancy The Wern.
The Creative Condition
https://www.bentallonwriter.com/the-creative-condition
Listen for: Insights and advice
Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Spotify, Soundcloud
Illustrator and writer Ben Tallon is an interesting and prolific creative. He started The Creative Condition to speak to other creatives for honest conversations about their work and processes. It’s often a candid and informative look at different challenges we face in our work life. Some episodes dive into wider social and creative issues, including mental health – while others are more focussed on career challenges including how to maintain creativity and joy in an agency environment and how to start over in a new creative discipline.
The 21st Century Creative
Listen for: Insights, inspiration and advice
Where to listen: Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify
Hosted by poet and creative coach Mark McGuinness, The 21st Century Creative explores creative careers and insights. McGuinness interviews creators including artists, writers, commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and thought leaders. Guests have included coach and creator Kay Lock Kolp on parenting and creativity, marketing expert Naomi Dunford, and entrepreneur Vicki Saunders on women in business. And if you fancy something a bit more interactive, each guest will set a creative challenge based on the theme of the episode.
The Entrepreneurs by Monocle 24
https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-entrepreneurs/
Listen for: Inspiration, ideas, thought leadership
Where to listen: Monocle 24, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser, Soundcloud
Monocle 24 is a 24-hr global radio station with several podcasts including The Entrepreneurs. It’s a weekly 30-minute podcast featuring interviews with inspiring business owners from around the world including startups, design, art and branding. There is a pretty big archive to listen through. But if you just want a quick burst of inspiration, listen to one of the 5-10-minute Eureka episodes including Eureka 278 with fundraising lessons from creative networking site The Dots founder and CEO Pip Jamieson.
Letters From A Hopeful Creative
https://www.lettersfromahopefulcreative.com/episode-guide
Listen for: Career advice, community
Where to listen: Apple Podcasts, Acast, Spotify, and Google Podcasts
An archive of fortnightly podcasts hosted by creative coaches Sara Tasker and Jen Carrington that ran from 2018-2020. Letters From A Hopeful Creative is an agony aunt-style podcast where they help a listener to resolve a creative problem each episode. It’s an insightful, empathetic podcast that most creatives can resonate with from broader concerns like business burnout, comparison and authenticity to more specific queries around marketing yourself on social media, taking the leap into self-employment and knowing your worth. Although it doesn’t look like there are new episodes being produced, most of the dilemmas and advice is still pretty evergreen. And at just under an hour per episode, Sara and Jen are great company to break up your working day.
The Digital Marketing Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-digital-marketing-podcast/id373596600
Listen for: Marketing industry insights
Where to list: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible
This ad-free panel show-style podcast with expert hosts Daniel Rowles, Ciaran Rogers and Louse McDonnell aimed at being informative but entertaining on all things digital marketing. Each episode is around 20-30 minutes, and the podcast is a mix of panel discussion and expert interviews on topics including privacy changes, marketing & AI and video marketing. The Digital Marketing podcast is a great, bite-sized way to keep up to speed with digital marketing trends, forecasts and tips.
Whether you’re looking for something entertaining on your lunch break or something to help you solve a problem, podcasts are a great source of inspiration, research and professional insights for creatives of all disciplines. Let us know if you decide to give any of these a go.
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