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13 of The Best Podcasts for Writers
by Writing Workshops Staff
3 years ago
Writers love to procrastinate. If you're looking for a productive outlet as you work up the courage to face the blank page, try one of these podcasts especially for writers. There are a lot of great podcasts out there, but we've found these to be 13 of our very favorite podcasts for writers. Dive in, and find a tribe of writers for your ears. And, if you're looking for a class in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or screenwriting, we've got you covered.
- fiction/non/fiction: Hosted by Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan, fiction/non/fiction interprets current events through the lens of literature, and features conversations with writers of all stripes, from novelists and poets to journalists and essayists. Listen here.
- Welcome to Beyond the Page: The Best of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference: Over the past 25 years, SVWC has become the gold standard of American literary festivals, bringing together contemporary writing's brightest stars for their view of the world through a literary lens. Every month, Beyond the Page curates and distills the best talks from the past quarter century at the Writers’ Conference, giving you a front row seat on the kind of knowledge, inspiration, laughter, and meaning that Sun Valley has come to be known for. Listen here.
- Otherppl with Brad Listi: This is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. All episodes—hundreds of them—are available for free. Listen here.
- The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna: Welcome to The Screenwriting Life. Join professional screenwriters, Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna, whose combined credits include writing and production on such films as Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur and Captain Marvel discuss the craft, journey and business of writing for the screen. From dialogue to delivery, Meg and Lorien will guide you through the process, offering inside tips and tricks to help you become the best writer you can be. Listen here.
- The Longform Podcast: Longform has long been home to some of the best writing gathered in one place. And, they have a podcast that you should checkout. Their guest list is impressive and the conversations wide-ranging. Listen here.
- SCRIPTNOTES: Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and related topics in the film and television industry, everything from getting stuff written to the vagaries of copyright and work-for-hire law. Listen Here.
- Helping Writers Become Authors: This great podcast provides writers help in summoning inspiration, crafting solid characters, outlining and structuring novels, and polishing prose. Learn how to write a book and edit it into a story agents will buy and readers will love. Listen here.
- The Writers’ Co-op: This podcast touts itself as an audio business handbook for freelance writers. Co-hosts Jenni Gritters and Wudan Yan leverage their freelance writing experiences and others' to provide a transparent look at what it takes to run a resilient freelance business. From negotiating higher rates, to protecting your business and intellectual property, to taking time off and organizing your workflow, to doing the mindset work needed to achieve your goals, you'll walk away from this podcast with actionable tips to implement right away. Listen here.
- 3rd & Fairfax: The WGAW Podcast: This podcast is hosted and executive produced by Steve Trautmann, Aaron Fullerton, and Brian Gary. It's the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America West, and features information and updates about the Guild and interviews with top working TV and Film writers. Listen here.
- A Mighty Blaze: This show was created in 2020 to connect writers and readers in the age of Covid and beyond. Since then, they've recorded hundreds of interviews with authors of every stripe, from bestsellers to debuts and everyone in between. The AMB Podcast brings you the very best of those interviews, starting with "Friday Frontliners" like JOHN IRVING, ANNA QUINDLEN, EDWIDGE DANTICAT, CHERYL STRAYED, and ERICA JONG in Season One. If you're a writer, a reader, or just a lover of all things books, the AMB Podcast is for you! Hosted by Trisha Blanchet. Listen here.
- Desi Books: The Desi Books Podcast was founded in April 2020 by Jenny Bhatt as a pandemic-driven podcast with different audio channels about books and writers of South Asian origin from the world over. Over time, new text and audio channels have been added and are aired or published weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Listen here.
- Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert: Bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert's hit podcast MAGIC LESSONS aimed to help aspiring artists overcome their fears and create work more joyfully. Guests include Neil Gaiman, Gary Shteyngart, Amy Purdy, Michael Ian Black, Brandon Stanton, Martha Beck, Glennon Doyle Melton, and more. Listen Here.
- 10-Minute Writer's Workshop: NHPR’s 10-Minute Writer’s Workshop offered a peek into how great writers conjure and craft their work. From creative rituals to guilty distractions, writers revealed what it really takes to get pen to paper. The 10 Minute Writer’s Workshop signed off in December 2017, but you can still listen to the entire archive of 60+ episodes to find inspiration from some of your favorite authors. Listen here.
