Unlock your creativity with these 5 podcasts🔓

If your creativity feels locked away somewhere, these podcasts might be know the code to the locker. Is that something?

Hey! I’m Arielle Nissenblatt. Some of you may know me from podcast circles on the internet or IRL, but for those who’ve somehow stumbled upon this newsletter (first of all, welcome, I’m honored you’re here), I want to share a bit about what we do…

EarBuds has been around and recommending podcasts since 2017. Each week of our newsletter is curated by a different person who brings us a theme and finds 5 podcasts on that theme. Anyone can curate a list. I curate the curators and round everything up each week — adding a little flare here and there — but overall, the direction of this newsletter is in your hands.

Without further ado, let’s meet this week’s curator, Melissa Thom, and find out why she selected these podcast recommendations⬇️

Much of my life’s work has been about the importance of craft. Helping others unlock creativity is a) a privilege and b) essential to our place in the world because it drives innovation, problem-solving, personal expression, and ultimately helps us navigate life's most complex challenges.

For me, unlocking creativity is also essential for its own sake — as a natural, human impulse that deserves space without justification.

Melissa Thom, EarBuds curator July 2025

Podcast Picks

All About Sound podcast cover art

All About Sound

This episode explores poetry as a truth-teller and looks at how creative expression cuts through the complexities of life.

Former Bristol Poet-in-Residence and Poet Laureate, Vanessa Kissule, shares work rooted in local context (such as her viral poem Hollow) that connects community, memory, and creative power. Two wonderful voices that you should listen to on repeat.

The Blindboy Podcast podcast cover art

The Blindboy Podcast

A satirist and mental health advocate, this award-winning podcaster blends storytelling, humour, and insight.

In this episode, Blindboy invites us to consider letting go of perfection in order to unlock creative possibilities. A great listen.

In Ten Years Time podcast cover art

In Ten Years Time

This is a great podcast on creativity. This episode talks about the importance of long-term planning alongside small daily steps and the idea that tiny, consistent actions build true creative momentum.

Friendly and practical advice for making creativity accessible in everyday life.

Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert podcast cover art

Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert

This show pulls you in immediately.

It’s a powerful catalyst for unlocking creativity. It highlights how fear can so often paralyze us and hold us back. This episode gently reminds us to reframe fear and shifts the narrative around the creative struggle — a profound reminder that creative breakthroughs often happen not in spite of fear, but alongside it.

High Notes podcast cover art

High Notes

My favorite episode features a really honest chat with a British radio presenter from Virgin, BBC R1, R2, R4 & R6 about women, radio, creativity, and confidence.

If you are a woman working in broadcast media, I urge you to listen to this candid conversation.

Sponsored

Award-winning podcast company Studio Ochenta has just launched a new program: Bilingual podcasting workshops for kids aged 8 to 15, now available in both English–Spanish and English–French tracks.

The three-session virtual workshops are designed for families raising bilingual children who want a creative, screen-smart activity this summer.

Podcutters

Podcutters is a team of editors who will transform your raw podcast recordings into polished video episodes, social clips, and thumbnails. High-quality and affordable video podcast editing!

Mention EarBuds and get 20% off your first month of editing at podcutters.com!

Community

🏕️Camp Shame — one of America’s longest running weight loss camps for kids — promised extraordinary results. More than 50 years after its founding, host Kelsey Snelling is bringing the real story of Camp Shane to light in Camp Shame.

🎙️Chance Encounters is hosted by CNN Travel Writer Francesca Street and based on her CNN.com column of the same name which explores incredible true stories of travel connection.

💖In Podcast The Newsletter, Keelin of Mentally? A Magpie takes over to write about podcast criticism and introduce her social media initiative to boost the audio community, #Queuesday.

Podcast news from Podnews

  • Podcast Movement announced the first set of confirmed sessions for the event in Dallas next month. And, Podnews can add news of one more speaker: none other than the “podfather,” Adam Curry, who is returning to Podcast Movement thanks to SoundStack.

  • Higher Ed PodCon, a higher education podcasters’ conference took place this past weekend in Chicago IL, with more than 150 registrations, representing over a hundred universities.

  • Podcasting is booming in India according to new research, which claims that India is now the third-largest podcast market, behind China and the U.S.

Spotlight

I’m Feeling Queer Today podcast cover art

I’m Feeling Queer Today is a podcast that amplifies the voices of LGBTQIA+ young people across North America, exploring themes and issues through a queer youth lens. Produced and hosted by queer young adults across the country and beyond, IFQT is a combination of storytelling, interviews, trivia, and thought-provoking discussions that center queer youth voices in the national conversation around LGBTQIA+ rights, culture, and activism.

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