The 15 Best Creativity Podcasts (2026)

Todd Henry has been showing up for creative professionals since 2005, making this one of the longest-running podcasts in the creativity space. Now rebranded as Daily Creative, the show has racked up over 20 million downloads -- and for good reason. Henry brings a rare mix of intellectual rigor and practical warmth to every episode, clearly spending serious prep time before hitting record.

The format blends solo deep-dives with interviews featuring heavy hitters like Seth Godin, Cal Newport, and Kim Scott. Each episode tackles a specific challenge that creative workers actually face: coming up with ideas when the deadline was yesterday, collaborating when everyone's overwhelmed, or figuring out what "doing your best work" even means on a Tuesday afternoon. Henry doesn't just theorize about creativity. He gives you frameworks you can use the same day.

What sets this apart from the typical motivational fare is Henry's willingness to sit with the messy, unglamorous parts of creative work. He talks about the pressure, the doubt, the organizational politics that can drain your best ideas before they ever see daylight. His books -- The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Herding Tigers -- inform the show's backbone, but you don't need to have read them to get value. Episodes run about 20-30 minutes, perfect for a commute or lunch break. If you make things for a living and sometimes wonder why it feels so hard, this show gets it.

Debbie Millman has been interviewing creative people for over two decades, and at 660-plus episodes, Design Matters might be the most comprehensive oral history of modern creative life ever assembled. Now part of the TED Audio Collective, the show started long before most people knew what a podcast was.

Millman's approach is disarmingly personal. She doesn't just ask about the work -- she wants to know how her guests designed the entire arc of their lives. Conversations span artists, designers, entrepreneurs, performers, and thinkers from wildly different disciplines, but there's always a through-line: what compels someone to build a creative life, and what it actually costs them. Her guest list reads like a who's-who of creative culture, from graphic designers to novelists to museum directors.

What makes Millman exceptional as an interviewer is her preparation and genuine curiosity. She catches details other hosts miss, and she's not afraid to push gently when an answer stays too safe. Her questions have a literary quality to them -- they're crafted, not improvised. Listeners regularly mention that even episodes featuring guests they've never heard of turn out to be some of the most compelling. The production is polished without feeling corporate. Each episode runs about 45 minutes to an hour. This is the kind of show that makes you rethink your own creative path while you're listening to someone else talk about theirs.

Roman Mars made a podcast about design that somehow appeals to people who have never thought about design for a single second. That is the magic of 99% Invisible. The show covers the built world around us: why street signs look the way they do, how a hospital floor plan affects patient recovery, the story behind the flags that cities fly. Design, as Mars frames it, is everywhere you have stopped noticing.

With 780 episodes and counting, 99PI has covered an astonishing range of topics since 2010. Episodes typically run 30 to 40 minutes, which is just right for a commute or a walk. Mars has one of the most recognizable voices in podcasting, warm and measured, and the production quality from the team consistently ranks among the best in the industry.

The show earns its 4.8-star rating from over 25,000 reviews by being genuinely surprising. You go in thinking you are going to hear about architecture or urban planning, and you come out understanding something deeper about human behavior and the invisible systems that shape daily life. Recent episodes have expanded beyond pure design into related territories like infrastructure, politics, and cultural history.

If you have ever walked past a building and wondered why it looks the way it does, or noticed a weird detail on a street corner, this podcast will scratch that itch every single week.

Andy J. Pizza -- New York Times bestselling illustrator and the kind of guy who radiates creative energy even through your earbuds -- has built Creative Pep Talk into one of the most beloved resources for working artists. With nearly 550 episodes and a 4.8 rating from almost 2,000 reviewers, the audience clearly agrees.

The show toggles between solo pep talks and interviews with accomplished creatives, and both formats work. In his solo episodes, Pizza breaks down the mental game of creative work: beating your inner critic, pushing through blocks, and finding that sweet spot between innovation and consistency. He has a talent for making big abstract ideas feel actionable. In the interview episodes, he brings on artists, designers, and creative entrepreneurs who share real stories about how they built their careers -- not the highlight reel, but the actual messy process.

Pizza's delivery is energetic without being exhausting. He sounds like a smart friend who happens to have thought deeply about why creative careers are so uniquely challenging. The show leans heavily into illustration and design, but the insights translate to any creative field. New episodes drop weekly, and most run about 30-50 minutes. If you're a creative professional who occasionally needs someone to remind you that the struggle is normal and the work is worth it, this podcast delivers that consistently without being preachy about it.

Rick Rubin barely talks on his own podcast, and that's exactly what makes it so good. The legendary music producer -- the man behind albums for Johnny Cash, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Adele -- approaches conversations the way he approaches the studio: by creating space for something real to happen. His guests do most of the talking, and Rubin listens with the kind of patience most interviewers can't manage.

Tetragrammaton features long-form conversations with notable figures from music, literature, science, philosophy, and business. Guests like David Whyte, and thinkers from dozens of other fields sit down for unhurried discussions that regularly stretch past an hour. The topics range from love and mortality to the mechanics of artistic process. Rubin's questions tend to be sparse but precise, and he has a gift for drawing out the most human, unguarded moments from people who are used to giving polished interviews.

With about 170 episodes, a 4.5 rating, and over 1,000 reviews, the show has found a devoted audience. Some listeners have raised questions about guest diversity, which is worth noting. But the core appeal is undeniable: this is what happens when one of the most creatively influential people alive gets genuinely curious about other people's inner worlds. Episodes arrive weekly to biweekly. If you liked Rubin's book The Creative Act, this podcast extends that philosophy into real conversation.

IDEO U's Creative Confidence Podcast brings 40 years of design thinking know-how into your ears, hosted by Mina Seetharaman, Head of New Ventures at IDEO. The show runs about 170 episodes deep and releases new conversations twice a month, each one featuring a creative leader, changemaker, or innovator tackling real organizational challenges.

The format is straightforward interview, but the substance is anything but basic. Seetharaman talks with people who are actually in the trenches of leading creative teams -- not just theorizing about it from a stage. Recent episodes have covered playful mindsets at work, team resilience during uncertainty, and how to build cultures where good ideas don't die in committee. The IDEO DNA runs through everything, so expect a strong bent toward human-centered design, prototyping, and the kind of structured experimentation that turns vague "let's be more innovative" mandates into something real.

What distinguishes this from other business creativity shows is the institutional depth behind it. IDEO has worked with some of the biggest organizations on the planet, and that experience shows in the caliber of guests and the specificity of the conversations. You won't hear generic advice about "thinking outside the box" here. The 4.6 rating from 128 reviewers reflects a niche but dedicated audience of designers, product leaders, and anyone trying to make large organizations less hostile to creativity.

Elizabeth Gilbert -- the author of Eat Pray Love and Big Magic -- created something beautiful and unusual with Magic Lessons. Across two seasons and 22 episodes, Gilbert works directly with aspiring artists who are stuck, afraid, or unsure how to take their creative lives seriously. Each episode pairs a real person facing a creative block with both Gilbert's coaching and advice from an expert guest. The guest list alone is worth the listen: Neil Gaiman, Martha Beck, Amy Purdy, Gary Shteyngart, and others show up to share hard-won wisdom.

The format feels like creative therapy you get to eavesdrop on. Gilbert listens to each person's specific struggle -- a writer paralyzed by perfectionism, a dancer who abandoned her art for a stable career, a photographer unsure if her work matters -- and responds with the kind of direct, compassionate honesty that made Big Magic resonate with millions. She doesn't sugarcoat things, but she also never makes anyone feel small.

This is a concluded series, with the last episode airing in September 2016, but it hasn't aged a day. The fears and doubts these guests describe are timeless, and Gilbert's insights hold up completely. The show has 1,400-plus ratings and a 4.6 average. If you've ever felt like you need permission to take your creative impulses seriously, these 22 episodes might be the most important listening you do all year.

James Taylor is a keynote speaker on creativity and innovation, and his SuperCreativity Podcast reflects that stage energy in audio form. With 170-plus episodes releasing weekly, Taylor interviews thought leaders across academia, business, and the creative industries about how humans can stay creative in an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

The show's central thesis -- "SuperCreativity is not about humans versus machines, it's about humans plus machines" -- sets it apart from podcasts that either ignore AI or panic about it. Taylor talks with neuroscientists about how the brain generates ideas, with business leaders about building organizations that don't crush creativity, and with artists about maintaining authentic creative practice when algorithms can generate images and text on demand. The conversations lean practical. Taylor wants to know what listeners can actually do differently on Monday morning.

The format mixes interviews with solo episodes where Taylor breaks down specific creativity concepts. His background as a keynote speaker means he's polished and organized, sometimes to the point of feeling a bit rehearsed, but the content is consistently solid. The 4.8 rating from 45 reviewers suggests a smaller but appreciative audience. If you're interested in where creativity and technology intersect -- particularly in business and organizational contexts -- this podcast covers that ground better than most.

Nick Skillicorn built Idea to Value around a question most creativity podcasts skip: how do you actually turn a good idea into something that makes money? Across 105 episodes, Skillicorn interviews experts from around the world about the science of creativity and the mechanics of innovation programs that deliver measurable results.

The show has a clear business orientation. Skillicorn isn't interested in vague inspiration -- he wants to understand how creativity functions at a neurological level and how organizations can build systems that reliably produce valuable ideas. Guests come from diverse backgrounds, but the conversations consistently circle back to execution: what separates the ideas that go somewhere from the ones that die in a brainstorming session? The interview format gives each guest room to share research findings and real-world case studies.

A few things to know before you subscribe: the show appears to be on hiatus, with the most recent episode dating to May 2023. It carries a perfect 5.0 rating, though from only 6 reviewers, so the sample size is small. The back catalog is still packed with genuinely useful content if you're in innovation management, R&D, or any role where you're tasked with making creativity productive rather than just pleasant. Skillicorn's questions are sharp and his guests are credible. Just don't expect new episodes anytime soon.

Lauren LoGrasso hosts one of the most prolific creativity podcasts around, with 370-plus episodes dropping every Wednesday. Unleash Your Inner Creative sits at the intersection of creativity, mental health, spirituality, and self-development, and LoGrasso moves between those topics with an authenticity that keeps a dedicated audience coming back. Her 4.9 rating from 243 reviewers tells the story.

The format shifts between solo episodes, guest interviews, and something closer to coaching sessions where LoGrasso works through creative blocks in real time. She's landed some impressive guests -- Julia Cameron (the Artist's Way author), Guy Raz, Jim Kwik -- alongside lesser-known artists and performers whose stories are often just as compelling. Recent episodes have tackled practical concerns like funding creative work without going broke, sitting alongside deeper explorations of self-doubt and purpose.

LoGrasso brings a warm, direct energy that feels personal without becoming performative. She clearly cares about her listeners' creative lives, and that comes through in how she structures advice: specific, actionable, and grounded in her own experience as a creative professional. The spirituality angle won't be for everyone -- some episodes lean into mindfulness and intuition more heavily than others -- but if you're open to that dimension, the show offers a blend you won't find elsewhere. It's especially strong for anyone who feels like their creativity is tangled up with bigger questions about identity and purpose.

Being Boss ran for 359 episodes and built a genuine community of creative entrepreneurs along the way. Emily Thompson hosted the show solo for its later years (episodes 240 onward), after co-hosting with Kathleen Shannon for the first era. The final episode dropped in June 2023, when Thompson stepped away to focus on her company Almanac Supply Co.

The show's sweet spot was the overlap between creative fulfillment and business survival. Thompson talked frankly about what it takes to be your own boss when your work is inherently creative -- the mindset shifts, the tactical decisions, the moments when being a freelancer or side-hustler feels impossibly hard. She brought on guests who'd actually built profitable creative businesses, not just people who talked about it on Instagram. The conversations covered pricing, client management, burnout, and the kind of identity questions that come up when your livelihood depends on your creative output.

Even though the show has concluded, the back catalog is a goldmine for anyone building a creative business. Thompson's voice is steady and encouraging without being saccharine -- she'll tell you to quit something that isn't working and mean it. The 4.6 rating from 67 reviewers reflects an audience that appreciated the show's no-nonsense approach. If you're freelancing, running a small creative shop, or thinking about making the leap, start from episode 240 and work forward. The final episodes about quitting with purpose are particularly good.

Jared Volle holds a master's degree in Creativity and Innovation, and Kaizen Creativity is basically his thesis translated into digestible audio. The title references the Japanese concept of continuous improvement, and the show applies that philosophy specifically to creative practice. Across 63 episodes, Volle breaks down the science of how people generate ideas, maintain motivation, and push past creative blocks.

The format is primarily solo, with Volle walking through research findings and practical techniques in a teaching style that's accessible without dumbing things down. Episodes cover topics like meta-cognition and creativity blocks, optimizing your environment for better ideas, marketing creative work, and the dynamics of creative teamwork. The science-based approach is the show's biggest strength -- Volle actually cites studies and explains methodology rather than just offering opinions dressed up as facts.

Here's the catch: the show hasn't published a new episode since mid-2021, when Volle announced that future releases would come on an irregular schedule. That irregular schedule seems to have become no schedule at all. The 5.0 rating is impressive but comes from just 7 reviewers, so the audience stayed small. Still, the existing episodes are genuinely valuable if you want to understand creativity through a scientific lens. Think of it as a free course on the psychology of creative work, organized into bite-sized lessons. The content hasn't expired just because the upload schedule has.

Holly Hilgenberg's Radical Creativity Podcast is a small, intentional show that explores how art can function as a tool for social change. With just 6 episodes so far, it's early days, but the conversations Hilgenberg is having are substantive and different from what you'll find on most creativity podcasts.

The interview format centers artists and visionaries who see their creative work as inseparable from community building and activism. Guests talk about the solidarity economy, art as a healing practice, navigating creative identity, and what it means to center community in your artistic process. One episode features organizers from Art.coop discussing how artists can participate in economic systems that actually serve people. These aren't casual chats -- Hilgenberg clearly prepares thoughtful questions and gives her guests room to develop complex ideas.

The show carries a 5.0 rating, though from only 2 reviewers, so it's still flying under the radar. Episodes release roughly twice a month and the most recent dropped in March 2025, so the publishing pace is slow. But if you're an artist who thinks about your work in political or community-oriented terms -- or if you're curious about what creativity looks like when it's explicitly aimed at collective liberation rather than individual success -- this podcast fills a gap that bigger shows ignore. It's the kind of project that deserves a bigger audience.

Brian E. Young, a magazine art director based in Baltimore, created the Uncanny Creativity Podcast as a companion to his Uncanny Creativity blog. Originally launched as the Sketchbook Podcast, the show ran for 10 episodes between 2015 and 2017, offering practical advice on creative process for visual artists and designers.

The episodes cover ground that matters to anyone who makes things: how to make practice enjoyable instead of tedious, techniques for generating ideas when you feel tapped out, getting past the fear of failure, and executing projects from initial concept to finished piece. Young also brought on guests like Alan Henry from Lifehacker for conversations about productivity and creative workflows. The tone is collegial and unpretentious -- it sounds like getting advice from a fellow artist over coffee rather than attending a lecture.

Let's be straightforward: this show stopped publishing almost a decade ago and only produced 10 episodes. It carries a 5.0 rating from 2 reviewers. The back catalog is very short. But the content that exists is focused and practical, particularly for visual artists and illustrators. If you work in design or illustration and can spare a few hours to listen to the whole run, you'll likely pick up a handful of genuinely useful ideas about creative practice. Just know going in that this is a snapshot of a creative person's thinking at a specific moment, not an ongoing resource.

Becky Gehrisch -- author, illustrator, fine artist, and creative director -- hosts the Origins of Creativity Podcast through her Bookling Media label. The show's premise is straightforward and compelling: invite creative professionals to share their origin stories. How did they start? What made them keep going? What does their creative practice actually look like day to day?

With 13 episodes releasing monthly, this is a newer show still finding its rhythm. Gehrisch interviews artists, musicians, creators, and innovators, and her background as a working creative gives the conversations an insider quality. She knows what questions to ask because she's lived the answers herself. A recent episode featured tapestry artist Jen Edwards discussing mindfulness through weaving -- the kind of specific, unexpected creative story that bigger podcasts often overlook in favor of more famous guests.

The show carries a 5.0 rating from 2 reviewers, so the audience is still small. The production is clean and the conversations are genuine, even if they sometimes lack the polished flow that comes with more experience. What it has going for it is sincerity and a focus on the personal dimension of creative work -- not the business strategy or the marketing angle, but the actual human impulse to make things. If you enjoy hearing how other people's creative lives began and how those beginnings shaped everything that followed, this is a quiet, thoughtful addition to your rotation.