Creativity exploder

The one podcast about creativity to rule them all. Find two podcasts playlists and lots of links to make you think.

Jul 28, 2025

Welcome to Hurt Your Brain #213, the place to get podcasts and links that will make you think, sent every so often.

This week I have a few great recommendations and two mini playlists that are a little different. I hope you enjoy!

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS

Planet Money Summer School is back. I’ve received my fake diploma for all previous years. Not to brag, but I’m pretty much a Planet Money post doc at this point.

There was a recent Ologies episode all about hobbies and the idea of social prescribing (a fascinating idea I had never encountered) that made me think a ton in the best way possible. Part two of the episode is right here.

Before the playlists below, here’s three other quick recommendations that will make you think, all examining something from 100 years ago (or a little more). The Daily did an episode celebrating 100 Years of The Great Gatsby that is worth checking out (even if I hated it in high school, I’m confident I would enjoy the book now). Short Wave examines the legacy of The Scopes Trial about teaching evolution in the classroom. The details on that are completely different than I realized. 99 Percent Invisible takes an angle about Titanic that I had never heard that will change your opinion on their lack of lifeboats.

Playlist 1: Shoutout to Song Exploder

I’m no musician, but I absolutely love Song Exploder. I’ve always been fascinated by creativity, and in my opinion, there is no better podcast to learn about creativity than Song Exploder. Musicians think about and push creative boundaries for years and years, and we get to hear their hard earned wisdom distilled down.

What amazes me is how wildly different every single artist is on how they arrive at their ideas. Creativity is as varied as there are people. There aren’t any recipes for successful creation that need to be strictly followed, musician or not.

If you are feeling a little blah in your own realm of creativity, try listening to a few Song Exploder episodes. You never know what hidden thing will become unlocked.

Here are a few recent ones I enjoyed and recommend:

Song Exploder: of Montreal - Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games

Song Exploder: Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Song Exploder: MJ Lenderman - You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In

Song Exploder: Waxahatchee - Fire

We saw those last two in concert together last month. Highly recommend.

Playlist 2: Good times with SNL buds

Needing good vibes is exactly where I’m at lately, so please enjoy this curated rabbit hole of easy listening. Go ahead and follow the trail below if you could use some smiles in your life.

Follow in the footsteps of my rabbit hole:

Step 1) Hear lots of chatter everywhere about how enjoyable Good Hang with Amy Poehler is, but also think, don’t we have enough celebrity chat shows? Check it out anyway, and start with the Paul Rudd episode because people seem to love that one. Take a peak at the YouTube version and then shock yourself when you watch the whole damn thing at 1x speed. Have a great time soaking in the good vibes.

Step 2) Go back and watch the first episode with Tina Fey, and then also watch a smattering of episodes that look interesting. Namely Seth Myers, Rashida Jones, Will Forte, and Andy Sandberg. Enjoy the format of each episode. Think to yourself, how the hell did they get me to watch this instead of listening?

Step 3) Because it comes up several times in the above mentioned episodes, finally check out The Lonely Island and Seth Myers Podcast. Bad name, great show. Start with The Jon Hamm episode (which actually doesn’t follow typical format), because somewhere you heard that is a great one.

Step 4) That episode was indeed a great time that successfully sells you on the show. Go back and start off at the beginning where they discuss the origin of The Lonely Island and then slowly work your way through the episodes in order, maybe a few a week (there’s a lot to catch up on).

There you go, a peek into my meandering but satisfying SNL adjacent rabbit hole that I think is worth you also falling down.

p.s. A highlight for me: at the beginning of the Will Forte episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Tina Fey mentions that Forte “is so responsive to any words of praise,” which is funny to her because she knows his family and friends love him, but he still seems to react like a plant who hasn’t been watered in a week in these situations. Poehler about half way through the episode starts sprinkling in compliments here and there, and he absolutely reacts that way (an episode very worth watching instead of listening).

PODCAST LINKS

Apple put together a list of 20 podcasts that exemplify the last 20 years of podcasting on their platform. Check it out, it’s a great list.

FOR FUN

Sometimes you lose faith in humanity, and then sometimes you find a subreddit with 49k people dedicated to cats who look like Adam Driver, and humans completely redeem themselves [filter by top, all time].

p.s. for my reading list, finished Children of Time, a sci-fi book I have heard a lot about over the years, and very, very interesting. Don’t recommend if not a fan of spiders. Now I’m onto The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks. Great so far.

Hurt Your Brain