21 podcasts to listen to while puzzling

What do you like to do when puzzling? Are you someone who thrives off silence or someone who likes some extra entertainment?

At Cloudberries we love podcasts; they make it easy to learn about anything, catch up on the news, and even play a game of trivia – anywhere, anytime! Here are 21 of our favourite podcasts for puzzling – try one the next time you sit down for a puzzle session!

Learn something new

Take time to learn something new while you’re puzzling! These info-packed podcasts cover just about everything under the sun, so there’s bound to be something that piques your interest.

99% Invisible

99% Invisible is about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and designs that shape our world.

Hidden Brain

Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.

TedTalks Daily

Hear thought-provoking ideas on every subject – from Artificial Intelligence to Zoology, and everything in between – given by the world’s leading thinkers and doers.

Stuff Mom Never Told You

Tune in to Stuff Mom Never Told You to hear co-hosts Bridget Todd & Anney Reese keep it real with a research-driven rundown of the ever-evolving challenges facing women today and throughout history, paired with smart, strategic solutions to further women’s lives, careers, and activism.

A Way with Words

A fun weekly radio show about language seen through culture, history, and family. Co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett talk with callers who have questions and stories about linguistics, old sayings, word histories, etymology, regional dialects, slang, new words, word play, word games, grammar, family expressions, books, literature, writing, and more. If you’re a puzzle geek who also likes words, this is the pod for you.

Today, Explained

Today, Explained is Vox’s daily explainer podcast, bringing you the biggest news every day with guests, context, radio drama, and more.

Laugh Along

Let’s be real, sometimes puzzling can be a bit lonely (and sometimes that’s out of choice!). Once you find a podcast on a topic that interests you with hosts you like and trust, it’s like spending time with old friends. Here are some of our favourites.

Dear Hank and John

Hosts John and Hank Green (authors and YouTubers) offer both humorous and heartfelt advice about life’s big and small questions. They bring their personal passions to each episode by sharing the week’s news from Mars (the planet) and AFC Wimbledon (the third-tier English football club).

My Brother, My Brother and Me

An advice podcast for the modern era. The McElroy brothers are here to take your questions and turn them, alchemy-like, into wisdom.

Reply All

“A podcast about the internet that is actually an unfailingly original exploration of modern life and how to survive it.” – The Guardian

Sooo Many White Guys

Intimate, funny conversations with all kinds of artists who (mostly) aren’t white dudes. Hosted by Phoebe Robinson.

Get lost in a story

Fantasy, science-fiction, non-fiction, true crime – there are people telling stories of all types through podcasts! With a host of writers, voice actors, and sound design it’s easy to get immersed in the story while you puzzle.

EOS 10

The stories of two maladjusted doctors and their medical team aboard an intergalactic travel hub on the edges of deep space — along with a deposed prince who’s claimed the foodcourt kitchen as his new throne.

Wooden Overcoats

Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family’s failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor – the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in business…

Homecoming

The first scripted series from Gimlet Media, starring Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, David Schwimmer, Amy Sedaris, and David Cross. Homecoming centers on a caseworker at an experimental facility, her ambitious supervisor, and a soldier eager to rejoin civilian life — presented in an enigmatic collage of telephone calls, therapy sessions, and overheard conversations. The result is an innovative, immersive audio experience — a mystery unfolding across the twelve episodes of Seasons One and Two.

My Favorite Murder

My Favorite Murder is the hit true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Since its inception in early 2016, the show has broken download records and sparked an enthusiastic, interactive “Murderino” fan base who came out in droves this spring for the sold-out nationwide tour.

Slow Burn

On Slow Burn, Leon Neyfakh excavates the strange subplots and forgotten characters of recent political history – and finds surprising parallels to the present. Season 1 captured what it was like to live through Watergate; Season 2 does the same with the saga of Bill Clinton’s impeachment.

Business Wars

Sometimes the prize is your wallet, or your attention. Sometimes, it’s just the fun of beating the other guy. The outcome of these battles shapes what we buy and how we live. Business Wars gives you the unauthorised, real story of what drives these companies and their leaders, inventors, investors and executives to new heights — or to ruin.

Play a Game

You may not think of podcasts as an interactive medium but there are plenty of trivia and game show podcasts that encourage you to play along! Since you’re reading a jigsaw puzzle blog we’re going to assume you’re into other nerdy stuff, too.

Good Job Brain

Good Job, Brain! is a free weekly clean audio podcast that’s part quiz show & part offbeat news. It’s the ultimate nutrition for your brain. So eat up!

Ask Me Another

Host Ophira Eisenberg and house musician Jonathan Coulton bring the lively spirit of your favourite trivia night right to your ears. Hear hilarious games, puzzles, and music, all played in front of a live audience.

Brain of Britain

Brain of Britain, the longest-running of all the broadcast quiz shows open to the public in Britain, started life as part of the series What Do You Know?, hosted by Franklin Engelmann on the BBC Light Programme in 1953.

Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

NPR’s weekly current events quiz. Have a laugh and test your news knowledge while figuring out what’s real and what’s made up.

Trivial Warfare Trivia

A trivia podcast for those who love cool trivia and sticking it to annoying teams at the pub quiz.

Next time you’re working through a puzzle (were you one of the lucky firsts to try our new line?) go on a little podcast tour and see what you like! Let us know your favourites and share your puzzle progress pics with us @cloudberriesofficial

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