All Episodes

May 15, 2015 12 mins
What’s a four-letter word for “anticipatory excitement?” Buzz! That is certainly the word on our minds as #BeeWeek and the Scripps National Spelling Bee draws ever closer. On this special series of podcasts, our host Paul Loeffler offers his unique perspective from both sides of the bright lights of the finals. A contestant himself at age 13, Loeffler is all grown up and now hosts the live television broadcast of the Bee. People love the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the incredible intelligence on display, an endless appreciation for letters, and competitive drama you could cut with a knife. Our guest today is the grand champion of another event with these exact same qualities. Dan Feyer is the most dominant competitive crossword puzzler of all time. He’s also a musician and a former Scripps National Spelling Bee contestant, and if that weren't enough to draw an invite, he and Paul have been friends since childhood. You’ll hear genuine moments of friendship in this episode, the most heartwarming yet of our young series. Tune in next time to meet Sophia Hoffman, a young speller from Missouri who narrowly missed out on last year’s Bee after an epic 66-round showdown in regionals. This year she found redemption and punched her ticket to Washington. Once you meet her, you can’t help but root for her. We’re on Soundcloud, iTunes, and virtually everywhere else you get your podcasts. We tweet at twitter.com/SpellingBeePod, and our website, http://SpellingBeePodcast.com, redirects to our tumblr page. And you can email comments to us at spellingbeepodcast@scripps.com. Theme: @PaavoIlves (soundcloud.com/paavoilves) Additional music: James Pants (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/james_pants/) D.V.S* (soundcloud.com/dvsmusic) Broke For Free (http://brokeforfree.com)
Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

24/7 News: The Latest

24/7 News: The Latest

The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.