What in the world is a Wordle? 5 podcast episodes all about the newest internet phenomenon

Maybe you’ve been seeing cryptic tweets of grey, yellow, and green squares fill up your Twitter feed. Perhaps you’ve tried googling it but you were only brought to a page with blank squares. Or maybe you have cracked the code, and that one daily Wordle puzzle is what is keeping you going through this winter.

People can’t stop buzzing about Wordle. Basically, once a day, you get six chances to guess a five-letter word. If a letter you guess is not in the word, it turns grey. If a letter turns yellow, it’s in the word, just not in the right spot. If a letter turns green, that letter is in the word and in it’s correct spot. Get it?

Whether you are someone obsessed with the daily puzzle game, or you’re desperately asking people what all of the hype is, here are podcasts asking (and answering): what’s Wordle?

“Recode Daily” is a daily podcast about the newest news in tech, and Wordle is the biggest news around. Incredibly, the game grew in popularity mostly by word of mouth; it started with just the creator, Josh Wardle, and his partner playing, then they passed it to his family, then to friends, and it just continued to spread. “Recode Daily” ponders why Wordle is having a moment, which basically boils down to human connection, believe it or not.

Spectacular Vernacular

“Spectacular Vernacular” is a fascinating podcast from Slate all about language: its evolution, Taylor Swift finally swearing, the Squid Game translations, etc. And on this episode, our hosts, linguist Nicole Holliday and Wall Street Journal language columnist Ben Zimmer, speak with the creator of Wordle, software engineer Josh Wardle, all about creating an internet phenomenon.

Happier in Hollywood

A part of Gretchen Rubin’s Onward Project, “Happier in Hollywood” is hosted by veteran TV writers Liz Craft and Sarah Fain. And every episode, they do a segment called “Take A Hike,” in which they recommend things to better your mental health, spiritual health, your overall happiness, etc. And this week, they had to recommend Wordle. It’s their one small daily joy. This segment starts around the 10:10 mark.

All Of It with Alison Stewart

On “All Of It,” host Alison Stewart sits down with New York Times reporter Daniel Victor, who recently published an article titled, “Wordle Is a Love Story.” Together, they talk about what David found out about the creator of the game and where the inspiration behind it comes from.

Rocket

Yet another brilliant episode title! On “Rocket,” our hosts, Christina Warren, Brianna Wu and Simone de Rochefort, are talking all about the problem with Wordle rip-offs flooding the App Store. This conversation starts around 23:45 in the episode.