#BeeWeek and The Scripps National Spelling Bee is just around the corner, and this special series of shows, the Scripps National Spelling Bee Podcast, is your home for insider info and conversations about the Bee, language and life.

When considering whom to invite as our inaugural guest, we had three criteria: The guest had to be a former successful competitor in the Bee, someone who had made an impact, and, most importantly, someone with a passion and zest for life.

“I know it! I totally know it!” That was the exclamation from 8th-grader Jacob Williamson in last year’s Bee finals. His exuberance sent a jolt of energy through the normally tense ballroom as legions of new fans in person and watching on television hoped for the young man.

Jacob was not able to advance, finishing 7th overall after misspelling the name of an obscure Southeast Asian water monitor (the now-infamous “kabaragoya”) but his boundless enthusiasm made him into a spelling legend in an instant.

In this podcast, hosted by none other than Paul Loeffler, ESPN Spelling Bee commentator and a former finalist himself, we catch up with Jacob, hear about the philosophy that keeps him energetic and relive the moment that he entered the hearts of the spelling world forever.

You can follow Jacob on twitter at twitter.com/JacobSpeller38.We’re on Soundcloud, iTunes, and virtually everywhere else you get your podcasts.

Like the show? Email us at [email protected], we tweet at twitter.com/SpellingBeePod, and our website, http://SpellingBeePodcast.com, redirects to our tumblr page.

And, by the way, Loeffler will host every show in the series.

Theme music by Paavo Ilves, https://soundcloud.com/paavoilvesOriginal remix via http://deadspin.com