About two months ago I ended my contract on my job in Japan. It’s a long story I might share one day, but I’ve been working from home since then, waiting for my husband’s contract to end so we can both uproot and move to a new location, where we’ll both be working again. Until then though, I’m a full time writer, editor and support for friends and family.

It get’s a little lonely sometimes. I can go for days rattling around in the apartment or taking walks on little populated Japanese countryside roads without talking to another human other than my husband. Skype is a life saver but there’s only so much to talk about. Podcasts have been my lifeline to a human voice, a source of education, entertainment and plain human connection.

Since some of these people have done so much for me, I wanted to share the love and give them a shout out. I have a whole list of educational podcasts but I’ll limit this list to more human interest this time. Here it goes:

Better Off Undead

These three guys, Johnny, Sean and Dave probably won’t believe that I’m writing about them. They claim that this is the “fan podcast without any fans” and frequently make jokes that their fans are probably in straight jackets because who else would be crazy enough to like them. I’m not insulted. I’m just glad that they don’t realize how funny they are because if they did, and started actually trying to be funny, well, the magic might end. So they can go on insulting their fans and we’ll go on enjoying the insults and imagining patting them on the head for being so silly. My favorite part of the show, which is basically these three guys getting on a Google Hangout and talking to each other about what they’ve been watching, writing, or doing in their lives, is the “What’s Up Dave’s Butt”  segment. Everything from the 700 Club to Target shoppers has been up there and it’s always funny. Dave has a special brand of hate and paranoia that’s so adorable and Sean and Johnny are very good at digging it out and forcing Dave to share it with the world.

(Note: This is not a show for those who are particularly sensitive about anything and definitely not for innocent children or possibly even innocent adults. The rest of us will be laughing our asses off.)  

The Rocking Self Publishing Podcast: 

Simon, with a pleasant British sounding accent, hosts this weekly show talking to authors, mostly indies and hybrid published writers, many of them at the top of their game with extremely popular books. He digs really deep, gets into the origins of the most popular stories and delivers an entertaining hour or so of author antidotes  and some publishing advice. I enjoy it as much as a reader as I do as a writer preparing to publishing my own book. This podcast is clean and usually children safe. The host is very tactful and has warned listeners ahead of time if there is anything delicate in nature.

TEDTalks Audio Podcast: 

If you don’t know about TEDTalks, I suggest you investigate in the near future. Artists, social scientist, scientists, activities, business leaders, education leaders, writers, engineers, and leaders from almost every other field you can think of come and deliver short, provocative and thoughtful talks on a plethora of topics. Not every one will appeal to you, but something will and will likely leave you chewing on a new idea of perspective that leaves you more informed, possibly laughing or empowered to take positive action in your own life or community.  TEDTalks are children safe depending on topic. Common sense and reading the titles hasn’t led me wrong.

I’ve also enjoyed podcasts on iTunes U. Check out Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders hosted by Stanford. They bring in business leaders from around the country, if not the world who tell their story. If I had been hearing some of these ideas when I was sixteen instead of watching most the people in my life work hard at being accepted for a job posting by someone else, I might be working for myself by now and not worrying about search engine optimizing my resume. I’ve found these episodes to be straight shooting, meaning people talk like they would actually talk with their venture partners and coworkers.

Well everyone, I’ll leave you with these for now. Hope I’ve given someone into some of the same light bulb moments and giggles I’ve enjoyed.