Lions in the Suburbs and 4 Other Must-Hear Podcast Getaways
Flesh-eating beetles, a radio drama broadcast from the Eiffel Tower, and a horror story told through voicemails. Here are the podcasts to hear this week.
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Ready to escape the daily commute? Get away to a suburb in Australia with lions on the loose, or a variety show broadcast from a ballroom at the top of the Eiffel Tower. These podcasts will still get you back in time for work — and you’ll feel grateful your job doesn’t involve flesh-eating beetles, haunted letters, or John Hodgman’s teen insecurities.
Dead Pilots SocietyDead Pilots Society, “Only Child”
In the autobiographical “Only Child”, a 14-year-old John Hodgman navigates a band practice romance, the pot-smoking guidance counselor who lives in his house, and the question of why his parents won’t allow him to have his own apartment. Host Ben Blacker (*Thrilling Adventure Hour*) interviews Hodgman about the TV pilot that somehow never got made --- and Hodgman acts as himself in a table read, cast alongside 14-year-old co-stars. Listen [here](http://www.maximumfun.org/dead-pilots-society/episode-2-only-child-written-john-hodgman).
Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesThe Real Thing, “Backyard Lion Safari”
What would you do if you found your dog in the mouth of a lion? This podcast from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation tells bizarre true stories from the country’s residents, and this tale of escaped lions on the loose in the suburbs offers all you hoped for from a childhood in Australia. Hear from kids who grew up next door to the lions, who sprinkle their stories with Australian slang, imitations of their neighbors eating dinner, and the tale of a dog’s tragic end. Listen [here](http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/realthing/lion-escape-bullen-african-lion-safari-warragamba/7677760).
MabelMabel, “The Letters”
Ana Limón has been working as a caretaker for Sally, an elderly woman, for six months. And eerie things have started to happen, perhaps because of a powerful box of letters. Ana doesn’t have anyone to turn to except Sally’s estranged granddaughter, Mabel, who won’t return her calls. Told through Ana’s increasingly panicked voicemails for Mabel, this fictional drama is creepy and personal. Listen [here](http://mabelpodcast.com/episodes/).
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Charley Locke writes about growing up and growing old for publications including The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and WIRED. ... Read More
