Looking back in time, Eric shares the times that he visited Japan in 2011 and 2014. 3 months before visiting Japan for the first time, the country was hit with an earthquake and tsunami which also affected a nuclear power plant. Eric's mum thought that he was mad for wanting to go to Japan so close to a major disaster.
SPOILER ALERT - he was fine. He did feel an aftershock, though.
To start the episode, Eric reacts and comments from an initial news report from the BBC. In a happier note, Eric recounts the various adventures he had in Japan. At the time, he did not record videos. Being 2011 & 2014, any videos would look like they were filmed on a potato compared to 2025. To share what the environment would have been like with modern equipment without actually being in Japan, Eric watches and commentates on a video created by Walking Tokyo. There are many examples of these well filmed walking tours on YouTube.
This video and re-telling stories leads Eric down a rabbit hole of looking back at his own memories and finding some classic photos from his first trip to America in 2009 amongst other things.
VIDEO LINKS:
Initial BBC News report from Japan about the 2011 earthquake & tsunami: https://youtu.be/Hai1sZMrLhw?si=9YbakBIz-OfmfflS
Walking Tour Of Nippori (Tokyo): https://youtu.be/1_D1TcASw48?si=1MrpleOI3c1nbVSD
Simulated Erk Promo | JR East Train Simulator: https://youtu.be/D2jX1pDt61U?si=e1Ace80TE5VPQlsb
BRIEF HISTORY OF ERK POD & CHANNEL ERK PODCASTS (2007 - 2014) AND VIDEO CONTENT (2016 - PRESENT)
Erk Pod started as an audio podcast, produced in Australia. It started in 2007 focused on the the Australian version the reality TV series called Big Brother. This podcast was called Erk To The Diary Room. After this series was over, episodes became known as Erk Pod. After all, his nickname since primary school was Erk and it was a podcast.
Erk Pod grew it's audience with either solo episodes, interviews or group shows with guests and a co-host. The guests would be either people that Erk or others involved knew personally or other podcasters & online personalities.
Over time, Erk Pod was joined by other spin off shows called Erk FM, Erk FM: Australia, Erk FM International, Erk FM: Metal Monday which were music podcasts based on unsigned & underground artists. They were often obtained from what was called pod safe music or Creative Commons music.
A few years in, Erk's mother joined in to the podcasting space. Blast From The Past became a son/mother inter-generational remembrance & story based talk show. Later, a spin-off music show called Judy's Blast FM hosted by Judy and produced by Erk joined Channel Erk Podcasts.
Due to various issues including changing priorities and the ill health of Judy led to the end of Erk Pod and the other Channel Erk Podcasts ended in 2014.
Since then, Eric became involved in ice hockey but also started to produce video content on YouTube including Simulated Erk (gaming) and A Mountain Of Work (real life transport videos).
Against the odds and totally unexpected by the host himself, Erk Pod is back in 2025 in video form. This can also be enjoyed as an audio podcast. There will be various features and segments included over time with no set schedule.
LINKS FOR RELATED CONTENT BY ERIC BROOK:
Channel Erk Podcasts | @erkpod2025 on YouTube | http://channelerkpodcasts.com
Erk Pod podcast RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/1040fd354/podcast/rss
Simulated Erk Gaming | @simulatederk on YouTube | http://simulatederkgaming.com
A Mountain Of Work | @amountainofwork on YouTube | http://amountainofwork.com
NTL Sticker Collective | http://ntlstickercollective.com.au/democracymanifest
SPECIAL OFFER FROM NTL STICKER COLLECTIVE:
Use discount code ERKPOD10 at checkout for 10% off any purchase from the Democracy Manifest/Succulent Chinese Meal collections
HOCKEY LINKS:
Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) | http://theaihl.com
AIHL TV (subscription) | http://aihl.tv