Weird Jobs

Somebody's Gotta Do It

Peek into the lives of people with weird jobs
Did you know that it’s someone’s actual day job to engineer the pyrotechnics for KISS’s electric guitars? Or that a woman in Australia runs a small business cleaning up after the very worst things that can happen to you? Or that, at the Tower of London, a Yeoman Warder is duty-sworn to feed the ravens their favorite snack of biscuits soaked in blood?? As part of my own (mostly normal) job as memoir editor, I rounded up some of the most fascinating listens about the weirdest professions. You’re welcome. 😘—Rachel, Audible Editor
Product List
  • The Ravenmaster Audiobook By Christopher Skaife cover art

    • The Ravenmaster

    • My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London
    • By: Christopher Skaife
    • Narrated by: Christopher Skaife
    • Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
    • Release date: 10-02-18
    • Language: English
    • 556 ratings
    • Occupation: Ravenmaster
    • Local legend holds that the city will fall if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London. As the Ravenmaster, Christopher Skaife keeps the ravens happy and the city standing.

    $17.24 or free with 30-day trial

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  • An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth Audiobook By Chris Hadfield cover art

    • An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

    • What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything
    • By: Chris Hadfield
    • Narrated by: Chris Hadfield
    • Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
    • Release date: 10-29-13
    • Language: English
    • 4,935 ratings
    • Occupation: Astronaut Guitarist
    • While "guitarist" isn't part of his official job description, astronaut Chris Hadfield is known for playing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in outer space!

    $25.19 or free with 30-day trial

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  • Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Audiobook By Caitlin Doughty cover art

    • Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

    • And Other Lessons from the Crematory
    • By: Caitlin Doughty
    • Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
    • Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
    • Release date: 09-19-14
    • Language: English
    • 9,514 ratings
    • Occupation: Mortician
    • One of the world's most outspoken morticians tells the story of how she got into the business and why she's on a mission to change the way we think about death.

    $18.44 or free with 30-day trial

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  • Garlic and Sapphires Audiobook By Ruth Reichl cover art

    • Garlic and Sapphires

    • The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise
    • By: Ruth Reichl
    • Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
    • Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
    • Release date: 04-21-05
    • Language: English
    • 1,317 ratings
    • Occupation: Incognito Food Critic
    • As a famous food critic, Ruth Reichl knew restaurants rolled out the red carpet for her. So she started dining in disguise…and seeing things in a new light.

    $15.75 or free with 30-day trial

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  • Look Me in the Eye Audiobook By John Elder Robison cover art

    • Look Me in the Eye

    • My Life with Asperger's
    • By: John Elder Robison
    • Narrated by: Mark Deakins
    • Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
    • Release date: 09-25-07
    • Language: English
    • 1,463 ratings
    • Occupation: Guitar Special Effects Engineer
    • As someone who always found machines easier to understand than people, Jon Elder Robison felt right at home designing pyrotechnic effects for KISS.

    $20.25 or free with 30-day trial

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  • The Electric Woman Audiobook By Tessa Fontaine cover art

    • The Electric Woman

    • A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts
    • By: Tessa Fontaine
    • Narrated by: Tessa Fontaine
    • Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
    • Release date: 05-01-18
    • Language: English
    • 75 ratings
    • Occupation: Carnival Performer
    • Some people dream of running away with the circus; Tessa Fontaine really did it. From escape artist to snake charmer to high-voltage Electra, she learned the tricks of the carnival trade.

    $21.74 or free with 30-day trial

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  • Can You Ever Forgive Me? Audiobook By Lee Israel cover art

    • Can You Ever Forgive Me?

    • Memoirs of a Literary Forger
    • By: Lee Israel
    • Narrated by: Jane Curtin
    • Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins
    • Release date: 09-18-18
    • Language: English
    • 263 ratings
    • Occupation: Forgery Artist
    • What do you do when you're a down-on-your-luck biographer? If you're Lee Israel, you start using your talents to forge literary letters and become a criminal mastermind.

    $11.24 or free with 30-day trial

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  • From the Corner of the Oval Audiobook By Beck Dorey-Stein cover art

    • From the Corner of the Oval

    • A Memoir
    • By: Beck Dorey-Stein
    • Narrated by: Beck Dorey-Stein
    • Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
    • Release date: 07-10-18
    • Language: English
    • 798 ratings
    • Occupation: Presidential Stenographer
    • Recent college grad Beck Dorey-Stein answered a job posting on Craigslist, blew off the first interview, and then found herself working as a stenographer in the Oval Office.

    $18.00 or free with 30-day trial

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  • Fashion Climbing Audiobook By Bill Cunningham, Hilton Als - preface cover art

    • Fashion Climbing

    • A Memoir
    • By: Bill Cunningham, Hilton Als - preface
    • Narrated by: Arthur Morey
    • Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
    • Release date: 09-04-18
    • Language: English
    • 90 ratings
    • Occupation: Hat Designer
    • Before he became a celebrated street fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham enjoyed a stint as one of New York's most outlandish hat designers.

    $13.50 or free with 30-day trial

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  • The Trauma Cleaner Audiobook By Sarah Krasnostein cover art

    • The Trauma Cleaner

    • One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster
    • By: Sarah Krasnostein
    • Narrated by: Rachael Tidd
    • Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
    • Release date: 04-10-18
    • Language: English
    • 1,704 ratings
    • Occupation: Trauma Cleaner
    • Although it's impossible to sum up Sandra Pankhurst's job in just a few words, here's a start: her small business cleans up after the very worst things that can happen to you.

    $20.46 or free with 30-day trial

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