If you thought podcasters went on vacation for the summer and nothing new would come along until Labor Day, last week proved you wrong with a host of new podcasts looking to stir your creative juices and give you a peek into the future. Not to be outdone, veteran podcasts brought their own jaw-dropping, nostalgic and star-laden stories, enough to keep you busy while you lather on the sunblock.

Magic Lessons:  Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and the soon to be released Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, began a new podcast last week in the run-up to her new book. The podcast, like the book, will focus on the subject of creativity, with Gilbert talking to real people about their own pathways to creativity. In the first episode, Gilbert spoke with an aspiring author and mother about her goal to become a writer and the fears that are keeping her from doing it. Gilbert will be releasing new shows every Wednesday into September.

The Science of the Funny:  Speaking of new podcasts about creativity, long-time radio and podcast host Phil Hendrie launched a new podcast last week dedicated to the creative process behind comedy. In the first episode of his new podcast, Hendrie spoke with a group of comedians and a comedy writer about their own backgrounds, experiences and processes. Guests included David Koechner, Brody Stevens, Kurt Braunohler and Guy Endore-Kaiser. If the first episode is any indication, this should be a great podcast for anyone looking to get into, or at least understand, the business of comedy while having a few laughs along the way.

Futuropolis:  Rounding out the new podcast parade last week was Futuropolis. Hosted by Popular Science editors Lindsey Kratochwill and Breanna Draxler, Futuropolis will cover that favorite of science topics: what will life be like in the future? Last week’s episode looked at what the future holds for food in space. Astronaut food is notoriously bland and textureless, but Kratochwill and Draxler talked with some scientists working to change that. From growing crops in space to 3D printing a pizza, the hosts covered some interesting and very real possibilities.

The Lapse:  Kyle Gest released a new episode of The Lapse podcast last week, telling the remarkable story of Will Lautzenheiser. Lautzenheiser had all four of his limbs amputated after battling flesh-eating bacteria. Lautzenheiser’s story only began with the amputations though, as he then went on to describe the events that eventually led him to have an arm transplant. Next up: leg transplant!

Fugitive Waves:  A new Fugitive Waves podcast last week featured hidden kitchen stories from Texas. Native son Willie Nelson made an appearance on the podcast, which told old and new stories of hidden kitchens across the state. Included among the stories were the origins of Fritos and 7-Eleven convenience stores, as well as the history behind Texas’ ice houses (they became a necessity when Germans immigrated to Texas in the 1840’s with one of their favorite beverages).

You Talkin’ U2 to Me?:  It’d been months since the Scotts (Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott) had released a new episode of You Talkin’ U2 to Me?, but the wait was well worth it for fans of the podcast. The guys saw U2 live for the first time since starting their podcast dedicated to the band (at least in title) over a year ago. The highlight was not the concert, though, but what happened beforehand when Aukerman and Scott got to go back stage. Listen to the podcast for a full recap of their experience, but needless to say UTU2TM has gained a larger audience than the Scotts expected when they began. If you want even more of the story, listen to last week’s Never Not Funny on which Scott Aukerman played guest to host Jimmy Pardo, who was also at the concert with Aukerman.