Walk into any large Japanese retailer nowadays, and you might think Japan had become a nation of survivalists.

Aeon, a Wal-Mart-like chain of stores, devotes a sizable chunk of floor space to something called bosai-yohin, or "disaster-protection gear."

Naoto Higashi, a manager at one of the Tokyo stores, demonstrates some of their best-sellers, flashlights that have become the Swiss Army knives of anti-earthquake gear.

Most of the estimated 1.5 million people graduating from a four-year college this spring will soon be looking for a job.

If the experiences of other recent college grads are any guide, many will be disappointed.

A new Rutgers University survey of those who graduated from college between 2006 and 2011 finds that just half of those grads are working full time.

Settling For Part Time

The ministry that governs religious affairs in Afghanistan has announced what some are calling a "three strikes" policy.

It's a warning directed at Muslim clerics, or imams, accused of inciting violence in their Friday sermons. Imams across the country routinely condemn the U.S. presence in Afghanistan and speak in favor of the Taliban.

Washington state is in the midst of a whooping cough outbreak. The state has more than 1,100 confirmed cases so far this year — that's 10 times as many as this time last year, and health officials fear the number may rise.

The state is desperately trying to raise awareness of the epidemic. Take this public service announcement featuring a mother whose baby contracted the disease.

On July 15 at 11 am my guest was Rick Newman, author of Rebounders: How winners pivot from setbacks to success.  We had a realistic, not pop-psych discussion of how regular people (not just those who got on Oprah) can rebound from failures.

At 11;40, I invited listeners to call in for a Three-Minute Workover, in which I try to help them take at least a baby step forward in solving their work/career problem.

Work with Marty Nemko is heard every Sunday from 11 am to noon on KALW 9`.7FM, a National Public Radio affiliate in San Francisco.

On July 8 from 11 am to noon, I offered the strategies that have most often helped my clients improve their time management, and importantly, be motivated to work on it.

Also, I did Three-Minute Workovers on callers. 

Work with Marty Nemko is heard every Sunday from 11 am to noon on KALW 91.7 FM San Francisco

When I ask listeners what they like about Work with Marty Nemko, the most frequent answer is something like, "I like to hear you and your wife Barbara go back and forth on issues."

That's what we''ll be doing from 11 am to noon on July 1. We'll have some career-related topic to bat around and we'll debate how to respond to callers' worklife questions.

Work with Marty Nemko is heard every Sunday from 11 am to noon on 91.7 FM, KALW, San Francisco.

Republicans who control the House want to block some $55 billion worth of automatic cuts to the Pentagon budget next year. Instead, they want to cut funding for social programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and Meals on Wheels. It's a choice that has been framed as guns versus butter, and this time, guns are expected to win.

The Obama administration has threatened to veto the legislation, which the House votes on Thursday. But the president is willing to leave the Pentagon cuts in place for now, in hopes of bringing Republicans back to the bargaining table.

It's the Holy Grail of careers: A good and ethically unchallenged career requiring only a bachelor's degree--and in which job openings are plentiful.

One of the few careers meet those criteria: medical technologist, more often referred to as lab tech.

On Work with Marty Nemko on June 24 at 11 a.m, my guest was Hanna Poczter who has hired and supervised many lab techs for the North Shore Health Care System.  We'll talk about how best to prepare, the various niches, the careers' upsides and downsides, and other insider advice.

It seems that an ever larger percentage of job openings is for a marketer.

Everything from peas to non-profits to people need to be branded and then marketed every which way from face-to-face to Facebook.

Hype over substance, sizzle over steak.

I guess that's why I've been averse to doing a show on marketing careers. But alas, with all those marketing jobs out there, I feel it will serve my listeners to succumb.