The Story Collider
Whether we wear a lab coat or haven't seen a test tube since grade school, science is shaping all of our lives. And that means we all have science stories to tell. Every year, we host dozens of live shows all over the country, featuring all kinds of storytellers - researchers, doctors, and engineers of course, but also patients, poets, comedians, cops, and more. Some of our stories are heartbreaking, others are hilarious, but they're all true and all very personal. Welcome to The Story Collider!
Episodes
April 26, 2024 • 27 mins
Almost everyone has at one time or another felt inadequate despite their achievements. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their struggles with feelings of self-doubt, insecurity and the fear of being exposed as a fraud.
Part 1: Sarah Demers has this nagging feeling she’s not a real physicist.
Part 2: After dropping out of college, Kevin Smiley can’t seem to shake his feelings of inadequacy.
Sarah Demers is a par...
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April 19, 2024 • 26 mins
Confronting death can lead to personal growth, newfound appreciation for life, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their experiences of grappling with the fragility of life.
Part 1: On a flight to St. Louis, the plane Brad Lawrence is on, needs to make an emergency landing.
Part 2: While Keven Griffen is doing field work in Sierra Nevada a wildfire breaks o...
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April 12, 2024 • 35 mins
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share tales that illuminate the transformative power of returning to their roots.
Part 1: Gregor Posadas joins the army to pursue his dreams of becoming an engineer and fulfill his father’s wish of “fixing” their home country of the Philippines.
Part 2: After losing his father as a young child, Nandhu Balakrishnan feels compelled to use his school savings to buy a life saving drug fo...
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April 5, 2024 • 33 mins
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers give us behind the scenes glimpses into why they do what they do.
Part 1: While constantly staring at Mercury’s craters for NASA's MESSENGER mission, a picture of the Galapagos Islands captures Paul Byrne’s attention.
Part 2: While serving in the navy to get his engineering degree, David Estrada is struck by the level of poverty he witnesses on the tiny island of East Timor.
Paul Byr...
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March 29, 2024 • 32 mins
Disgust, often seen as a primal and universal emotion, can reveal a lot about our values, boundaries, and cultural norms. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers are confronted with something that grosses them out.
Part 1: While on a school trip in Russia, Cassandra Hartblay’s vegetarian dietary restrictions keep getting tested.
Part 2: As a meat lover, Jenny Kleeman has high hopes for the world’s first lab-grown chicken n...
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March 22, 2024 • 26 mins
Memories are the threads that weave together the tapestry of our lives, each one a cherished treasure that shapes who we are and where we've been. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share stories about memories that altered their lives.
Part 1: After constantly living in the shadow of her older sister, RJ Millena isn’t sure how to carve her own path.
Part 2: When Jasmine Anenberg finds out her high school friend overd...
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March 15, 2024 • 30 mins
There are many ways you can ask someone “Are you okay?” In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers navigate the complexities of human connection and how we show concern for those we love.
Part 1: Dave Kalema keeps lying to his sick mother about how bad his knee injury is.
Part 2: Dionne C. Monsanto doesn’t know how to help her daughter with her mental illness.
Dave Kalema is a Ugandan-American documentary filmmaker who tells ...
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March 8, 2024 • 30 mins
Happy Pi Day! In honor of upcoming Pi Day on March 14, this week’s episode features two stories about the nerdy celebration. Both of our storytellers will whisk you away on a journey filled with equal parts math and pastry, proving that whether you're calculating circumference or slicing into a sweet treat, there's always a story to be savored.
Part 1: After her colleagues make fun of the pie she brings on Pi Day, Desiré Whitmore d...
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March 1, 2024 • 25 mins
Wildfires can impact so many things, from ecosystems to the air quality, to even the economy. But in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers take a look at the more personal impacts of forest fires.
Part 1: In college, Nick Link almost burns down the entire neighborhood when he and his friends set some Christmas trees on fire.
Part 2: After moving to America from Mumbai, Urvi Talaty feels like she has finally escaped the heav...
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February 23, 2024 • 30 mins
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)'s Rare As One Network brings together rare disease patients and advocates in their quest for cures. Both of this week’s stories are from Rare As One grantees who are sharing their stories and experiences navigating diagnoses and organizing their communities to accelerate research, identify treatments, and change the course of their diseases.
Part 1: When Riley Blevins’ son gets diagnosed with a ...
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February 16, 2024 • 24 mins
In honor of Valentine’s Day, this week’s episode features two stories where love finds a way.
Part 1: Scientist Bruce Hungate yearns to find someone who cares about the tiny details as much as he does.
Part 2: Science reporter Ari Daniel and his wife are at odds when it comes to moving their family to Lebanon, but the pandemic changes things.
Bruce Hungate conducts research on microbial ecology of global change from the cell to the...
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February 9, 2024 • 26 mins
In science, peer review plays a critical role in figuring out if research is good enough, robust enough. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers find themselves looking for outside feedback on if they’re good enough.
Part 1: At her NASA summer internship, Kirsten Siebach feels completely out of place among the Mars mission scientists.
Part 2: Alison Spodek’s need to be seen as smart takes over her life.
Kirsten Siebach is ...
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February 2, 2024 • 29 mins
CDC research shows about 1 in 8 women with a recent live birth experience symptoms of postpartum depression. In this week’s episode, our storytellers share their experience with postpartum depression.
Part 1: With a new kid and her husband moving to Iowa for a job, Angie Chatman’s mental health begins to suffer.
Part 2: Anna Agniel’s romantic notions of married life with a child are broken when her husband relapses and her son is b...
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January 26, 2024 • 39 mins
Throughout history, the relationship between faith and science has been complex – a delicate interplay between the spiritual and the empirical, where questions of existence, purpose, and the unknown have often intersected. In this week’s episode, our storytellers examine the delicate balance between religious convictions and the pursuit of empirical truths.
Part 1: Comedian John Fugelsang doesn’t want to get married just to appease...
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January 19, 2024 • 28 mins
In science, failure is as important as success. In this week’s episode, our storytellers share times when they failed at science or science failed them.
Part 1: Samuel Scarpino is convinced that the paper he wrote about how hard it is to predict infectious diseases should win a Nobel Prize.
Part 2: It’s grad student Moronke Harris’ turn with the deep-sea robot that no one can find, and she needs to conduct her research..
Samuel V. ...
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January 12, 2024 • 30 mins
In this week’s episode, our storytellers delve into their personal encounters with psychedelics—moments where reality became a blur, perceptions began to shift, and the boundaries of consciousness expanded.
Part 1: While tripping on acid, Michael Czajkowski goes into anaphylaxis.
Part 2: Dust Cwaine sees their body differently while experimenting with magical mushrooms.
Michael Czajkowski is an origami physicist, fashion redesigner...
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January 5, 2024 • 34 mins
Happy New Year! In this week’s episode, our storytellers ponder the big questions about life and death.
Part 1: When Shannon Turner’s high school friend passes away from a rare virus from a monkey, she contemplates her sense of purpose.
Part 2: After a traumatizing experience with a dead body leaves journalist Erica Buist agoraphobic, she embarks on a journey to understand how other cultures handle death in hopes of healing.
Shanno...
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December 29, 2023 • 34 mins
As we say goodbye to 2023 and ring in the New Year, this week’s classic episode is all about the novel.
Part 1: Feeling isolated in her new job as a particle accelerator operator at Fermilab, Cindy Joe finds comfort in the friendship of her unconventional pet.
This story originally aired on July 27, 2018 in an episode titled “Loneliness: Stories about finding friends”.
Part 2: Actor Gail Thomas is invited to take part in a study te...
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December 22, 2023 • 33 mins
Happy Holidays! In this week’s classic episode, both stories explore the miracle of life.
Part 1: An expert in oxytocin, the hormone released during birth, Bianca Jones Marlin is determined to have a natural birth — even as the hours of labor add up…
This story originally aired on Nov. 9, 2018, in an episode titled “Pregnancy”.
Part 2: Ed Pritchard inadvertently becomes a leatherback turtle midwife during his first field job.
This ...
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December 15, 2023 • 28 mins
Science doesn’t always have to be in fancy labs with million dollar equipment and shiny beakers. Sometimes, science can be a bit more DIY. In this week’s episode, our storytellers take a hands-on approach to scientific discovery.
Part 1: Brittany Ross gets inspired when her high school physics teacher assigns a physics video project where she has to demonstrate a law of physics out in the real world.
Part 2: Nothing will get in the...
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