The Story Collider

Sword swallower Justin Cameron gets an unexpected lesson in anatomy and medicine. Justin is a product manager and mobile app designer who works on search engines and secure email products. Before that, he was an itinerant technical writer, hacker, and, very briefly, a sideshow performer. He lives in Brooklyn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alex Bellos is surprised that people ask him what his favorite number is, so he decides to ask everyone what theirs is. Alex Bellos is the author of the popular science bestsellers The Grapes of Math and Here's Looking at Euclid. In a previous life he was the Guardian's South America correspondent, based in Rio, where he wrote Futebol: the Brazilian Way of Life, a book on Brazilian football. He also ghost-wrote Pele's autobiography. Alex blogs on maths for the Guardian and presents maths documentaries for BBC Radio 4. His YouTube clip on how to cut a cake has had more than 6.5 million views. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ed Yong is ecstatic to get an interview with his hero, Sir David Attenborough, but he's not prepared for a lesson in what having a science hero really means. Ed Yong is an award-winning science writer. His blog Not Exactly Rocket Science is hosted by National Geographic, and his work has also appeared in Wired, Nature, the BBC, New Scientist and more. His first book I CONTAIN MULTITUDES--about how microbes influence the lives of every animal, from humans to squid to wasps--will be published in 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Annalee Newitz comes to terms with grief while exploring the remains of a mysterious ancient city. Annalee Newitz is the editor of io9, and author most recently of Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marine biologist Shayle Matsuda adapts to his new identity as a transgender man while on assignment in the Philippines. Shayle Matsuda researches sea slugs as an MSc candidate at the California Academy of Sciences and San Francisco State University. When not in the lab, he hosts the interactive science happy hour series “Science, Neat” in San Francisco. He uses watercolors and digital media to make science more accessible to wider audiences, and creates and facilitates unique research experiences for high school students underrepresented in STEM. Shayle’s science communication footprint includes the California Academy of Sciences, Nerd Nite SF, Ignite at AGU, and regional winner of NASA/Nat Geographic’s FameLab competition Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alone in the African rainforest and on the brink of death, entomologist Brian Fisher finds help from an unexpected source. Dr. Brian Fisher is a modern day explorer who has devoted his life to the study and conservation of ants and biodiversity around the world. His research sends him through the last remote rainforests and deserts of Madagascar and Africa in search of ants. By documenting the species diversity and distribution of this "invisible majority," Dr. Fisher is helping to establish conservation priorities for Madagascar, identifying areas that should be set aside to protect the highest number of species. Along the way, he has discovered hundreds of new species of ants. He created the annual Ant Course in 2001, AntWeb in 2002, and the Madagascar Biodiversity Center in 2004. Every year, Dr. Fisher trains dozens of international graduate students in the taxonomy and natural history of ants, providing them with skills to use ants as an important indicator of biodiversity across the globe. He is currently Curator of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences and adjunct professor of biology at both the University of California at Berkeley and at San Francisco State University. He has appeared in a number of BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic films and has been profiled in Newsweek and Discover magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Married young and used to giving up her own dreams, Iranian student Matineh Eybpoosh moves to the U.S. to study civil engineering—and a whole new world opens up. Matineh Eybpoosh was born in Oroumieh, a town that carries the scent of apples and the generosity of grapes, and shelters happy flamingos. She holds a masters in Construction Engineering and Management from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey, and a B.A. in civil engineering from Tabriz University in Iran. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, a city that's treated her like a good friend: challenging her, battling her, and ultimately understanding her better than before. She writes Farsi poetry, leads the Persian Student Organization, and has performed Persian dance at Pittsburgh festivals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oceanographer Jeffrey Schell finds himself in a race against time when he encounters swimmers stuck in a dangerous rip current. Jeffrey M. Schell is an associate professor of oceanography with Sea Education Association, a renowned study abroad organization offering academic programs in marine environmental studies. Since 1994, Jeff has guided students through the challenges of oceanographic field research toward the thrill of discovery while teaching on more than 30 Sea Semester programs onboard the RV Westward, SSV Corwith Cramer and SSV Robert C. Seamans. Jeff's research interests include biogeography of zooplankton communities, ecology of the Sargasso Sea, and revealing the historic contexts of contemporary conservation issues. Other 'work' interests include snorkeling, hiking to remote waterfalls, and natural history illustration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

While teaching a math class, Nisse Greenberg is troubled by his student's name, and his own. Nisse Greenberg is an educator and storyteller who eats mostly vegetarian. Sometimes he eats wings because wings are really good. When he applied for a visa to go to India he tried to type "atheist" into the proposed slot for religion, but he accidentally typed "matheist." He found it more appropriate anyway. He teaches high-school math to high-schoolers and math philosophy to adults. He creates art with spreadsheets and quantitative analysis. He also curates storytelling for The Tank, and hosts the shows Bad Feelings, VHS Presents, and Drawn Out Storytelling. Here is his playground: nissegreenberg.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A panicked day leads Karen Hopkin to wonder if her sperm donor really is the father of her child. Karen Hopkin is a freelance writer and the creator of the Studmuffins of Science calendar. Karen received a PhD in biochemistry in 1992, and then traded in her test tubes for a keyboard. A former producer for NPR's Science Friday, Karen currently voices stories for Scientific American's daily podcast, 60-Second Science. She is a coauthor of the textbook Essential Cell Biology and has written for many magazines including Science, New Scientist, The Scientist, and Golf Digest. Karen once led 1200 people in a musical tribute to the inventor of Karaoke, and in her spare time, she collects the signatures of Nobel Laureates on a 1950s-style autograph dog and is a mom to 8-year-old Christopher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As an editor at Scientific American John Rennie delighted in the weird correspondence they received, but then one letter crossed a line. John Rennie is a science writer, editor, and lecturer based in New York. Viewers of The Weather Channel know him as the host of the original series Hacking The Planet and co-host of the hit special The Truth About Twisters. He is also the editorial director of science for McGraw-Hill Education, overseeing its highly respected AccessScience online reference and the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. Rennie served as editor in chief of Scientific American (including the monthly magazine, Scientific American Mind, ScientificAmerican.com and other publications) between 1994 and 2009. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Edward Frenkel is told he won't be accepted to a Russian university because his father is Jewish, he decides to take the admissions exam anyway. Edward Frenkel is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, which he joined in 1997 after being on the faculty at Harvard University. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, and the winner of the Hermann Weyl Prize in mathematical physics. Frenkel has authored 3 books and over 80 scholarly articles in academic journals, and he has lectured on his work around the world. His YouTube videos have garnered over 3 million views. Frenkel's latest book "Love and Math" was a New York Times bestseller and has been named one of the Best Books of 2013 by both Amazon and iBooks. It is being translated into 14 languages. Frenkel has also co-produced, co-directed and played the lead in the film "Rites of Love and Math." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marine scientist Meredith has to navigate a whole new world when she's called upon to testify in front of the Maine legislature in support of a crucial bill. Meredith White is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine. Her research focuses on how Coastal Ocean Acidification affects marine organisms, from phytoplankton to commercially-important bivalves. She is also interested in the fascinating field of marine invertebrate reproduction and larval development. She first became interested in marine science as a child exploring the countless tide pools along Harpswell's coast and is therefore extremely pleased to be living and working as a biological oceanographer in Maine. Meredith loves exploring the coast and islands of Casco Bay, whether by foot, kayak, sailboat, or snorkeling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nelson Lugo has a brilliant idea for his grade school talent show -- use chemistry to do a simple magic trick. It did not go over well. Nelson Lugo is a Magician, Sideshow Artist, and Batman enthusiast. He was featured by TimeOut NY as a New York Entertainer to Watch and co-hosts a podcast called "The EPIC PIEcast" for NerdyShow.com. He's been a guest speaker for The Sunday Assembly NYC, a guest singer for the BTK Band, an invited storyteller at Adam Wade's Whatever Happened to the Nerds as well as for the Five Boro Story Project, and was featured on the Story Collider podcast. He is currently performing a solo show called "Gathering The Magic" at The Tank Theater NYC -- which you can see on Sept 20th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Musician Emily Caudill's life-saving chemotherapy treatment causes her to lose her hearing. Emily Caudill is a songwriter and musician from Louisville, Kentucky. In 2011, while she was working in special education, and as a music therapy intern, Emily was diagnosed with metastatic germ cell ovarian cancer. She sustained significant hearing impairment as a result of chemotherapy. Emily believes that life is a song, and the music is composed by our stories. When she isn't writing songs and stories, Emily enjoys playing fiddle on the front porch of her lakeside cabin in Kentucky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Erika Engelhaupt is on a road trip out to DC when suddenly they're pulled over and her boyfriend is arrested. She'll need science to vindicate her man. Erika Engelhaupt is a science writer and editor. At the time of this show, she is about to start a new job as the online science editor at National Geographic. She was most recently a deputy managing editor at Science News magazine, where she started her blog, Gory Details. Gory Details covers all that is creepy, bizarre, or otherwise strangely fascinating in science, from psychopaths to what happens when you pee in the pool. Basically, she likes to give people the creeps, but in a good way. Erika's work has appeared in Science News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, on National Public Radio and in many other newspapers and magazines. Before becoming a writer, she had lots of adventures in biogeochemistry, many of which involved wearing hip waders in Louisiana swamps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Physicist Stephon Alexander feels overwhelmed until the father of quantum gravity himself helps him find inspiration in his subconscious. Stephon Alexander is the Ernest Everett Just 1907 Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College. Stephon was born in Trinidad and grew up in the Bronx, NY. He is a theoretical physicist specializing in the interface between cosmology, particle physics and quantum gravity (String Theory and Loop Quantum Gravity). He received his BSc (1993) from Haverford College and PhD (2000) from Brown University. He held postdoctoral fellowships at Imperial College, London and The Stanford University Linear Accelerator Center. Stephon is also a Jazz Saxophonist and Author, and will release his new album (in Colaboration with RIOUX) Here Comes Now in Aug, 2014. His upcoming Book will explore the secret link between music and cosmology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At four years old, Daniel Miller became one of the youngest people in the state of Texas ever to testify in court -- against his own mother, for sexual assault. As an adult, he struggles for stability, but finds hope in physics. (Warning: this story contains disturbing and potentially triggering events.) Daniel R. Miller is a Ph.D. student and research assistant at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. Using large telescopes in the Chilean Andes to observe our Universe as it was 12 billion years ago along with state-of-the-art high performance computer simulations, he works at the intersection of observational and theoretical astrophysics on subjects including cosmology, cosmic structure, and reionization. He also spent several years doing research in plasma physics and controlled nuclear fusion on the MIT Alcator C-Mod experimental tokamak reactor. When not thinking strictly about physics, he may be found in the Future of Life Institute working on potential existential risks including climate change, nuclear proliferation, and artificial intelligence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Daniel Engber risks derailing his PhD by constant daydreaming, until his neuroscience research gives him a idea that will revolutionize the NBA. Daniel Engber is a columnist for Slate.com and Popular Science, and a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine. He has appeared on Radiolab, All Things Considered and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and received the National Academies of Science Communication Award in 2012 and the Sex-Positive Journalism Award in 2008. His work has been anthologized in The Best of Technology Writing and The Best of Slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cosmologist Eugene Lim is pulled into another world when he goes to help teach after the earthquake in Haiti. One day, Eugene Lim decided to dump his Mech Eng. degree to do physics for a living. So he went and obtained a PhD in astronomy at the University of Chicago, advised by someone who does not have a degree in physics. He is currently at Kings College, London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez never connected with her brothers' love of football until she unexpectedly ends up writing a book about it. Ainissa G. Ramirez, Ph.D. is a science evangelist, who is passionate about getting the general public excited about science. She co-authored Newton's Football (Random House) and authored Save Our Science (TED Books). She has appeared on NPR and CNN; gave a TED talk in 2012; and blogs for The Huffington Post. She was a mechanical engineering professor at Yale for ten years, and received her doctorate in materials science from Stanford. Based in New Haven, CT, she is currently writing a book on the impact of technology on humans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A cancer diagnosis is only the start of the collapse for Annalise Kaylor, but she finds support in an unexpected community. Hailing from the northwoods of Wisconsin, Annalise Kaylor planned to live in an RV and travel around the country when she made a pit stop in Atlanta and decided it was home. By day, Annalise is one of the country's foremost authorities on social media, helping companies concoct ways for you to loathe Facebook even more. By night, she's an anti-social pilot who loves beer, bourbon, and euro-style strategy board games. Annalise is a Write Club Champion and Moth StorySlam Champion who can also be heard at Naked City, Carapace, the Iceberg, and Scene Missing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A relationship bridging the divide between scientists and artists is reflected in a fight over where to store tomatoes. Alison graduated with a BSc in Astrophysics from Newcastle University. Leaving for London to seek her fortune, she worked for several years in building services engineering in investment banks; first as an operations manager and then as a consultant. She left this career to pursue her love of physics, completing a Masters in Space Science and a PhD in solar physics at UCL. She is now at Queen Mary looking after outreach and student recruitment for maths and physics. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jodi Beggs's mother greatly underestimates how well her kindergartener understands economics. Jodi Beggs is an economist and writer whose focus is on making economics accessible and interesting to both students and a general audience. Jodi is currently a lecturer at Northeastern University, where she teaches economics to both economics and music industry students. Jodi is also the Assistant Director of Research at Northeastern University's CREATE Center, where she conducts research in the music industry. Outside of the classroom, Jodi teaches economics on her web site "Economists Do It With Models," where she blogs about fun economics stuff and utilizes the online environment to make educational content freely available to students and non-students alike. Jodi has an A.M. in Economics from Harvard University as well as bachelors and masters degrees in computer science from MIT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Science writer Kathleen Raven's unexpected loss of hearing takes her on a journey with modern technology. Kathleen Raven writes for Reuters Health and blogs about sustainable agriculture for Scientific American. As an independent writer based in Atlanta, she regularly takes walking breaks in Piedmont Park with her dog, Sunshine. She recently completed two degrees at the University of Georgia: Conservation Ecology (MS) and Health & Medical Journalism (MA). She likes speaking in elementary German with her Dutch husband, Arjan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When he misses the opportunity to work with one of the most famous patients in neuroscience, Moran Cerf takes an unorthodox approach. Moran Cerf is a neuroscientist at NYU and Northwestern University. Prior to his career in opening and studying brains, Moran used to work as a hacker in various security companies, breaking into banks and financial institutes to make a living. Moran is involved in the story-telling community, and is also the Alfred P. Sloan faculty at the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, where he teaches screenwriting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Immunologist Sarah Schlesinger must try to save her mentor's life with his own work in cellular immunity. Sarah J. Schlesinger MD is a clinical investigator and immunologist at The Rockefeller University who has spent more than 20 years working in the field of cellular immunity, including as clinical director of the laboratory led by the late Ralph M. Steinman, M.D., 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine. She is currently Senior Attending Physician and Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation at the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology at Rockefeller. Prior to joining the University, Dr. Schlesinger was a scientist at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in New York City. From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Schlesinger was a Research Physician/Pathologist at the Division of Retrovirology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, having previously served, from 1994 to 2002, as Staff Pathologist at the Armed Force Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC. Dr. Schlesinger trained in Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and began her career in pathology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and hospitals in New York including Buffalo General, Hospital New York and the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a science teacher, Marjorie Winther has both entertaining and troubling times with her students, but when she brings them to the South she discovers a whole new side of them. Marjorie Winther has been performing stories and comedy for over ten years. She is the winner of the 2012 First Person Arts Grand Slam. Marjorie has been voted audience favorite at numerous First Person Arts story slams. She recently performed at the WHYY Connections Festival, The Women in Comedy Festival at Plays and Players and at the Risk! Show in the Free Library Author’s Event. She also performs stand-up comedy in clubs and at fund-raisers and corporate and community events. She was a finalist in Laff-A-Lot productions Philly’s Funniest contest. Veteran comic Paul Lyons calls here “warm, real and disarmingly astute.” When not performing, Marjorie designs and delivers corporate training programs and leads professional workshops. Before moving into the corporate world she taught middle and high school science in the Chicago Public Schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Beloit College and a Master’s Degree in English from Southern Illinois University. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a grad student, Margaret Geller is invited to a private island off the coast of Maine by legendary physicist John Wheeler and his wife, for a trip she'll never forget. Margaret Geller is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She received her Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 1975. Geller is best known for her pioneering 3D maps of the distribution of galaxies in the nearby universe. These maps revealed surprising large patterns in the universe marked by galaxies like the Milky Way. Geller is an internationally renowned public speaker. Her prize-winning films include the first computer-animated voyages through the universe based on scientific measurements. Geller is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She has received a MacArthur Fellowship and many other prestigious awards. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Science writer Carl Zimmer grew up loving monster movies, but he never guessed a real monster would show up in his own backyard. Carl Zimmer is a columnist for the New York Times. He's the author of a dozen books, including Parasite Rex and Evolution: Making Sense of Life. He has won prizes for his writing from the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. Zimmer has appeared on radio shows such as This American Life and Radio Lab. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Journalist Abby Rabinowitz embarks on a journey through India's burgeoning surrogacy industry in search of a missing baby. Abby Rabinowitz teaches writing at Columbia University, where she earned her MFA in nonfiction writing. Her work has appeared in the journal Science, the New York Times, and Nautilus. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the midst of her search for life on other planets, astrophysicist Sara Seager's own world is shattered when her husband is told he has stage three cancer. Professor Sara Seager is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist. She has been a pioneer in the vast and unknown world of exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun. Her ground-breaking research ranges from the detection of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. Now, dubbed an "astronomical Indiana Jones", she on a quest after the field's holy grail, the discovery of a true Earth twin. Dr. Seager earned her PhD from Harvard University and is now the Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science and Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Seager is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow and was named in Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential in Space in 2012. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Writer Jack El-Hai worries about his own state of mind when he spends time in the files of the psychiatrist who examined Nazi leaders. Jack El-Hai is the author of The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Goring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII (PublicAffairs Books) and The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness (Wiley). He has contributed articles and essays on science, medicine, and history to The Atlantic, Wired, Scientific American Mind, and many other magazines. Jack teaches nonfiction in the MFA program in creative writing at Augsburg College and lives in Minneapolis. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Doomed to be the waterboy after tearing his ACL, engineering student Baratunde Cola is determined to make it back to his college's football team. Bara Cola is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Georgia Tech, and founder and president of Carbice Nanotechnologies, Inc. He researches thermal transport and energy conversion in nanostructured materials, and is actively involved in the commercialization of his work, currently to cool electronics better. His work in nanotechnology, energy, and outreach to high school art and science teachers and students has been recognized with awards from President Obama and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He played college football when he was younger. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For years, chemist Nick Hud struggles to share his work with his Catholic mother, until he finds help from a surprising source. Nicholas Hud was born in Los Angeles, California. He received his B.S. from Loyola Marymount University, his Ph.D. from UC Davis, and postdoctoral training at UCLA. Prof. Hud has studied the structure and function of DNA in various cells and viruses for over twenty-five years. Since joining the faculty of Georgia Tech in 1999, his laboratory has become increasingly involved in the search for the chemical origins of life, with a focus on the origin of RNA. Prof. Hud is currently Director of the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution and Associate Director of the Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a terrible head injury, Amy Cuddy wakes up in the hospital to find she's a different person. Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist and Harvard Business School Associate Professor who studies how snap judgments and nonverbal behavior affect people from the classroom to the boardroom. Amy Cuddy's fascinating work on "power posing" reveals how your physical posture affects not only how others see you, but also how you see yourself, your own hormone levels, and your performance and important life outcomes. Researching stereotypes, emotions, nonverbal behaviors, and hormone levels, Amy explains to audiences the role these variables play in shaping our emotions, intentions and behaviors in business and society. Amy's work has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Scientific American Mind, The Wall Street Journal, and even as the theme of a Dilbert comic strip. Business Insider just named Amy as one of 2013's "50 Women Who are Changing the World." Her TED Talk is now the second most viewed of all time. She is also a classically trained (and still practicing) ballet dancer, which informs her research on nonverbal communication. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shannon Cason turns to science to save his tumultuous marriage. Shannon Cason is a writer and storyteller. He has shared his stories on large stages, in dive bars, and in small living rooms all around the country. Shannon is a Moth GrandSlam winner; a contributor to NPR’s Snap Judgment; and host of his own storytelling podcast called Homemade Stories. He is originally from Detroit. Find out more at http://shannoncason.com Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When anxiety begins to overtake her, biology student Deena Walker begins to worry she'll end up just like her mentally ill sister. Deena Walker is a postdoctoral fellow at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine where she studies the molecular mechanisms of addiction and depression. She recently moved to New York after finishing her PhD at The University of Texas at Austin in December 2012. When she's not in lab she enjoys practicing yoga and playing fetch with her dog in Central Park. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Charles Van Rees desperately pursues a bird through the desert for the sake of data. Charles van Rees is a conservation biologist and PhD student at Tufts University. His research in biology focuses on how ecological research can be used to integrate biodiversity conservation with economic development and create "win-win" situations for people and wildlife. He has worked throughout the United States, in Costa Rica, and Vietnam on a variety of zoological research topics and wildlife conservation issues. He has studied sea turtles, tropical bees and butterflies, and a number of bird species in seashores, tropical forests, farms, and deserts. He is an ardent believer in the need for public participation in wildlife conservation, and strives to integrate communication, outreach, and good old-fashioned story telling into his work. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amy is passionate about becoming a hospice nurse, but finds she can't fully understand what the families she works with are going through--until one day. Amy is a registered nurse with over sixteen years of experience in critical care, home care, hospice, and telehealth/teletriage. She is currently a Clinical Manager in a tele-triage department for a large non-profit home care agency in New York City providing education and after-hours clinical support to patients or caregivers, in all aspects of care via electronic health care coordination. Amy has also studied improv comedy and storytelling at Second City, The PIT, and The Upright Citizens Brigade, and narrative writing in nursing at the Center for Health Media and Policy at Hunter College. As a holistic board-certified nurse, Amy is currently exploring ways to integrate creativity, storytelling, narrative writing in nursing and healthcare. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An accidental revelation causes Rabiah Mayas to question her identity. Rabiah Mayas, PhD, is madly in love with science and driven by life’s questions, large and small. As Director of Science and Integrated Strategies at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, her work is focused on supporting that same spirit in youth who face barriers to accessing quality science experiences. She leads a multidisciplinary department that develops, implements and researches programs that support youth in pursuit of their own scientific passions and pathways. She holds a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology and is passionate about exploring the intersections of science with art, health, and community. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jesse Dunietz wasn't thrilled to be the one assigned to the music portion of his high school science team -- the one part of the team that was definitely going to lose. Jesse Dunietz is a Ph.D. student in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. Originally from New Jersey, Jesse's circuitous route to Pittsburgh has included residences in Israel, Cambridge (the Massachusetts one), Cambridge (the English one), and California (the only one). He teaches computers to understand language, coaxing them to stitch the pieces of a sentence into a coherent interpretation. He is also a founder and the current president of Carnegie Mellon's Public Communication for Researchers program, which helps graduate students learn and practice communicating science to people of all backgrounds. He is easily distracted by birds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marine biologist Skylar Bayer faces her fears to go on a deep-ocean dive aboard the Alvin submersible, and ends up getting more than she expected. Skylar Bayer is a native to the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. She has been pursuing a career in marine science since the age of eight and is currently working on her PhD in marine reproductive ecology at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Maine. She manages, edits and writes for the blog, Strictlyfishwrap (www.strictlyfishwrap.com), sharing anecdotal science stories, and writes for the National Shellfish Association newsletter. This past year she was featured on the Colbert Report in a field report piece on the epic case of the missing scallop gonads. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tonia Pinheiro is conflicted when her doctor's instructions seem dangerous. Tonia (tone-ya) Pinheiro is a Wake Up! Artist (sm) and founder of Wake Up! Works and ISEEU Theater. She's a diverse and dynamic improvisational actor, singer, and sound healer. Tonia is dedicated to social change and social healing by engaging and empowering people to shift their operating paradigm from fear to love through the use of sound, improvisation, and other creative expressions. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For a young Brad Lawrence, fears of a nuclear apocalypse are put into perspective by his mother, at first intentionally. Brad Lawrence is a host of And I Am Not Lying, Best In Show, and has also hosted for The Moth. He has performed to sold-out houses everywhere from South By Southwest to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and can regularly be seen contributing to storytelling, stand-up, variety, and burlesque shows throughout New York. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a chemistry student, Rowena Fletcher-Wood has to reconstruct the structure of chemicals, and a relationship with a friend, by interpreting complex data. Rowena Fletcher-Wood is a keen science communicator and doctoral researcher in materials chemistry at the University of Birmingham. She graduated from Oxford in 2011 and has since divided her time between research, outreach, story-writing and climbing. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Kishore Hari is hired to run a new science festival he thinks he has the perfect plan, but the reality was much more than he expected. Kishore Hari is the Director of the Bay Area Science Festival, an annual celebration of science in San Francisco. After spending years operating an environmental services company, he left industry for the greener pastures of public science events and science education. He has founded numerous public science ventures, including a science cafe, a science field trip series, and a comprehensive calendar of science events across the Bay Area. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After abandoning a love of flying, a former military officer gets behind the controls of a plane for the first time. Growing up in an army family, Julian failed to resist the urge to follow in his father's footsteps, but after a short but brilliant military career he stumbled into the world of corporate investigation where he has successfully managed to avoid being found out for over 20 years. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There is one rule more important than any other in an fMRI experiment: no metal. But a stuck piercing makes aspiring neuroscientist Anna Wexler make a crucial choice -- end her career, or face possible serious injury? Anna Wexler is a documentary filmmaker and writer currently pursuing her PhD at MIT in the Science, Technology, and Society Program, where she is studying the social and ethical implications of neuroscience advancements. She graduated from MIT with two Bachelors of Science degrees, one in Brain and Cognitive Science and the other in Humanities and Science with a focus in Writing. She was selected as a 2007-2008 filmmaker-in-residence at WGBH to work on her debut feature documentary, UNORTHODOX, which follows three rebellious Orthodox Jewish high school teenagers through a transformative post-high school year in Israel. The film premiered in November 2013 at the Boston Jewish Film Festival and at DOC NYC. Anna's writing has been published in numerous outlets and anthologized in "Best Travel Writing, Vol. 9 (2012)" and "Best Women's Travel Writing 2011." Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pakistan-born physicist Saad Sarwana gets a visit from the FBI. Saad Sarwana grew up in Pakistan, and moved first to Canada and then eventually to the US to attend graduate school in Physics. He's a professional physicist by day and an amateur standup comedian by night! As a Physicist, Saad has over 30 peer reviewed publications and two US patents. As a comedian Saad has performed at every major comedy club in the NYC area, and has been featured on an ABC 20/20 story about Muslim Standup Comedians. This winter you can see him in the US on the Discovery Science Channel show "You Have Been Warned." Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.