The Story Collider
Episodes
Nisse Greenberg: What's In A Name
19 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 m...
Karen Hopkin: Who's The Donor?
09 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 o...
John Rennie: Crazy Mail
27 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
As an editor at Scientific American John Rennie delighted in the weird correspondence they received, but then one letter crossed a line. John Rennie i...
Edward Frenkel: The Test
21 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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. ...
Meredith White: How To Write A Testimony
13 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 crucia...
Nelson Lugo: A Simple Magic Trick
05 Sep 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Emily Caudill: Fading Notes
29 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Musician Emily Caudill's life-saving chemotherapy treatment causes her to lose her hearing. Emily Caudill is a songwriter and musician from Louisville...
Erika Engelhaupt: The Science Of Speeding
22 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Stephon Alexander: Physics Dreams
15 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Physicist Stephon Alexander feels overwhelmed until the father of quantum gravity himself helps him find inspiration in his subconscious. Stephon Alex...
Daniel Miller: Black Holes
08 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 sexua...
Daniel Engber: Distracting Mark Cuban
01 Aug 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel Engber risks derailing his PhD by constant daydreaming, until his neuroscience research gives him a idea that will revolutionize the NBA. Danie...
Eugene Lim: Colliding Universes
25 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Ainissa Ramirez: Science Vs Football
18 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez never connected with her brothers' love of football until she unexpectedly ends up writing a book about it. Ainiss...
Annalise Kaylor: A Room Full Of Odds
11 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
A cancer diagnosis is only the start of the collapse for Annalise Kaylor, but she finds support in an unexpected community. Hailing from the northwood...
Allison Hartshorn: Common Ground
04 Jul 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Jodi Beggs: Kindergarten tycoon
27 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Jodi Beggs's mother greatly underestimates how well her kindergartener understands economics. Jodi Beggs is an economist and writer whose focus is on ...
Kathleen Raven: Hearing
20 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Science writer Kathleen Raven's unexpected loss of hearing takes her on a journey with modern technology. Kathleen Raven writes for Reuters Health and...
Moran Cerf: Finding Fear
13 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Sarah Schlesinger: Experimental Treatments
05 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 invest...
Marjorie Winther: Lighting A Fire
29 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
As a science teacher, Marjorie Winther has both entertaining and troubling times with her students, but when she brings them to the South she discover...
Margaret Geller: Mapping The Universe
22 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Carl Zimmer: Safety Carl Versus Gamera
14 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 colu...
Abby Rabinowitz: Surrogate storytelling
07 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Abby Rabinowitz embarks on a journey through India's burgeoning surrogacy industry in search of a missing baby. Abby Rabinowitz teaches wri...
Sara Seager: A New Search For Life
01 May 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Jack El-Hai: Too Close To The Subject
23 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Baratunde Cola: The Comeback
16 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Nick Hud: The Origin Of Life
09 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Amy Cuddy: Passing As Myself
02 Apr 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 Busi...
Shannon Cason: The perfect solution
26 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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, ...
Deena Walker: Just Like My Sister
18 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 p...
Charles van Rees: Suffering For Science
12 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 T...
Amy: The Caretaker Look
04 Mar 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 d...
Rabiah Mayas: Identical Twins
25 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
An accidental revelation causes Rabiah Mayas to question her identity. Rabiah Mayas, PhD, is madly in love with science and driven by life’s questio...
Jesse Dunietz: Star of the science team
18 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 definit...
Skylar Bayer: Phoning Home From Alvin
11 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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. Sky...
Tonia Pinheiro: Double dose
04 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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!...
Brad Lawrence: The end of the world
29 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 An...
Rowena Fletcher-Wood: Diffraction
21 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
As a chemistry student, Rowena Fletcher-Wood has to reconstruct the structure of chemicals, and a relationship with a friend, by interpreting complex ...
Kishore Hari: We will rock the Earth
13 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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 Ha...
Julian Parker: A plane nerd
06 Jan 2014
Contributed by Lukas
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, Jul...
Anna Wexler: A crucial choice
30 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Saad Sarwana: A muslim, a physicist, and a comedian...
23 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
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...
David Epstein: A turn on the track
16 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
When tragedy strikes his high school friend, David Epstein vows to find out what happened. David Epstein is author of the recent New York Times bestse...
Danielle N. Lee: Working twice as hard
09 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
As a woman of color working in science, Danielle N. Lee has always encountered challenges. But she doesn't expect the email she receives one morning, ...
Pete Etchells: The next level
01 Dec 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Psychologist Pete Etchells' father inspired him -- to hate neurons. Pete Etchells is a lecturer in biological psychology at Bath Spa University, UK, a...
Craig Lehocky: Do you always talk like that?
24 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
While studying bioengineering, Craig Lehocky discovers he's different from the other students. Craig Lehocky's tinkering runs deep. He currently devel...
Special Episode - Outtakes! (And a request for help)
22 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
The Story Collider needs your help! Our initial funding is coming to an end, and we need your help to keep going. It doesn't take a lot, $1/podcast wi...
Saswato R. Das: Wrong number
18 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
A wrong number to a friend in Sri Lanka leads Saswato Das to the final interview with a famous science fiction writer. Saswato R. Das has written abou...
Jim O'Grady: You, me, and the monkey
10 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Jim O'Grady's attempts to woo his housemate are stymied by the monkey she's training to help quadriplegics. Jim O'Grady is a reporter for WNYC Radio a...
Deborah Blum: A taste of nature
03 Nov 2013
Contributed by Lukas
At age 7, Deborah Blum starts a mystery when she interrupts her parent's dinner party. So their guest, famed biologist E.O. Wilson, investigates. Debo...
Victor Hwang: Spacecraft are never late
28 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
What's the worst that can happen when you let a recent college grad command a $330 million spacecraft? Victor Hwang is a New England born nerd. After ...
Eliza Strickland: Lost in the deep
20 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Science writer Eliza Strickland discovers that in the race to the bottom of the Mariana Trench the most important thing is what they leave behind. Eli...
Emily Graslie: From landscapes to taxidermy
14 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
How does a landscape artist become the host of a popular science show on YouTube? For Emily Graslie it started with pictures of a wolf head on Faceboo...
Alan Lightman: More than just the equations
06 Oct 2013
Contributed by Lukas
From a (mostly) successful model rocket launch to a missed opportunity by Richard Feynman, Alan Lightman learns that the equations aren't the whole st...
Robin Dessel: Sex and the nursing home
29 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
When two residents of her nursing home fell in love, sexual rights advocate Robin Dessel had to decide how the staff would handle their rendezvous. Ro...
Stephanie Nothelle: A last cup of coffee
22 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Stephanie Nothelle loves volunteering at her local nursing home, but she doesn't know what to do when one of the residents says, "I die today" and ask...
Aviva Hope Rutkin: Sensory substitution
15 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
For her masters thesis in science writing, Aviva Hope Rutkin starts writing about sensory substitution -- a way of swapping in one sense for another. ...
Richard Pollack: The wobbly table
08 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Pollack finds himself moderating an uneasy negotiation between Israelis and Jordanians, as part of an international effort to stem a scourge o...
John Rennie: The lab safety officer
01 Sep 2013
Contributed by Lukas
After he's named lab safety officer, John Rennie must recover a precious sample from the bottom of a vat of liquid nitrogen. So he reaches in. John Re...
Darcy Burke: The mountain lion book
24 Aug 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Darcy Burke's mother gave her a book on mountain lions, and it had the effect that every science writer wishes their book will have. Kind of. Every we...
Aditi: How to impress your graduate advisor
28 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
As a new, super competitive, graduate student Aditi thinks she has the perfect way to impress her advisor and labmates ... until one night it spirals ...
Kimberly Rae Miller: Let's fix dad
21 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Kimberly Rae Miller's family had a secret: her dad was a hoarder. But when she begins digging into the research on hoarding, she finds it's not nearly...
Sara Peters and Peter Aguero: Praying for a seizure
16 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Sara Peters has epilepsy, but no drugs seem to help. So she agrees to be hooked up to a machine at the hospital for days, in hopes of inducing the one...
Ben Moskowitz: Cheating the snake
15 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
When Ben Moskowitz gets to take special classes in elementary school, he's excited at first, but then he starts to realize there might be something di...
Alex Brown: The nature of time and meningitis
07 Jul 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Science writer Alex Brown's philosophical education becomes very practical when he is diagnosed with meningitis. Every week the Story Collider brings ...
Susannah Cahalan: Patient #217
30 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Three years after a mysterious illness nearly drove her insane and took her life, Susannah Cahalan visits a patient with the same rare, dangerous cond...
Elna Baker: Nerd day
24 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Elna Baker's grade school reputation faces it's greatest threat: her engineer father's enthusiasm for homework. Every week the Story Collider brings y...
Justin Werfel: Robotics lessons from termites
17 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
A physicist decides that the best way to make progress on his robotics project is to go to Namibia to study termites. Every week the Story Collider br...
Seth Mnookin: Science vs. feelings in the fight over vaccines
10 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Science writer Seth Mnookin set out to write a book on whether vaccines were dangerous, but discovered the issue was more complex than he'd thought. E...
Mike Nitabach: I was supposed to be a lawyer
03 Jun 2013
Contributed by Lukas
As grad school for neuroscience wears on, Michael Nitabach feels the pull of law school, and goes. But he had another surprise coming. Every week the ...
Esther Perel: Science & sexuality
27 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Esther Perel's career gets an unexpected boost from the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. Every week the Story Collider brings you a true, persona...
Mara Wilson: A love affair of a lifetime (with science)
20 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
As a kid, Mara Wilson is decidedly uninterested in science, but as she grows up she starts to look for answers in new places. Every week the Story Col...
Meehan Crist: My mother's brain
13 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
When Meehan Crist was a child, her mother hit her head. It was only as an adult that she discovered that her mother was covering up something far more...
Daniela Schiller: A new last memory
05 May 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Neuroscientist Daniela Schiller studies the emotional components of memory. In her previous story her research helped her begin to understand her fath...
Moran Cerf: Being dead while being alive
21 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Moran Cerf's life is spun around when a computer glitch declares him dead -- but that's nothing compared to what happens when a real funeral comes aro...
Andrew Revkin: My lucky stroke
14 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
When he begins showing strange symptoms on a jog though the mountains, science writer Andrew Revkin discovers just how close to death he is. Learn mor...
Sarah Everts: Bitten in a foreign country
07 Apr 2013
Contributed by Lukas
While visiting Guatemala Sarah Everts is bitten by a dog, so she goes looking for a rabies shot. But coming home to Canada is when the real problem st...
Stuart Firestein: A mentor with a nose for science
31 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
After a career as a theater manager, Stuart Firestein takes a biology class, which leads him to a completely new life, and a lot of salamander noses. ...
Paula Croxson: When your grandmother forgets who you are
24 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
When Paula Croxson began to study memory as a neuroscientist, she also learned a new way of thinking about her grandmother's failing memory. Learn mor...
Jess Zimmerman: The Gorilla In the Room
16 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Writer Jess Zimmerman discovers the dangers of dating a philosopher of neuroscience who thinks he knows what's really happening in her head. Learn mor...
Jon Ronson: A journalist interviews a robot
10 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Jon Ronson is excited when he hears about some 'sentient' robots, but when he goes to interview them he finds both less and more than he ev...
Andre Fenton: The twisting road from basic brain research to helping malaria patients
03 Mar 2013
Contributed by Lukas
André Fenton always wanted to do research at the most fundamental level -- to uncover basic truths about memory and how it works, never mind how usef...
Robin & Samantha Henig: The rules of writing with your daughter
24 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Marantz Henig and her daughter, Samantha, decided to write a book together about life as a twentysomthing. There was just one problem -- how to ...
Colin Jerolmack: How a sociologist became The Pigeon Guy
17 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Colin Jerolmack was floundering in grad school until he found deep insights into human nature... from pigeons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
Kelly & Zach Weinersmith: Two nerds fall in love
10 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Biologist Kelly Smith and comic artist Zach Weiner were having trouble dating, until they met online and realized what they each needed was another ne...
Anica Rissi: Confessions of a fourth-grade science fraud
03 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Anica Rissi realizes the true purpose of her science project: to increase her popularity. But how far is she willing to go? Learn more about your ad c...
Tara Clancy: A bartender from Queens learns theoretical physics
27 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Tara Clancy's worry over making bad life choices leads her to think about all the things she doesn't know -- and from there, obviously, to theoretical...
Heather Berlin: Can a scientist believe in life after death?
20 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Her grandmother's death forces neuroscientist Heather Berlin to think hard about what she believes, and why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...
Anna Rothschild: Feeling love in your gut
06 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Anna Rothschild tells the most adorably gross love story you'll ever hear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy P...
Robin Abrahams: A rabbit's personality
16 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
A neighbor's gift of two baby rabbits leads Robin Abrahams to a new view of, and fascination with, personality. "Do you not understand that I am a nin...
Lawrence David: An extreme self-study
09 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Having lost his ambition to be a scientist, Lawrence David embarks on one more research project -- to collect and study his poop. Every day. For a yea...
Abby Pond: A quiet moment
02 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
When her dad is diagnosed with cancer, Abby Pond is sent on a journey home, across the world, and into a new science. "He said, 'Why are you sitting h...
Arran Frood: A therapeutic trip
25 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Arran Frood is a science writer who specializes in writing about studies of psychedelic drugs, but a routine story turns personal when he finds himsel...
Adam Wade: Volcanic chemistry
18 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
In high school, Adam Wade falls for his lab partner, but is led astray by dreams of golf team greatness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...
Heather Swain: The last hours of a rabid woman
11 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
When Heather Swain is told she has rabies, that turns out to be the least strange part of her experience. "Who wants to grow up saying their mother di...
Steve Mirsky: Why would you have a masters in chemistry?
05 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Questions arise when Steve Mirsky is introduced to his friend's new girlfriend, and he relies on his past experience to help -- specifically his degre...
Ari Daniel Shapiro: Narwhal tagging in the arctic
28 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
As a grad student, Ari Daniel Shapiro has to tag some narwhals to collect data. The problem: it's in the arctic, the devices have never been tested, a...
Brooke Borel: My dog's heart
21 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
A science writer is challenged when her dog comes down with a case of heartworm -- and then the medication goes wrong. "As I'm leaving, the vet says, ...
Rory Scholl: What I want is to smile again
14 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Rory Scholl has to show up on day one to a new job -- with a severe case of Bell's Palsy. "When I said this to one of my co-workers I slurred my words...
Christine Gentry: Four lessons from my dad
07 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Christine Gentry's rural, Vietnam vet father rarely talked about important issues, but a series of remarkable moments with animals and nature teach he...