The Story Collider

Latest Episodes:

You Belong Here: Stories from the Allen Institute Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

Science can sometimes feel like an exclusive club that only certain people are allowed into. In this week’s episode, produced in partnership with the Allen Institute, both of our storytellers try to find their place in science.

Part 1: After getting accepted to a PhD program, Max Departee can’t help but feel like he’s not good enough to be there.

Part 2: Han Arbach is worried coming out as non-binary will ruin their scientific career.

Max Departee is a research scientist from the Pacific Northwest who has always had a fascination with the natural world. A curious nature and outdoor spirt led him to attend Montana State University where, between fly-fishing on local rivers and skiing the Rockies, he earned his Bachelors Degree in Biotechnology. Max's career and training as a scientist have taken him many places, from a PhD program in North Carolina, to a small Biotech Start-up in Washington, and back to his home town of Seattle where he now works at the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

Han Arbach grew up dreaming of becoming an astronaut after watching the space shuttle land at the military base their family was stationed at. As they continued to grow up and became a “frequent flyer” in the orthopedics department for various injuries, their aspirations shifted towards medical training. Encouraged by fantastic AP Biology and Chemistry teachers in high school they pursued a biochemistry major at Mount Holyoke College. Here they were encouraged by a chemistry professor to try out research. This fostered a newfound love for discovery and research, and with it a new dream career path of becoming a scientist. Han completed their Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Washington studying tail regeneration and nuclear structure in tadpoles. They then did Postdoctoral work at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center using viruses as a tool to probe facets of cell biology. Now, they are a Program Officer at the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group. Outside of work, you will find them raising two dogs with their partner, attempting to befriend crows, and being a poor but enthusiastic gardener.

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Digital Bonds: Stories about technology Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

In this digital age, technology can connect us in ways we never imagined. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share stories of the weird and wonderful ways technology created new opportunities and forged new relationships.

Part 1: In an attempt to be seen as “cool” by his friends, Azhar Bande-Ali reaches out to the Steve Wozniak and invites him for coffee.

Part 2: Don Picard can’t stop using technology to keep tabs on his son.

Azhar Bande-Ali is a storyteller who likes his tales with a side of laughs. His award-winning debut solo show, "Curry and Catharsis," presented at the NYC Fringe Festival, won hearts for telling an Indian story hyphenated by an American upbringing. As a former Moth StorySLAM winner, he obsesses over story structure that leaves plenty of room for silliness to highlight the complexities of the human experience.

Don Picard has worked in the Boston area for 30 years as a software developer. He was a double major in Theatre Arts and Computer Science at Cornell, and chose to work as an engineer in order to be able to live in Cambridge and feed his family. Don enjoys telling live stories about his kids, husband, and extended family as it is fun, therapeutic, and allows him to exercise the other half of his college degree so he doesn't become bitter.

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The System is Broken: Stories about problems with health care Nov 08, 2024

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Healthcare is often a tangled web of bureaucracy and inefficiencies. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their experiences navigating its many flaws.

Part 1: Zoe Wisnoski’s takes matters into her own hands when her son has months of ongoing fevers.

Part 2: During the pandemic, epidemiologist Bryon Backenson becomes disheartened when the public stops cooperating with public health authorities.

Zoe Wisnoski is a seeker of stories, adventure, travel, and moments that stick with you. She stumbled into the world of storytelling through a training put on by Story Collider. Her passion for activism buoyed by a penchant for oversharing has finally found a home. Formerly a feminist policy analyst with a Masters in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, now a full time - still feminist - mother, Zoe spends her time attempting to create joy amidst utter chaos. When her son was diagnosed with the super rare, to date minimally understood, genetic disease Tatton Brown Rahman Syndrome (TBRS), Zoe reoriented her educational and professional background to meeting his needs and volunteering with the TBRS Community, the nonprofit aimed at supporting families and advancing research for TBRS. In 2024 she joined the board of directors and continues to search for answers.

Bryon Backenson is an epidemiologist. He is currently the director of the Bureau of Communicable Disease Control at the New York State Department of Health. He and his team investigate, respond to, and research infectious disease outbreaks. He is also a professor in the University at Albany College of Integrated Health Sciences, where he teaches in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. When not thinking about disease, he spends his time hiking, fishing, and reading. While he talks about epidemiology and infectious diseases all the time in classes, meetings, and webinars, this is the first time he’s tried to tell his own story in this kind of format.

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Boundaries: Stories about self-care Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share stories about moments in life where they chose to put themselves and their wellbeing first.

Part 1: When Yves Jeffcoat is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she isn’t sure how to manage this new normal.

Part 2: Jameer Pond keeps ending up in relationships he doesn’t want to be in, so his therapist suggests he take a sex sabbatical.

Yves Jeffcoat is a writer, a podcast host and producer, and a yoga teacher. Her writing has been in The New York Times, Paper Monument, Lapham’s Quarterly, Art in America, The Bitter Southerner, and elsewhere on the internet and in print. She has hosted and helped create podcasts with iHeartRadio, Afropunk, and Hulu that reflect her interests in Blackness, history, healing, and resistance. She is currently the co-creator and co-host of On Theme, a podcast about Black storytelling in all its forms.

Brooklyn, New York born award-winning storyteller, director and interviewer Jameer Pond has spent his whole life walking in his passion; engaging with people through diverse storytelling. Throughout his career, he’s created viral series such as Buzzfeed’s Black People Try, co-hosted BET’s first morning talk show Black Coffee, directed several cover videos across Condé Nast’s array of publications, including Sir Lewis Hamilton and Simone Biles, and has won a Shorty Award. You can currently catch him traveling the world, telling his dynamic stories with The Moth.

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Best of Story Collider: Origin Stories Oct 25, 2024

Show notes

This week we present two stories about the inspiration behind scientists' careers.

Part 1: Kate Marvel's dream of being a genius takes her to Cambridge to study astrophysics.

Part 2: When Joe Normandin begins to question his sexuality as a teenager, he turns to neuroscience for help.

Kate Marvel is a climate scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute of Space studies. She uses computer models and satellite observations to monitor and explain the changes happening around us. Her work has suggested that human activities are already affecting global rainfall and cloud patterns. Her book Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet will be published in 2025 by Ecco Press.

Joe Normandin earned a B.A. in Biology with a Specialization in Neuroscience from Boston University, where he worked as an undergraduate research assistant in labs studying the behavioral genetics of sexual orientation in people and female sexual behavior in a rat model. He earned a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences - Neurobiology and Behavior from Georgia State University, where he explored how the brain regulates sexual reflexes. He found evidence of a brain circuit that provides an anatomical/functional basis for the oft-reported side effects of delayed orgasm in those taking antidepressants. He is now a Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University. Dr. Normandin values the wonderful public education and support he received as a young gay man growing up in Massachusetts. Even with that education and support, he struggled with his identity as a gay person. In high school, a psychology class introduced him to neuroscience, which led to a search for research that he thought would validate his sexual orientation. This search set him on a path towards becoming a neuroscientist, and ultimately led to questions he explores in the classroom: Are people born gay? Does it matter? Dr. Normandin is also an avid gamer and has saved the universe many times.

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Haters: Stories about internet trolls Oct 18, 2024

Show notes

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their experiences with online hate and the surprising lessons they learnt along the way.

Part 1: After debunking Bella Hadid’s treatment for chronic lyme disease, Fola Olusanya finds herself in a heated debate with another TikToker.

Part 2: During the pandemic, infectious disease researcher and science communicator Laurel Bristow receives a flood of hate mail.

Fola Olusanya is a PhD student at NYU studying computational biomedicine, and has been a producer with Story Collider since 2022. She is also a writer and content creator.

Laurel Bristow is an infectious disease researcher, science communicator, reluctant instagram baddie, and all around fan of tomfoolery. By day she creates public health education for general audiences and occasionally uses her free time and instagram to educate about infectious disease, and advance her personal vendetta against the cruise industry.

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Pile It On: Stories about being overwhelmed Oct 11, 2024

Show notes

In this week’s episode, both of the storytellers share stories about moments when life just wouldn’t let up.

Part 1: After giving birth to her second child, Julie Raskin doesn’t know how to handle his constant crying and need to nurse.

Part 2: As a new immigrant and surprise cancer patient, Emmanuel Paul navigates the complexities of the US healthcare system.

After Julie’ Raskin’s son Ben was born with congenital hyperinsulinism (HI), a condition that causes the overproduction of insulin that leads to severe hypoglycemia, Julie joined a dedicated group of parents whose children were also affected by the condition to found Congenital Hyperinsulinism International (CHI). Julie is the CEO of CHI and since 2010 she has led this active worldwide community of patients, their families and caregivers, expert clinicians and researchers, and professionals in the biotech field to fulfil CHI’s mission to find better treatments, prevent death and brain damage, and support HI families every step of the way.

Emmanuel Paul is an immigrant from Haiti. He is a Journalist. A cancer survivor. Emmanuel is a graduate student at Harvard Division of Continuing Education. He graduated in Accounting and Finance at Northeastern University. He also hold a double bachelors in Anthropology and Sociology at the Haiti State University. Emmanuel is the founder of CaribbeanTelevisionNetwork, an online news media serving immigrant communities from the Caribbean in the United States.

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Quest for Friendship: Stories about finding pals Oct 04, 2024

Show notes

It’s not always easy to make friends, but in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers take us on heartwarming and sometimes unexpected journeys to find true friendship and meaningful connections.

Part 1: Eva Chebishev gets voted “Most Organized” in first grade and struggles to fit in with her peers.

Part 2: Morgan Roberts is worried about how people will see her if she enters a high school math competition.

Eva Chebishev (she/her) is a microbiology PhD candidate in the lab of Dr. Ana Fernandez-Sesma at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). Her research focuses on the immune response to Dengue virus (DENV) with hopes of creating a safe, effective vaccine that is protective against all four serotypes of DENV. When she finally finishes this PhD, she aims to combine her enthusiasm for science communication and public outreach with her life-long passion for musical theatre. To this end, she recently had the incredible opportunity to perform in the limited, Off-Broadway run of “Lifeline” an original musical which tells the story of Alexander Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin and the ongoing, rising global public health threat of antimicrobial resistance. She was also an attendee of ComSciCon-Flagship-2024, a science communication conference for graduate students, and has guest starred on the podcast “Mattsplaining” by Matthew Storrs. Outside of the lab, she performs in, directs, and produces “The Sinai Story Project”, a student-run showcase of original stories from the ISMMS student body. Finally, she is a diversity and disability advocate for equal opportunities in science and would like to thank The Story Collider for this opportunity and her Story Collider Workshop instructors for helping her find and craft her story.

Morgan Roberts is a Mechanical Engineering major in her junior year at Boise State University. She is currently pursuing aerospace engineering and has had wonderful opportunities interning for various aerospace companies in the US and is hopeful to get more! She loves playing volleyball, reading, spending time with friends and family, and working in the machine shop on campus.

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Best of Story Collider: Trials by Fire Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

This week, we're presenting stories from scientists who faced unusually difficult paths to science. We all know it's hard work to become a scientist. But for some folks, even getting to that point where you can pursue your science education can seem like an impossible dream.

Part 1: When Evelyn Valdez-Ward discovers that she's undocumented, she fears her dreams of becoming a scientist are over.

Part 2: Samuel Achilefu's experiences growing up during the Nigerian Civil War inspire his passion for science.

Evelyn Valdez-Ward is an undocumented, Latina, scientist and PhD student at the University of California, Irvine. For her thesis, she studies the impact of California's drought on the ways that plants and their soil microbes (fungi and bacteria in the soil) communicate and interact with one another. In addition to doing research, she's extremely passionate about advocating for undocumented students in STEM. She recently published her story "I'm an undocumented scientist fighting for my Dream" in Science, and was invited to speak at the March for Science rally in DC to advocate for Dreamers in STEM. She has been awarded a UCI's Dynamic Womxn's Award for Outstanding Social Justice Activist, and the Svetlana Bersahdsky Graduate Student Award for her lobbying and advocacy efforts. She plans to continue lobbying and fighting for her undocumented community after graduating, and work in science policy, where she can continue to advocate for both science and minorities in STEM.

Originally from Nigeria, Samuel Achilefu is the Michel M. Ter-Pogossian Professor of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine. He also holds joint appointments as a Professor in Medicine, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Biomedical Engineering and serves as the Chief of the Optical Radiology Laboratory (ORL), Director of the Molecular Imaging Center, Director of the Center for Multiple Myeloma Nanotherapy, and a co-leader of the Oncologic Imaging Program of the Siteman Cancer Center. His lab harnesses the power of light to develop methods for understanding, diagnosing and treating human diseases and is made up of biologists, chemists, engineers, medical scientists and physicists. He enjoys biking, playing tennis, and travelling. Samuel lives with his wife and they have two college-aged children.

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For The Love of Science: Stories about passion Sep 20, 2024

Show notes

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers have a passion for science that can’t be suppressed.

Part 1: As a zoo volunteer, Lisa Yeager adores sharing her love of the wild, but one zoo patron is ruining that for her.

Part 2: Anna yearns to be a scientist, but her strict mormon family doesn’t want her to become one.

Lisa Yeager started her career as an environmental educator and bookstore manager in Anchorage, AK. She shifted to build a career in project management after earning her MBA at the University of Washington. She currently works as a Program Manager for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center where she works to bring innovation and transformational change to business practices and collaboration. Lisa built her life in Seattle after attending UW because where else are you within a day of ocean, sound, volcano, shrub-steppe, lakes and two mountain ranges? With 10+ years as an informal education volunteer at Woodland Park Zoo, she is exploring ways to translate her business background and a recent second master’s in biology to support climate change education and advocacy. She serves on the governing council for the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation, and received a Cee-Change fellowship and grant funding from the North American Association of Environmental Education. She is a previous board member of the International Applied Improvisation Network. She is the co-founder of Yes and Nature Collaborative (climateconversations.net), which combines scientific data, communication theory, and improvisational theater techniques to help people have more effective conversations about climate change and nature.

Anna is a naturalist and aquatic entomologist. Going to school in Utah gave her the opportunity for a backyard mountain classroom. She got to learn about migration patterns of mule deer, moose, elk, and pronghorn through GPS collaring initiatives led by the Department of Natural Resources. Her coursework helped her learn how to identify all the plants and animals native to the desert, valley, and mountainous regions of Utah. Monitoring the restoration of a canyon after wildfires, flash floods, and debris flows bolstered her knowledge of the resilience of native flora and fauna to historical natural disaster regimes. She found purpose, love, and life in those experiences. Now Anna gets to connect to the parks and people within NYC, as well as challenge herself through a doctoral program studying the evolutionary history of stoneflies. These insects are fundamental to maintaining the health and balance of freshwater ecosystems, but many populations around the globe are experiencing substantial declines due to human interference and climate change.

*For privacy reasons, Anna’s last name has been withheld.

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