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 te...
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
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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28:40
The System is Broken: Stories about problems with health care
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
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
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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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!
South Africa