The Story Collider

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers experience something that that defy scientific explanation.

Part 1: After ACL surgery leaves Valarie Walker unable to walk, she can't make it to her dying mother's bedside to say goodbye.

Part 2: When Robyn Jay learns her abusive father is in palliative care, she sees it as her chance to finally watch the beast fall.

Valarie is a published writer and award winning storyteller. Her stories have been featured on the Moth Radio Hour and the Volume Knob podcast, among others. A Moth Grand Slam winner, sh...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers struggle to live up to the expectations their parents set for them.

Part 1: Growing up, Kat Arney was always told by her mom that she wasn't creative—that she was destined to be a scientist instead.

Part 2: After his father's unexpected death, Kevin McNulty becomes an investment banker, convinced it's the life his dad would have wanted for him.

Kat Arney is a multi award-winning science writer, public speaker and broadcaster. Initially starting off as a scientist, she left the lab to work in scien...

In honour of National Coming Out Day on October 11, we're sharing two stories about queer journeys, self-discovery, and what it means to finally become your authentic self.

Part 1: Every time Billie Sainwood is intimate with a partner, she loses consciousness—a medical mystery that makes dating difficult.

Part 2: Kelsea Best is sleepwalking through graduate school until an unexpected encounter with a postdoc at a brewery forces her to confront feelings she's spent a lifetime trying to ignore.

Billie Sainwood is a poet, performer, and trans menace living in Atlanta. Her work has been fe...

Every family has secrets. But some secrets have the power to completely reshape who you think you are. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers uncover revelations that change everything they thought they knew about themselves.

Part 1: When Ryan Jones receives a DNA test from his mom for Christmas, he expects to learn a little more about his family history and heritage.

Part 2: After years of unexplained headaches, Alicia Silver is finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Ryan Jones is an award-winning spoken word artist, an environmental engineer, lawyer, and a lemon pe...

This week we present two classic stories of people struggling with what the “right” thing to do is.

Part 1: Catherine Macdonald always wanted to study sharks, but her first time tagging them in the field doesn't go as planned.

Part 2: When Michelle Tong visits home after her first semester of medical school, a stranger presents an ethical dilemma.

Dr. Catherine Macdonald is co-founder and Director of Field School (www.getintothefield.com), a marine science training and education company dedicated to improving field research practices while teaching students to perform hands-on research with sharks. She...

This week’s episode — produced in partnership with Boise State University’s “AWESOME” Center — features two stories from The AWESOME Center’s research team.

Part 1: Physicist Leslie Atkins has spent her life trusting evidence over intuition.

Part 2: Eric Jankowski is determined to beat his math-genius dad at the game Go.

Leslie Atkins is a professor at Boise State University whose work moves across physics, science studies, and education. Trained as a physicist, she studies how scientific concepts—light, time, energy, information—take shape, how those concepts are made legible to nonscientists, and how they transform how...

While many believe striving for perfection is a fool's errand, in this week's episode both of our storytellers chase it anyway.

Part 1: Weiji Ma grapples with the pressure of living up to his child prodigy reputation as he grows older.

Part 2: Chia Lin's meticulously structured life is upended by a chance encounter with a swarm of bees outside her lab.

Weiji Ma received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, but ended up strongly disliking working in Physics. He did postdocs in computational neuroscience at Caltech and the...

In this week's episode, two storytellers reclaim their power—one by challenging a broken system, the other by confronting the ways trauma continues to shape her life.

Part 1: Kimberly Babiarz sets out to fight human trafficking, only to discover that one of the biggest obstacles is the lack of reliable data.

Part 2: After years of therapy, Denise Cai believes she's moved beyond her trauma—until her family notices patterns she can't yet see.

This story does include mentions of sexual assault and rape. In case you’d find them helpful, now or at any po...

This week we present two stories from our archive of people who learned something about their childhood later in life.

Part 1: Growing up in the fifties and sixties, Jenice Matias senses there's more to her mother's occupation than she understands.

Part 2: D.B. Firstman has always known their body is different, but at the age of thirty, they make a discovery that changes everything.

Jenice Matias is a multifaceted artist—a dancer, singer, actress, comedy jenice matias is writer, dancer. Singer, comedian, improviser actress and storyteller. She has garnered recognition for her bold, fe...

While we often like to think we're in control of our own lives, both of our storytellers learn that some things remain beyond our grasp, no matter how hard we try to steer the outcome.

Part 1: After years of helping others safely navigate glaciers, Monte Montepare suddenly finds himself at the mercy of one.

Part 2: Jessica Lee Williamson's OCD fixates on a single question: how will she die?

Monte is a comedian, storyteller and adventure guide originally from Colorado. He’s been Keynote Speaker at The Ouray Ice Festival, is on the cover of...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers uncover cracks in the education system that prove harder to ignore than they expected.

Part 1: While teaching a summer school math class in Texas, Justine Ang Fonte realizes that many of her students have never received even the most basic sex education.

Part 2: Guilherme Lichand uncovers a flaw in Brazil’s education system that leaves thousands of children with invisible disabilities unidentified and unsupported.

Justine Ang Fonte, M.Ed, MPH is the child of Philippine immigrants and an award-winning sex educator, international keynote speaker, and p...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers explore the challenges, opportunities, and unexpected lessons they encountered as immigrant scientists in the United States.

Part 1: Michelle Lanuza has her sights set on a career designing communication systems for airplanes, yet each new opportunity comes with the same obstacle: her immigration status.

Part 2: For Saba Banaian, the opportunity to study biomedical engineering in the United States comes with a painful cost: she can't return home to Iran for five years.

Michelle Lanuza is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Materials Sc...

This week, we're re-airing two classic stories about finding friends. Science can be a lonely job -- but it can also connect us to others in ways we'd never imagine.

Part 1: Feeling isolated in her new job as a particle accelerator operator at Fermilab, Cindy Joe finds comfort in the friendship of her unconventional pet.

Part 2: Patrick Honner starts to doubt his lifelong love of math when graduate school becomes a lonely experience.

Cindy Joe is an engineering physicist working with several of Fermilab’s experiments studying neutrinos, tiny particles that might hold the...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share the unconventional paths that led them into science journalism.

Part 1: Keren Landman always wanted to be a writer, but her family didn’t see it as a practical career — so instead, she went to medical school.

Part 2: When Adithi Ramakrishnan gets to college, she only sees two career paths ahead of her: medical school or scientific research.

Keren Landman, M.D., is an independent health reporter and author of the newsletter Landmansplained. Her freelance writing has appeared in a range of publications, including The Gu...

What does it actually mean to “be a man”? In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers grapple with masculinity and are forced to confront what manhood means to them.

Part 1: As a teenager, Mike McFadden realizes one part of his body isn’t developing like the other boys his age.

Part 2: Ricky Ortiz believed that to be a good husband, father, and provider, he could never show weakness.

Mike McFadden works in the television industry, based out of NYC. He is also indie arts producer intersecting storytelling, clown, and film. 

Ricky O...

In a perfect world, getting the health care you need wouldn’t require fighting for it. But in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers discover just how hard they have to push to get the treatment — and validation — they need and deserve.

Part 1: Cooper Joslin is determined to get a hysterectomy to finally stop the debilitating symptoms of endometriosis but all the doctors won’t seem to let them make decisions about their own body.

Part 2: As a PTSD survivor, Adrianne Frost assumes her dissociative episodes are simply part of living with trauma.

Coope...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers come face to face with one of their deepest fears: the ocean.

Part 1: When the children’s TV show host Carly Ciarrocchi is assigned a scuba diving episode, she’s forced to confront a lifelong fear of the ocean.

Part 2: Growing up, Darcie Little Badger was wary of the ocean. But when she takes an oceanography class in college, she begins to question her fears.

Carly Ciarrocchi (she/her) is an Emmy-nominated host, writer, musician, and producer. A true multi-hyphenate, she has spent most of her...

In this week’s Best Of episode, we present stories from people who navigated our changing relationship to technology.

Part 1: As a kid, Samy Kamkar discovers his superpower -- hacking.

Part 2: When Jordan Bush's father-in-law-to-be is diagnosed with cancer shortly before her wedding, she finds a creative way to help him attend.

Samy Kamkar is a hacker-turned-security researcher building tools to highlight security implications of everyday technologies. Exiled from computers and the Internet as a teenager by court-order for developing the fastest-spreading virus of all time, his work post-ban has been cited by the NS...

In this week’s episode, both storytellers discover just how far people will go for the ones they love.

Part 1: When Bailey Swilley’s dad goes into cardiac arrest, she watches her mom care for him and starts to reevaluate what love really looks like.

Part 2: At rock bottom, Pam Stepansky turns to her dad for support with her alcoholism.

Bailey Swilley is a writer, comedian and storyteller from Memphis, Tennessee. She is a Moth StorySLAM winner and hosts the monthly storytelling show We ❤️ a Theme at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn. In 2026, sh...

In this week’s episode, storytellers share stories about carbs, control, and the unexpected ways bread shapes our lives.

Part 1: When everyone in Rich Tackenberg’s family is diagnosed with celiac disease, he’s forced to confront a terrifying possibility: life without his emotional support carb.

Part 2: During the pandemic, Aditya Surendran sets out to conquer making a 36-hour baguette.

Rich Tackenberg has now lived in Los Angeles longer than he grew up in New York. He is a Managing Director in executive search, specializing in media, entertainment, and nonprofit placements. He has been m...

In this week’s episode, we’re bringing you two stories about navigating the uncertainty, hope, and heartbreak of trying to have a baby.

Part 1: After a pregnancy loss, Annie Tan channels her grief into rescuing an injured mockingbird.

Part 2: Kibby McMahon is convinced she can will her way into pregnancy, but her body refuses to follow the plan.

Annie Tan is an educator, activist, writer and storyteller from Manhattan's Chinatown. Annie’s work has been featured in Huffington Post, New Republic, PBS’ Asian Americans, RISK! and twice on The Moth Radio Hour on NPR...

In this week’s Best Of episode, we present two stories of people who had to leave home to find a new home.

Part 1: When Ph.D student Ali Mattu's girlfriend tells him she is moving to New York City, he has to make some tough decisions about where home is.

Part 2: Arlo Pérez Esquivel struggles to define his boundaries with his father while he is pursuing his education in another country.

Ali Mattu is a cognitive behavioral therapist who helps kids and adults with anxiety disorders. Through YouTube, Dr. Mattu teaches a g...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers reflect on the ways we try to hold onto the people we love.

Part 1: Gwendolyn Napier is left heartbroken when harsh Atlanta weather destroys the trees planted to honor her family members.

Part 2: Bimini Wright looks back on her childhood spent aboard a research boat, studying tuna alongside her larger-than-life fisherman father.

Gwendolyn J. Napier aka “Miss LuvDrop”. Native of Atlanta, Georgia. Retired Educator from Fulton County Schools. Founder of LuvDrop Productions - The “Heart of Storytelling” sharing One Story at a Time. Fun Educational...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share tales about whales.

Part 1: As a child, Brittany Munson dreams of growing up to be a whale trainer.

Part 2: As a marine scientist focused on living creatures, Maya Santangelo is convinced that diving to explore an old whaling shipwreck in the Antarctic will be boring.

Brittany Munson is a Lead Educator at the California Science Center, where she engages public audiences in exploring various science topics and activities. With a degree in Aquatic Biology from UC Santa Barbara, she has chased her passion fo...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers are forced to confront the terrifying unknown and decide how to live in the shadow of what might come.

Part 1: After three generations of women in her family develop Alzheimer’s disease, Mary Jo Pollack enrolls in a study that could reveal whether she’s next.

Part 2: When Sabrina Samuel is diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and told to wait a year before surgery, she must choose between living in fear or embracing the time she has.

Mary Jo Pollack lives life out loud, not on...

When her twenty-five year marriage unexpectedly fell apart, science writer Florence Williams (author of Heartbreak) felt shocked and blindsided. Such heartbreak led to a new range of intense feelings and, trained as a journalist, Florence set out on a journey to understand the science of heartbreak. She tried novel forms of therapy, immersed herself in nature, and consulted cutting-edge research on the science of awe. But her greatest discovery came when she tried an alternative to “hacking” heartbreak. This episode is from A Slight Change of Plans, hosted by cognitive scientist and bestselling author Dr. Maya Shankar. On A Slig...

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers build shields to protect themselves and discover what happens when those defences fail.

Part 1: As a lonely teenager searching for connection, Christopher Moncayo-Torres turns to an unlikely disguise—a giant Clifford costume—in hopes of bridging the gap between himself and the world around him.

Part 2: JP Flores has always been the family’s “smart kid,” a role that becomes his armor in college—until the pressure of living up to that identity begins to crack.

Christopher Moncayo-Torres is an Ecuadorian-American writer, actor, teaching artist and liv...

Oxygen sustains almost every living thing on the planet and the air we breathe is meant to be invisible. But industrialization has changed that. In many cities around the world, the air is no longer clean. Polluted air affects our health, contributes to rising global temperatures, and harms ecosystems in ways we are only beginning to fully understand.

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share how polluted air shaped their lives and changed the way they see the world around them.

Part 1: After witnessing toxic fumes pouring from a nearby factory, Virginia Ki...

Wildfires have become more frequent and more destructive in recent years, increasingly threatening communities on the edges of — and sometimes within — our cities. What was once considered a distant risk is now a reality for millions of people living in urban areas.

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their experiences with wildfires and the ways those encounters impacted them.

Part 1: When wildfires erupt in Los Angeles, Tracy Drain’s work on the Europa Clipper mission is suddenly at risk.

Part 2: As a child, Victoria Dinov lives through a historic wildfire...

Water covers roughly 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface and is essential for human survival. But it can also unleash devastating consequences.

In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share tales about water — from flooding to polluted groundwater. Through their stories, we explore how water shapes our cities, our safety, and our sense of security in a changing climate.

Part 1: While researching flood risk and insurance costs in California, international student Hannah Melville-Rea is shocked by just how unprotected many people are.

Part 2: Patricia Schuba is determined to stop coal and wa...

Climate change doesn’t happen in the abstract. It happens where we live, work, and raise our families.

In this special Story Collider series, each episode explores a different element of urban climate change — from fire and air to water and earth — through powerful, true stories from the people experiencing it firsthand.

In this episode, our storytellers turn their attention to earth, exploring the ways humans shape the land around us — and how a changing environment shapes us in return.

Part 1: While filming a wildlife documentary, filmmaker Mae Dorricott begins to notice just how prof...

This week, in honor of Women's History Month, we're presenting two stories from our archive about women in science and the unique challenges they face.

Part 1: Alison Williams' blossoming passion for chemistry is sidetracked by a professor's thoughtless comment.

Part 2: Climate scientist Sarah Myhre becomes embroiled in conflict after speaking out against a senior scientist's problematic statements about climate change.

Alison Williams is the Associate Provost for Diversity and Intercultural Education at Denison University. She received her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of Rochester where she was a NSF graduate f...

This April, The Story Collider presents a special series on urban climate change.

Through eight true, personal stories about science, we explore how the forces shaping our planet — earth, water, fire, and air — show up in the places most of us actually live: our cities.

From flooded streets and wildfire smoke to shifting ground and the air we breathe, these are the moments when climate change stops feeling distant — and becomes deeply personal.

Eight stories. Four elements. One planet in crisis.

Subscribe now and follow along all month long.

See Pri...

In this week’s episode, both storytellers explore the surprising connections between dance and science.

Part 1: Learning a modern version of her childhood Indian dances puts Sumitra Mattai’s brain and body to the test.

Part 2: When people doubt that dance can empower girls to pursue STEM careers, Yamilée Toussaint sets out to prove them wrong.

Sumitra Mattai is a writer, storyteller and textile designer. She holds a BFA in Textile Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her essays have been...

In this week’s episode, both storytellers share stories that illustrate why empathy, kindness, and humanity are essential to healthcare.

Part 1: After feeling betrayed by the very systems meant to protect her, Karen McCaffrey chooses to become the advocate for survivors she once needed herself.

This story does include mentions of sexual assault and rape. In case you’d find them helpful, now or at any point in the future, we have some resources available on our website.

Part 2: In her twenties, Mary Cyn endures a string of gynecological problems, and the lack of c...

Hair might seem trivial, but for many of us it carries history, identity, and meaning far beyond keratin. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers explore the unexpected power their hair holds.

Part 1: Being half Navajo and half white, Carissa Sherman turns to genetics to better understand her identity. As she questions where she belongs, her hair becomes a quiet but powerful marker of how she sees herself.

Part 2: Growing up, Ria Spencer believed “good hair” meant long hair but when a medical condition forces her to shave it all off, she’s challeng...

This week we present two stories from Black people who were dealing with the ramifications of our racist systems.

Part 1: As a science teacher, Mamoudou N'Diaye was supposed to have all the answers, but he struggles to explain being Black in the USA.

Part 2: Rhonda Key fights to be taken seriously by her white co-workers and students when she gets a job at a middle school.

Mamoudou N'Diaye is a Mauritanian American comic, writer, filmmaker, activist, DJ, and former teacher. N'Diaye has been a correspondent for digital media companies Mic and Seeker, a...

Science can feel isolating when you don’t see yourself reflected around you. This episode brings together two stories about the search for representation, connection, and belonging in STEM.

Part 1: Graduate student Angelique Allen doesn’t fully understand the strong connection she feels to the 2015 animated film Home.

Part 2: Growing up in segregated 1950s Baltimore, Ken Phillips learns early who society says he can’t be.

Angelique Allen is a graduate student at the University of Oregon, the founder of Dreams of a Scientist, and an aspiring dirtbag. She spends most of her time t...

Valentine’s Day may be all about couples, but this week’s episode celebrates heartbreak, breakups, and proudly being single as a Pringle.

Part 1: Getting dumped is the push psychologist Jiawen Huang needs to step outside his comfort zone.

Part 2: While completing her PhD in neuroscience, Leslie Sibener is determined to fix her relationship. 

Jiawen Huang obtained his PhD in Psychology from Columbia University, where he studied how prior knowledge provides a scaffold for prediction and memory. He grew up in China, and did his undergrad at University College London where he scanned peopl...

Both of this week’s stories come from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Rare As One Project grantees, who share their deeply personal experiences with rare diseases and illustrate how research is so essential in the search for better treatments and cures.

(For more stories like these, you can also check out our previous episode The Story Collider produced with Rare As One in 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2024, as well as our Rare Disease playlist.)

Part 1: After multiple relapses, Carlos Guerrero-Anderson takes a chance on an experimental treatment for his rare cancer.

Part 2: Angie Weaver holds onto an u...