The Story Collider

In part 2 of our first episode, we share two more stories on the theme of Contact. In our first story, Tracey Segarra is laid off from her corporate job during the pandemic, but finds a new calling as a contact tracer. In our second story, writer and performer Jennifer Joy begins developing symptoms of COVID-19 in early March. See storycollider.org for transcripts and photos! Learn more about your...

Our series begins in New York City, the center of the early days of the pandemic, with a story from Harvey Katz, one of the hosts and creators of Take Two Storytelling. In this story, Harvey, a brand-new nurse, is thrust into the hectic environment of a Brooklyn ICU at the onset of the pandemic. (Find a transcript and photos at storycollider.org .) Harvey’s story is followed by an interview with s...

Introducing our brand-new upcoming series, Stories of COVID-19! Stay tuned for our first episode on Nov. 13, and find out more here: https://www.storycollider.org/stories-of-covid19 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

A quick announcement from the Story Collider team about changes coming to our podcast! On Friday, November 13th, we will launch our new series, The Stories of COVID-19, featuring stories from doctors, nurses, researchers, volunteers, activists, comedians, journalists, and more! Find out more: https://www.storycollider.org/stories-of-covid19 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

This week we present two more stories from our back catalog about people who experienced epidemics of the past. Part 1: Journalist Erika Check Hayden travels to Sierra Leone and sees Ebola up close and personal for the first time. Part 2: Richard Cardillo escapes his problems by joining a Catholic mission in Peru, where he becomes a community health organizer. Erika Check Hayden is an award-winnin...

This week we present two stories from our back catalog of people having to handle previous epidemics. Part 1: As a pediatrician in the 1980s, Ken Haller comes across a disturbing X-ray. Part 2: On her first day working in the White House under President Obama, microbiologist Jo Handelsman receives some bad news. Ken is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and...

This week we present two stories of people who spiraled out of control in their minds. Part 1: Computer vision researcher Virginie Uhlmann struggles to send an important email. Part 2: After a panic attack, Shane Saunderson questions the role of technology in his life. Virginie Uhlmann is fascinated by life sciences but feels more comfortable surrounded by equations and code than by pipettes. With...

This week we present two stories from people who had encounters with ocean animals. Part 1: Stuck in the lab with buckets of jellyfish, Shreya Yadav must rethink why she's studying what she's studying in the first place. Part 2: Underwater photographer Keith Ellenbogen comes face to face with an animal he wasn't expecting. Shreya Yadav is a PhD candidate at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology,...

This week we present two stories from people who had experiences with strangers. Part 1: Even though he's an excellent student, and later a doctor, Dale Okorodudu finds that strangers perceive him differently. Part 2: Laura Bulk, who has been partially blind since she was a baby, struggles with strangers' attempts to "help." Dr. Dale Okorodudu was raised in League City, Texas just outside of Houst...

This week we present two stories from people who needed a little luck to get by. Part 1: Studying Marine Biology in Florida, Philadelphian Kory Evans feels like a fish out of water... while fishing. Part 2: Carla Katz finds out she has a brain aneurysm while getting screened for a kidney transplant. Kory Evans is an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in the development, evolution and ecolog...

This week we present two stories from people who decided to experiment with science when they were still teenagers. Part 1: In high school, Saad Sarwana decides to go from nerd to bad boy with a prank that he learned in chemistry class. Part 2: As a college student, Andrew Akira Hansen loves chemistry so much that he takes his experiments out of the lab and into the parking lot... and the shower.....

This week we present two stories from people who were confronted with what it means to lose family. Part 1: After leaving class early, Sonia Zárate gets a startling phone call about her daughter. Part 2: An indoor kid at heart, Sam Dingman goes on a hike anyways and ends up making a  shocking  discovery. Sonia Zárate is a proud Chicanx from SoCal. She is a mother and grandmother, Dodger-fan, train...

This week we present stories from people who found themselves in sticky situations in the midst of doing research. Part 1: Erik Vance's first job reporting on scientific research doesn't smell as much like success as it smells like manure. Part 2: Liz Neeley observes hypnosis from the inside when she becomes the subject of the experiment. Erik Vance is an award-winning science journalist based in...

This week we present two stories from people who found the improbable. Part 1: Part 2: As a national park ranger, native South Floridian Gary Bremen has spent the past 33 years telling the stories of the places and people that have shaped this nation. He has visited 254 of the 419 national parks, and now recognizes how much his encounters with lightning storms, bears, drag queens and grieving pare...

This week we present two stories from people who got called into action to save an animal they didn’t know they’d be called to save. Part 1: While running an errand, Andrea Azarian happens upon a lost horse that needs her help. Part 2: Left in charge of the farm for the first time, Gwynne Hogan panics when a goat goes into labor. Andrea Azarian has an undergraduate degree in Public Administration...

This week we present two stories from people who experienced challenges in their travels. Part 1: Transporting virginal fruit flies from Houston to Honolulu proves to be no easy task for Patricia Savant. Part 2: When a storm rocks the cruise ship where he works, Mike Funergy worries about how the elderly passengers will handle it. Dr. Patricia Shaw Savant has a Ph. D. In Counseling Psychology and...

This week we present two stories from people for whom science and love were interconnected. Part 1: When Saurin Choksi starts dating a neuroscientist, it challenges his assumptions about gender roles. Part 2: Wendy Suzuki's trajectory as a neuroscientist is forever altered by a passionate love affair in Paris. A proud member of the Writers Guild of America, he wrote on staff for the Facebook / Ref...

This week we present two stories from people who felt shamed by a diagnosis. Part 1: Jamie Brickhouse's HIV-positive status becomes a point of tension at the dentist's office. Part 2: Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as a child, Anders Lee struggles with this identity as an adult preparing to donate sperm. Called “a natural raconteur” by the Washington Post, Jamie Brickhouse is the New York...

This week we present two stories from people for whom science and their family crossed paths. Part 1: After her mom's version of the sex talk confuses her, Khadija Aweis is determined to make sure her little brother has clarity. Part 2: When Leesha Maliakal takes on an ambitious research project designing an app for marathon spectators, her supportive dad tries to help. Khadija Aweis is a Health...

This week we present stories about two people who had to navigate the complicated process of helping their family when they were needed most. Part 1: When his mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Ian has to take care of her, even though she didn't always do the best job of taking care of him. Part 2: Determined to make it on her own, Yaihara Fortis Santiago leaves her home in Puerto Rico for...

This week we present two stories from people who found adventure when on their own. Part 1: Shawn Hercules is a successful gospel radio deejay in Barbados, but he dreams of a different kind of life in science. Part 2: Emma Young feels ready for her first real job in science, surveying northern spotted owls, until she encounters some unexpected fears. Shawn Hercules is currently a Biology Ph. D. ca...

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 Ma...

This week we present two stories about people who sprung to action to help a dad. Part 1: To cheer up her ailing father, Victoria Ruiz decides to smuggle a turtle into his hospital room. Part 2: Stacey Bader Curry finally meets a nice guy -- the only catch is, he needs a liver. Dr. Victoria Ruiz is an Assistant Professor in Biology at St. Francis College and Adjunct Assistant Professor at NYU Lang...

This week we present two stories from people who lost loved ones and had to rebuild themselves. Part 1: Massih Moayedi survives cancer, but the recovery throws his life off track. Part 2: After his 20-year-old daughter dies suddenly, Paul Battista has to relearn what his role in life is. Neuroscientist Massih Moayedi studies pain, a job that raises eyebrows at parties and sometimes prompts the co...

This week we present a story from our back-catalogue that speaks to this current moment in time. As a medical school student Roger Mitchell Jr. sees a patient that makes him reflect on violence and police in the Black community. Dr. Roger Mitchell Jr. is the Chief Medical Examiner of Washington, DC and is uniquely positioned to understand the social determinants that lead to the violence affecting...