The Story Collider

This week, we bring you two stories about the science of morality. Or morality in science. Either way you want to look at it. Part 1: Political scientist Ethan Hollander interviews a Nazi war criminal. Part 2: As a graduate student, Cather Simpson was excited to present her work -- but then her adviser lies about it. Ethan J. Hollander is a professor of political science at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He is also the author of Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe. Hollander’s published scholarship also includes research on democratization in Eastern Europe and on the Arab Spring. At Wabash, Dr. Hollander teaches courses on the Politics of the Middle East, Ethnic Conflict and Genocide, European Politics, and Research Methods and Statistics. He is a native of Miami Beach, and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2006. Note: Ethan's story was produced as part of The Story Collider's partnership with Springer Nature. Find out mo

This week, we bring you two stories about frustrations in the field, whether it's a failure to find dinosaur fossils or a struggle with a painful medical condition. Part 1: Paleontologist David Evans and his team start to feel defeated after three days of searching fruitlessly for fossils.  Part 2: When cave geologist Gabriela Marks Serrato develops fibromyalgia, exploring caves becomes a challenge. David C. Evans holds the Temerty Chair in Vertebrate Palaeontology and oversees dinosaur research at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. David is an Ontario-born researcher who is recognized as an authority on the rich dinosaur fossil record of Canada. As a curator, David helped develop the ROM's dinosaur galleries, and was Lead Curator of the major travelling exhibition Ultimate Dinosaurs. He has been featured on numerous television shows, and most recently, David was co-creator of the HISTORY series

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 scientist at Columbia University and 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. Marvel is committed to sharing the joy and beauty of science with wider audiences. She has advised journalists, artists and policymakers, written a popular science blog and given frequent public talks. Her writing has appeared in Nautilus Magazine and On Being.  You can watch her Mainstage TED talk at http://go.ted.com/katemarvel Joe Normandin earned a B.A. in Biology with a Specialization in Neuroscience from Boston Universi

This week, we present two stories about the struggles "math people" face. Part 1: Lew Lefton tries to succeed as both a math professor and a math comedian. Part 2: Vanessa Vakharia faces her first day as student teacher of a math class. Lew Lefton is a faculty member in the Georgia Tech School of Mathematics and the Assistant Dean of Information Technology for the Georgia Tech College of Sciences.  He also has the role of Assistant Vice President for Research Cyberinfrastructure at Georgia Tech. Lefton co-founded and is the acting executive director of Decatur Makers, a family-friendly makerspace in downtown Decatur.  He is on the board of the Southeast Makers Alliance and has been involved as a co-producer of Maker Faire Atlanta since 2014. Lefton has a bachelor of science degree in math and computer science from New Mexico Tech, and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Illinois. He moved to Decatur in 1999.  Lefton is also an accomplished and experienced comedian who has done stand up and improv co

This week, we present two stories about finding community with science. Part 1: Keoni Mahelona leaves his home in Hawaii in pursuit of science. Part 2: After growing up wealthy, Chuck Collins' thinking is transformed by his work with mobile home park tenants. Aloha. O Keoni koʻu inoa. No Hawaiʻi au. I tēnei wā, noho au i Taipā. Keoni Mahelona is a melting pot of diversity in so many ways -- ethnicity, education, hobbies, sexuality, and possibly personality hahahahaha. He's had a seemingly random journey through engineering, business, and science that's somehow thrown him into media. Today he works at a Māori social enterprise whose mission is to promote and preserve te reo Māori o Muriwhenua, and they use science and innovation to create the tools they need to achieve their mission. He hopes his story will encourage other Māori and Pacific Islanders to pursue a future in STEM.   Chuck Collins is an organizer, agitator, researcher and storyteller based at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Ineq

This week, we present two science stories about becoming the people we're meant to be.  Part 1: Research technician Jean Ansolabehere finds herself falling in love with a woman in her lab. Part 2: As a child, psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman is told by a school psychologist that he's doomed by his low IQ score. (This story comes from an event produced in partnership with Scientific American and Springer Nature. Watch the full show here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/the-mad-science-of-creativity/) Jean Ansolabehere is a cartoon writer with past lives as a research technician at Stanford University and the Huntsman Cancer Institute. She has loved biology since the first time she got stitches and, in her research and her writing, she strives to understand the human condition through the human body. She also strives to live by the philosophy of her four-year-old half-brother, who is pretty brave when it comes to anything, except his T-Rex toy. He's terrified of that thing. Scott Barry Kaufman, PhD, is

This week, we're presenting two stories about loss and resilience in science. Please note: Our first story this week contains graphic depictions of violence. Part 1: Anthropologist Andrew Oberle barely survives an attack by the chimpanzees he was studying. Part 2: After cosmologist Renee Hlozek's father dies, science becomes a solace. While conducting his Anthropology Master's research in South Africa in June 2012, Andrew Oberle was mauled by two adult male chimpanzees and nearly lost his life.  His remarkable recovery has led him to help other traumatically injured patients, serving as the Director of Development for the Oberle Institute, a holistic trauma program being developed at Saint Louis University that aims to give other trauma patients the resources necessary to have an equally successful recovery.  Andrew shares his story of survival hoping to inspire others as they experience tough times and create a national dialogue about the effects of resilience and community on a thriving recovery. Renee Hloz

This week, we present two stories of doubt in science, from a mysterious illness to imposter syndrome.  Part 1: A sudden illness casts doubt on whether Maia Pujara will be able to finish her neuroscience PhD. Maia Pujara received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she developed a passion for science outreach, science communication, and promoting women and underrepresented minorities in STEM. She's a postdoc at the National Institutes of Health to study the brain regions that are critical for helping us regulate our emotions, learn about rewards, and make flexible, adaptive choices. Though focused when it comes to academic matters, Maia has always had a “breadth-over-depth” philosophy with hobbies and has so far taken up playing the guitar, playing the ukulele, radio DJ-ing, baking, mixology, palmistry, watercoloring, knitting, crocheting, ice-skating, ultimate frisbee, improv, acting, and screenwriting. Follow her on Twitter @neuro_sigh Part 2: After growing up under hum

This week, we present two stories about psychotropic substances, from a study on the impacts of magic mushrooms on cancer surivors to a comedian's spiritual epiphany. Part 1: Actor Gail Thomas is invited to take part in a study testing mushrooms as treatment for depression in cancer survivors. Part 2: Comedian Myq Kaplan has a spiritual epiphany while experimenting with ayahuasca. Gail Thomas has several resumes: writer/actor/teacher/filmmaker/lawyer. She is a Moth StorySLAM winner and has performed with RISK!, Sideshow Goshko, the Liar Show. She teaches for the Story Studio. Voiceover credits include David Letterman, Beavis and Butthead and Angelo Rules. Her short comedy, My BFF, rated 95% funny on Funny or Die and audience favorite at New Filmmakers. As a speechwriter for the Tribeca Film Festival and the Gotham Awards, her words were uttered by Oscar winners and fancy people with great clothes. Gail is currently working on her fashion sense. Myq (Mike) Kaplan is a standup comedian who has appeared on the T

This week, we present two stories about the challenges of studying winged wildlife, from bats to honey bees. Part 1: Cylita Guy finds unexpected adventure when she studies bats in the field. Part 2: Rachael Bonoan discovers she may be dangerously allergic to the honey bees she studies. Cylita Guy is a PhD candidate and ACM SIGHPC/Intel Computational and Data Science Fellow in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Broadly interested in zoonotic diseases and their wildlife reservoirs, Cylita’s research focuses on bats and their pathogens. Using both field surveys and computational methods she is investigating why bats seem to be good at carrying viruses that they sometimes share with humans, but rarely get sick from themselves. When not in the field catching bats or at her computer analyzing data, Cylita looks to help others foster their own sense of curiosity and discovery about the natural world. In conjunction with the High Park Nature Centre Cylita has started a Ju

This week, we present two stories about the things that make up our sense of self, from our appearance to our memories. Part 1: On the verge of losing her teeth, Jean Le Bec travels abroad to find a solution. Part 2: Science writer Michael Lemonick interviews an old friend who lost the ability to form memories after an injury. Born and bred in Brooklyn New York, Jean Le Bec is a Moth StorySlam champion who has been featured on Risk, Yum's The Word, Surprise Stories, Take Two, NY Story Exchange, Two Truths And A Lie, Tell It Brooklyn, City Stories, Word Up, Look Who's Talking, and City Stories, as well as podcasts Risk, Singleling, Unhireable, and Tall Tales In The Big City and a week-long artist residency on Governor's Island 2016. She's presently working on a Solo Show. Michael D. Lemonick is chief opinion editor at Scientific American; previously, he was a senior science writer at Time magazine. He is also the author of seven books, including, most recently, “The Perpetual Now: A Story of Amnesia, Memory, a

This week, we bring you two stories about science and family, from a biochemist and a neuroscientist. Part 1: Biochemist Katie Wu is lactose intolerant, but her mother won't believe her. Part 2: Neuroscientist Oliver Vikbladh and his family look for answers about his sister's mysterious disability.  Katherine (Katie) Wu is a graduate student at Harvard University. Currently, she is studying how bacteria handle stressful situations so that she can someday learn to do the same. Outside of the lab, she is Co-Director of Harvard Science in the News, a graduate student organization that trains aspiring scientists to better communicate with the general public through free public lectures, online blogs, podcasts, outreach programming, and more. Additionally, she designs and teaches health science and leadership curriculum for HPREP, an outreach program for underserved and minority high school students from the Greater Boston area. Oliver Vikbladh, originally from Sweden, is currently a 5th year PhD candidate at New

This week, we present two stories about the mother-child relationship intersecting with science, from a daughter and a mother.  Part 1: Actor and writer Erica Silberman tries to find a place for her mother with Alzheimer’s. Part 2: When Pat Furlong’s sons are diagnosed with a severe type of muscular dystophy, she’s determined to find answers. Erica Silberman showed promise in science for one brief semester in high school when she got an A+ in chemistry. Since then, she has become a playwright, director, producer, and in home color consultant. She’s published in The Best Monologues from the Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Playscripts, Teachers & Writers, and the Sunday Salon. She has been a mentor and a workshop leader, and served on various boards at Girls Write Now, a presidential award winning after school mentoring program for high school girls from underserved city schools. In the spring of 2018 her play, In the Night Everyone is Equal, will be produced by The Dramatic Question Theatre at Art NY. Pa

This week, we present two stories of scientists under professional and academic pressure, both in the field and in the lab. Part 1: In China, ornithologist Sam Snow and his colleague gather as much data about a species of bird as possible -- but it comes at a cost. Part 2: Biologist Megan Hatlen worries that she’ll never make a breakthrough in her research. Sam Snow is an evolutionary biologist and ornithologist, currently a Ph.D. candidate at Yale University. He looks at birds to explore the evolutionary consequences of mate choice for sexual ornamentation, mate-system evolution, and social behavior. His research seeks to understand how females evolve new traits that overcome sexual coercion, reshaping mating systems and male social behavior. In search of answers, he creates theoretical computer models of behavioral evolution and attempts to test these theories by documenting the behavior of birds in the wild. Megan Hatlen is a biologist at Blueprint Medicines, a fantastic biotech located in Cambridge, MA. 

This week, we present two stories of adapting to survive, from a cancer survivor's creative solution to the after-effects of his treatment to an Iraqi who becomes a computer scientist to survive the war. Part 1: Ben Rubenstein survived cancer, but now there are new challenges to contend with. Part 2: A young Iraqi computer scientist must adapt to survive war and its aftermath. Benjamin Rubenstein is the author of the "Cancer-Slaying Super Man" books and other personal essays. He speaks about personal health, feeling superhuman, and the urge when he's intoxicated to eat jelly beans--all of them. The two items he brings with him everywhere are a flask and gum, particularly Juicy Fruit or Big Red because those have sugar instead of sorbitol. Benjamin doesn't fuck around with weird chemicals (excluding whatever is in cheap whiskey). Benjamin loves inspiring others through a combination of insane stories of survival and attempted humor. Abbas Mousa is an Economist at the Bureau of Economic Analysis. growing up in

This week, we bring you two stories of invisibility, from a man looking to escape his identity to a marine biologist who feels invisible to her colleagues. Part 1: Richard Cardillo escapes his problems by joining a Catholic mission in Peru, where he becomes a community health organizer. Part 2: Marine biologist Liz Neeley is excited to be a part of a coral conservation project in Fiji, but her colleagues keep forgetting her. Richard Cardillo is a 25 year resident of the Lower East Side been an educator for over three decades on two continents and in two languages. He's instructed on all levels from preschool to graduate programs, considering himself still more of a learner than a teacher....but always a storyteller! Rich is a three-time Moth StorySLAM winner and has also participated in three Moth GrandSLAMS . Rich is a passionate bread baker and, yes, has gone to that quirky (scary?) place of naming his 16-year-old sourdough starter. He tries to bake up a new story with every loaf that emerges from his tiny

This week, we present two stories from science journalists about the ways the ways we perceive -- or misperceive -- the world around us.  Part 1: When science journalist Eli Chen begins to have doubts in her relationship, she tries to control her feelings using neuroscience. Part 2: Just out of college, Shannon Palus takes a public relations internship at a nuclear energy lab in Idaho. Eli Chen is the science and environment reporter at St. Louis Public Radio, as well as the producer of The Story Collider's shows in St. Louis in partnership with the public radio station. Her work has aired on NPR, Marketplace, WHYY’s The Pulse and won Edward R. Murrow and National Federation of Press Women awards. Her favorite stories to cover often involve animals or robots. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, where she concentrated in science and radio reporting. She is @StoriesByEli and echen@stlpublicradio.org. Shannon Palus's writing has appeared in

This week, we bring you two stories about long journeys home, from an Iranian-American biologist and a psychologist who survived Chernobyl. Part 1: Biologist Maryam Zaringhalam is visiting her family's home country of Iran when the travel ban goes into effect in January 2017. Part 2: Chernobyl survivor Janina Scarlet flees the Soviet Union with her family as a child, only to find new challenges in America.  Maryam Zaringhalam is Story Collider DC's newest co-producer. She's a molecular biologist who traded in her pipettes for the world of science policy. She comes to DC from the concrete jungles of New York, where she received her PhD from The Rockefeller University. She co-hosts the science policy podcast Science Soapbox, and her words have appeared in Slate, Scientific American, and Quartz. Her cat is named Tesla, after Nikola and not Elon Musk's car. For insights like this and more, follow her on Twitter @webmz_. Janina Scarlet is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, a scientist, and a full-time geek. A Ukrai

In this week's podcast, two chemists try to balance their love and their science, and a mother must choose her newborn daughter's surgeon. Part 1: Heather Abbott-Lyon falls in love with another physical chemist, but can they solve the two-body problem? Part 2: Tracey Segarra must choose a surgeon when her baby is born with a dangerous heart problem. Heather Abbott-Lyon is a physical chemist who teaches and performs research with undergraduate and masters students at Kennesaw State University. She embraces active learning pedagogies in the classroom and in her laboratory, where students obtain hands-on research experience studying the surface reactivity of meteoritic minerals and industrial catalysts. Her commitment to developing the next generation of scientists includes coordinating the American Chemical Society’s Chemistry Olympiad program for high school students in northwest Georgia and co-advising the KSU chapter of the national chemistry honors society Phi Lambda Upsilon. Dr. Abbott-Lyon lives in East A

This week, we present two stories about identity, from a neuroscientist's encounters with racism to an OB-GYN's struggle with her feelings about motherhood. Part 1: After a thoughtless remark from a colleague, neuroscientist Devon Collins reflects on the way racism has impacted his life and science. Part 2: OB-GYN Veronica Ades tries to save a pregnant woman’s life in South Sudan, while struggling with her own feelings about motherhood. Devon Collins is a neuroscientist, podcaster, and educator from the Midwest. Currently a PhD candidate at the Rockefeller University, he studies how common genetic variation affects the brain’s responses to drugs and stress. He is one-third of the team behind Science Soapbox, a podcast about science and how it interacts with our personal and political lives. Passionate about making the future of STEM more diverse and inclusive, Devon also works as an educator in a STEM-focused after-school program for high school students from low-resource backgrounds. When he’s not doing scie