To close out Pride Month this week, we're sharing a special best of episode featuring stories about coming out in science! Part 1: Science educator Charlie Cook experiments with coming out to students. Charlie Cook is a non-binary white settler on ancestral, unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territory. They are a museum science interpreter with a BFA in Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts. Part 2: Marine biologist Shayle Matsuda adapts to his new identity as a transgende...
Jun 27, 2025•32 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers use a scientific lens to examine their worst relationships. Part 1: Carlos Maza uses the plague to analyze his brutal breakup. Part 2: Panagiota Vogdou refuses to see her boyfriend as toxic until a stranger on the bus tells her to go to therapy. Carlos Maza is a video journalist focusing on misinformation, media bias, and propaganda. He is the Director of Video at Media Matters for America. He has spent too much of his adult life writing about fas...
Jun 20, 2025•30 min
In celebration of Pride Month, we’re sharing two stories about coming out with the help of science. Part 1: After years of struggling with their gender identity, Parker Sublette finds inspiration in marine life. Part 2: Bullied as a kid for the sound of his voice, Garret Glinka begins to reclaim his confidence thanks to biology class. Parker Sublette is a comedian and speculative fiction writer living in Brooklyn, New York. She can usually be found scrambling around the city looking for any stag...
Jun 13, 2025•28 min
This week’s special episode—produced in partnership with Challenging Pseudoscience, at the Royal Institution, with support from the Open Society Foundation—features two storytellers who share just how easy it is to fall for scientific misinformation, and how difficult it can be to find your way back. Part 1: When Lydia Greene’s infant daughter has a troubling reaction to a routine vaccine and her concerns are dismissed by a healthcare professional, she turns to an online parenting forum for answ...
Jun 06, 2025•30 min
To kick off our big 15 year anniversary celebration, we’re re-sharing two stories from the storytellers you, the fans, voted as your favorite stories. And the best part? You can see these storytellers, along with the other fan favorites, take the stage live on June 3, 2025, at Caveat in New York City during our special anniversary show and fundraiser. Learn more and grab your tickets here. Part 1: Maryam Zaringhalam's scheme to cheat her way into the smart class makes clear a huge flaw in the ed...
May 30, 2025•28 min
Some relationships stand the test of time—others unravel. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers explore what it means to heal, let go, and move forward. Part 1: Stuck in a monsoon on Kauai, Belinda Fu unintentionally ruins a friendship with a classmate. Part 2: Matt Storrs blames a dinosaur scientist’s theory for the end of his marriage. Belinda Fu, MD, (“theImprovDoc”) is a physician, educator, and performing artist based in Seattle. She travels the country teaching about medical imp...
May 23, 2025•31 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers become extremely fixated on something very specific. Part 1: After being diagnosed with breast cancer and opting for bilateral mastectomies, Jenna Dioguardi becomes beholden to her cancer to-do list. Part 2: As an 11-year-old kid, Luke Strathmann makes it his life mission to get rich off of Beanie Babies. Jenna Dioguardi is an Obie & Drama Desk-award winning performer. She made her Off-Broadway debut originating the role of #13 in Sarah DeLapp...
May 16, 2025•32 min
In honor of Mother’s Day, both of our storytellers share stories about their unique relationships with their moms. Part 1: Rita Rigano always had a complicated relationship with her mother, and it becomes even more fraught when her mother’s dementia worsens. Part 2: In the midst of writing her PhD dissertation, Jordyn Rice embarks on one last road trip with her mother, who is dying of lung cancer. Rita Rigano is a NYC-based storyteller who appears locally and online. Some favorite shows include ...
May 09, 2025•33 min
In this week’s episode, Thomas Dixon and Rachel Robinson manage to build a friendship, despite not remembering the exact moments they shared. Thomas Dixon is the author of "I'm Sorry... That's Awesome!: Inventing a Solution for Memory Loss", and the inventor of ME.mory (a digital memory mobile application/service). Thomas was running when struck by a car and injured so badly that he nearly died. His episodic memory (specific details like places visited, people met, what has happened recently) ha...
May 02, 2025•21 min
This week we present two stories from people who stood up against a system eager to tear them down. Part 1: After a car crash alters Emily Winn's life forever, she must relive the trauma when she testifies in a deposition. Part 2: Geneticist C. Brandon Ogbunu contemplates the role race has played in his academic career after he is confronted by the police. Dr. Emily Winn-Nuñez is a data scientist based in Brooklyn, NY where she lives with her husband and adorable pug. She received her AB in math...
Apr 25, 2025•38 min
In this week’s episode, both our storytellers’ lives are altered by an unexpected mishap. Part 1: When teenage Ron Hart accidentally walks through a glass door, he lands in the ER on the worst possible day: a tornado drill. Part 2: After a car accident leaves all of her teeth bent inward, Di Cai begins to rethink her life as a scientist. Ron Hart is a television writer, a Moth GrandSlam Champion, and a recovering mascot. Di Cai is an investment professional by day, a stand up comedian at night, ...
Apr 18, 2025•35 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share tales of persistence and beating the odds in order to pursue their scientific dreams. Part 1: Determined to become an academic, Rajyashree Sen must take on a broken system to secure a spot in a PhD program in Vienna. Part 2: Josh Barber dreams of studying fish, but when his father goes to jail and his mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, he’s left to care for his nine younger siblings. Rajyashree Sen is a neuroscientist and postdoctoral r...
Apr 11, 2025•30 min
Some people are meant to be together—but in this week’s episode, our storytellers discover they’re definitely not a match made in heaven. Part 1: When Mark Pitzer gets splashed with methyl cyanide, he turns to his new girlfriend in hopes of comfort. Part 2: Hoping to impress his scientist date, Adam Selbst plans the perfect outing: the Central Park Squirrel Census. Mark Pitzer, Ph.D. is a Neuroscientist at the University of Portland. For the last 25 years he has worked to better understand and t...
Apr 04, 2025•30 min
This week, we present two stories about confronting threats -- whether it’s actual physical danger or a threat to your career. Part 1: Climate scientist Kim Cobb is exploring a cave in Borneo when rocks begin to fall. Part 2: Neurobiologist Lyl Tomlinson is startled when he's accused of stealing cocaine from his former lab. Kim Cobb is a researcher who uses corals and cave stalagmites to probe the mechanisms of past, present, and future climate change. Kim has sailed on multiple oceanographic cr...
Mar 28, 2025•35 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers struggle to get the right words out. Part 1: After living with a stutter all her life, Sara Street thinks coding might be the solution to her communication problems. Part 2: Electrical engineer Anna Fox longs to share her work with her family, but struggles with how to explain it. Sara Street has lived in Idaho for seven years with her mom and dad after moving from Texas in 2019; however, her hometown is Greensboro, North Carolina. She is now purs...
Mar 21, 2025•35 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers explore what happens when belief systems collide—and how science and empathy can help bridge the divide. Part 1: Neuroscientist Lauren Vetere is excited to see if real life will mimic science at an interfaith event. Part 2: Growing up as a devout Jew, Fred Gould’s relationship with God is shaken by existential philosophy and science. Lauren Vetere is a neuroscientist, writer, and science communicator based in NYC. She recently received her PhD in ...
Mar 14, 2025•32 min
Is who we are shaped more by nature or nurture? It's a question science has grappled with for years. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers dive into their family histories to explore how the people and experiences that came before them continue to shape who they are today. Part 1: As a teenager, Mark Pagan worries that having an old dad is affecting his social development. Part 2: Curious about his DNA, Christopher Rivas takes his father on a journey to the Dominican Republic to learn...
Mar 07, 2025•31 min
In this week’s episode, both our storytellers examine the importance of diversity and representation in science – and not just in their research sample. Part 1: While serving on a diversity panel, biologist Latasha Wright is asked if representation in STEM matters, prompting her to reflect on her experiences. Latasha Wright, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, received her Ph.D. from NYU Langone Medical Center in cell and molecular biology. She continued her scientific training at Johns Hopkins Uni...
Feb 28, 2025•48 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers experience a shift in how they see themselves. Part 1: Fangfang Ruose fears that her prosthetic legs will exclude her from becoming a fashion model. Part 2: When engineering student Devan Sandiford runs into an old friend from his former college, he desperately wants her to think he’s cool. Fangfang Ruose is originally from a small village in China and grew up in a Chinese Catholic orphanage, where she received her first prosthetics at the age of ...
Feb 21, 2025•26 min
While love and science don’t often go hand-in-hand, this week, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, both of our stories are about finding love using scientific methods. Part 1: After Tony Dahlman plucks up the courage to ask out a fellow statistician, he consults the Survey Administration Manual for guidance on how to construct the perfect date. Part 2: When engineering student Heather Monigan asks liberal arts major Michael Berger on a date he’s completely unaware that she's interested in him. To...
Feb 14, 2025•32 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share stories about times their deepest secrets were discovered. Part 1: Growing up in Ghana, Pauline Owusu-Ansah hides her secret desire to study lizards. Part 2: Saad Sarwana’s secret identity as a standup comedian threatens to ruin his burgeoning physics career. Pauline Owusu-Ansah is a first year PhD student whose passion for evolutionary biology didn't fade off despite growing up in a place where scientists are known to be just medical doctor...
Feb 07, 2025•29 min
This week, we present two stories about science intersecting with love -- in both fortunate and unfortunate ways. Part 1: Nothing can come between Lindzi Wessel and her new boyfriend, David -- except maybe herpes. Part 2: Marine biologist Skylar Bayer and first mate Thom Young find love on a boat. Lindzi Wessel is a science and health journalist who recently graduated from the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program. Before turning her sights on journalism, she studied the mind, obtaining a ...
Jan 31, 2025•41 min
Few things sting more than being on the outside looking in. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share deeply personal accounts of feeling rejected. Part 1: At school, Natalie Ayala can’t understand why she and the other dual-language kids are treated differently. Part 2: As a photographer on a research expedition in Antarctica, Marley Parker can’t seem to break into the scientist inner circle. Natalie Ayala is a third-year mechanical engineering student at Boise State University. He...
Jan 24, 2025•31 min
Being able to change to meet one’s circumstances is essential to survival. As HG Wells famously wrote: “adapt or perish.” In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers find themselves in unfamiliar territory and need to change course. Part 1: As the only American, microbiologist Chris Robinson struggles to make friends with the other researchers in Chernobyl. Part 2: In his quest to study the adaptability of stickleback fish, neuroscientist Ashwin Bhandiwad keeps needing to adjust his experim...
Jan 17, 2025•29 min
From bizarre job requirements to downright horrible bosses, sometimes our jobs just don’t fit. In this week’s episode, both our storytellers share stories about what happens when work doesn’t work. Part 1: When fertility research scientist Sarah Adelman gets a job at a sperm bank, she’s apparently the only one who finds it funny. Part 2: In her new job at a neuroscience lab, Anna Zhukovskaya’s boss starts to pick on her. Sarah Adelman is a born and bred New Yorker, former fertility research scie...
Jan 10, 2025•34 min
When life throws challenges our way, sometimes the most surprising people—or even baked goods—step up to save the day. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers remind us that heroes can come in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Part 1: While on a bike ride with her daughter, Rebecca Stronger comes across an unconscious stranger on the ground. Part 2: The only thing standing between Ruby Mustill and being trampled by elephants is a tent. Rebecca Stronger was born and raised in Brooklyn, and s...
Jan 03, 2025•30 min
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 as part of his research. Part 2: As a graduate student, Cather Simpson is 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: Stat...
Dec 27, 2024•34 min
Whether you're playing a game of poker or a taking a leap of faith with your future, everything has its risks and possible rewards. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share moments when they took a chance. Part 1: Beatriz Perez’s parents want her to use her first pay check to gamble on the slot machines. Part 2: Dave Piontkowski is on a winning streak in Vegas when his severe ulcerative colitis rears its ugly head. Beatriz Perez: I'm a Mexican-American computer engineer working in ...
Dec 20, 2024•27 min
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share tales about birds that had a big impact in their lives. Part 1: Paula Croxson uses her neuroscience background to get rid of the pigeon family that has taken up residence on her window sill. Part 2: As a new urban park ranger, Tim Lopez gets a call to capture a swan on the loose. Paula Croxson is a neuroscientist, science communicator, musician and open water swimmer. She received an M.A. from the University of Cambridge and a M.Sc. and a Ph...
Dec 13, 2024•29 min
When it comes to mental health problems, there aren't really "cures," but in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share how they figured out what worked for them. Part 1: Deandra Anjahlee decides to study psychology to try to understand what is happening with her mind. Part 2: After all other treatments fail to treat Nick Caruso’s 25-year long depression, he gives transcranial magnetic stimulation a shot. Deandra Anjahlee is a community centered educator, leader, and fresh storyteller. ...
Dec 06, 2024•33 min
