The Story Collider

In grade school, Elana Lancaster gets into trouble when he questions his student teacher's science. Elana Lancaster is a health educator and storyteller who lives in Brooklyn. He's a Moth Slam winner, and co-hosts and co-produces the monthly show Take Two Storytelling. When he's not talking about himself onstage, he can often be found teaching and writing about LGBT health, working with medical providers to help them provide better care for transgender patients, and sharing random facts about sperm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Skylar Bayer's dreams of a career in scientific scuba diving are put in jeopardy when her heart begins acting strangely. Skylar Bayer is a PhD candidate studying the secret sex lives of scallops in the great state of Maine. Due to a mishap involving a fisherman, buckets of gonads, and an unlocked Chevy, she once lost all her research samples, but gained a segment on The Colbert Report. She has also appeared as a guest on MPBN's Maine Calling and manages the blog and podcast, Strictlyfishwrap. Skylar has produced and hosted shows for The Story Collider throughout Maine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aaron Wolfe seeks meaning through labor at a kibbutz dairy farm -- and finds himself tackling some rather unexpected tasks. Aaron Wolfe is a moth grandslam winning storyteller, writer, filmmaker, and obsessive fan of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. He is the screenwriter of the Academy Awards Shortlisted “Record/Play” and yet still somehow hasn’t won his friend's Oscars Pool. He has, however, taught his son to love soccer so there’s that. His work has been featured on The Moth radio hour, the NYTimes, and Slate. You can find out a lot more at aaron-wolfe.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When comedian Jo Firestone goes to college, she starts to worry she has an STD -- even though she's never had sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While she's 26 weeks pregnant, OB-GYN MaryAnn Wilbur treats a woman who is also 26 weeks pregnant -- and about to go into labor. MaryAnn Wilbur is currently an editorial fellow at the New England Journal of Medicine and a practicing OB/Gyn at the Dimock Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She graduated with a combined MD/MPH from Boston University in 2011 and completed residency training in Gynecology & Obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital in June 2015. Next year, she will return to Johns Hopkins for a clinical fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology. Her areas of interest include women’s health issues and health outcome disparities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a student, Henry Duffy jumps at a chance to do research...on the second most remote island in the world. Henry Duffy is a conservationist with a particular interest in the marine environment and a background in tropical marine ecology and fisheries management. He has been marooned on one of the world’s most remote islands for three months in the name of scientific research, and aims to convince everyone that corals, sharks, sponges and fish are just as exciting as all the wildlife on land. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nathan Boll was an excellent physics student -- up until the day he suddenly dropped out. Nathan Boll is a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the National Academy of Sciences and a Space Policy Graduate Fellow in the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He has a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Montana Western and an M.S. in Space Science from the University of Michigan. Nathan’s work is primarily focused on the development of international cooperation for the exploration and development of space, and in supporting STEM education initiatives, such as the NASA Space Academy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Newborn and premature baby specialist Nitin Ron learns a surprising lesson from one of his young patients. Nitin Ron is a neonatologist (baby doctor) and loves high altitude trekking and mountaineering. He is an associate professor of pediatrics at New York Methodist Hospital, and loves to use innovative methods to teach medical students. He is leading a research project in the Himalayas, including the Mt. Everest region, involving ultrasound of the eye and the body to predict mountain sickness. He also volunteers as an art guide at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in New York City, and this is a reminder that medicine is so much of an art as well as a science! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In high school, Emily Mullin dreams of becoming a broadcast journalist -- until her voice mysteriously begins to disappear. Emily Mullin is a freelance science writer interested in telling stories that explore the intersection of health and humanity. She is a regular contributor at Forbes, and her reporting frequently appears in The Washington Post. She has also written for publications like The Atlantic, The Baltimore Sun, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian Magazine and U.S. News & World Report. She holds an MA in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University and is based in the Washington, D.C. area, where she performs with and writes short plays for The Coil Project, a nonprofit theater company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeff Sparr finds an unexpected purpose after his life is torn apart... by a case of jock itch. PeaceLove co-founder Jeff Sparr is a man on an audacious mission -- a mission to make mental illness cool. Not cool to have, but cool to support. A family man, mental health advocate, teacher and self-taught artist, Jeff is above all a survivor, battling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) much of his life. Inspired by a simple, powerful image signifying “peace of mind and love for yourself,” Sparr set out to build the first symbol for mental health and bring expressive arts to millions of people to help them create peace of mind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neuroscientist Amanda Duffy gets some surprising news about her brain when she volunteers to be a control in an MRI study. Amanda Marie Duffy is a graduate student at Brown University pursuing her Ph.D. in Neuroscience. Her research is focused on understanding mechanisms that underlie ALS disease progression and therapeutic intervention with the use of molecular, cellular, and behavioral techniques. In 2015, Amanda was named a fellow in the Society for Neuroscience’s Neuroscience Scholars Program. In 2014, Amanda was elected as Graduate Student Representative where she managed recruitment and served as a member of the admissions committee. Prior to graduate school, Amanda worked as a research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Division of Neurotherapeutics. Amanda graduated from Brown University with a Sc.B. in Neuroscience in 2009. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In high school, David Russell joins a hospital apprentice program in order to get close to his crush. David Russell is a librarian, bookseller and storyteller who is thankful to live in Georgia after spending 28 years in the Buffalo area. He hosts Stories On The Square on the fourth Sunday of every month at Kavarna. He has also performed at Naked City, Carapace, Write Club Atlanta, Titans of Talking and Stories On The Edge Of Night. He won his first storytelling award at the age of 9 and has been addicted ever since. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a PhD student, Rochelle Williams faces barriers to a career in engineering. Rochelle Williams is a Louisiana girl, Spelman woman, and lover of all things football. No stranger to implicit and institutional biases, she is an advocate for women of color in STEM and the relevancy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She has a B.S. in physics from Spelman College and both her M.Engr. in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education from Southern University and A&M College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steve Crabtree gets an unusual start to his career: watching paint dry. Steve Crabtree left school aged 15 in 1985 and started work as a painter & decorator in Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited in Barrow in Furness, where he painted nuclear submarines. Steve left the shipyard in 1992, went to Art College and after leaving college – and teaching music technology for a short time - started at the BBC in January 1999 as a junior researcher on ‘Tomorrow’s World’. Steve has produced and directed much of the BBC’s Science, Arts and Business programming, and made programs across all four BBC television channels. He is now the Editor of flagship BBC Science Strand ‘Horizon’ - now in its 52nd Year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brion Randolph's journey to becoming a doctor begins with a box full of kittens. Dr. Brion Randolph is currently the Chief of Medical Oncology at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Newnan, Georgia. He joined CTCA as a medical oncologist and hematologist when the hospital opened in August 2012 and is now Chief of Medical Oncology. He also serves as Medical Director of Hematologic Oncology at the Newnan hospital. Dr. Randolph earned his medical degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, and he is board certified in medical oncology, hematology and internal medicine. Dr. Randolph also earned a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville. He completed residency training in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he also completed his fellowship training in hematology and oncology. While Dr. Randolph started his education in nuclear engineering, he switched to medicine when introduced to the field of hematology/oncology as a graduate student studying the physics of medical imaging and radiation therapy. Dr. Randolph lives in Newnan with his wife and two children. He has a passion for music and the performing arts, and as a drum major he had the opportunity to lead the UT Band in the 1993 inaugural parade for President Bill Clinton. His hobbies also include tennis and running. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices