The Story Collider

Oceanographer Jeffrey Schell finds himself in a race against time when he encounters swimmers stuck in a dangerous rip current. Jeffrey M. Schell is an associate professor of oceanography with Sea Education Association, a renowned study abroad organization offering academic programs in marine environmental studies. Since 1994, Jeff has guided students through the challenges of oceanographic field research toward the thrill of discovery while teaching on more than 30 Sea Semester programs onboard the RV Westward, SSV Corwith Cramer and SSV Robert C. Seamans. Jeff's research interests include biogeography of zooplankton communities, ecology of the Sargasso Sea, and revealing the historic contexts of contemporary conservation issues. Other 'work' interests include snorkeling, hiking to remote waterfalls, and natural history illustration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While teaching a math class, Nisse Greenberg is troubled by his student's name, and his own. Nisse Greenberg is an educator and storyteller who eats mostly vegetarian. Sometimes he eats wings because wings are really good. When he applied for a visa to go to India he tried to type "atheist" into the proposed slot for religion, but he accidentally typed "matheist." He found it more appropriate anyway. He teaches high-school math to high-schoolers and math philosophy to adults. He creates art with spreadsheets and quantitative analysis. He also curates storytelling for The Tank, and hosts the shows Bad Feelings, VHS Presents, and Drawn Out Storytelling. Here is his playground: nissegreenberg.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A panicked day leads Karen Hopkin to wonder if her sperm donor really is the father of her child. Karen Hopkin is a freelance writer and the creator of the Studmuffins of Science calendar. Karen received a PhD in biochemistry in 1992, and then traded in her test tubes for a keyboard. A former producer for NPR's Science Friday, Karen currently voices stories for Scientific American's daily podcast, 60-Second Science. She is a coauthor of the textbook Essential Cell Biology and has written for many magazines including Science, New Scientist, The Scientist, and Golf Digest. Karen once led 1200 people in a musical tribute to the inventor of Karaoke, and in her spare time, she collects the signatures of Nobel Laureates on a 1950s-style autograph dog and is a mom to 8-year-old Christopher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As an editor at Scientific American John Rennie delighted in the weird correspondence they received, but then one letter crossed a line. John Rennie is a science writer, editor, and lecturer based in New York. Viewers of The Weather Channel know him as the host of the original series Hacking The Planet and co-host of the hit special The Truth About Twisters. He is also the editorial director of science for McGraw-Hill Education, overseeing its highly respected AccessScience online reference and the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. Rennie served as editor in chief of Scientific American (including the monthly magazine, Scientific American Mind, ScientificAmerican.com and other publications) between 1994 and 2009. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Edward Frenkel is told he won't be accepted to a Russian university because his father is Jewish, he decides to take the admissions exam anyway. Edward Frenkel is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, which he joined in 1997 after being on the faculty at Harvard University. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, and the winner of the Hermann Weyl Prize in mathematical physics. Frenkel has authored 3 books and over 80 scholarly articles in academic journals, and he has lectured on his work around the world. His YouTube videos have garnered over 3 million views. Frenkel's latest book "Love and Math" was a New York Times bestseller and has been named one of the Best Books of 2013 by both Amazon and iBooks. It is being translated into 14 languages. Frenkel has also co-produced, co-directed and played the lead in the film "Rites of Love and Math." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Marine scientist Meredith has to navigate a whole new world when she's called upon to testify in front of the Maine legislature in support of a crucial bill. Meredith White is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine. Her research focuses on how Coastal Ocean Acidification affects marine organisms, from phytoplankton to commercially-important bivalves. She is also interested in the fascinating field of marine invertebrate reproduction and larval development. She first became interested in marine science as a child exploring the countless tide pools along Harpswell's coast and is therefore extremely pleased to be living and working as a biological oceanographer in Maine. Meredith loves exploring the coast and islands of Casco Bay, whether by foot, kayak, sailboat, or snorkeling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nelson Lugo has a brilliant idea for his grade school talent show -- use chemistry to do a simple magic trick. It did not go over well. Nelson Lugo is a Magician, Sideshow Artist, and Batman enthusiast. He was featured by TimeOut NY as a New York Entertainer to Watch and co-hosts a podcast called "The EPIC PIEcast" for NerdyShow.com. He's been a guest speaker for The Sunday Assembly NYC, a guest singer for the BTK Band, an invited storyteller at Adam Wade's Whatever Happened to the Nerds as well as for the Five Boro Story Project, and was featured on the Story Collider podcast. He is currently performing a solo show called "Gathering The Magic" at The Tank Theater NYC -- which you can see on Sept 20th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Musician Emily Caudill's life-saving chemotherapy treatment causes her to lose her hearing. Emily Caudill is a songwriter and musician from Louisville, Kentucky. In 2011, while she was working in special education, and as a music therapy intern, Emily was diagnosed with metastatic germ cell ovarian cancer. She sustained significant hearing impairment as a result of chemotherapy. Emily believes that life is a song, and the music is composed by our stories. When she isn't writing songs and stories, Emily enjoys playing fiddle on the front porch of her lakeside cabin in Kentucky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Erika Engelhaupt is on a road trip out to DC when suddenly they're pulled over and her boyfriend is arrested. She'll need science to vindicate her man. Erika Engelhaupt is a science writer and editor. At the time of this show, she is about to start a new job as the online science editor at National Geographic. She was most recently a deputy managing editor at Science News magazine, where she started her blog, Gory Details. Gory Details covers all that is creepy, bizarre, or otherwise strangely fascinating in science, from psychopaths to what happens when you pee in the pool. Basically, she likes to give people the creeps, but in a good way. Erika's work has appeared in Science News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, on National Public Radio and in many other newspapers and magazines. Before becoming a writer, she had lots of adventures in biogeochemistry, many of which involved wearing hip waders in Louisiana swamps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Physicist Stephon Alexander feels overwhelmed until the father of quantum gravity himself helps him find inspiration in his subconscious. Stephon Alexander is the Ernest Everett Just 1907 Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College. Stephon was born in Trinidad and grew up in the Bronx, NY. He is a theoretical physicist specializing in the interface between cosmology, particle physics and quantum gravity (String Theory and Loop Quantum Gravity). He received his BSc (1993) from Haverford College and PhD (2000) from Brown University. He held postdoctoral fellowships at Imperial College, London and The Stanford University Linear Accelerator Center. Stephon is also a Jazz Saxophonist and Author, and will release his new album (in Colaboration with RIOUX) Here Comes Now in Aug, 2014. His upcoming Book will explore the secret link between music and cosmology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At four years old, Daniel Miller became one of the youngest people in the state of Texas ever to testify in court -- against his own mother, for sexual assault. As an adult, he struggles for stability, but finds hope in physics. (Warning: this story contains disturbing and potentially triggering events.) Daniel R. Miller is a Ph.D. student and research assistant at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. Using large telescopes in the Chilean Andes to observe our Universe as it was 12 billion years ago along with state-of-the-art high performance computer simulations, he works at the intersection of observational and theoretical astrophysics on subjects including cosmology, cosmic structure, and reionization. He also spent several years doing research in plasma physics and controlled nuclear fusion on the MIT Alcator C-Mod experimental tokamak reactor. When not thinking strictly about physics, he may be found in the Future of Life Institute working on potential existential risks including climate change, nuclear proliferation, and artificial intelligence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Daniel Engber risks derailing his PhD by constant daydreaming, until his neuroscience research gives him a idea that will revolutionize the NBA. Daniel Engber is a columnist for Slate.com and Popular Science, and a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine. He has appeared on Radiolab, All Things Considered and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and received the National Academies of Science Communication Award in 2012 and the Sex-Positive Journalism Award in 2008. His work has been anthologized in The Best of Technology Writing and The Best of Slate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cosmologist Eugene Lim is pulled into another world when he goes to help teach after the earthquake in Haiti. One day, Eugene Lim decided to dump his Mech Eng. degree to do physics for a living. So he went and obtained a PhD in astronomy at the University of Chicago, advised by someone who does not have a degree in physics. He is currently at Kings College, London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez never connected with her brothers' love of football until she unexpectedly ends up writing a book about it. Ainissa G. Ramirez, Ph.D. is a science evangelist, who is passionate about getting the general public excited about science. She co-authored Newton's Football (Random House) and authored Save Our Science (TED Books). She has appeared on NPR and CNN; gave a TED talk in 2012; and blogs for The Huffington Post. She was a mechanical engineering professor at Yale for ten years, and received her doctorate in materials science from Stanford. Based in New Haven, CT, she is currently writing a book on the impact of technology on humans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A cancer diagnosis is only the start of the collapse for Annalise Kaylor, but she finds support in an unexpected community. Hailing from the northwoods of Wisconsin, Annalise Kaylor planned to live in an RV and travel around the country when she made a pit stop in Atlanta and decided it was home. By day, Annalise is one of the country's foremost authorities on social media, helping companies concoct ways for you to loathe Facebook even more. By night, she's an anti-social pilot who loves beer, bourbon, and euro-style strategy board games. Annalise is a Write Club Champion and Moth StorySlam Champion who can also be heard at Naked City, Carapace, the Iceberg, and Scene Missing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices