The Story Collider

As a kid, Mara Wilson is decidedly uninterested in science, but as she grows up she starts to look for answers in new places. Every week the Story Collider brings you a true, personal story about science. Find more here: http://storycollider.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Meehan Crist was a child, her mother hit her head. It was only as an adult that she discovered that her mother was covering up something far more serious: something called rather ironically a "mild traumatic brain injury." Find more from The Story Collider here: http://storycollider.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Neuroscientist Daniela Schiller studies the emotional components of memory. In her previous story her research helped her begin to understand her father, a holocaust survivor. But that story led to a whole new chapter in their relationship, and her understanding of memories. Hear Daniela's first story here: http://storycollider.org/podcast/2011-10-09 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A college course forces John Rennie to confront a furious rat, and himself.

Moran Cerf's life is spun around when a computer glitch declares him dead -- but that's nothing compared to what happens when a real funeral comes around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When he begins showing strange symptoms on a jog though the mountains, science writer Andrew Revkin discovers just how close to death he is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While visiting Guatemala Sarah Everts is bitten by a dog, so she goes looking for a rabies shot. But coming home to Canada is when the real problem started. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a career as a theater manager, Stuart Firestein takes a biology class, which leads him to a completely new life, and a lot of salamander noses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Paula Croxson began to study memory as a neuroscientist, she also learned a new way of thinking about her grandmother's failing memory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer Jess Zimmerman discovers the dangers of dating a philosopher of neuroscience who thinks he knows what's really happening in her head. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Journalist Jon Ronson is excited when he hears about some 'sentient' robots, but when he goes to interview them he finds both less and more than he ever expected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

André Fenton always wanted to do research at the most fundamental level -- to uncover basic truths about memory and how it works, never mind how useful. But a friend's accident unexpectedly leads to him inventing a spectacularly useful, and lifesaving, device. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robin Marantz Henig and her daughter, Samantha, decided to write a book together about life as a twentysomthing. There was just one problem -- how to handle the bits you don't want to talk about with your mother? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Colin Jerolmack was floundering in grad school until he found deep insights into human nature... from pigeons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Biologist Kelly Smith and comic artist Zach Weiner were having trouble dating, until they met online and realized what they each needed was another nerd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices