The Story Collider

After his grandfather passes away, Ben Lillie learns the surprising truth about his life -- from Wikipedia. Ben is a high-energy particle physicist who left the ivory tower for the wilds of New York's theater district. He is co-founder and artistic director of The Story Collider, where he’s lead the production of over 200 events in ten cities, and the five-year (and ongoing) production of the Story Collider podcast. He spent four years on the editorial team at TED, covering and participating in the production of the annual TED and TED Global conferences. He has a degree in physics from Reed College, a PhD from Stanford in theoretical physics, did a postdoc at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, and has published in The Atlantic, Slate, and Method Quarterly. He is ben@storycollider.org and @benlillie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.