The Story Collider

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

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

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

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

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

A relationship bridging the divide between scientists and artists is reflected in a fight over where to store tomatoes. Alison graduated with a BSc in Astrophysics from Newcastle University. Leaving for London to seek her fortune, she worked for several years in building services engineering in investment banks; first as an operations manager and then as a consultant. She left this career to pursue her love of physics, completing a Masters in Space Science and a PhD in solar physics at UCL. She is now at Queen Mary looking after outreach and student recruitment for maths and physics. Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider 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.

Jodi Beggs's mother greatly underestimates how well her kindergartener understands economics. Jodi Beggs is an economist and writer whose focus is on making economics accessible and interesting to both students and a general audience. Jodi is currently a lecturer at Northeastern University, where she teaches economics to both economics and music industry students. Jodi is also the Assistant Director of Research at Northeastern University's CREATE Center, where she conducts research in the music industry. Outside of the classroom, Jodi teaches economics on her web site "Economists Do It With Models," where she blogs about fun economics stuff and utilizes the online environment to make educational content freely available to students and non-students alike. Jodi has an A.M. in Economics from Harvard University as well as bachelors and masters degrees in computer science from MIT. 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.

Science writer Kathleen Raven's unexpected loss of hearing takes her on a journey with modern technology. Kathleen Raven writes for Reuters Health and blogs about sustainable agriculture for Scientific American. As an independent writer based in Atlanta, she regularly takes walking breaks in Piedmont Park with her dog, Sunshine. She recently completed two degrees at the University of Georgia: Conservation Ecology (MS) and Health & Medical Journalism (MA). She likes speaking in elementary German with her Dutch husband, Arjan. 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 he misses the opportunity to work with one of the most famous patients in neuroscience, Moran Cerf takes an unorthodox approach. Moran Cerf is a neuroscientist at NYU and Northwestern University. Prior to his career in opening and studying brains, Moran used to work as a hacker in various security companies, breaking into banks and financial institutes to make a living. Moran is involved in the story-telling community, and is also the Alfred P. Sloan faculty at the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, where he teaches screenwriting. 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.

Immunologist Sarah Schlesinger must try to save her mentor's life with his own work in cellular immunity. Sarah J. Schlesinger MD is a clinical investigator and immunologist at The Rockefeller University who has spent more than 20 years working in the field of cellular immunity, including as clinical director of the laboratory led by the late Ralph M. Steinman, M.D., 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine. She is currently Senior Attending Physician and Associate Professor of Clinical Investigation at the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology at Rockefeller. Prior to joining the University, Dr. Schlesinger was a scientist at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in New York City. From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Schlesinger was a Research Physician/Pathologist at the Division of Retrovirology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, having previously served, from 1994 to 2002, as Staff Pathologist at the Armed Force Institute of Pathology in Washington, DC. Dr. Schlesinger trained in Surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and began her career in pathology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and hospitals in New York including Buffalo General, Hospital New York and the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. 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.