In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their experiences with grief and how they chose to say farewell to their dearly departed.

Part 1: When Sanjana Murthy misses her grandfather’s funeral, she struggles with the lack of closure.

Part 2: Paul Barach impulsively decides to walk the Pacific Coast Trail to escape the grief of his girlfriend’s suicide.

This story does include mentions of suicide. In case you’d find them helpful, now or at any point in the future, we have some resources available on our website.

New York City based Research Coordinator Sanjana Murthy is thrilled to be here. Her lab's work at Mount Sinai (Dept of Psychiatry, Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics) identifies neurophysiological biomarkers to improve treatment for depression. She holds a B.S. in Brain and Behavioral Sciences from Purdue University, where she curated shows for the TEDxPurdueU stage. 

Paul Barach is a writer, storyteller, and thru-hiker from Seattle, Washington. A 2013 Moth GrandSlam runner up, his stories have been featured on Risk, Out There, and other podcasts. Paul has also been a featured guest on Deviate with Rolf Potts, Backpacker Radio, Zero to Travel, and Armchair Explorer. Paul has hiked the Shikoku Pilgrimage, Colorado Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail among others, bicycled the Trans-America Trail, and most recently completed the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. He is the author of the travel memoir "Fighting Monks and Burning Mountains: Misadventures on a Buddhist Pilgrimage" and is currently working on a memoir about the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as a comedic novel about a vampire hunter who's sick of his job. Paul currently lives in Tacoma with his wife Michelle and their dog Izzy.

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Fanny, vajayjay, kitty, muff, coochie, hoo ha, lady garden – whatever you call it, in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share weird and wonderful tales about their vaginas.

Part 1: When Milly McDermott is 15, she finds a grapefruit-sized tumor growing out of her vagina.

Part 2: After a guy she was dating tells Dawn Harris she has two vaginas, she can’t help but wonder what is going on down there.

Milly McDermott is a cartoonist, comedian, and show runner who has ran comedy shows in both the U.S. and in China. Milly began her comedy career after being diagnosed with a rare uterine cancer at the age of 15. She now runs comedy shows in New York City and continues to publish comic strips about her life. 

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Defining yourself as a person or as a scientist is no easy feat. In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers grapple with who they are and how they want to be perceived.

Part 1: After Fernando Cuevas flunks out of college, he’s worried he’s destined to be stuck at his dead end Best Buy job forever.

Part 2: When Sonia Rehal’s sister passes from complications caused by the rare disease lipodystrophy, she doesn’t know how to define herself in the absence of her other half.

Fernando Leonardo Cuevas is a Theoretical Mathematician by degree, Analytical Engineer by profession, and an avid fan of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA and pointlessly hard video games.

Sonia Rehal is currently an educator at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and the director for Lipodystrophy Canada, and non-for-profit organization supporting lipodystrophy patients and caregivers. Being a lipodystrophy patient herself, her advocacy for awareness started young. Interested in understanding the pathophysiology of lipodystrophy, her postdoctoral training focused on lipid inflammation and insulin resistance in animal models of obesity. This journey has allowed her to travel the world and publish important research findings in highly cited research journals. More importantly, her academic career has given her a unique perspective to patient advocacy, highlighting how important disease awareness and research funding for prospective treatments and are for the lipodystrophy community. Lipodystrophy can vary in severity however these themes hold in common: Lipodystrophy is incurable, has inadequate medical treatment and affects multiple organ systems. Unfortunately, a severe form of lipodystrophy has affected her family and herself, losing both her mother and sister to its complications at a very young age. This loss has only further intensified her passion to support our rare disease community affected by lipodystrophy.

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As The Beatles famously sang: “I get by with a little help from my friends.” And the saying is just as true in life as it is in science. In fact, in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers show just how much they needed the help of their friends to succeed at science.

Part 1: Months into her fly experiment Michaela Agapiou still can’t catch flies efficiently and now she’s faced with the challenge of scaling up her experiment.

Part 2: In order to get a good grade in her biology class, Ashley McKelvy designs her own experiment that requires her friends to drink a cup of coffee every 20 minutes.

Michaela Agapiou is a research scientist and storyteller living in London. Nowadays Michaela’s research is all computer based but she carries around a glow in the dark sperm cell keyring to remind her of her lab work days.

Ashley McKelvy has lived in Arkansas, Florida, Texas and currently lives in Georgia. She is a former runner who has traded her sneakers in for cycling cleats, and she loves nerding out over her last workout. She has worked as an English teacher, a librarian, a grader of standardized tests, and she once had a career at Old Navy that lasted three hours.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers discover shocking truths through genetic analysis.

Part 1: When Mackenzie Brown’s adoptive father passes away suddenly from a heart condition, she is determined to find out what genes she did inherit.

Part 2: Martha Buford Reiskind thought the case of her mom’s murder was closed when no DNA match came up for the single piece of hair left at the scene.

Mackenzie Brown grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and graduated with a Masters of Public Health from the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Her graduate research focused on understanding how depressive symptoms impact disease management strategies in people with hypertension in the rural South. After a year of collecting data across the country as a Research Fellow with Stanford University, she moved to New York and worked as a Research Coordinator conducting behavioral interventions for individuals with rheumatic diseases. Now at DAC, she is interested in pursuing a PhD to explore how early birth trauma and premature birth can impact mental health across the lifespan.

Martha Buford Reiskind started her undergraduate career as a theater arts and music major at a small liberal arts school in Bronxville NY, Sarah Lawrence College. At the time there were only 1,200 students and it had only recently become a coed school. After several years in what she likes to call her Liberal Arts Tour, she finished up her undergraduate work at University of California Berkeley, in Integrative Sciences. She started her Faculty Position at NC State in 2012 and conducts research in conservation genetics and teaches courses in population genetics, conservation science, science communication and science ethics. She is also a sister, daughter, wife, auntie, and mother and love those roles as much as the research and teaching she does. She directs a first-year graduate training program at NC State, the Genetics & Genomics Scholars program, and graduate training and education is one of her passions. She seeks out opportunities to combine the arts and sciences and help her students develop effective science communication, both visual and oral. You can find her near or in the water or with her hands in soil or dough.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers grapple with what they can and can’t eat.

Part 1: Danielle Meinert struggles to eat anything other than cheese pizza, Easy Mac and toast with butter.

Part 2: Ellis Ballard has life-threatening food allergies, which makes eating, drinking and living life challenging.

Danielle Meinert is a writer and recovery advocate for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). She lives with her husband and adopted mini poodles in Atlanta, Georgia. She loves food.

Ellis Ballard is a creative producer, editor, director and prolific maker of creative projects. They produce the True Story London Podcast which features stories from London's vibrant live storytelling community and in-depth interviews with the storytellers. Ellis also co-facilitates True Story London's DRAFT storytelling workshops, and works with performers to direct and craft live comedy and theatre projects. Ellis's new podcast 'The Secret Podcast' is an outlet for some more unconventional audio creations that have willed their way into existence despite considerable efforts to suppress them.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share their less than straightforward paths to healthier lifestyles.

Part 1: Asthma had always held Tara Turner back, but when the doctor tells her she’s officially “obese,” she decides to make a change. 

Part 2: Paul Aflalo struggles with the decision to get gastric bypass surgery.

Tara Turner began her journey in the fitness industry over 20 years ago. She has dedicated her life to helping people achieve their fitness goals. Tara holds several national certifications including Group Exercise, Personal Training, Spinning, and Zumba. She is also a master trainer in teaching boxing, kickboxing and kettlebell and shares her knowledge with upcoming instructors. Tara encourages people to embrace their beauty, power and wisdom within their spirit, soul and body no matter what shape or size!

Paul Aflalo is Replay’s artistic director. He is a storyteller and documentary producer. He creates narrative-driven pieces for film, radio and podcasts. Paul has shared stories across Canada and parts of Europe and the UK. His focus has always been to help others share the stories that need to be told. He is also fascinated by the human unknown, take a listen to his radio documentary about aphantasia. 

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In honor of Disability Pride Month, this week’s episode examines personal triumphs and societal challenges of being a person with disabilities in STEM.

Part 1: As a deaf person, Alma Schrage doesn’t see a place for herself in the traditional academic world of science.

Part 2: After a fall leaves Jennifer Piatek paralyzed, she must rethink how she defines herself as a scientist.

Alma Schrage is a bee biologist currently involved in conservation research for the endangered rusty-patched bumblebee. Deaf since birth, Alma uses American Sign Language and English. She often uses her finely honed lipreading and guessing skills to understand the sign-impaired and supports early sign language access for deaf and hard of hearing children of hearing parents. Alma often talks like a book because that’s where she learned most of her English. Her hearing aids are great for discrete Bluetooth music streaming at inaccessible conferences.

Jennifer L. Piatek is a planetary scientist who studies impact craters on Mars, a college professor teaching geology and astronomy courses, and in general someone who is just trying to navigate the world from a wheelchair.

These two stories have been adapted from the book Uncharted: How Scientists Navigate Their Own Health, Research, and Experiences of Bias, for the podcast.

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In this week’s episode, we highlight two stories from this year's Proton Prom, Story Collider's annual fundraiser and celebration of science storytelling.

Part 1: Pamela Toh is dead set on being the “bad kid” at school.

Part 2: On a family vacation to Disney, Matthew Dicks becomes more and more frustrated by his daughter’s strange behavior.

Pamela Toh is an aspiring writer and graduate student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she conducts research on how the brain and body coordinate to elicit the symptoms of PTSD. Originally from Singapore, Pamela moved to NYC after completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (because the proximity to sun and surf was simply too much to bear). When not hunched over a lab bench, Pamela can be found coveting the latest LEGO sets, or in a yoga studio trying to correct her bad posture.

Matthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of six novels and three nonfiction titles, including Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, Change Your Life Through the Art of Storytelling, and Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Brand. His novels have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide. When not hunched over a computer screen, he fills his days as an elementary school teacher, storyteller, comedian, blogger, wedding DJ, minister, and communications consultant. He’s been teaching for 25 years and is a former West Hartford Teacher of the Year and a Connecticut Teacher of the Year finalist. Matthew is a record 60-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 9-time GrandSLAM champion whose stories have been featured on their nationally syndicated Moth Radio Hour. Matthew is the founder of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that produces shows throughout New England. He teaches storytelling and public speaking worldwide to individuals, corporations, school districts, hospitals, universities, and more.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share moments where they felt out of place and were very much foreigners in a strange land.

Part 1: When Christine Gentry moves across the country to California, she struggles to find community.

Part 2: After moving to Beirut, Lebanon from the U.S., Mary Ann Perkins doesn’t understand why everyone keeps staring at her.

Christine Gentry joins BBQ on the list of good things to come out of Texas. She holds a Ph.D. in English Education from Columbia University and currently serves as a clinical assistant professor in the NYU Teacher Residency, where she directs the NYC Public Schools partnership and leads the data, assessment, and continuous improvement efforts of the program. In what little spare time she has, Christine performs in oral storytelling shows and produces/hosts shows and workshops for The Story Collider. Her writing has been published in English Journal, The English Record, and Printer's Devil Review magazines, and her oral stories have been featured on the TEDx stage, The Moth Radio Hour, and This American Life. She is also a Moth Mainstage performer and three-time Moth GrandSLAM champion.

Mary Ann Perkins grew up in St. Louis County and then lived overseas–in Germany, Lebanon and Thailand–for most of the next two decades. While abroad she had two children, survived a war, left the Mormon church, completed two master’s degrees, got divorced and built a career as a United Nations editor. After returning to the United States in 2021, she founded a peer-support group for people who have lost their faith. The group meets Mondays at 7 p.m. at the Ethical Society of St. Louis. Mary Ann loves distance running, standup comedy, and poetry.

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