about The Story Collider

The Story Collider's mission is to reveal the vibrant role that science plays in all of our lives through the art of personal storytelling.

At our live storytelling events in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., people of all walks of life – from scientists and doctors to journalists and comedians to artists, firefighters, and bartenders – tell stories about how science has affected their lives. We share a selection of these stories on our weekly podcast, which The Washington Post has called “delightful, devastating, and endlessly listenable.” Over the years, we have developed our storytelling coaching practice into an Education Program, which offers public and private storytelling trainings to both individuals and groups.

OUR CORE VALUES & BELIEFS

The power of storytelling

Research shows us that stories are more understandable, more believable, and more memorable than many other forms of communication (Dahlstrom & Ho, 2012). Experience tells us that stories can make an indelible mark on listeners and tellers alike.

Personal connection to science

We believe that everyone’s life is connected to science in some way, and that we all have a story to tell about how science has affected our lives, regardless of our background, race, gender, sexuality, or education.

Diversity and inclusion

We believe that the story of science is incomplete without a diversity of perspectives and strive to reflect that diversity on our podcast and create inclusive environments at our shows.

We also believe that storytelling can be a powerful tool for fostering diversity and inclusion in scientific spaces. Research on our work has found that listening to true, personal stories from scientists has the potential to decrease stereotype threat in the listener and allow them to see a place for themselves in science (Schinske, 2017). In addition to this, the act of developing and sharing a story can be powerful in and of itself. In our recent collaboration with Boise State University, researchers found that students who were actively engaged in constructing their personal narratives were more likely to identify as scientists, particularly those from marginalized or underrepresented groups.

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