The Story Collider

WHAT IS THE STORY COLLIDER?

The Story Collider is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to true, personal stories about science. Since 2010, we have been working with storytellers from both inside and outside science to develop these stories, and we share them through our weekly podcast and our live shows around the world.

We bring together dedicated staff and volunteers from both science and art backgrounds to produce these shows — starting with our executive director, Liz Neeley, who has a background in marine biology and science communication, and our artistic director, Erin Barker, a writer and experienced storyteller — because we believe both have value in this space. Currently, The Story Collider has a home in nine cities — New York, Boston, DC, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta, Toronto, Vancouver, and Wellington, New Zealand — where events organized by local producers are held on a monthly or quarterly basis. We’ve also been delighted to work with various partners — including publishers such as Springer Nature and Scientific American; conferences for organizations such as the American Geophysical Union and the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative; and universities such as Yale University, North Carolina State University, Colorado University, and more — to produce shows in other locations. Every year, we produce between 40 and 50 live events featuring more than 200 stories in total, and we share over a hundred of these stories on our podcast.

We also use what we’ve learned about science and stories to teach scientists to use narrative in our university and corporate workshop program. Find out more on our Workshops page.

OUR MISSION

The Story Collider believes that now, more than ever, science is a part of everyone’s lives. We believe that everyone has a story about how science has impacted them — whether they’re physicists or comedians, neuroscientists or writers, geologists or cops, doctors or bartenders — and that those stories, whether heartbreaking or hilarious, have the power to transform the way we think about science and whom it belongs to.

Because of these beliefs, it’s our mission to collect these stories from as many different voices as possible, and to help these storytellers develop their stories so they can connect with a wide and varied audience. We strive to make our shows and our podcast accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds.

And we also share what we’ve learned about science and stories in our university and corporate workshop program. Because, above all, we believe these true, personal stories have a unique power to connect with people of all walks of life.

FIND OUT MORE

• For a list of upcoming events happening regularly across the United States, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand, see our shows page >>
• To hear hundreds of our stories about science, go to our podcast page or subscribe on any podcasting service >>
• To pitch a story you’d like to tell at one of our live shows, see our submissions guidelines >>
• To find out more about our university and corporate storytelling training, or for inquiries about sponsorships and other opportunities, email us >>
• We’re a 501(c)3. If you love what we do and want to help keep us going, see our donate page >>
• To find out when new shows are happening you can subscribe to our mailing list, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook >>