In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share tales of well-intentioned choices gone wrong.

Part 1: In fourth grade, Ro Moran is thrilled to be trusted with the class pet iguana, Iggy, for the night. But by morning, something is very wrong.

Part 2: As an exchange student studying superconducting oxides, Karoline Mueller tries to save money by gold-coating a cheap crucible instead of using a solid gold one.

Ro is an award-winning empanada eater with a penchant for storytelling. His credits include Prose of Pie, Tiny Tales, Story Boom, Story Collider En Español, and producing the Westchester-based 'Say Word' show. He is most remembered for his groundbreaking trio with his 14yr and 3 yr old . They’ve since broken up due to ‘creative differences’. When Ro isn’t telling tales, he is a social justice warrior for human rights non profits.

Karoline is the youngest of 4 siblings. Growing up in Germany, the family interests included music, art, nature, and building things. From fairly young, there was no question in her mind but she would study music and teach private music lessons. Her plan got smashed in the audition process and she was not accepted into a conservatory program. It took her some time to recover from this huge disappointment. In a relatively random way, she stumbled on the book, Urban Systems in Crisis, by a biochemist and network thinker and was fascinated by this new way of solving problems. She was reminded of fun chemistry demonstrations and enrolled at the Saarland University in Chemistry. Despite low confidence in her English, Karoline pursued a semester abroad and came to the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. Delighted by the amazingly supportive mentorship at the center, she decided to return for her Ph.D. in Chemistry. She has been working there as researcher and student mentor ever since. Karoline’s passion for science outreach grew over the years and now she takes great pleasure in organizing presentations and demonstrations of superconductivity.

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To close out Pride Month this week, we're sharing a special best of episode featuring stories about coming out in science!

Part 1: Science educator Charlie Cook experiments with coming out to students.

Charlie Cook is a non-binary white settler on ancestral, unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territory. They are a museum science interpreter with a BFA in Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts.

Part 2: Marine biologist Shayle Matsuda adapts to his new identity as a transgender man while on assignment in the Philippines.

Dr. Shayle Matsuda is a Research Biologist at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where he leads the Aquatic Microbial Ecology: Coral Reefs and Urban Freshwater Ecosystems research program.

Shayle Matsuda's story originally aired on our podcast in November 2014. See details here.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers use a scientific lens to examine their worst relationships.

Part 1: Carlos Maza uses the plague to analyze his brutal breakup.

Part 2: Panagiota Vogdou refuses to see her boyfriend as toxic until a stranger on the bus tells her to go to therapy.

Carlos Maza is a video journalist focusing on misinformation, media bias, and propaganda. He is the Director of Video at Media Matters for America. He has spent too much of his adult life writing about fascism and hate speech. He would much rather you tell him about you Dungeons & Dragons character.

Panagiota was born in Kozani, Greece, and moved to Toronto, Canada, in 2015. She’s a Greek teacher and a flight attendant, but her true passion lies in acting—and, of course, storytelling. Though she’s based in Toronto, she’s always ready to fly anywhere to share her stories. Panagiota has performed in community theatre both in Greece and in Toronto. In 2020, she discovered her love for storytelling, and since then, she’s been sharing her stories onstage at shows like Replay Storytelling, The Story Collider, Tales Told Live, and But That’s Another Story in Toronto—as well as Confabulation in Montreal.

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