This week, we're re-airing two classic stories about finding friends. Science can be a lonely job -- but it can also connect us to others in ways we'd never imagine.

Part 1: Feeling isolated in her new job as a particle accelerator operator at Fermilab, Cindy Joe finds comfort in the friendship of her unconventional pet.

Part 2: Patrick Honner starts to doubt his lifelong love of math when graduate school becomes a lonely experience.

Cindy Joe is an engineering physicist working with several of Fermilab’s experiments studying neutrinos, tiny particles that might hold the answers to some of the universe’s biggest mysteries. A first-generation college student, she grew up dreaming big in the back of her family’s Chinese restaurant in a small town in Arkansas. While obtaining her bachelor’s degree in physics, she also became a licensed senior reactor operator at Reed College’s nuclear research reactor. She then moved to even bigger machines, working as a particle accelerator operator in Fermilab’s Main Control Room for seven years. Cindy is deeply passionate about science outreach, and has spoken to audiences from elementary school to members of Congress. A 2-time presenter at Fermilab’s Physics Slam and a contributor to PechaKucha Night Batavia, she currently lectures in Fermilab’s Saturday Morning Physics program for high school students.

Patrick Honner is an award-winning mathematics teacher who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He has taught everything from introductory algebra to multivariable calculus, and currently teaches calculus, linear algebra, and mathematical computing at Brooklyn Technical High School, where he also serves as instructional coach. Patrick is in his fourth Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship; he is a New York State Master Teacher; a Sloan award winner; and a Rosenthal Prize honoree. And in 2013 he received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Patrick writes about math and teaching for Quanta Magazine, the New York Times, and on his blog.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers share the unconventional paths that led them into science journalism.

Part 1: Keren Landman always wanted to be a writer, but her family didn’t see it as a practical career — so instead, she went to medical school.

Part 2: When Adithi Ramakrishnan gets to college, she only sees two career paths ahead of her: medical school or scientific research.

Keren Landman, M.D., is an independent health reporter and author of the newsletter Landmansplained. Her freelance writing has appeared in a range of publications, including The Guardian, The Atlantic, National Geographic, NPR, and the New York Times, and she has also worked as a staff reporter at Vox. She is trained as an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist, with experience serving as a disease detective at the CDC and conducting HIV and malaria research in resource-poor countries.

Adithi Ramakrishnan is a science reporter with The Associated Press and covers space, dinosaurs and the occasional tadpole. She told this story while she was a science reporting fellow with The Dallas Morning News where she wrote about solar eclipses, sweltering Texas summers and the science of spicy food. Adithi has a degree in neuroscience from The College of William and Mary and was a 2021 AAAS Mass Media Fellow at North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC.

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What does it actually mean to “be a man”? In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers grapple with masculinity and are forced to confront what manhood means to them.

Part 1: As a teenager, Mike McFadden realizes one part of his body isn’t developing like the other boys his age.

Part 2: Ricky Ortiz believed that to be a good husband, father, and provider, he could never show weakness.

Mike McFadden works in the television industry, based out of NYC. He is also indie arts producer intersecting storytelling, clown, and film.

Ricky Ortiz is a founder, husband, father, and avid storyteller. As a firm believer in the significance and the power of vulnerable stories, Ricky aims to speak to the heart and build connection with others to help them think deeply about what they believe, why it matters, and how it impacts the world around them.

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In a perfect world, getting the health care you need wouldn’t require fighting for it. But in this week’s episode, both of our storytellers discover just how hard they have to push to get the treatment — and validation — they need and deserve.

Part 1: Cooper Joslin is determined to get a hysterectomy to finally stop the debilitating symptoms of endometriosis but all the doctors won’t seem to let them make decisions about their own body.

Part 2: As a PTSD survivor, Adrianne Frost assumes her dissociative episodes are simply part of living with trauma.

Cooper Joslin is a web developer, artist, and activist. They made their DC theater debut at Capital Fringe 2022 with their solo performance, Atemporal, earning a "Best of Fringe" designation from DC Theater Arts. Cooper has also performed at the Kennedy Center with Story District and off-broadway at Joe’s Pub in New York City with Generation Women. Their visual art has been featured in collections at the DC Commission of Arts & Humanities' I Street Gallery, the Rhizome, DuPont Underground, the DC LGBTQ Center, and As You Are. With a background in journalism, Cooper now uses their expertise to document the modern history of the transgender community through their growing oral history archive, The Trans Guide. Originally from Central Florida, Cooper now resides in Baltimore, with their wife, two cats, puppy, and a cherished queer chosen family.

Adrianne Frost is an awarding winning storyteller and performer. Most recently, she performed with Generation Women at Joe’s Pub, and has performed in Awkward Teenage Stories, Rejected, Two Truths And A Lie, Just One More Thing, and is a Moth Slam Champion. She began her own storytelling show in 2022 that runs every month at QED in Astoria called “New Tricks Stories”, in which all of the storytellers are over forty. @newtricksstories Originally from Louisiana, Adrianne Frost has been acting and performing for over 30 years. She has been seen everywhere from The Daily Show and Late Night With Conan O’Brien to the Law and Order franchise and the occasional independent film. Her true love is live performing and she has performed solo improv and her award-winning monologues all over New York City and at the Boston, Chicago and Orlando Improv and Comedy Festivals. Adrianne has written one book, I Hate Other People’s Kids (Simon & Schuster) and is featured in two anthologies, including the 2004 Signet Book of American Humor. She has written for several humor websites, including Mc Sweeney’s.

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In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers come face to face with one of their deepest fears: the ocean.

Part 1: When the children’s TV show host Carly Ciarrocchi is assigned a scuba diving episode, she’s forced to confront a lifelong fear of the ocean.

Part 2: Growing up, Darcie Little Badger was wary of the ocean. But when she takes an oceanography class in college, she begins to question her fears.

Carly Ciarrocchi (she/her) is an Emmy-nominated host, writer, musician, and producer. A true multi-hyphenate, she has spent most of her career in children's media, making and hosting TV shows and podcasts with collaborators like Universal Kids, Disney+, Nick Jr, Nat Geo Kids, Sprout, Tinkercast, Sesame Workshop and the LEGO Foundation. She's a Moth Story Slam winner and has told tales with Stories from the Stage (PBS), Generation Women, the Artichoke, The Tell, Soup and Stories and more. She teaches clown-theatre classes at the Brooklyn Comedy Collective. In everything she does, she hopes to create the conditions for people of all ages to access their most authentic state of play. www.carlyciarrocchi.com

Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy books of all time. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Newbery Honor and is on the National Book Awards longlist. Her third novel, Sheine Lende, is the prequel to Elatsoe and has received six starred reviews. Darcie is married to a veterinarian named Taran.

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In this week’s Best Of episode, we present stories from people who navigated our changing relationship to technology.

Part 1: As a kid, Samy Kamkar discovers his superpower -- hacking.

Part 2: When Jordan Bush's father-in-law-to-be is diagnosed with cancer shortly before her wedding, she finds a creative way to help him attend.

Samy Kamkar is a hacker-turned-security researcher building tools to highlight security implications of everyday technologies. Exiled from computers and the Internet as a teenager by court-order for developing the fastest-spreading virus of all time, his work post-ban has been cited by the NSA, triggered hearings on Capitol Hill, and has advanced the security from the device in your pocket to the ones surveilling you from the sky.

Jordan is finishing up her dissertation in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Her research focuses on when and where lizards fight over territories. She asks that you not confuse her obsession with lizards as a general interest in all reptiles - she does not like snakes, keep your snakes to yourself. After graduating, she has a real goal of becoming a professor at a liberal arts college, and a secret goal of becoming a science journalist and children's book author. She currently lives in Knoxville, TN with her wonderful husband, two babies, and two dogs.

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In this week’s episode, both storytellers discover just how far people will go for the ones they love.

Part 1: When Bailey Swilley’s dad goes into cardiac arrest, she watches her mom care for him and starts to reevaluate what love really looks like.

Part 2: At rock bottom, Pam Stepansky turns to her dad for support with her alcoholism.

Bailey Swilley is a writer, comedian and storyteller from Memphis, Tennessee. She is a Moth StorySLAM winner and hosts the monthly storytelling show We ❤️ a Theme at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn. In 2026, she is performing a new show, A BABY FOR ME? NO THANK YOU, PLEASE!. Follow her on Instagram @heybailay for future show dates.

Pam Stepansky is a writer, stand-up comedian, and actor who splits her time between New York City and Puerto Rico. A mostly-Jewish millennial from Long Island, she blends snark, sincerity, and joie de vivre into a creative perspective that’s as dazzled as it is befuddled by the facts of life. She lives with her husband, Adam, and their spirited tuxedo cat, Gumbo.

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In this week’s episode, storytellers share stories about carbs, control, and the unexpected ways bread shapes our lives.

Part 1: When everyone in Rich Tackenberg’s family is diagnosed with celiac disease, he’s forced to confront a terrifying possibility: life without his emotional support carb.

Part 2: During the pandemic, Aditya Surendran sets out to conquer making a 36-hour baguette.

Rich Tackenberg has now lived in Los Angeles longer than he grew up in New York. He is a Managing Director in executive search, specializing in media, entertainment, and nonprofit placements. He has been married to an amazing woman for almost twenty five years and is most proud of not screwing that up. At least not yet.

Aditya Surendran is a lawyer, comedian, and storyteller. How stories explore the mundane suburbs in search of laughs and deep meaning—though deep meaning is optional. A successfully launched Kickstarter now means you can get his book, CheeseDosa: The Book! on his site and through most national retail chains.

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