The Story Collider features true stories about science told before live audiences, and it's wonderful. (I've also served on its board of directors since 2015, but I was a fan and contributor long before I had a hand in running it.) Listen to The Story Collider podcast or attend its live events for tales of how science figures in people's lives in ways that are variously heartbreaking, hilarious, and illuminating. The producers have been kind enough to invite me to tell four stories so far — stories that Ben has described as forming a "Why Science Wants to Kill Me" series:

"Aggression," about my memorable encounter with an angry lab rat in college. You can listen to that linked audio version of the story, or you can watch a video of the performance.

"The Lab Safety Officer," about why I should not be trusted around liquid nitrogen.

"Crazy Mail," about why one particular letter ruined my enjoyment of the eccentric letters that readers sometimes wrote to Scientific American. Spoiler: that letter came from the Unabomber.

"The Downside of Being the Boss," about a management problem peculiar to Scientific American: What do you do when your staff brings the ingredients for nerve gas into the office?

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