Put two physicists together, add an interest in the arts and storytelling, throw in some inspiration from the Large Hadron Collider (and its brethren) into the mix and most of us still would not have come up with Story Collider, the science storytelling community/project/events/magazine/etc. in New York, New York.
Andrew Revkin in his Jan. 31, 2012 story for the New York Times interviewed Ben Lillie, one of the originators,
I’ve often argued that the world would be better off if people, from an early age, absorbed science not as a set of facts (sadly the state of science education today), but as a story — full of vexing questions, conflict, dead ends, insights and the occasional thrilling leap.
That’s why I love Story Collider, a storytelling project, both onstage and online, in which scientists and people affected by science recount short, often funny, sometimes disturbing experiences, mostly in front of audiences, cabaret-style.
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I had time to chat a bit with Lillie at this year’s Science Online conference (where science blogging and hip-hop collided) and followed up with him by e-mail to learn more about the story-telling project. Here’s our exchange:
Q.
How did you come up with the idea for Collider?
A.
In 2010 I was a high-energy particle physicist who had just quit being a researcher and moved to New York to try my hand in science theater. I had just discovered the world of live personal storytelling and was starting to attend Moth StorySLAMs, and I heard about another physicist who was also telling stories. That turned out to be Brian Wecht, a string theorist who did musical comedy on the side.
I was doing theater because I’m fascinated by the human side of science: How does science affect who we are as people? How does it play a role in our lives? Brian and I met up at a storytelling event and got to talking about new ways to address those questions when we had a mutual “duh” moment. How do you get people to talk about the role of science in their lives? Ask them to tell the story. And do it on a stage in front of a hundred people. What can go wrong?
You can find more story and links if you click on the link I’ve provided to Revkin’s article.
You can find a listing of upcoming and previous shows here. The next show is tonight, Feb. 15, 2012, 8 pm (EST) at the Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn. If you are interested in telling a story at one of these events or writing a story for the online magazine, you can go to the Submit a Story page. I’ve excerpted this from the ‘submissions’ page,
The Story Collider is always looking for new stories. If you have a personal story about science that you’d like to tell at one of our live events, or in our upcoming magazine, let us know.
Live stories:
Stories at the live events should be true, personal stories, about 8-10 minutes long. They can range from absurd, hilarious moments, to touching and life-altering. We take a broad interpretation of “science,” including medicine, technology, math, and social sciences as well as the traditional science subjects.
Each storyteller will work with the producers to develop and rehearse the story. No prior stage experience or formal science background is necessary.
The Story Collider website also offer podcasts and videos of their science stories. Enjoy!
