Overwhelmed: Stories about being in over our heads
The Story Collider
Story Collider, Inc.
4.4 • 824 Ratings
🗓️ 28 September 2018
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we're presenting stories about times when science is just too much.
Part 1: Fiona Calvert is a crier — but when she starts her PhD, she promises herself she’ll never cry in front of her colleagues.
Part 2: After graduating with his PhD, Shane Hanlon struggles to find balance in his science career.
Fiona Calvert is a third-year PhD student at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute where she focusses on the role of the immune system in Alzheimer’s disease. She uses stem cells to understand how genetic mutations can affect the functions of microglia, a vital immune cell in the brain. As well as being fascinated and constantly amazed by the biology of the brain, Fiona is also passionate about science communication and loves any opportunity to talk about the wonderful world of microglia!
Shane M Hanlon is a scientist turned communicator who masquerades as a storyteller. He got a PhD studying frogs and turtles, tried his hand in government, and is now a scientist who teaches scientists how to talk to non-scientists. Shane is also DC's oldest (but not bestest) Story Collider co-host & producer. He happily lives in Virginia (but still loves DC), tries to get outside with his partner and dog as much as possible, and is medicore at writing witty biographies. Find him @ecologyofshane.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A science story, huh? |
| 0:04.0 | Is NYU scientist the... |
| 0:06.0 | I felt... |
| 0:07.0 | I felt. |
| 0:08.0 | I was so... |
| 0:09.0 | And I just thought, well... |
| 0:10.0 | It was that golden moment. |
| 0:12.0 | Because science was on my side. |
| 0:15.0 | Hey, everybody. |
| 0:19.0 | Welcome to the Story Collider, where we bring you true personal stories about science. |
| 0:28.9 | I'm your host, Aaron Barker, and this week we're presenting stories from scientists who feel a little bit overwhelmed. |
| 0:36.6 | Sometimes science can be overwhelming. As you might imagine, I meet a lot of scientists who feel overwhelmed. It seems like every year or so a debate springs up on science Twitter about something like, should grad students work 60 hours in the lab every week, or should they work 100? |
| 0:56.8 | Should they be allowed to ever stop working? |
| 0:59.7 | Should they be allowed to have friends and or families? |
| 1:02.0 | Should they be allowed to have feelings? |
| 1:07.1 | So I think it's no wonder that so many of them are overwhelmed. |
| 1:09.2 | And we'll hear from two of them today. |
| 1:15.6 | Our first story is from Fiona Calvert. It was recorded in March 2018 at Cambridge Junction in Cambridge, UK. As part of a show we produced in partnership with the Cambridge |
| 1:20.3 | Stem Cell Institute, the theme that night was regeneration. |
| 1:41.5 | I'm a cryer. I cry at anything and everything. Any extreme emotion has me sobbing. In fact, there are two things I do that I know make me cry and I refuse to give them up. |
| 1:47.6 | Number one, when I have the flat to myself, the first thing I do is put on my pajamas, put on |
| 1:54.1 | Grey's Anatomy, and prepare to sob. |
... |
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