Unconventional Methods: Stories about finding a different way
The Story Collider
Story Collider, Inc.
4.4 • 824 Ratings
🗓️ 18 February 2022
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Wasn’t it Einstein who said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”? In this week’s episode both our storytellers aren’t in danger of falling prey to Einstein’s version of insanity; they definitely try something new.
Part 1: A neurological condition makes Adam Selbst a prime target for muggers but things get weird when he tries to stop one.
Part 2: Cassandra Quave learns there’s more than one way into medicine.
Adam Selbst is a writer and graphic designer from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He hosts the monthly Big Irv’s Storytelling Roadshow and has been performing around NYC for the last 10 years. Adam lives in a bodega art collective with 64 other people and in his spare time he enjoys being slowly poisoned by an ancient, weird mold in his shower and throwing elaborate dinner parties.
Cassandra Quave, PhD, is the herbarium curator and an associate professor of dermatology and human health at Emory University. Dr. Quave is a fellow of The Explorers Club, a former president of the Society for Economic Botany, and a recipient of the Emory Williams Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award and Charles B. Heiser, Jr. Mentor Award. She is the cocreator and host of Foodie Pharmacology, a podcast dedicated to exploring the links between food and medicine. A leader in the field of medical botany, she has authored more than 100 scientific publications and has been featured in The New York Times Magazine and BBC Science Focus, as well as on PBS, NPR, and National Geographic TV. Dr. Quave is author of a science memoir The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines. She lives in Atlanta in a full and energetic house with her husband, four children, dog, mini-pig and many houseplants.
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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 | It felt... |
| 0:07.0 | It was so... |
| 0:09.0 | And I just thought, well... |
| 0:10.0 | It was that golden moment. |
| 0:13.0 | Because science was on my side. |
| 0:15.0 | Hi, everyone. |
| 0:25.5 | Welcome to The Story Clutter, where we bring you true personal stories about science. |
| 0:29.7 | I'm your host, Mishigayevsky, senior producer and program manager at the Story Clutter. |
| 0:34.4 | And this week, we're going rogue. |
| 0:37.1 | In more ways than one. Not only is your usual |
| 0:39.7 | host, Aaron, not here, but both our storytellers are deviating from the norm in their own way. |
| 0:45.4 | We're going off the beaten track, taking an alternative approach, choosing the road less traveled. |
| 0:51.4 | You get the idea. Our first story is from Adam Selps. It was recorded in New York |
| 0:56.5 | City in September last year with a limited audience. The theme that night was freaking out. |
| 1:10.1 | So when I was 12 years old, I was a bit of what you would call a late bloomer. |
| 1:17.6 | And by that, I mean, I like didn't shower nearly enough. |
| 1:20.8 | I just always wore these sweatpants that were just completely covered in golden retriever |
| 1:26.4 | fur, like constantly. And I refused to read any book that didn golden retriever fur, like, constantly. |
| 1:28.0 | And I refused to read any book that didn't prominently feature, like, orcs or elves, |
| 1:32.8 | or preferably both of them. |
... |
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