Scientists are often lambasted for being bad communicators, too technical or condescending. But a new storytelling project aims to change that. The Brooklyn-based Story Collider is a live event in the tradition of The Moth where people tell true stories about how science has affected their lives. In a blog post at Scientific American, founder Ben Lillie explains why we need more stories about science.

First, because this is what we do — find the things that affect our lives and talk about them. Science, technology, and medicine are now the most important influences in many, if not most, people’s lives. The second, and more immediate goal is to humanize science — not just humanizing scientists, but showing how science itself is part of us, both in the everyday experiences, and the extraordinary ones. There’s a strong tendency to think of science as “other,” this thing that doesn’t really influence who we are as people, and that we don’t need to think about, but it does.

At the latest event, produced in collaboration with the Story League, neuroscientist Doug Fields shared a story about his first experience of discovery.

You can find more of these stories at Story Collider’s website. I highly recommend a touching and hilarious story from physicist David Morgan, here: http://storycollider.org/podcast/2011-05-29

If you’re in New York, be sure to get to the next event at Union Hall in Brooklyn on September 27th.