Gluten: Stories about the love of bread

When everyone in Rich Tackenberg’s family is diagnosed with celiac disease, he’s forced to confront a terrifying possibility: life without his emotional support carb, and during the pandemic, Aditya Surendran sets out to conquer making a 36-hour baguette.

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Trying: Stories about fertility

After a pregnancy loss, Annie Tan channels her grief into rescuing an injured mockingbird, and Kibby McMahon is convinced she can will her way into pregnancy, but her body refuses to follow the plan.


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Best of Story Collider: Leaving Home

When Ph.D student Ali Mattu's girlfriend tells him she is moving to New York City, he has to make some tough decisions about where home is, and Arlo Pérez Esquivel struggles to define his boundaries with his father while he is pursuing his education in another country.

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Balaena: Stories about whales

As a child, Brittany Munson dreams of growing up to be a whale trainer, and as a marine scientist focused on living creatures, Maya Santangelo is convinced that diving to explore an old whaling shipwreck in the Antarctic will be boring.

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Impending Doom: Stories about facing the scary unknown

After three generations of women in her family develop Alzheimer’s disease, Mary Jo Pollack enrolls in a study that could reveal whether she’s next, and when Sabrina Samuel is diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and told to wait a year before surgery, she must choose between living in fear or embracing the time she has.

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Outer Layer: Stories about literal and metaphorical shields

As a lonely teenager searching for connection, Christopher Moncayo-Torres turns to an unlikely disguise—a giant Clifford costume—in hopes of bridging the gap between himself and the world around him, and JP Flores has always been the family’s “smart kid,” a role that becomes his armor in college—until the pressure of living up to that identity begins to crack.

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