On her first day working in the Obama White House, microbiologist Jo Handelsman receives some bad news, and after a confrontation with a student, math teacher Sage Forbes-Gray begins to question whether she's the ally she thought she was.

Science educator Charlie Cook experiments with coming out to students, and marine biologist Shayle Matsuda adapts to his new identity as a transgender man while on assignment in the Philippines.

Journalist Arielle Duhaime-Ross finds common ground with an Alaskan community struggling with climate change, and Costa Rican ecologist Marco Quesada sees a new side of his country when he travels to Chira Island.

After her father, a well-known intellectual, passes away, neurobiologist Eva Higginbotham tries to live up to his academic standards, and Nisse Greenberg travels home to care for his father after a brain injury.

Writer Alison Smith reconnects with her estranged father after he develops Alzheimer's disease, and science journalist Peter Brannen mourns the loss of his mother while studying the earth’s biggest mass extinction.

Growing up, Moni Avello struggles to understand her younger sister, who has Asperger's syndrome, and for Morgan Givens, the onset of puberty feels like an alien invasion. 

Chase Masterson's role on Star Trek Deep Space 9 inspires her to think about how she can help others, and Bethany Van Delft and her fiance reckon with the zombie apocalypse.

Growing up, Amanda Gorman is determined to eliminate her speech impediment, and as an aspiring scientist brought up in a family of artists, Elisa Schaum feels like a black sheep.

Marine biologist Jessica Hoey tries to keep her daughter’s belief in mermaids alive, and Jamie Brickhouse begins to notice some startling changes in his mother's behavior.

Mathematician and comic book writer Jason Rodriguez feels torn between cultural and professional identities, and as a graduate student, Josh Silberg begins to question whether he's cut out for science.