The character arc of Dianna Cowern
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 4 May 1989 and raised on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. Between then and now sit a childhood fascinated by mathematics, a small private school with eighty pupils in her year, two physics teachers she credits with the whole thing, a physics degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011, a channel started that October, a video competition in 2014 judged by fifth-graders, a television partnership from 2015, a Webby Award in 2018, an end to that partnership in 2020, long COVID from July 2022, a hospital admission in March 2023, an asteroid named after her in March 2025, and a return in 2026. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Dianna Cowern?
She explained the world to millions. Then she could not stand up.
She grew up on Kauai and was fascinated by mathematics through most of her early education. She went to a small private school with eighty pupils in her high school year, and credits two physics teachers with sparking her interest in the subject. She was inspired by watching Neil deGrasse Tyson and became interested in science communication then, before she had done any of it. She was a commended student in a national scholarship programme in her junior year, and went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to read physics, graduating in 2011.
She started the channel on 21 October 2011, shortly after finishing college. The first video was called what to do with a physics degree, which is a very honest place to begin. In 2014 she won the top prize in a video competition whose topic was what is colour, judged by fifth-graders, which is the hardest audience there is. The channel took off around then.
A public broadcaster began producing it in 2015, when she had about thirty five videos and a hundred and twenty five thousand subscribers, and it became her full-time job. By 2017 they were making thirty two videos a year. She filmed a skateboarder to explain axes of rotation and a musical Tesla coil act to explain electromagnets. She hosted a national science fair in 2019 and won a Webby Award for best web personality in 2018. The partnership ended in September 2020 and she carried on independently. By 2022 she was one of the most subscribed science communicators on the internet.
She married in May 2022. In July 2022 she developed long COVID. She was hospitalised in March 2023 as her symptoms worsened, her sister set up a donation fund, and she was housebound and unable to produce videos. That is nearly four years of a career built entirely on showing up on camera, with no camera.
She has kept reporting. In a video in January 2025 she said she was able to stand on her own for short periods. In May 2025 she posted that she had improved significantly. In March 2025 an asteroid was named after her in recognition of her science communication, while she was still largely housebound, and she returned to making videos in 2026.
The moments
Dianna Cowern's timeline.
The 1980s
Born, and raised on Kauai
Everyday. An island, and a child who liked numbers.
The 2000s
Two physics teachers
Milestone, and it changed everything. Two teachers in a school of eighty, and a presenter on a screen.
A commended student
Milestone. Noticed, in a very small school.
The 2010s
A physics degree from MIT
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A physics degree from the hardest place to get one.
The channel starts
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first video is literally about not knowing what to do next.
Judged by ten year olds
Milestone, and it changed everything. The judges were children, which is the only honest test.
A physics career, or explaining it
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: explain it, taken, or do physics. She became one of the most subscribed science communicators on the internet, won a Webby Award, and had an asteroid named after her.
A broadcaster picks it up
Milestone, and it changed everything. Thirty five videos in, and it became a living.
Thirty two videos a year
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Thirty two a year, each one taking up to a week.
A Webby Award
Milestone, and it changed her direction. The award, and then the list, and then the hosting job.
The 2020s
The partnership ends
Setback, and it changed her direction. Back to funding it herself, after five years.
She marries
Milestone. Married, and at the top of her trade.
Long COVID
Setback, and it changed everything. Two months after the wedding, and the work stopped.
Hospitalised
Setback, and it changed everything. It got worse before anything else happened.
Standing, for short periods
Milestone, and it changed everything. Standing up, reported as news, because it was.
An asteroid, named after her
Milestone, and it changed everything. A rock in space, named while she was mostly in one room.
Back to making videos
Milestone, and it changed everything. Nearly four years, and then a camera again.
An asteroid was named after her while she was too ill to stand for long. What she set moving is a body of work that kept teaching people physics through years she could not add to it, and a public account of being ill that does not pretend to know how it ends.
Your turn
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Hers stops almost completely for nearly four years, and the line is still going. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Dianna Cowern: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
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Where does this timeline of Dianna Cowern's life come from?
More character arcs
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Sources
- Dianna Cowern, English Wikipedia biography.
- Her own video updates in January and May 2025 about standing and about improving.
- International Astronomical Union records for the naming of asteroid 21943 Diannacowern on 17 March 2025.
- No medical detail is given beyond what she has said publicly herself, and nothing is predicted about her recovery.