Ologies with Alie Ward

When did coffee get into our mouths? Who’s right when it comes to the best coffee? What’s the most ethical way to enjoy it? What about the cats that eat the beans? How will climate change affect your morning coffee? Peter Giuliano is the executive director of the Coffee Science Foundation explains folk stories behind coffee, what makes beans taste the way they do, why cold brew and nitro feel like...

A very special encore in memory of our favorite Museologist, Ronnie Cline. In this 2018 episode, we talked about the life and work of a great dude and a good pal who passed away this morning. On the agenda of his legendary episode: Museums! Mummies! Paintings! Hot dogs! Alie sits down with her dear internet friend and museologist Ronnie Cline, who manages 30,000 artifacts over 22 California State...

Caves! Caverns! Grottos! Crystals! Let's get down and dirty with Speleology with explorer, researcher, professor, and paleoclimatologist Dr. Gina Moseley. She shares what it’s like to spend a week straight in a cave, safety tips, climate research breakthroughs, and the deepest and darkest caves. Also: stalactites, stalagmites, cave clouds, show caves, who counts as a spelunker, what ancient climat...

Forks on teeth. Lip smacking. Metal on metal. (Don’t worry, there are no sonic examples of triggers in this episode!) Why do some of us haaaate certain noises and other folks cannot comprehend how a sound could be so irritating? Let’s meet in the middle with a professional Misophonologist, clinical psychologist, and Oxford University research fellow Dr. Jane Gregory. Dr. Gregory not only has misop...

What exactly is “fun?” How will you know when you’re having it? Do introverts have special alone fun? Is it okay to seek fun in bleak times? Catherine Price is an award-winning journalist and author who spent years researching the science of fun for her book “The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.” She let me lob many questions at her including: adult vs. childhood fun, what’s the difference b...

It’s an updated mega-encore of one of my favorite episodes — with 2024 research — to learn: How many genders are there? How do you know if you’re queer? Is sexual orientation biological, and if so, how? The amazing neuroscientist and endocrinology researcher Dr. Daniel Pfau joins to share their path in academia finding the perfect research, understanding their own genderqueer identity, what animal...

Feathery gills! Adorable smiles! Cultural icons! Habitat ecology! And superhuman limb regeneration? It’s an entire episode on axolotls. You either love these aquatic salamanders, or you’ve never heard of them. Clap your tiny slimy hands for Ambystomologist Dr. Jessica Whited of Harvard Medical School’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology who raises and studies these beautiful creatures — including...

Part 2 is here! It’s wall to wall listener questions about magic mushrooms, LSD, ayahuasca ceremonies, set and setting, how mushrooms go stale, decriminalization, strains and potencies, placebos, the “Stoned Ape Theory,” neurodivergence, tripping in an MRI, recent F.D.A. hearings, astrophysics and psychedelics, and how to be a good trip sitter with a professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of M...

Magic mushrooms, LSD, ayahuasca ceremonies, DMT,  ketamine: take a trip into the science and research of hallucinogens.  Renowned psychiatry professor and psychedelics researcher Dr. Charles Grob of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center sits down to talk about ethnobotanical origins of psychedelics, how much LSD is too much LSD, what juices are squirting in the brain when you're tripping out, who should NOT...

Sexuality and disability! Invisible illnesses! Airline frustrations! How many of us are disabled! July is Disability Pride Month, and professor, researcher, activist, and Disability Sociologist Guinevere Chambers joins to bust myths and provide perspective on everything from the history of ableism to sign language to eyeglasses, the criminal justice system, caregiving, how to ask for what you need...

What exactly IS a puffin? Who are they related to? Are they disco birds? WHY are they so cute? Should you kiss one? Throw one? Are they in danger?  Get up in a blanket burrow and listen to field researcher and legit Puffinologist, Jillian Taylor, give us all the details on who eats them, if they are neat freaks or not, their surprising life expectancy, and how they make their long marriages work....

Boy howdy hot dang, Ologies has hit its 300th new episode! In celebration of this milestone, we’ve turned the tables and lead editor Mercedes Maitland hosts this episode with special guest… Alie Ward! We talk about Alie’s twists and turns finding her way into a career in science communication, selling art to child actors in LA, how she built Ologies from a small indie podcast into a chart-topping...

Part 2 of mosquitoes is here! Now that you know WHY they would like to eat you mosquito expert and Culicidologist, Dr. Fhallon Ware-Gilmore of the CDC gives us SOLUTIONS. How do we avoid bites? Why do they itch so much? Which repellents are safe for whom? What should you use in your yard? Does climate change mean an ongoing hellscape thick with mosquitos? Could Jurassic Park happen? What if mosqui...

They’re gorgeous. They’re picky moms, and tremendous flirts. They are sparkly. And they drink blood. We hopped on the line with mosquito researcher, medical entomologist, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, and Culicidologist, Dr. Fhallon Ware-Gilmore to chat about mozzies. Why do skeeters bite you, specifically? Which ones should we watch out for? Why do they make high-pitched sounds? WHA...

Clay tablets! Printing presses! Old timey audio books! Speed reading strategies! Attention spans! Dyslexia history! Literacy campaigns! Dr. Adrian Johns is an historian, professor, and author of the book “The Science of Reading” and we have a nice mellow chat about when humans started to “read,” what that means, being Hooked on Phonics, Dick, Jane, character languages, audiobooks, e-readers, schoo...

Pointy heads. Spiked arms. Tragic romance. It’s a whole episode about praying mantises with a real life Mantodeologist, Lohit Garikipati. Do they really eat hummingbirds? Are they endangered? Invasive? Smart? Extraterrestrial? Get your fill of mantid mythology, evolutionary gossip, sexual cannibalism, mantis motherhood, their alien egg cases, huge eyes, pet advice, and why they can show you the wa...

A short little episode to tell you about a change we're making to Ologies that I am genuinely very pumped about, as well as some weird secrets I did not intend to tell. But my point is that you can now have a kid-safe show and feed that is safe for kids and classrooms and a road trip with your shy parents.  Subscribe to Smologies on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Overcast , Pocket Casts , Castbox , Po...

The world is confusing, but there are experts in everything. In our least funny episode ever, we thankfully convinced a global expert, professor, researcher, author, and Genocidologist (it’s a real word) Dr. Dirk Moses to answer the questions that we may secretly have: What exactly is genocide? How long has it been happening? Is it a war crime? Is it a crime of atrocity? Who makes up humanitarian...

ANNOUNCEMENT: SMOLOGIES NOW HAS ITS OWN FEED! SUBSCRIBE  FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY THURSDAY.  Subscribe to Smologies: https://pod.link/1746567248 They are numerous. They are patient. They are COMING for the United States in droves this spring: They are cicadas. *The* Cicada guy Dr. Gene Kritsky joins to chat all about the annual cicadas you may see every summer vs. the periodical ones that cycle thro...

Mustard gossip. Knotweed recipes. Cow parsnips. Serviceberry appreciation. Hogweed warnings. Dead man’s fingers. The incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining Alexis Nikole Nelson a.k.a. @BlackForager walks us through Foraging Ecology with a ginormous bushel of tips & tricks for finding edibles at all times of the year, from blossoms to fungus. Belly up for this encore detailing invasive snacks, e...

The thrilling conclusion of PIGEONS, with Columbidologist and author Rosemary Mosco of Bird and Moon comics. It’s wall-to-wall listener questions and you’ll hear all about bonded pairs, the fate of the extinct passenger pigeon, the best cinematic pigeons, how to help their nubby feet, gender reveals gone very wrong, Las Vegas mysteries to boil your blood, and so much more. Also: did I just see a w...

You love pigeons. You might not know it yet. Espionage! Fancy breeds! Internal GPS! Weird feet! Should you be afraid of them? Should you adopt one? Pigeon advocate, comic artist and author of “A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching,” Rosemary Mosco finally joins to answer all of our questions in a beautifully mellow and melodious wall-to-wall pigeon exploration. I loved every minute of making this one...

ANNOUNCEMENT: SMOLOGIES NOW HAS ITS OWN FEED! SUBSCRIBE  FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY THURSDAY.  Subscribe to Smologies: https://pod.link/1746567248 Do trees have feelings? How do they talk? Which trees can you use to make syrup? Do bananas really grow on trees? Possibly the world's most enthusiastic tree expert, J. Casey Clapp, explains what makes coastal redwoods the coolest trees, how roots communica...

Come along like a frog in my pocket for an adventure to see an eclipse. After last week’s Heliology episode on the Sun, I rushed out of state to see what the fuss was about and to witness my first ever total eclipse of the Sun. Did it go as planned? Of course not? Did it work out? You’ll have to listen. We’ve got: a rollercoaster of emotions, last-minute pivots, chats with strangers, highway scene...

Sunset flimflam! Auroras! Eclipse tips! Let’s get to know the center of our solar system, the Sun,  as the April 8th eclipse approaches. What is it made of? How big is it? Will it explode soon? Why can’t I stare at it? And why is it wearing sunglasses? Dr. Michael Kirk and almost-Dr. India Jackson are brilliant and charming Heliologists who have both worked with NASA’s heliophysics departments. Ge...