Smologies with Alie Ward

Wolf howls, wolf packs, wolf history and more! We’re dishing up a puppy-sized and kid-friendly Smologies with lupinologist and Princeton professor Dr. Brigette vonHoldt. Learn about wolf populations, canine family dynamics, Game of Thrones direwolves, if wolves howl at the moon, myths and truths about alphas, and how you can help our lupine friends.  Follow Brigette on Bluesky Check out The vonHol...

What is happiness? How do our circumstances affect happiness? Why is the word “gratitude” kinda cringey? What can we do to feel better? Should we try to feel happy all the time? Yale cognitive scientist, Eudemonologist, and host of The Happiness Lab podcast Dr. Laurie Santos chats about how scientists measure human happiness and what their research has shown helps achieve it, even during the worst...

At long last: an episode dedicated to veterinary medicine! Dr. Terrence Ferguson & Dr. Vernard Hodges have been friends for nearly 30 years and have co-owned their rural Georgia veterinary clinic, Critter Fixers, for over 20 years. The two wonderful buddies talk about getting accepted into vet school, caring for spiders & camels & lizards & toads & kittens & doggos, the weirdest things they’ve ext...

Teeth. Tails. Pouches. This not-at-all-rodent has the distinction of being North America’s sole marsupial and so Alie hunted down lauded Opossumologist Dr. Lisa Walsh and launched an absolute torrent of giddy questions. How many ticks do they really eat, can we keep them as pets, how do they convincingly feign death, opossum vs. possum, fingerprints, orphaned babies, venom immunity, being equally...

YA LIKE BEES? You will -- after this short, edited-for-all-ages Smologies cut of our classic Melittology episode featuring urban beekeeper Amanda “Mandy” Shaw. We chat about honeybees vs. native ones, hives vs. nests, honey, how to become a beekeeper, social structures, why a queen becomes a queen, how to keep Mason bees as outdoor pets, if you should eat honey to deal with seasonal allergies, and...

Ohaaay another edited-down, classroom-friendly Smologies! About... toads! Are they frogs? Do they have arms? What do they eat? How long do they live? What’s with the warts? Amphibian enthusiast Priya Nanjappa joins with a toadally awesome episode that will change the way you crouch down and shake hands with your tiny backyard grumpa. Follow Priya on Threads and Instagram A donation went to The Amp...

Gaze into the cosmos and wonder at broken satellites, retired rockets and shattered contraptions. Archaeologist Dr. Alice Gorman is a leading expert on orbital debris and chats about what’s up there, how it got there, and how to get it down. Strap in to hear about everything from Sputnik to flaming garbage bonking us, collision potential, space harpoons and the most adorable space rubbish. Also: s...

In this throwback episode originally aired on our grown-up Ologies feed, we hear dinosaur facts and tales from a paleontologist with Dr. Michael Habib. Learn about the economics of a dino dig, his favorite beasts, cloning from amber samples, which museum dinos are real vs. fakes, Jurassic Park flimflam and more.  Follow Dr. Michael Habib on Bluesky and Instagram A donation went to nhm.org Full-len...

We’re back with another fresh episode of Smologies to light up your life and your butt. World renowned firefly expert Dr. Sara Lewis of Tufts University joins to share her love of a bug that many think is merely a mythological delight. Learn how these tiny animals illuminate the night, femme fatales, pink glowworms, secret languages, artificial lights, why Western states can chill out with their l...

Just in time to celebrate World Oceans Day, let’s dive into this fan favorite: Are plastic straws really that bad? Why is the sea salty? How do currents work? Do you have to be a marine biologist to help save the ocean? (Spoiler: No!) In a conversation with ocean and policy expert Dr. Ayana Johnson, Alie finds a balance between the wonders and the bummers. First, we learn weird ocean trivia, why w...

In this throwback to our first ever Smologies episode - originally aired on our grown-up Ologies feed - planetary geologist and selenologist Raquel Nuno chats about when the moon formed, what its made of, how moon phases work, gravity, conspiracy theories debunked, the far side of the moon, lunar caves and why she pulls out the telescope to stare at the sky every night. Raquel Nuno's website and I...

Ologies → Smologies. It’s all of the science, with none of the swearing! Smologies are shortened, kid-friendly episodes of the award-winning science podcast, Ologies, which covers topics from Toads (Bufology) to the Moon (Selenology) and everything in between. Enjoy clean and witty bite-sized science delights as host Alie Ward asks Ologists of all kinds smart – and sometimes silly – questions. Get...