It's tiny! It's beautiful! It's cold! It can kill you. Snow and avalanche expert Dr. Ned Bair meets up on a bench during a layover to chat about the beauty of snowflakes, the best ammo for snowball fights, firing cannons at mountainsides, avalanche flam-flam, the dangers of snow patrolling, a lifesaving goat-antelope, the best and worst ski movies and a mentor that changed his life. Also: bomb cyclones and some tips on excavating your car. Or just staying inside.More on Dr. Ned Bair's work This ...
Jan 15, 2019•59 min•Ep. 71
A few things are changing in the world of Ologies and I just wanted to take a few minutes in this bare-bones minisode to lay 'em out. Transcripts and bleeped versions will be available in the next month or two, donations are going to specific Ologist-chosen charities per episode, and finally, Ologies puts on big pants and has sponsors. Will I call you and talk to you about a bra? I just might. Thank you for listening, for being Ologites and friends and Patrons. I love making this podcast and I'm...
Jan 08, 2019•10 min•Ep. 69
We love them. We live with them. We are mystified by them. Alie hunted down professional cat behavior expert Dr. Mikel Delgado who dishes on everything from toilet training to feral taming to neonatal kittens to cats eating our dead bodies to domestication, toxoplasmosis, litter box strategies, cats on leashes, why they want to sit on your laptop, how to play with cat toys the right way, why cats drool, if tigers make biscuits, catnip stupors and so much more. Get inside the head of your favorit...
Jan 08, 2019•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 70
DO YOU CARE ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE? Okay cool. No matter what your diet, get this episode in your ears. Entomophagy Anthropologist Dr. Julie Lesnik -- an enthusiastic expert on bug eating -- breaks down the human past, present and future of insect cuisine for our surging population. If you're considering cutting back on meat, or if you're a vegan helping others explore more sustainable options, Dr. Lesnik will get you pumped as hell for changing mindsets. We talk about grasshopper tacos, ant omele...
Jan 01, 2019•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 68
Birds! Horned screamers! Winged pirates! Just in time for the Audubon's winter Christmas Bird Count (which goes until Jan. 5) here is an encore presentation of an early episode. Professional bird-person and all around cool dude James Maley joins Alie to talk about bird mating, monogamy, the cult of ornithology, absurd birds, parrots that are smarter than your friends' kids, a surprising fact about owl ears and history's most tragically zealous bird nerds. If you love birds, you'll be at home. If...
Dec 25, 2018•56 min•Ep. 67
Foraging, infusing, shaking, stirring: this one's got it all. How do you make weird, fancy drinks at home? How much booze should you buy for a party? What drinks do bartenders hate to make? How can you avoid a hangover? What are the best mocktails? Famed bar chef and mixologist Matthew Biancaniello tours Alie through Malibu fire aftermath and talks about his boggling backstory, why he doesn't go out much, the secret formula to making good drinks and why you shouldn't be afraid to be weird. Matth...
Dec 18, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 66
Are we crazier during a full moon? What is the Moon made of? Can we move to the Moon? Was the Moon landing a hoax? What's up with all those craters? Planetary geologist and selenologist Raquel Nuno loves the Moon and sits down to answer approximately 1 million of Alie's shameless questions. Gaze into the sky with newfound understanding and appreciation for our glowing buddy in the sky. Also: a burst bladder and a drunk moose.Raquel Nuno's website and Instagram @thespacegeologist More links at ww...
Dec 11, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 65
If you LIVE for drama, you will LOVE dead Romans. Wars, murders, opulence and uprisings: a little something for everyone. Classical Archaeologist and TV host Dr. Darius Arya dishes about priceless garbage piles, lead poisoning, ancient political scandals, pottery graveyards, unearthing sculptures, tomb discoveries, what's under European cities, and how Roman society was a little like America these days. But also a lot different. And what we can learn from it.Dr. Darius Arya's website, DariusArya...
Dec 04, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 64
LOVE YOUR GUTS. 90% of your serotonin is made in your guts and you have hundreds of trillions of friends clinging to you at all times. Microbiologist Dr. Elaine Hsiao is a total badass who runs her own lab investigating the role of the gut biome in behaviors. She sat down to chat about anxiety, depression, elusive fecal transplants, autism, epilepsy, kombucha promises, autoimmune disorders, probiotics and more. Alie fanned out pretty hard and asked all of the questions about how your beloved, si...
Nov 27, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 63
A (perhaps) much-needed refresher course on last year's gratitude minisode. As a friend of a friend's hairdresser once said: "It's hard to be hateful with a plateful of grateful." Is it? In this pre-holidays quickie episode, Alie is grumpy as hell and decides to research the neuroscience of gratitude. Does it work? Who's studying it? Does she need to buy a journal? Find out how jotting down things you don't hate on the back of a receipt or opening a secret Twitter account may be worth more than ...
Nov 20, 2018•17 min•Ep. 62
Loosen your belts and tuck a napkin under your chin because feasting season is here. Katherine Spiers -- journalist, food anthropologist and host of the wondrous culinary history podcast Smart Mouth -- lets Alie belly up for a buffet of questions about winter gatherings, Thanksgiving myths, stuffed peacocks, green bean casseroles, potato backstories, Friendsgivings, the hazards of deep frying, the eels of Jesus, some stuffing horrors and more. Listen to Smart Mouth (perhaps the episodes with Ali...
Nov 13, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 61
Doomsday. The apocalypse. The End. Join scholar, author and professional existential risk philosopher Phil Torres for a surprisingly jovial romp through different "Oops we're screwed" scenarios that will lead to the destruction of the planet or extinction of our species. (Not to be confused with lepidopterologist/butterfly man, Phil Torres.) Find out where we're at on Ye Olde Doomsday clock, if any of us should have babies, if AI will destroy us, pop-cultural Antichrists, Black Mirror, simulatio...
Nov 06, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 60
Crows have funerals? CROWS HAVE FUNERALS. The inky black bird with the big brain warns and maybe mourns around their fallen friends and Dr. Kaeli Swift is here to tell us all about it. As an avid wildlife researcher and corvid specialist, she's observed death behaviors that will shock you to your bones and ruffle your hackles -- while somehow also making you cry about peanuts. Also: so much inspiration to keep being yourself and to work hard toward what you love. She is a hero. Dr. Kaeli Swift's...
Oct 30, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 59
Have you listened to Part 1 yet? No? Go on, git. Go do that. Now if you have, this Part 2 is a bonanza of problem solving from neurologist and somnologist Dr. W. Chris Winter. He'll cover: if you should be taking sleep supplements or pills, sleep talking, apnea, why sleepiness makes us hungry, narcolepsy, the difference between insomnia and sleep deprivation, how to lucid dream, the dangers of shift work and some tactics to lull yourself to dreamland without any medications. ALSO: I share a fami...
Oct 23, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 58
Birds do it. Bees do it. Why the hell can't we do it? Called "The Sleep Whisperer," neurologist and sleep specialist Dr. W. Chris Winter joins Alie for a thrilling 2-parter about why we need sleep, the ideal amount of it, what sleep does to the brain, insomnia, sleep stages, ideal bedtime conditions, and even the historical lore around sleep paralysis. Next week, we'll answer listener questions about everything from sleeping pills to brain performance to insomnia cures to apnea to sleepwalking t...
Oct 16, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 57
(Bonus: I bleeped any curse words so you can share this episode with your kids and your grandma.)Yes, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month but Dr. Donna-Marie Manasseh spends 12 months a year as a tumor hunter, saving lives. She is brilliant, uplifting, hilarious and a hero, quite honestly. She sat down in her Brooklyn office to talk about prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, when to get screened, what to do if you feel something weird, how to look forward to mammograms, how men can help family...
Oct 09, 2018•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 56
Ever wanted to know how an episode of Ologies is made? Are you curious to learn about your host Alie Ward’s journey into science communication and beyond? If you need to know how Dad Ward does it all each week, this episode is for you.Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month: www.Patreon.com/ologies OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes!Follow @Ologies on Twitter or Instagram Follow @AlieWard on Twitter or Instagram More links at www.alieward.com Sound editing by Steve...
Oct 05, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 55
Ever poked at roadkill? Watched videos of whales exploding? Drooled over a curio cabinet full of claws & bones? Peered into a jar with a pickled toad? Then this one is for you. Arguably the world's most famous comparative anatomist (and pretty-much-also functional morphologist) Dr. Joy Reidenberg pulls up a chair at Mt. Sinai Hospital to talk about her fascinating backstory, exploding whales, taxidermied chipmunks, dead toadfish, animal's weird anatomy and its function and how it might help ...
Oct 02, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 54
Cult-leader queens. Bullet ant stings. Kitchen pest hacks. The dynamics of a billion-sister megacolony. Dr. Terry McGlynn sits down to have a BIG discussion about itty-bitty creatures. Learn about tropical ants, urban ants, how they walk on water, which ones are picky eaters, which ones make weird sounds, what ant movies are bunk, and some self-help takeaways. Also: sniffing your relatives before deciding to kill them.Dr. Terry McGlynn's website and Twitter More episode sources and links Become ...
Sep 25, 2018•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 53
After a decade of fandom, Alie finally meets famed Egyptologist Dr. Kara Cooney -- and forgets her equipment. They meet again for a spirited history lesson on ancient Egypt: the pyramids, the monarchs, the dynasties, the cats, the corpses, the curses. Kara also lays out the history of female kings and their parallels to modern Western politics, what it's like to talk to a mummy, and why we should stop overworking. Also: lost dongs and transparent toilets. This episode is one for the ages.Dr. Kar...
Sep 18, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 52
THIS IS UPLIFTING, I PROMISE. And it might just make you switch careers. As a bookend to last week's Oceanology episode, Conservation Technologist Shah Selbe chats about saving the planet with some well-intentioned technology. Wind turbines, solar cars, and all the ways in which sensors, drones, recycled smartphones and real-time data reporting can help conserve species, spaces and communities that are threatened. Hear inspiring tales of travel, art, adventure and putting engineering to good use...
Sep 11, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 51
Are plastic straws really that bad? What's the oldest message in a bottle? Any scuba vs. snorkel strategies? Does sunscreen kill coral? Can we reverse ocean warming in our lifetime? In a conversation with ocean and policy expert Dr. Ayana Johnson, Alie struggles with finding a balance between the wonders and the bummers. For the first 15-20 minutes, learn weird ocean trivia, why we love the sea, and facts about the ocean's depths and beauty. Then, we get to the sad stuff: ocean health, climate c...
Sep 04, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 50
Trains. Locomotives. Choochoos. Bullet trains. Hyperloops. Subways. How fast can they go? How did they change American history? Why do people love them? What should we do with all that abandoned track? Can you marry a train? What's it like to shovel coal into a steam engine?Alie went off the rails at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan talking to an official ferroequinologist and curator Matt Anderson -- who confessed to some youthful railroad mischief, delivered a succinct slice of U.S....
Aug 28, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 49
As a companion to Kalology (BEAUTY STANDARDS) Alie reads your thoughts about appearance and beauty culture in this, a bonus minisode. You wrote in about how make-up is a creative outlet, how beauty standards can be an oppressive time suck, about hairy pits and culture clashes, money burdens, appearances in different professions, trans and non-binary perspectives, and what you wish the next generation did differently. Y'all made Ol' Ward tear up more than once, and it's an honor to share your sto...
Aug 21, 2018•45 min•Ep. 48
We love it. We hate it. BEAUTY CULTURE.Looking good can make us feel decorated, empowered and more confident -- but why?And why are certain groups subtly told to "make-up" for their appearance?What's the line between self-care and oppression?Psychologist and beauty-researcher Dr. Renee Engeln shines a huge bright floodlight on the sometimes ugly machinery of the billion-dollar beauty and "fitness" industry. This is an episode for make-up lovers, haters and the millions of us confused about being...
Aug 21, 2018•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 47
The biggest eggs! The smallest eggs! The people arrested for stealing the most eggs! Oologist Dr. John Bates gave Alie a tour of the egg vault at the Field Museum of Chicago and it was a barrage of beautiful sights and shocking facts about bird butts. Get ready for speckly eggs, falcon tales, delicate treasures, pigeon mysteries, modern research with old artifacts, Easter bullshit, and whether or not you can hatch chickens from grocery store eggs. Also the carnival ride Alie will never ever ever...
Aug 14, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 46
75% of adult Americans have wonky vision of some kind, your host included. Longtime pal and real-life eye surgeon, Dr. Reid Wainess answers all the questions that you never bring up during appointments. He and Alie chat about how eyes are just little cameras in your skull, glasses vs. contacts, Lasik, why we cry, some boggling ER stories, how marijuana effects eyeballs, floaters, cataracts, eye color, dogs in goggles and more. Also: what happens if you choke under pressure and pick the wrong opt...
Aug 07, 2018•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 45
TWO epidemiologists-named-Erin -- and hosts of the stellar This Podcast Will Kill You -- chat with Alie about historical horror stories, THE plague, cholera cocktails, flu shots, tick bombs, milkmaids, witch trials and more as they share their infectious enthusiasm for disease ecology. How much should you wash your hands? What's the best way to flirt with a stranger on a bus? Why are people scared of vaccines? What conspiracy theory enthralls Alie? So many questions with uncomfy, but fascinating...
Jul 31, 2018•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 44
SHAAAARKS. Leading shark researcher Dr. Chris Lowe dishes about bad shark PR, behind-the-scenes Jaws trivia, his thoughts on Sharknado , surfing safety, immune system marvels, cannibal twins, shark personalities, sea sex, and knife teeth. Alie learns that sharks are not the ocean's sociopaths but true evolutionary marvels who suffer from sensationalized reputations and sometimes inside-out butts. Listen up as a science primer during this, the holy Week of the Shark.(Note: the study of sharks can...
Jul 24, 2018•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 43
Crazy dongs! Gardening tips! Snail-based beauty products! Weather the LA heatwave and slug along with Dr. Jann Vendetti of the Natural History Museum of LA County as she gossips with Alie about some sensual slug lovemaking, Gold Rush lore, urban snails, beer bingeing and why you should stop and high five (high one?) a gastropod for evolving into such an interesting critter. Also: should you adopt a rabbit-sized pet snail?Watch Dr. Vendetti on the The Curiosity Show S.L.I.M.E project at the NHM.o...
Jul 17, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 42
