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 23 min
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. Ka...
Sep 18, 2018•1 hr 21 min
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 24 min
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
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 4 min
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•44 min
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 b...
Aug 21, 2018•2 hr 39 min
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•58 min
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 24 min
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•2 hr 30 min
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 ca...
Jul 24, 2018•1 hr 17 min
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....
Jul 17, 2018•1 hr 10 min
Last week we got a big thicc primer on ol' Mars, that dusty desert doomsday cabin millions of miles away. This week, Alie continues the conversation with areologist Dr. Jennifer Buz and asks your Patreon questions about whether we could landscape Mars to look like a golf course, what a water balloon fight on Mars would be like, and if people in Jennifer's lab quote science fiction. Plus we hear directly from Kim Staney Robinson on the moral quandaries of inhabiting the red planet and explore the...
Jul 10, 2018•56 min
The Red Planet. A mysterious dusty orb millions of miles away. Our emergency escape bunker. Alie sits down with Dr. Jennifer Buz to talk about what Mars’s DEEEEAL is, why we send rovers there, good science fiction, so-so science fiction, double egg yolks, the poetry of the moon Phobos and some of the best science dreams perhaps ever recorded. Jennifer is maybe the chillest areologist on this planet and an absolute gem. You're going to want to look at Dr. Jennifer Buz's website JNNFR.BZ Info on t...
Jul 03, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Melons. Fire. Waterfights. It's finally summer and Alie's into it. So with this solo mini-ep, learn about a few ologies that are not real but should be such as aestaology (summer) & hydropolemology (waterfights). Also discussed: a few ologies that are in fact real, like cucurbitology (melons), pyrotechnology (humans chillin' and grillin' around a fire) and lampyridology (fireflies.) Just a little buffet o' facts to get you excited about summer. More episode sources & links Become a patron of Olo...
Jun 26, 2018•21 min
Why were postcards invented and why do they still exist? Why do we lie to people and say our lives are better than they are? Alie stopped into the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and talked to curator of 40 years, Donna Braden, about her work with the postcard collections -- as well as her musings about how emotions impact memory, why Americans love to hit the open road and what the biggest postcard you're allowed to mail is. Listen while riding off into the sunset or sipping tea on a po...
Jun 19, 2018•55 min
Allergies. Nose jobs. Smell nostalgia. Street drugs. Septum piercings. Snoring. Hang on to your faces because Dr. John Craig goes deep and shares why he's so passionate about rhinology. You'll have a whole new relationship with your whiffer, appreciating what happens behind your nas-holes and coming away with some strategies to combat hay fever, Afrin addiction plus: a very legal substitute for illegal party drugs. Also: why you may want to shove a crayon into your nose. Dr. John Craig's YouTube...
Jun 12, 2018•1 hr 9 min
Vocal fry. Code switching. Black Twitter. Valley girls. Culture vultures. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TALKING. Alie battles traffic to sit down with linguistics professor Dr. Nicole Holliday about intonational phonology: how tones and pitch help us bond with others and construct identities. Inspired in part by former President Barack Obama's masterful linguistic variability, Dr. Holliday's work focuses on how language is used in the crossing and construction of racial/ethnic boundaries. She graciously f...
Jun 05, 2018•1 hr 3 min
Your best friend is a hairy beast and that's something to celebrate. This episode is a little different in tone and let's just say GOOD LUCK NOT CRYING, SUCKERS. Alie sits down with "Lucky Dog" host Brandon McMillan, who cares more about saving shelter mutts than he does about the 3 Daytime Emmys he's won for doing it. Learn about his Hollywood drama-worthy backstory that led to being one of the world's most celebrated dog trainers, plus how to calm anxious pups, breeders vs. shelter rescues, an...
May 29, 2018•1 hr 17 min
Butterflies are gross. Yes they are delightful and beautiful and part of any idyllic picnic-scape but lepidopterologist, TV host and jungle explorer Phil Torres is here to gossip about how shamelessly disgusting our favorite bugs actually are. Learn their secrets, their mating habits, how they turn themselves into goo and then into another creature, what moth os the most goth, what flowers to plant to attract them, the scariest thing about the jungle and what it feels like to help discover new s...
May 22, 2018•1 hr 20 min
Peach fuzz. Chin hairs. Mammalian ponytails. WHY DO THEY HAPPEN. Yale researcher and associate professor Dr. Valerie Horsley stops by California to chat with Alie about the nature of hair and why it grows in the wrong places, the causes and remedies for hair loss, the grossest museum ever, and why we love and hate and need our hair as animals. Also: Dr. Horsely's decision to run for office and Alie's disgusting confessions, per usual. Dr. Valerie Horsely is on Facebook and Twitter The Horsely La...
May 15, 2018•1 hr 18 min
Do trees have feelings? How do they talk? How old can they get? Are there any tree stories that will make me cry? Spoiler: YES. Possibly the world's most enthusiastic tree expert, J. Casey Clapp, shows Alie his many tree tattoos, explains how roots communicate to each other, addresses "crown shyness" and schools Alie on the mental health benefits of tree proximity. Also: banana facts and Casey f*cking hates apples. Follow Casey Clapp on Instagram More episode sources & links Become a patron of O...
May 08, 2018•1 hr 29 min
FEAR. Anxiety. Stress. Dread. It's all the same dang thing, as it turns out. Biologist and fear expert Mary Poffenroth is back for Part 2 of what has been one of the most helpful interviews of ol' Alie Ward's life. Learn how super successful people approach fear, Mary’s scariest hour, plus answers to all of your questions about night terrors, self-spookery, sharks' bad PR image to how likely it is that a snake will bite your butt. Plus: the best thing about following your passions in life. If th...
May 01, 2018•59 min
Every day, your brain tries to save your life by being terrified. Thanks, brain! Also, calm the f*ck down, brain. Alie hunted down Mary Poffenroth, an expert in the biological and sociological causes/effects of fear and it is riveting. This real life FEAROLOGIST (which is a real word) talks about how fear is literally killing you, the difference between stress and fear, how to get along with your co-workers, friends, or partner better, and how to talk to your brain when it has needlessly pulled ...
Apr 24, 2018•1 hr 14 min
Hey, kiddo, it's what's INSIDE that matters -- like your guts and bones and squishy brain and intestines and stuff. Meet Dr. Varshana Gurusamy: diagnostic radiology resident, Texan and amazing person with great stories. You'll learn the difference between an MRI and an ultrasound, between a CT scan and a CAT scan and why you should not put big things in orifices that you might not be able to retrieve them unaided. You'll want to hug a radiologist ... as soon as they take their lead gonad shield ...
Apr 17, 2018•1 hr 10 min
Celebrate your lucky mutations with an episode about natural selection, agonizing boat trips, redemption stories, olde timey inter-family marriages, how much money you can make playing videos games, finch beaks, whether or not cave men are kinda hot and how to live on a small island with your soulmate. Evolutionary biologist and the director of the Moore Lab of Zoology, John McCormack, chats about all things evolution and gives Alie a new appreciation for how genetic blips can be hidden strength...
Apr 10, 2018•1 hr 1 min
Let's get intimate with the mechanics of nether parts via a frank chat with the calmest, coolest gyno in Portland, Dr. Philippa Ribbink. She visited Alie's weird hotel to chat about vaginas (vs. vulvas), self-care, mental health, imposter syndrome, trans care, childbirth, body image, the accuracy of assault statistics, grooming, hygiene and more. NO QUESTION WAS TOO DELICATE, FOLKS. Language alert: In considering the inclusion of trans women, I opted for the use of the term "women's health" and ...
Apr 03, 2018•1 hr 21 min
If you like booze, you'll love... fungus! Alie goes Rogue and takes a field trip to a brewery in Newport, OR where she smells vats of bubbling beer slop and learns about the microorganisms that are the workhorses of the brewing industry. Learn about yeasts, how beer is made, the hardest part about being a beer maker, the thick history of beer, some home brewing tips and also a nugget about bungholes. Let's get yeasty. Special thanks to Shannon Feltus and Boni Dutch for the hook-up and the road t...
Mar 27, 2018•54 min
BEES! Hives, honey, and how to keep them as outdoor pets. Meet melittologist and President of the Urban Beekeepers Association, Amanda Shaw. She and Alie cozy up in a weird hotel in Portland to chat about honeybees vs. native ones, how to become a beekeeper, social savagery that rivals Game of Thrones, if you should eat honey to deal with seasonal allergies, what happens in the drone zone (hint: boning) and how we can SAVE THESE FRIGGIN BEES. Also: what happens when 15,000 bees go through a carw...
Mar 20, 2018•1 hr 15 min
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 Park Museums. Get the hot gossip about behind-the-scenes museum life, vintage ghosts, following your dreams, changing the tone of history and the time Alie ruined a 16th Century Dutch portrait. Also: why Jack London is your new dead celebrity crush. Follow @MuseumRonnie on Instagram More episode sources & links Support Ologies on ...
Mar 13, 2018•1 hr
