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Alie Ward

Volcanoes. Trees. Drunk butterflies. Mars missions. Slug sex. Death. Beauty standards. Anxiety busters. Beer science. Bee drama. Take away a pocket full of science knowledge and charming, bizarre stories about what fuels these professional -ologists' obsessions. Humorist and science correspondent Alie Ward asks smart people stupid questions and the answers might change your life.

Ologies with Alie Ward

Fronds. Forest dwellers. Spores. Houseplants. Queer icons. We’ve got ferns. The charming and hilarious professor and author of “Ferns: Lessons in Survival from Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants,” Dr. Fay-Wei Li, tells me all about fern evolution, what ferns not to have in your house, the most expensive ferns, the tastiest ferns, mathematical mysteries, and a genome that makes no sense, to me or a lot of Pteridologists. Also, can Between Two Ferns save science? This episode is, in Fay-Wei’s words, “ferntastic.”

Visit Dr. Li’s lab website and follow him on Google Scholar

Buy his book, Ferns: Lessons in Survival from Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants, on Bookshop.org or Amazon

A donation went to the ASPT Herbarium Emergency Fund

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Bryology (MOSS), Domestic Phytology (HOUSEPLANTS), Neuroendocrinology (SEX & GENDER), Paleontology (DINOSAURS), Foraging Ecology (EATING WILD PLANTS, Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Dendrology (TREES), Myrmecology (ANTS), Forest Entomology (CREEPY CRAWLIES)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pteridology (FERNS) with Fay-Wei Li

Note: if you haven’t already heard it, please start with our original, May 2024 episode with Dr. Moses: 

Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) Part 1

A lot has happened since then, and author, scholar and genocide expert Dr. Dirk Moses was kind enough to return for a 2025 episode. We cover how public and legal sentiment has changed since our first episode, and discuss his recent paper, “Introduction: Gaza and the Problems of Genocide Studies,” which includes a roundtable discussion with dozens of experts. Also: some behind-the-scenes influences regarding Gaza in the media, humanitarian law precedents, munitions and the Geneva Conventions, myths, the problems surrounding the language of transgression, new research, up-to-date statistics, and how protests have been criminalized. 

Like that first Genocide episode, this one would not be possible without the input, research, producing, and additional writing of Mercedes Maitland, who joined me on this interview once again with her questions for our expert. So, huge thanks to her for that passion, hard work, and tireless advocacy for human rights. 

Donations went to Gaza Hand of Salvation Initiative and the City College of New York Colin Powell School – Student Emergency Fund

Visit Dr. Dirk Moses’s website

Read his book, “The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression”

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: 

Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) Part 1, Agnotology (IGNORANCE), Genealogy (FAMILY TREES), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION), Indigenous Fire Ecology (GOOD FIRE), Indigenous Cuisinology (NATIVE FOODS), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Bryology (MOSS), Black American Magirology (FOOD, RACE & CULTURE), Bisonology (BISON)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jake Chaffee, and Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media

Additional producing, writing, and research by Mercedes Maitland

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth 

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

NEW 2025 Interview: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) Part 2 with Dirk Moses

Bison bison! Not just something to holler into the sky, but also the scientific name for North America's majestic wild bovines. In this encore, we explore a beast that once roamed the plains in the tens of millions. What's up with their humps? On what occasion do they wear capes? What noises do they make? How many are out there? What are the best ways to help them? In this special episode, you get 4x the usual number of ologists as we talk to archeologist Dr. Ken Cannon, wildlife biologist Dr. Dan McNulty, Alie's cousin Boyd and his wife Lila Evans, of the Blackfeet Tribe, who are bison ranchers based in Northern Montana. Also, once and for all: is it buffalo or bison? And can Alie hug one?

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bisonology (BUFFALO) Encore with various bisonologists

We’re back with Dr. R.J. “Rocky” Gutiérrez to answer listeners’ questions on owls. How much wisdom lies behind those big, immovable eyes? Are owls good or bad omens? What’s their proclivity for snatching hats? Is The Staircase owl theory plausible? Is it ok to hoot back at them? What do you mean one of their toes is reversible? This episode’s got the answers, plus info on owl migration, conservation, burrowing, disco dancing, and more.

Follow Dr. Gutiérrez on Google Scholar

Donations went to the International Owl Center and Northcoast Environmental Center

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Ornithology (BIRDS), FIELD TRIP: Birds of Prey and Raptor Facts, Condorology (CONDORS & VULTURES), Plumology (FEATHERS), Corvid Thanatology (CROW FUNERALS), Chickenology (HENS & ROOSTERS), Columbidology (PIGEONS? YES), Ophthalmology (EYES), Lutrinology (OTTERS), Lemurology (LEMURS), Procyonology (RACCOONS), Opossumology (O/POSSUMS), Scatology (POOP)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 2 with R. J. Gutiérrez

OWLS. FINALLY. In no particular order: what’s up with their eyes, legs, hoots, feathers, silent flight, nests, folklore, necks, barfs, conservation status, and omens? Go take a walk or sit on a porch in the dusk and make friends with Rocky. Dr. R.J. “Rocky” Gutiérrez is a celebrated researcher, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, a legend in the owl world, and simply one of the loveliest ologists. He’ll take us on a trip next to a river, scrambling up some trees, over rocky terrain and through the forest to learn why owls are so magnetic. Yeah, I called owls the best bird. Not backing down. 

Follow Dr. Gutiérrez on Google Scholar

Donations went to the International Owl Center and Northcoast Environmental Center

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Ornithology (BIRDS), FIELD TRIP: Birds of Prey and Raptor Facts, Condorology (CONDORS & VULTURES), Plumology (FEATHERS), Corvid Thanatology (CROW FUNERALS), Chickenology (HENS & ROOSTERS), Columbidology (PIGEONS? YES), Ophthalmology (EYES), Lutrinology (OTTERS), Lemurology (LEMURS), Procyonology (RACCOONS), Opossumology (O/POSSUMS), Scatology (POOP)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 1 with R.J. Gutiérrez

Metal poisons. Odorless ones. Toxic plants. Iocane powder, arsenic, old lace, poisons as self-defense, black mirrors, Aqua Tofanas, movie myths, and the start of testing for that which ails or kills you: we’ve got Historical Toxicology with Pulitzer Prize-winning science author & chemistry connoisseur Deborah Blum. She wrote the beloved “Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York” and takes us through a spooky walk in time, when chemistry was magic and homicide was an easier feat.

Visit Deborah Blum’s website and follow her on Instagram

Buy her books including The Poison Squad and The Poisoner’s Handbook on Amazon or Bookshop.org

Donations went to World Central Kitchen and Earthjustice

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Toxinology (JELLYFISH VENOM), Medusology (JELLYFISH), Alligator Ecotoxicology (GATOR POISONS), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT), Conotoxinology (CONE SNAIL VENOM), Scorpiology (SCORPIONS), Kalology (BEAUTY STANDARDS), Victimology (CRIME VICTIMS), Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT), Mycology (MUSHROOMS), Foraging Ecology (EATING WILD PLANTS)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Historical Toxicology (OLD TIMEY POISONS) with Deborah Blum

What is evil? Who is evil? Does evil exist? Who decides? Can we scream over turkey at grandma’s house? Let’s chat Critical Ponerology with scholar, professor, author of Evil: A Critical Primer, and a gem of a person, Dr. Kenneth MacKendrick of the University of Manitoba. He’s been teaching courses on the notion of evil for 25 years and it’s a much deeper rabbit hole than you’d ever expect. So rub your fingers together and enjoy a discussion about different cultural approaches to evil, if your toddler is evil, vampires, angry mobs seeking vigilante justice, news personalities saying unhinged things, and subjects vs. objects. Also: why you should be nicer to your coffee table. 

Get Dr. MacKendrick’s book, Evil: A Critical Primer, on Amazon or Bookshop.org

A donation went to North Point Douglas Women’s Centre

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Demonology (EVIL SPIRITS), Vampirology (VAMPIRES), Teratology (MONSTERS), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Momiology (MUMMIFICATION), Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT), Disinfectiology (BLEACH), Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Medieval Codicology (WEIRD OLD MANUSCRIPT ART & MEMES & SNAILS), Victimology (CRIME VICTIMS), Artificial Intelligence Ethicology (WILL A.I. CRASH OUT?)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Critical Ponerology (WHAT IS “EVIL”?) with Kenneth MacKendrick

Cockroach milk for Spooktober. STAY HERE. Don’t tell me you like haunted houses and slasher films but can’t listen to a lovely conversation about how cockroaches make milk to feed their young. It’s one of the most nutritious substances on Earth, and I own some. Sort of. Coem along for a brief and enthralling discussion from two researchers, Dr. Joshua Benoit and Dr. Sinead English, all about why and how some insects give live birth and nurse their young. What does it taste like? Will we replicate it for barista use? And why didn’t I get to eat any on TV? 

Watch Alie with bugs on her Tonight Show segment

Blattodeology (COCKROACHES) episode with Dr. Dominic Evangelista

Learn about Dr. Josh Benoit’s lab and Dr. Sinead English’s lab

More cockroach sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Entomology (INSECTS), Mantodeology (PRAYING MANTISES), Odonatology (DRAGONFLIES), Discard Anthropology (GARBAGE), Forest Entomology (CREEPY CRAWLIES), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Fearology (FEAR), Entomophagy Anthropology (EATING BUGS), Speleology (CAVES)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Produced by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions

Editing by Mercedes Maitland and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bonus Episode: COCKROACH MILK with Joshua Benoit and Sinead English

Dazzling colors. Remote habitats. Gentle parenting. Fantastic genitalia. And yeah, swimming through sewers to surprise you. It’s cockroaches and I promise you will find something to love about them in this chat with cockroach evangelist and Blattodeologist Dr. Dominic Evangelista. Which are the prettiest? Are roaches better at raising kids than you? How do roach scientists feel about the ones in kitchens? How does one catch a cockroach in a dark rainforest? Can roaches pull a Ratatouille and steal our hearts with a casserole? Dominic explains it all. I swear they can be lovable, OKAY?

Visit Dr. Evangelista’s Roach Brain Lab and follow him on iNaturalist and Google Scholar

A donation went to Teach for America and Entomologists of Color

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: 

Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Entomology (INSECTS), Mantodeology (PRAYING MANTISES), Odonatology (DRAGONFLIES), Discard Anthropology (GARBAGE), Forest Entomology (CREEPY CRAWLIES), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Fearology (FEAR), Entomophagy Anthropology (EATING BUGS), Speleology (CAVES)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Blattodeology (YES, COCKROACHES) with Dominic Evangelista

Mudbank bones. River wrecks. Salty seas. Pink ponds. Poison dust devils. Steamy streams.. It’s Haunted Hydrology with your favorite Spooky Lakes ambassador, the artist and author Geo Rutherford who is widely known as Geodesaurus. Geo covers the dark history of The Great Lakes, a stump that controls the weather, the what and why of a good lagoon, the field excursions she’s been on for research, the lakes she wants to see the most, and how a drought can shiver your spine. It’s a Spooktober spectacular, folks. It’s Haunted Hydrology. 

 

Ologies live show tickets for Monday Nov. 17 at the Bell House 

Visit Geo Rutherford’s website and follow her on TikTok and Instagram

Visit Geo Rutherford’s website and follow her on TikTok and Instagram

Buy Geo’s Spooky Lakes Books including her new coloring book and 2026 calendar

Visit SpookyLakes.com to buy stickers, pins, prints and more designed by Geo 

A donation went to the Alliance for the Great Lakes

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Maritime Archaeology (SHIPWRECKS), Speleology (CAVES), Oceanology (OCEANS), Disasterology (DISASTERS), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Environmental Microbiology (TESTING WASTEWATER FOR DISEASES), Ichthyology (FISHES), Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES), Ethnoecology (NATIVE PLANTS)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Haunted Hydrology (SPOOKY LAKES) with Geo Rutherford

Part 2 of a very special duo! The fresh catch-up interview to learn what the world’s most charming and enthusiastic tree expert, Casey Clapp, has been up to since his 2018 episode aired. He’s been busy. Listen to hear if he’s gotten more pine cone tattoos, what other trees he hates, which ones he gives 10/10, musical blunders, winter pagan traditions, and why trees may play a huge role in his personality. Also: his new podcast for your ears and heart. 

Follow Casey Clapp at Instagram.com/Clapp4Trees and his new podcast Instagram.com/arbortrarypod

Sponsor links: www.alieward.com/ologies-sponsors

A donation went to EcoTrust.org 

Listen to Completely Arbortrary: https://linktr.ee/arbortrarypod/

Casey's tattoo artist, Shawn Hebrank at Blood Root: https://www.instagram.com/bloodroottattoo

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 twitter.com/ologies or instagram.com/ologies

Follow twitter.com/AlieWard or instagram.com/AlieWard

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Support the show: http://Patreon.com/ologies

 
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Part 2: Dendrology (TREES) with Casey Clapp -- UPDATES + NEW INTERVIEW

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