Episodes

  • BREAD BAKING with Seamus Blackley
    Nov 21 2024

    Sourdough starters! Ancient yeasts! Why we need/knead dough! And why you don't need to buy a starter (or yeast!) to start. Polymath, particle physicist, inventor of the Xbox, and truly delightful fermentation nerd Seamus Blackley joins to chat about his kitchen adventures resurrecting dormant yeasts from 4,000 year old Egyptian baking vessels, plus wild yeasts, farting microbes, gas bubbles, the debt we owe our ancestors, and the joy of getting to know your dough.

    Follow Seamus on BlueSky

    A donation went to Boys and Girls Clubs of America

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Gastroegyptology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on Bluesky and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Emily White, & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    30 mins
  • FEASTS with Katherine Spiers
    Nov 14 2024

    Loosen your belts and tuck a napkin under your chin because feasting season is almost here. Katherine Spiers -- journalist, food anthropologist, editor of HowtoEatLA.com and host of the culinary history podcast Smart Mouth -- lets Alie belly up for a buffet of questions about winter gatherings, Thanksgiving myths, green bean casseroles, the hazards of deep frying, holy eels and more.

    Follow Katherine Spiers on X and Instagram

    Check out her food review site HowToEatLA.com and podcast network TableCakes Productions

    A donation went to: Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Food Anthropology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Emily White, & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    23 mins
  • CORALS with Shayle Matsuda
    Nov 7 2024

    What IS a coral? Where do they grow and what do they eat and why are they so pretty? What kind of tools do coral scientists use? Why are they so many colors? And what is bleaching? Will changing your sunscreen save coral reefs? The wonderful and charming Cnidariologist Dr. Shayle Matsuda took time out of his busy schedule during a coral spawning event to chat about how magical and beautiful coral can be and why reef health is important.

    Follow Dr. Shayle Matsuda on X

    Donations went to Paepae o He’eia and Point Foundation

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Cnidariology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek, & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    22 mins
  • CONDORS with Jonathan C. Hall
    Oct 30 2024

    To finish off SpooOoktober, we’re looking at huge birds that devour the ickiest stuff around: the giant, majestic and critically endangered California condor. Condorologist Dr. Jonathan C. Hall’s work helps monitor populations, tracks flight data, and keeps tabs on how well this small population is rebounding after going extinct in the wild in 1987. We chat carcasses, wingspans, beaks, bald heads, and more. By the end, you’ll want to gaze at the skies hoping for a sighting.

    Check out Dr. Jonathan C. Hall’s website

    Follow him on X and Instagram

    Watch the Condor Cam on the Ventana Wildlife Society website

    A donation went to BlackInAppalachia.org

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Condorology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek, & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    26 mins
  • SCREAMS with Harold Gouzoules
    Oct 25 2024

    I scream, you scream, we all scream for… a brand new, screaming hot episode of Smologies. Be warned *slaps the top of this ep* you can fit so many screams in this bad boy. (Seriously though, there’s a lot of screaming in this episode, it’s probably not the one to gently fall asleep to.) What kinds of screams you ask? We got birds, foxes, caterpillars, and of course, children. What is a scream? Is it the same as yelling? How far can you hear a scream? What makes screaming at a haunted house so fun? Join us as we hoot and holler with internationally acclaimed Emory professor of psychology Dr. Harold Gouzoules for the answers to these and so many more of your questions as we learn about the study of that most animal of vocalizations: screaming.

    Check out Dr. Gouzoules’s Emory University Bioacoustics Lab

    A donation was made to the American Diabetes Association

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Screamology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Emily White, & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    25 mins
  • ALIENS with Kevin Peter Hand
    Oct 18 2024

    ALIENS! EXTRATERRESTRIALS! MARTIANS! The phenomenal Dr. Kevin Peter Hand of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory dishes on the oceans of distant moons, methane rivers, ice crusts, the James Webb Space Telescope findings, what might be out there, aliens, what elements a planet needs to sustain life, and how finding extraterrestrial microbes would change the way we see life on this here tiny blue dot in space.

    Dr. Kevin Peter Hand's book Alien Oceans: the Search for Life in the Depths of Space

    Follow Dr. Kevin Peter Hand on X and Instagram

    Donations went to Traveling Telescope & Vermont's Manchester Rescue Squad

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Astrobiology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of Mind Jam Media & Steven Ray Morris

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Emily White, & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    22 mins
  • EATING BUGS with Julie Lesnik
    Oct 10 2024

    Bugs are cool! But are they lunch? Entomophagy Anthropologist Dr. Julie Lesnik is an expert on bug eating and enthusiastically explains how much more sustainable – and tasty? -- it is than other types of animal proteins. We talk about the human past, present and future of ingesting insects, from grasshopper tacos to ant omelettes, cricket wedding cakes, humane bug slaughter, water conservation, arthropod allergies, and cultural biases. Also: termite farts? Yes.

    Dr. Julie Lesnik's website

    A donation went to Little Herds

    To try crickets: EatChirps.com, use code Ologies10 for 10% off Chirp Chips

    Aly Moore's Bugible.com and EatBugsEvents.com

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Entomophagy Anthropology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of Mind Jam Media & Steven Ray Morris

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Emily White, & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    23 mins
  • FALL/SEASONS with Libby Ellwood
    Oct 3 2024

    The seasons are a-changin'! We’re coming up on sweater weather in both hemispheres and seasonal researcher and expert Phenologist Dr. Libby Ellwood weighs in with amazing information about why fall smells so good, why leaves change color, why some plants need to chill, bird migrations, and how global temperature shifts affect the whole food web. Bonus: a peek at the most candid, touching thoughts Alie's ever heard from a scientist studying climate. Get this one in your ears and hearts.

    Follow Dr. Libby Ellwood on X

    A donation went to SaveGPOrangutans.org

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Phenology episode + tons of science links

    More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!

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

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

    Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram

    Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram

    Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

    Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Kelly R. Dwyer, Emily White, Jacob Chaffee & Erin Talbert

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

    Show more Show less
    26 mins