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Smologies with Alie Ward

Alie Ward

Smologies with Alie Ward

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.

Parent info: Smologies with Alie Ward is recommended for ages 6-10 and 11 plus. It's an Episodic show that can be listened to in any order. Made in the USA, it's about Science and Education for kids. Launched in 2024, it has 1 season.

There are 110 episodes

Episodes
The most recent appears first.

  • SECRET CODES with Simon Singh

    26 min 26 June 2026 Listened

    Secret ciphers. Hidden treasure. Mysterious manuscripts. And … hog Latin. Cryptology expert and author of “The Code Book,” Simon Singh finally lets me ask him about Indigenous code-talking war heroes, hidden messages, extinct languages, the oldest of codes and…

  • CAPYBARAS with Elizabeth Congdon

    26 min 18 June 2026 Listened

    CAPYBARAS! Blocky faces. Chill vibes. Spa days. Finally. Hydrochoerologist, Dr. Elizabeth Congdon, leads us into the muddy pond of these beloved giant rodents. We chat weird feet, smelly noses, pet questions, interspecies hangouts, natural habitats, and a foss…

  • THE HEART with Herman Taylor

    25 min 12 June 2026 Listened

    It beats. It throws blood. It breaks – but not if Dr. Herman Taylor can help it. Cardiology is a vast field but Dr. Taylor joined for a 101 on how the heart works, and how to take care of it. Get pumped for valves, tubes, electrical shocks, heavy metal hearts,…

  • DRAGONFLIES with Jessica Ware

    26 min 5 June 2026 Listened

    They’re acrobatic fliers with long bodies and veined wings and their babies breathe through their butts: dragonflies. Let’s get into the difference between a damselfly and dragonfly, how fast they dart around, how big they were in the age of the dinosaurs, and…

  • ATLATLS with Angelo Robledo

    29 min 29 May 2026 Listened

    Spears! Sharp rocks! Ancient tools, bows and arrows and ...atlatls? What’s an atlatl? Experimental archaeologist and decades-long ancient tool enthusiast Angelo Robledo is as passionate as an ologist can get. You likely have never heard of an atlatl, but by th…

  • GAR with Solomon David

    27 min 21 May 2026 Listened

    A long snout. Hundreds of teeth. Scales that could slice you. What is a gar and should we fear it? Should we hug it? One of the world’s most passionate and knowledgeable experts on this ancient, mysterious fish joins to make you fall in love with these slimy l…

  • ROCKS with Schmitty Thompson

    29 min 15 May 2026 Listened

    What is a rock? How big is a boulder? Why are they pretty and heavy? It’s rock talk with a true enthusiast, the charming and beloved Geologist Schmitty Thompson. Schmitty walks us through different types of rocks, minerals, crystals, geodes, roadside wonders, …

  • SQUIRRELS with Karen Munroe

    30 min 7 May 2026 Listened

    Flying squirrels. Ground squirrels. Tree squirrels. Giant squirrels. Tiny ones. Grey ones. Red ones. Fluorescent ones? Alie is losing her mind talking to dream guest and Sciuridologist, Dr. Karen Munroe. This Baldwin Wallace University professor has studied sq…

  • BASKET WEAVING with James C. Bamba

    27 min 30 April 2026 Listened

    Thorny leaves! Geometric recipes! Watertight weaves! Tiny sculptures! Making cool stuff from invasive vines! Renowned weaver and teacher James C. Bamba shares how he connected more deeply with his Mariana Island heritage through weaving, how to know when plant…

  • JELLYFISH with Rebecca Helm

    26 min 23 April 2026 Listened

    What even *is* a jellyfish?! How do they eat? What are they made of? Do they breathe? Where are their brains? Your new favorite Medusologist, Dr. Rebecca Helm, is a ray of human sunshine in the depths of the deep sea. Truly one of the finest biology conversati…

  • EARTH SAVING with Shah Selbe

    27 min 16 April 2026 Listened

    Let’s get ready for Earth Day with this uplifting chat about saving the planet with some well-intentioned technology. Conservation Technologist Shah Selbe fills us in on all the ways in which sensors, drones, recycled smartphones and real-time data reporting c…

  • CAROB with Megan Lynch

    25 min 3 April 2026 Listened

    You might only know carob as not-chocolate, which is a tragedy of its disco-era branding. This tough, gnarly, drought-resistant plant is the real-life Giving Tree, explains passionate carobologist Megan Lynch. Dripping with leathery banana-shaped legume pods, …

  • NOSES with John Craig

    25 min 26 March 2026 Listened

    Allergies. Sinuses. Cartilage. Smell nostalgia. Snoring. Hang on to your faces because Dr. John Craig goes deep and shares his passion for rhinology. You'll have a whole new relationship with your whiffer, appreciating what happens behind your nostrils and why…

  • PRAYING MANTISES with Lohitashwa Garikipati

    27 min 19 March 2026 Listened

    Pointy heads. Spiked arms. Genius disguises. It’s a whole episode about praying mantises with a real life Mantodeologist. Do they really eat hummingbirds? Are they extraterrestrial? How can you convince them to visit your garden? Get your fill of evolutionary …

  • CAVES with Gina Moseley

    26 min 12 March 2026 Listened

    Caves! Caverns! Grottos! Crystals! Let's get down and dirty with Speleology with explorer, researcher, professor, and paleoclimatologist Dr. Gina Moseley. We discuss the deepest and darkest caves, who counts as a spelunker, what’s a stalactite, what’s a stalag…

  • CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS with Katherine Hatcher

    25 min 6 March 2026 Listened

    Ahh, Daylight Savings Time: Does it mess with us? What time should you go to bed? How dark is dark enough? The wonderful and hilarious Dr. Katherine Hatcher got her PhD in hormones, sleep cycles and circadian rhythms, and helps Alie understand why she should m…

  • FIELDWORK with Corina Newsome

    26 min 26 February 2026 Listened

    Early mornings. Stunning vistas. Flood-ready bird nests. Semi-aquatic rats. Cute but invasive snails. Human-sucking mud holes. The long-awaited episode with bird nerd Corina Newsome is finally here and we talk all about the day-to-day-realities of being a Wild…

  • MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY with Joseph Saunders

    26 min 19 February 2026 Listened

    Lights! Cameras! Arachnids! And lizards and bees and beetles. Macro photography is like magic: curved glass gives an entirely new take on the world, from dust on a cricket’s brow to a curious mantid stare to the elegant symmetry of spider whiskers. Joseph Saun…

  • VOICE BOXES with Ronda Alexander

    25 min 16 February 2026 Listened

    Voices! Singing! Anxiety busters! Breathing! Pull up a seat for kid voices, aging voices, hormones, hidden anatomy, why we sound the way we do, opera singing, high notes, low notes, marine mammal notes and more with your new favorite Laryngologist, Dr. Ronda A…

  • TARDIGRADES with Paul Bartels

    26 min 29 January 2026 Listened

    Smaller than you can imagine. Potato-shaped. Mysterious. Misunderstood. And tough enough to survive the vacuum of space or decades of desiccation. Join professor and Tardigradologist Dr. Paul Bartels to saunter into a microscopic wonderland of bizarrely long n…

  • MEAT-EATING PLANTS with Hali’a Eastburn

    25 min 23 January 2026 Listened

    Venus flytraps. Pitcher plants. Bladderworts. Sundews. Get ready to hear about physics, chemistry, biology and more, because we’re doing meat-eating plants with conservation ecologist and carnivorous phytobiologist, Hali’a Eastburn. Why do they love bogs? How …

  • GARBAGE with Robin Nagle

    25 min 15 January 2026 Listened

    Landfills! Composting! Recycling flimflam! An instantly classic conversation with the incredibly knowledgeable, frank and wonderful Dr. Robin Nagle: a clinical professor, author, TED speaker and former New York City sanitation worker and truly the best person …

  • LEMURS with Lydia Greene

    25 min 9 January 2026 Listened

    How did these tree-hopping furry angels evolve to be the cutest thing in the world, objectively speaking? They have saucer eyes, wet noses, chunky tails, toe claws, matriarchies, a feature film starring role, and all the mystery of 100 species spending million…

  • THE SUN with India Jackson & Michael Kirk

    31 min 1 January 2026 Listened

    Sunspots! Solar storms! Photons! Magnetic fields! Let’s get to know the center of our solar system: the Sun. What is it made of? How big is it? How old is it? When will it explode? How does its light reach your eye? What kind of star is it? How do they form an…

  • PENGUINS with Tom Hart

    25 min 25 December 2025 Listened

    Do penguins have flippers or wings? What’s up with pebble gifts? Are they squishy or dense? And why why why are they so cute?  We sit down with renowned penguinologist Dr. Tom Hart, a research fellow with Oxford University, to chat all about life on Antarctica…

  • WEATHER with Marshall Shepherd

    25 min 18 December 2025 Listened

    Polar vortices! Atmospheric rivers! Cold fronts! Warm fronts! Hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones… Wait, what’s the difference anyway? One of the world’s leading Meteorologists, Dr. Marshall Shepherd – a former NASA scientist and current Professor of Geography and …

  • TREES with J. Casey Clapp

    25 min 11 December 2025 Listened

    Do trees have feelings? How do they talk? Which trees can you use to make syrup? Do bananas really grow on trees? Possibly the world's most enthusiastic tree expert, J. Casey Clapp, explains what makes coastal redwoods the coolest trees, how roots communicate …

  • GORILLAS with Tara Stoinski

    25 min 4 December 2025 Listened

    Gorillas. These chest-beating, salad-munching, communal living, thick-furred beauties have so many surprises for you. Gorillaologist (IT’S A WORD) Dr. Tara Stoinski has been a gorilla scientist for three decades and dishes on everything from forest farts, bana…

  • HAIR with Valerie Horsely

    25 min 27 November 2025 Listened

    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 what it has to do with skin and nails, stem cells, how it grows, why…

  • GRATITUDE with Neil Pasricha

    25 min 20 November 2025 Listened

    Gratitude: what’s the deal? Does it really make us happier? Or is being appreciative a bunch of hokey flim-flam? Author Neil Pasricha started a blog of 1000 Awesome Things in 2008 and it led him down rabbit holes looking into the science of gratitude and how t…

  • INDIGENOUS COOKING with Mariah Gladstone

    24 min 13 November 2025 Listened

    Dig in for a bite-sized episode about how native foods aren’t just a part of a past, but an essential and exciting aspect of the future. We talk flower bulbs, acorns, sunflower butter popcorn, frybread debates, mushroom foraging tips, corn magic, puffball myth…

  • SEALS & WALRUSES with Luis A. Hückstädt

    25 min 6 November 2025 Listened

    Seals. Sea lions. Walruses. What’s the difference, and how can you tell which is which? Spoiler: you’ll find out in this episode. We sit down with Dr. Luis A Hückstädt and talk about blubber, ocean currents, whisker tech, tail nubbins and what’s up with elepha…

  • SPIDERWEBS with Randy Lewis

    25 min 30 October 2025 Listened

    Invisible but stronger than steel. Complex architectural marvels. Things that stick to your face. Spiderwebs are much more than just Halloween decor or something to feather dust from your corners. Spider silk expert Dr. Randy Lewis of Utah State University not…

  • CANDY with Susan Benjamin

    27 min 23 October 2025 Listened

    Licorice opinions! Chocolate rations! Candy corn origins! The incredibly charming author, journalist, candy historian, and Confectiologist Susan Benjamin chats about everything from the sourest of sour candies, ancient chewing gum, sugar sources from beets to …

  • BATS with Merlin Tuttle

    28 min 16 October 2025 Listened

    “People fear most what they understand least." Words of wisdom from explorer, American treasure, and bat expert Dr. Merlin Tuttle. Alie headed to the bat capital of Austin and sat down with the legendary chiropterologist to discuss what a bat actually is and w…

  • PUMPKINS with Anne Copeland

    25 min 9 October 2025 Listened

    PUMPKIN PUMPKIN! Not only a thing to scream while passing a patch, but also the name of the book by author and human delight Anne Copeland. Yes, she's so charmed by pumpkins that she dedicated a whole book to exploring their folklore, history, planting protoco…

  • PELICANS with Juita Martinez

    25 min 2 October 2025 Listened

    Spine mysteries, face purses, limericks, flim flam, flags, divebombs, sibling rivalries, and more! The warm and wonderful pelicanologist Juita Martinez studies these glorious dinosaurs and shares what it’s like to hold a floofy baby sea bird, how these birds’ …

  • MUSHROOMS with Tom Volk

    24 min 26 September 2025 Listened

    Mushrooms! Spores! Fairy rings! Humongous fungus! The incredibly charming and warm Dr. Tom Volk, world-renowned mushroom expert, welcomes Alie into his office to dive deep into the underground world of fungal enthusiasts: Giant communication networks, glow-in-…

  • ANCIENT ROME with Darius Arya

    24 min 18 September 2025 Listened

    Classical Archaeologist and TV host Dr. Darius Arya joins us to dish about priceless garbage piles, pottery graveyards, tomb discoveries, what's under European cities, ancient spa days, ingenious construction methods, and unlikely laundry techniques. Plus, wha…

  • STORYTELLING with John Bucher

    25 min 11 September 2025 Listened

    Fairy tales. Fables. Heroes’ journeys. Star Wars. Disney princesses. And yes, some ancient Greek and Roman myths. Professional mythologist and screenwriting consultant John Bucher spins some yarns and unravels some mysteries behind what makes a good story and …

  • CARNIVORES with Rae Wynn-Grant

    25 min 4 September 2025 Listened

    Ah, charismatic megafauna! Teeth, claws, fur, poop, hibernation, hiking, nature preserves, and living your childhood dreams with Alie’s longtime -ologist crush, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant. The large carnivore ecologist, researcher and TV presenter tells us all about h…

  • POSTCARDS with Donna Braden

    25 min 28 August 2025 Listened

    Why were postcards invented and why do they still exist? Why do we fib about our vacations and say they’re 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…

  • PROTEINS & DNA with Raven “The Science Maven” Baxter

    25 min 21 August 2025 Listened

    This one’s got it all: teeny tiny cellular factories, mitochondrial relevancy, what big smelly vats of poop have to do with curing cancer, how many trips to the sun your unravelled DNA could make, and mysteries of the brain. Dr. Raven The Science Maven has a b…

  • BUTTERFLIES with Phil Torres

    25 min 14 August 2025 Listened

    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 se…

  • EYEGLASSES with Jenny Benjamin & Nadia Sledge

    29 min 7 August 2025 Listened

    When were glasses invented? What happened back then if your horse stepped on them? How is the digital age changing adults’ and kids’ vision? The first half of this special episode about Optical Technology features the charmingly hilarious director of the Museu…

  • FEATHERS with Allison Shultz

    25 min 31 July 2025 Listened

    Plumage! Dance battles! Possible holographic disco birds? Natural History Museum of LA ornithology curator Dr. Allison Shultz is a professional plumologist aka feather expert. We visit the museum’s collection of rare specimens and chat about everything from fo…

  • FUN with Catherine Price

    24 min 24 July 2025 Listened

    What exactly is “fun?” How will you know when you’re having it? What’s a fun magnet? Catherine Price is an award-winning journalist and author who spent years researching the science of fun for her book “The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.” She let me l…

  • COMPUTER PROGRAMMING with Iddris Sandu

    25 min 17 July 2025 Listened

    At just 22, Iddris Sandu’s life story was already legendary. This Architectural Technologist learned to program at the age of 11 and has worked with everyone from Kanye West to Nipsey Hussle to Space X. In this episode from 2020 we talk coding, holograms, what…

  • SHARKS with Chris Lowe

    25 min 10 July 2025 Listened

    SHAAAARKS. Leading shark researcher Dr. Chris Lowe dishes about why sharks get a bad rap, antibiotic mucus, 120 year old teenagers, eye lasers, and how to snooze when you’ve got to keep swimming. Alie learns that sharks are not the ocean's bad guys but true ev…

  • SCORPIONS with Lauren Esposito

    25 min 3 July 2025 Listened

    Scorpions: the victims of undue shade. A handful of people on planet Earth have a PhD in scorpions and Dr. Lauren Esposito is one of them. She spills the beans on how venom works, what's up with the blacklight glow effect, how dangerous they *really* are, what…

  • ISLANDS with Andy Kraemer

    25 min 26 June 2025 Listened

    What IS an island? How do birds and plants and mammals GET there? What happens when they stay? Dr. Andy Kraemer studies how life populates and survives on hunks of remote rock and chats all about the Galapagos Islands -- where he does his research. We address …

  • CLOUDS with Rachel Storer

    25 min 19 June 2025 Listened

    Cumulus! Lenticular! Venti sugar-free stratocumulus stratiformis translucidus undulatus! Those light and fluffy things that hang overhead weigh thousands of pounds and form under all kinds of conditions. Cloud doctor and nephologist Dr. Rachel Storer chats abo…

  • OTTERS with Chris J. Law

    26 min 12 June 2025 Listened

    It’s time. Otters. Sea otters. River otters. Big beefy otters. Tiny otters. Giant river otters. Dr. Chris J. Law, a professional Lutrinologist, shares tales about coastal vs. inland otters, magical teeth, lustrous fur, rock pockets, kelp naps, hand holding, to…

  • AGING with Caleb Finch

    20 min 5 June 2025 Listened

    How long can we live? How much of aging is genetics vs. environment? How old are your cells? What can we learn from the world’s oldest people? World-renowned aging expert and biogerontologist Dr. Caleb "Tuck" Finch takes a quick break from his prolific researc…

  • SQUIDS with Sarah McAnulty

    28 min 29 May 2025 Listened

    Squids. Cuttlefish. Octopusseseses. The world's most impassioned squid nerd, Sarah McAnulty, picks Alie up in her squidmobile to talk about raising cephlopods from eggs, their personalities, camouflage, invisibility cloaks, and why she is so charmed by squid. …

  • MARS with Jennifer Buz

    21 min 22 May 2025 Listened

    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, the poetry of the moon Phobos, Martian sunsets and whether we could…

  • SOIL with Lydia Jennings

    25 min 15 May 2025 Listened

    Soil! Dirt! Earth. Dr. Lydia Jennings, aka Native Soil Nerd, breaks down the stuff under our feet and explains everything from electrons in soil to why it can be different colors. Also: medicine from microbes, dirt versus soil, why we should care about the gro…

  • POOP with Rachel Santymire

    22 min 1 May 2025 Listened

    Yep. Here it is. A kid-friendly episode on… poop. Camel poop. Rhino poop. Dog poop. Cat poop. Your poop. The charming and informative Dr. Rachel Santymire -- aka Dr. Poop -- has a background in animal physiology and endocrinology and is elbow deep in dung as a…

  • CICADAS with Gene Kritsky

    25 min 24 April 2025 Listened

    They are numerous. They are patient. They are COMING for the United States in droves this spring: They are cicadas. *The* Cicada guy Dr. Gene Kritsky joins to chat all about the annual cicadas you may see every summer vs. the periodical ones that cycle through…

  • EGGS with John Bates

    25 min 17 April 2025 Listened

    The biggest eggs! The smallest eggs! The rarest 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, pointy eggs…

  • LIGHTNING with Chris Giesige

    22 min 10 April 2025 Listened

    Thunder and lightning: very, very frighteningly interesting! Wildfire researcher and lightning scientist Chris Giesige answers questions about thunderclaps and lightning flashes in a laid back way that will put him at the top of your Fulminologist list. He exp…

  • AXOLOTLS with Jessica Whited

    27 min 3 April 2025 Listened

    Feathery gills! Adorable smiles! Cultural icons! Habitat ecology! And superhuman limb regeneration? It’s an entire episode on axolotls. You either love these aquatic salamanders, or you’ve never heard of them. Clap your tiny slimy hands for Ambystomologist Dr.…

  • SHIPWRECKS with Chanelle Zaphiropoulos

    25 min 27 March 2025 Listened

    Ahoy matey, we’ve brought ye another ensmol’d episode of Ologies, this time on: Shipwrecks. We get to talk with maritime archaeologist and wreck nerd Chanelle Zaphiropoulos about her experiences with Shipwrecks, treasure, carbon dating, admirals worth admiring…

  • MOSS with Robin Wall Kimmerer

    25 min 20 March 2025 Listened

    An instant classic. You’ll listen on repeat as world-renowned author, botanist, Indigenous ecology professor and bryologist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about her passion for moss. Cozy up for the most beautifully doled-out information about hidden worlds, fo…

  • MAGIC & WORD PUZZLES with David Kwong

    25 min 13 March 2025 Listened

    Crosswords! Puzzles! Magic? Ah yes, world-renowned Enigmatologist David Kwong drops in to chat about the intersection of sleight of hand and brain games, covering everything from tips for solving crosswords to how to get away with a surprise party unsuspected.…

  • MAMMALS with Danielle N. Lee

    24 min 6 March 2025 Listened

    Mammals. You’re one. Your dog is one. So are giant rats. What do we have in common? I promise you’ll find out the answer from the incredible Southern Illinois University professor, researcher, science communicator and mammalogist Dr. Danielle N. Lee as she joi…

  • REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS with David Steen

    20 min 27 February 2025 Listened

    This kid-safe edit of the classic Herpetology episode features frilly gills, frog tornadoes, legless lizards, and reasons to appreciate snakes. Also, why you shouldn’t kiss one. Dr. David Steen is a beloved herpetologist and wildlife conservationist and his an…

  • SKIN & HAIR COLOR with Tina Lasisi

    26 min 20 February 2025 Listened

    Skin color! Hair pigment! Biological anthropology! The incredibly informed and infectiously funny Dr. Tina Lasisi joins to chat sunscreen, redheads, light skin, dark skin, in-between skin, hair color, UVAs, UVBs, ocher, freckles and more. Dr. Lasisi is about t…

  • SLEEP with Chris Winter

    26 min 13 February 2025 Listened

    A G-rated, kid-safe Smologies edit all about getting your Zzzzzs. Neurologist and somnologist Dr. W. Chris Winter is an expert on sleep, and since his first interview, he’s released a book called “The Rested Child” all about sleep and kiddos! So parents, kids …

  • NATURE DETECTIVES with Tiara Moore

    25 min 6 February 2025 Listened

    Yep — it’s detective work! But instead of crime scenes, environmental scientist, marine biologist and Forensic Ecologist Dr. Tiara Moore travels the world to sample the sea and the soil looking for the ghosts of larvae past, whispers of frog spit, fungal trace…

  • FISHES with Chris Thacker

    21 min 30 January 2025 Listened

    Ichthyology is not easy to say, but fish are easy to love. Dr. Chris Thacker will get you so thrilled to stare into a pond or look up pictures of silvery sea serpent-looking fish friends.…

  • ICEQUAKES with Celeste Labedz

    25 min 23 January 2025 Listened

    Glaciers: Where are they? What are they made of? What happens when chunks splinter off into the sea? There are ICEQUAKES? CalTech Cryoseismologist Celeste Labedz sometimes wears a cape with her snowpants and spends part of her career shooting explosions into g…

  • ALLIGATORS with Laura Kojima

    25 min 17 January 2025 Listened

    Alligators! Crocodiles! The excitement never ends when you’re Laura Kojima, an Alligator Ecotoxicologist. A longtime reptile cheerleader, Laura has passion to match some truly bananas stories about field work, what an alligator will do for its favorite snack, …

  • EVOLUTION with John McCormack

    22 min 9 January 2025 Listened

    Another G-rated edit of a classic! This Smologies with Dr. John McCormack of Occidental College is all about evolution, Darwinism, birds, bacteria, natural selection and how our mutations can be our greatest strengths. Also: breaking down terms like genetic dr…

  • FLAGS with E. Tory Laitila

    22 min 2 January 2025 Listened

    A kid-friendly, shortened version of our classic episode on …flags! E. Tory Laitila, a textile expert who has also handled Honolulu's flag protocol, gives the skinny on the oldest flags, skull and crossbone Jolly Rogers, his favorite state flag, Scandinavian s…

  • FIREMAKING with Ellery Frahm

    27 min 26 December 2024 Listened

    Grab your fire extinguisher and hang on to your eyebrows, we’re building FIRES today. We’ll hear all about how our ancient ancestors learned to wield a flame, tame it, transport it, and use it to make tools, keep us warm, and maybe even make us smarter. So get…

  • INSECTS with Lila Higgins

    20 min 19 December 2024 Listened

    Quite likely Alie's favorite subject ever: INSECTS, just straight up buuuugs. In this Smologized classic, Alie sits down with an ologist who quite likely also dramatically shifted her life. That would be Lila Higgins, with passion more powerful than a Goliath …

  • DEER with Rhiannons Jakopak & Kirton

    26 min 12 December 2024 Listened

    What IS a deer? And an elk? And a moose? And a Rhiannon? One thing they all have in common: cervidology. Buckle up for some spirited, laughy chatter with a duo of deer scientists. They’ll explain what to do if you find a fawn, what’s an ungulate, antlers versu…

  • FAMILY TREES with Stephen Hanks

    19 min 5 December 2024 Listened

    It’s a shorter, swear-free version of the wonderful Genealogy episode with author Stephen Hanks -- who teaches genealogy classes in Portland, Oregon and has contributed to PBS genealogy documentaries. We chat histories, mysteries, memories and families, plus w…

  • BUFFALO with various bisonologists

    29 min 28 November 2024 Listened

    Bison bison! Not just something to holler into the sky, but also the scientific name for North America's majestic wild bovines 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 …

  • BREAD BAKING with Seamus Blackley

    29 min 21 November 2024 Listened

    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 kitche…

  • FEASTS with Katherine Spiers

    22 min 14 November 2024 Listened

    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…

  • CORALS with Shayle Matsuda

    22 min 7 November 2024 Listened

    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 Cnida…

  • CONDORS with Jonathan C. Hall

    25 min 30 October 2024 Listened

    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 ta…

  • SCREAMS with Harold Gouzoules

    25 min 25 October 2024 Listened

    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…

  • ALIENS with Kevin Peter Hand

    22 min 18 October 2024 Listened

    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 eleme…

  • EATING BUGS with Julie Lesnik

    22 min 10 October 2024 Listened

    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 a…

  • FALL/SEASONS with Libby Ellwood

    25 min 3 October 2024 Listened

    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 …

  • SNAILS & SLUGS with Jann Vendetti

    28 min 26 September 2024 Listened

    The SMOL version of an ep about smol precious creatures, we're talkin' slimy little angels with bellies for feet... literally! That's what gastropod means! We've got Dr. Jann Vendetti of the Natural History Museum of LA County to talk with Alie about snail-bas…

  • TRAINS with Matt Anderson

    25 min 19 September 2024 Listened

    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? Did cars and trains ever have a rivalry? What's it like to…

  • BODY HEAT with Shane Campbell-Staton

    29 min 12 September 2024 Listened

    Bundle up for a smol, classroom-friendly episode with Princeton University evolutionary biologist and Thermophysiologist Dr. Shane Campbell-Staton. You’ll learn about everything from heat tolerance to frostbite, anti-freeze woodfrogs to icy alligators, why som…

  • BIRDS with James Maley

    25 min 5 September 2024 Listened

    Birds! Horned screamers! Murmurations! Professional bird-person and all around cool dude James Maley joins Alie to talk about bird calls, wild fashion shows, birding obsessions, absurd birds, parrots that are smarter than your baby brother, a surprising fact a…

  • GAMING with Jane McGonigal

    30 min 29 August 2024 Listened

    Games! Play! Fun! Addiction? Flim-flam? From the origins of tabletop classics to the future of VR, Dr. Jane McGonigal answers our burning questions. This video game developer, TED speaker and bestselling author is an expert on how playing -- and especially vid…

  • LIZARDS with Earyn McGee

    25 min 22 August 2024 Listened

    Saurologist and professional lizard scientist Dr. Earyn McGee visits Alie to go on a little lizard hunt, then they hunker down to chat about everything from tiny chameleons to drooling dragons, legless lizards, geckos’ antigravity grip, festering dragon mouths…

  • HAGFISH with Tim Winegard

    28 min 15 August 2024 Listened

    Who doesn't love a floppy, slime-filled, hot dog shaped creature of the deep sea? On this Smologies we return to our conversation with Tim Winegard, a professional hagfishologist (YES IT'S A WORD) at Chapman University, and he dishes on the world's slimiest tr…

  • CARBS with Michelle Dookwah

    25 min 9 August 2024 Listened

    Carbohydrates: no longer just for your piehole. Stuff some knowledge into your ears with sugar scientist Dr. Michelle Dookwah and learn how your cells use carbs to communicate, what carbs have to do with your immune system, the whys behind your winter cravings…

  • CATS with Mikel Delgado

    29 min 1 August 2024 Listened

    CATS! Kittens. Tigers. Purring. Toys. Litterboxes. We cover it all in this abridged and G-rated Felinology version for Smologites, or just anyone who doesn’t want to listen to swearing with their science. Professional cat behavior expert Dr. Mikel Delgado dish…

  • HANDWRITING with Sylvia Kessler

    24 min 25 July 2024 Listened

    Is it weird to have different handwritings? How do forgery experts detect fakes? What’s up with right- and left-handedness? Forensic document examiner Sylvia Kessler met up with Alie in the back of a Nebraska office store to chat about penmanship, cursive styl…

  • WOLVES with Bridgett vonHoldt

    25 min 18 July 2024 Listened

    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 wolve…

  • HAPPINESS with Laurie Santos

    24 min 11 July 2024 Listened

    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…

  • VETERINARY BIOLOGY with Vernard Hodges & Terrence Ferguson

    26 min 5 July 2024 Listened

    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 ta…

  • (O)POSSUMS with Lisa Walsh

    25 min 27 June 2024 Listened

    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 w…

  • BEES with Amanda Shaw

    25 min 20 June 2024 Listened

    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 s…

  • TOADS with Priya Nanjappa

    24 min 13 June 2024 Listened

    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 cha…

  • SPACE JUNK with Alice Gorman

    24 min 6 June 2024 Listened

    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 a…

  • DINOSAURS with Michael Habib

    19 min 30 May 2024 Listened

    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…

  • FIREFLIES with Sara Lewis

    22 min 23 May 2024 Listened

    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 ani…

  • THE MOON with Raquel Nuno

    26 min 16 May 2024 Listened

    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 debu…

  • OCEANS with Ayana Johnson

    25 min 16 May 2024 Listened

    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 oc…

  • Introducing Smologies: The Shorter, Kid-Safe Ologies

    4 min Season 1 Trailer 15 May 2024 Listened

    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.…

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