Pointy heads. Spiked arms. Tragic romance. It’s a whole episode about praying mantises with a real life Mantodeologist, Lohit Garikipati. Do they really eat hummingbirds? Are they endangered? Invasive? Smart? Extraterrestrial? Get your fill of mantid mythology, evolutionary gossip, sexual cannibalism, mantis motherhood, their alien egg cases, huge eyes, pet advice, and why they can show you the way to hell with this delightful entomologist, UC Davis entomology graduate and longtime keeper of mantids. You’ll lose your mind, but not your head.

Follow Lohit on Instagram and iNaturalist

A donation went to the World Wildlife Fund

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Entomology (INSECTS), Spheksology (WASPS), Melittology (BEES), Native Melittology (INDIGENOUS BEES), Myrmecology (ANTS), Etymology (WORD ORIGINS), Mythology (STORYTELLING)

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

A short little episode to tell you about a change we're making to Ologies that I am genuinely very pumped about, as well as some weird secrets I did not intend to tell. But my point is that you can now have a kid-safe show and feed that is safe for kids and classrooms and a road trip with your shy parents.

Subscribe to Smologies on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Podcast Addict, or wherever you get podcasts.

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

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

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

The world is confusing, but there are experts in everything. In our least funny episode ever, we thankfully convinced a global expert, professor, researcher, author, and Genocidologist (it’s a real word) Dr. Dirk Moses to answer the questions that we may secretly have: What exactly is genocide? How long has it been happening? Is it a war crime? Is it a crime of atrocity? Who makes up humanitarian law? What's self-defense — and what's offense? How is it litigated? Whose business is it? Why do we do this to each other? What can be done? It’s a dense, long episode with lots of asides for history and context, but it might be just what you need to give you perspective on the conditions — and cycles of trauma — that can lead to crimes of atrocities.

Follow Dr. Dirk Moses on X

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

A donation went to student tuition at City College of New York

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy:

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)

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

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

Additional producing 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