Épisodes

  • NATURE DETECTIVES with Tiara Moore
    Feb 6 2025

    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 traces in loamy soil, and the unseen forces that lead to algal blooms and toxic tides. So buckle your life jacket and join a spirited chat about labwork, forest fungus, sedimentary soil science, marine science careers, and whether or not she may have found evidence of Bigfoot.

    Follow Dr. Tiara Moore on X and Instagram

    For more on #BlackinMarineScience (BiMS)

    Dr. Moore’s website: TiaraMoore.com

    Dr. Moore works with The Nature Conservancy!

    Donations went to BiMS and BWEEMS

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

    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 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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    25 min
  • FISHES with Chris Thacker
    Jan 30 2025

    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.

    Hilariously charming fish expert and LA County Natural History Museum Curator of Ichthyology, Dr. Thacker took Alie to a basement full of several million jars of fish to chat about the worst fish husbands, the weirdest mating behaviors, the scariest fish, the nicest fish, the tiniest fish, how they breathe, how you can help reverse global warming, and whether you should pee in wetsuits. I love her so much and so will you.

    Follow Dr. Chris Thacker on Instagram

    A donation went to SeafoodWatch.org

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Ichthyology episode + tons of 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 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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    22 min
  • ICEQUAKES with Celeste Labedz
    Jan 23 2025

    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 giant chunks of ice and recording the seismic activity, analyzing the rivers that flow through glaciers, and keeping tabs on glacial melt.

    Follow Celeste on Bluesky and Instagram

    A donation went to the International Association for Geoscience Diversity

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Cryoseismology episode + tons of 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 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

    Voir plus Voir moins
    26 min
  • ALLIGATORS with Laura Kojima
    Jan 17 2025

    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, crocodilian evolution, overbites, crocodile tears, locomotion and so much more.

    [Audio note: the connection was a little spotty so please forgive occasional static!]

    Follow Laura Kojima on Instagram

    A donation went to the WCS wild Siamese Crocodile conservation

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Alligator Ecotoxicology episode + tons of 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

    Voir plus Voir moins
    26 min
  • EVOLUTION with John McCormack
    Jan 9 2025

    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 drift and Linnaean taxonomy and why Charles Darwin had to face haters under his own roof.

    Follow John McCormack on X or the Moore Lab of Zoology on Instagram

    A donation went to BirdNet.org

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Evolutionary Biology episode + tons of links

    More kid-friendly Smologies 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

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

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    22 min
  • FLAGS with E. Tory Laitila
    Jan 2 2025

    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 simplicity, the hardest flags to draw, who designed our modern American flag and how you too can have ... fun with flags all year round.

    A donation went to Connecting to Collections via CulturalHeritage.org

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

    More kid-friendly Smologies 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

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

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    23 min
  • FIREMAKING with Ellery Frahm
    Dec 26 2024

    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 ready for sharp rocks, hairy jello, sooty caves, glowing coals, iron sparks, fluffy fungus, molten metal, ember tending and more with Yale anthropologist and pyrotechnologist, Dr. Ellery Frahm.

    Visit Dr. Frahm’s website and follow him on Bluesky and Instagram

    A donation went to Armenia Fund

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Pyrotechnology 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, hoodies, totes!

    Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

    Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

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

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

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    27 min
  • INSECTS with Lila Higgins
    Dec 19 2024

    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 Beetle's "especially large slicey mandibles." We cover a lot of ground, from dinosaur bugs to why wasps are so problematic, and even why it's totally fine to kiss a cockroach.

    Lila Higgins' Book Wild LA: Explore the Amazing Nature in and Around Los Angeles

    A donation went to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Community Science Program

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Entomology 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, hoodies, totes!

    Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

    Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

    Sound editing by Steven Ray Morris and Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

    Voir plus Voir moins
    20 min