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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

Are you creepy? How would you know? What’s “creepy” as opposed to scary or eerie? We talk to the pioneer of this research, Serpopsychologist, Dr. Frank McAndrew, a professor emeritus at Knox College. We chat: dates that give you the willies, Weary Willie the Clown, haunted dolls, college goths, dark alleyways, evolutionary neurobiology, what NOT to get Oprah, the line between horror and comedy, the phobia of balloons, dating tips, and why you should re-evaluate your bathmat. Welcome to Spooktober 2025. We have more waiting in the wings for you this month.

Visit Dr. McAndrew's website and follow him on Google Scholar, Facebook, and Bluesky

A donation went to WTVP, the PBS affiliate for Central Illinois

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Fearology (FEAR), Demonology (EVIL SPIRITS), Disability Sociology (DISABILITY PRIDE), Speleology (CAVES), Quasithanatology (NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES), Thanatology (DEATH & DYING), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Human Technomorphology (SWAPPING OUT BODY PARTS), Systems Biology (MEDICAL MATHEMATICS), Personality Psychology (PERSONALITIES), Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD), Cosmology (THE UNIVERSE)

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.

Serpopsychology (WHAT’S CREEPY?) with Frank McAndrew

Storming the Bastille. Facing off with tanks. Canceling a streaming subscription. 

We’re talking protests, boycotts, insurrections, and demonstrations. Scholar, professor, and actual real life Revolutionologist Dr. Jack Goldstone lays out the whys – and the hows. What revolts have been the gold standard? How has social media impacted social change? What happens when you install the wrong new leader? Does non-violent protest work? And how does one go about orchestrating big social change? Also: defining facism, antifacism, anti-antifacism, and dusting off your guitar. 

Follow Dr. Goldstone on Google Scholar

Buy his book, Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction (Second Edition), on Bookshop.org or Amazon

Donations went to City of Hope in honor of Rita Saleman and to the Hand of Salvation Initiative in Gaza 

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION), FIELD TRIP: Activism Art Panel Recorded at WonderCon, Egyptology (ANCIENT EGYPT), Classical Archaeology (ANCIENT ROME), Agnotology (IGNORANCE), Critical Ecology (SOCIAL SYSTEMS + ENVIRONMENT), Economic Sociology (MONEY/FREAKONOMICS), Vexillology (FLAGS)

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.

Revolutionology (REBELLIONS & SOCIAL CHANGE) with Jack Goldstone

Pigs with human kidneys. Iron lungs. Bionic prostheses. And bendable genitals. Mary Roach is here, and Alie is freaking out. Over the last two decades, this science icon has written seven New York Times bestsellers, including Stiff, Bonk, Gulp, and Packing for Mars. Her latest release, Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy is all about Human Technomorphology. Prep your flesh for getting to 4th base in a lab, bugs on drugs, elective amputation, gene-tweaked farm animals, vacuum chambers, beating hearts, leftover tendons and much more with a scicomm legend who’s Alie’s personal career hero. 

Visit Mary Roach’s website and follow her on Instagram

Check out Mary’s books including her latest, Replaceable You, available on Amazon and Bookshop.org

Donations went to The Amputee Coalition and United Ostomy Associations of America

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Disability Sociology (DISABILITY PRIDE), Genicular Traumatology (BAD KNEES), Stem Cell Biology (CELLS MAKING CELLS), Systems Biology (MEDICAL MATHEMATICS), Neurotechnology (AI + BRAIN TECH), Osteology (SKELETONS/BODY FARMS), Surgical Oncology (BREAST CANCER), Dipterology (FLIES)

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.

Human Technomorphology (SWAPPING OUT BODY PARTS) with Mary Roach

Porcelain. Earthenware. China. Archaeology. Stoneware. Anthropology. Amphora. Throwing wheels. We got it all. Master potters, history aficionados and Potted History’s icons Sarah Lord Taylor and Graham Taylor are here for our 8th anniversary episode. We get the dirt on ceramics versus pottery, where clay comes from, if there’s enough in the world, how can you spot clay in the wild, how long have humans being making pots, what were the first ceramics, what is glaze exactly, why did your pots explode, what excavations of stoneware have revealed about our ancient ancestors, the Venus figurines of history, the hidden ingredients that might surprise you, and how to feel about thrift store finds. Also: how to bond with a potter instantly. 

Visit the Potted History website and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

Donations went to Cancer Research UK and Little Lifts

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: 5th Anniversary Special! Xylology (LUMBER), Experimental Archeology (OLD TOOLS/ATLATLS), Canistrumology (BASKET WEAVING), Museology (MUSEUMS), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Geology (ROCKS), 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.

Ceramology (POTTERY) with Potted History’s Graham Taylor & Sarah Lord Taylor

Neurons. Immune systems. MRIs. Weed gummies? One of the greats in neurology, Dr. Aaron Boster, takes time to chat all about Multiple Sclerosis, a neurological autoimmune disease close to our hearts. Alie’s mom, your grammapod a.k.a. Fancy Nancy, was diagnosed with MS over two decades ago, and this episode explores in depth the factors that can cause MS, therapies that do – and don’t – show promise, how diet, exercise and mindfulness actually can help folks who have MS, the oftentimes agonizing journey to a diagnosis, and advice for those who’ve MS for a while – or are newly in the community. Also: yeah, weed. 

Visit the Boster Center for Multiple Sclerosis and follow Dr. Boster on YouTube

A donation went to MS Views and News

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Disability Sociology (DISABILITY PRIDE), Diabetology (BLOOD SUGAR), Post-Viral Epidemiology (LONG COVID), Dolorology (PAIN), Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES), Psychedeliology (HALLUCINOGENS), Cardiology (THE HEART), Somnology (SLEEP)

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.

Neuropathoimmunology (MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS) with Aaron Boster

YOU’RE NOT READY. But it’s time. Otters. Sea otters. River otters. Big beefy otters. Tiny otters. Giant river otters. Otters chasing you down the street. Dr. Chris J. Law, a professional Lutrinologist, shares tales about coastal vs. inland otters, otter terrorism, magical teeth, lustrous fur, rock pockets, kelp naps, otter terrorism, cautionary motherhood, toxic relationships, hand holding and why otters make you trust them, despite the fact that you should perhaps not trust an otter. 

Visit Dr. Law's website and follow him on Bluesky and Instagram

A donation was made to SeaOtterSavvy.org

More episode sources and links

You may also enjoy our episodes on: Echinology (SEA URCHINS & SAND DOLLARS), Osteology (SKELETONS/BODY FARMS), Ichthyology (FISHES), Oceanology (OCEANS), Macrophycology (SEAWEED), Mammalogy (MAMMALS), Selachimorphology (SHARKS), Malacology (SNAILS & SLUGS), Carcinology (CRABS), 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 by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, 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.

Lutrinology (OTTERS) Encore with Chris J. Law

Train tracks. Split decisions. And a philosophy humdinger worth debating. Dr. Joshua Greene is a Harvard Psychology professor, neuroscientist, and *actual* Trolleyologist. The moral humdinger that has been used in everything from Supreme Court decisions to board games looks at: What makes you a good person? How do you reason with people who make you scream into a jar like Yosemite Sam? How far would you go to save others? Which charities should get your money? What is active versus passive harm? And what would a monk do? Also: how neurodivergence influences moral decisions, religion used as a moral compass, and your new favorite skeleton on the planet. 

Visit Dr. Greene’s website, his charity platform Giving Multiplier, and his online quiz game Tango

Buy his book, Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them, on Bookshop.org or Amazon

A donation went to Giving Multiplier

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Eudemonology (HAPPINESS), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD), Bonus Episode: The OCD Experience, Artificial Intelligence Ethicology (WILL A.I. CRASH OUT?), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Suicidology (SUICIDE PREVENTION & AWARENESS), Dolorology (PAIN), Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS), Personality Psychology (PERSONALITIES), Ferroequinology (TRAINS)

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.

Trolleyology (MORAL DILEMMAS + THE TROLLEY PROBLEM) with Joshua Greene

The info storm continues! Part 1 covered the anatomy of a cyclonic storm, the bizarre histories behind the category system, and where hurricanes come from, but this week’s conclusion with Matt Lanza and Dr. Kim Wood gets you covered on emergency preparation for any disaster occasion, climate change trends and despair, the latest on the government funding drama, if you should trust a waffle house more than a weather person, and literally what is on the horizon in the future. Also: Sharpiegate. 

Read Matt Lanza’s tropical weather forecasts at The Eyewall and Houston-based forecasts at Space City Weather

Follow Matt Lanza on Instagram and Bluesky

Visit Dr. Wood’s website and follow them on Google Scholar and Bluesky

Donations went to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country's Kerr County Flood Relief Fund and The Trevor Project

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Meteorology (WEATHER & CLIMATE), Oceanology (OCEANS), Nephology (CLOUDS), Disasterology (DISASTERS), Fulminology (LIGHTNING)

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.

Tempestology (HURRICANES) Part 2 with Dr. Kim Wood & Matt Lanza

Hurricanes. Typhoons. Cyclones. Tropical storms. Tropical depressions. What does it all MEAAAN? Let’s dive in. Career meteorologists Dr. Kim Wood of the University of Arizona and Space City Weather’s Matt Lanza join for a two-guest two-parter to address the “deadlier” female-named hurricanes, why hurricane season happens, the category system, where hurricanes come from, why they have eyes, and how we track cyclones’ paths so we can stay out of them. 

Next week we’ll be back with Kim and Matt to chat about climate change, emergency preparation – for any disaster occasion –, the latest on the government funding drama, if you should trust a waffle house more than a weather person, and literally what is on the horizon in the future. Also: cows. 

Read Matt Lanza’s tropical weather forecasts at The Eyewall and Houston-based forecasts at Space City Weather

Follow Matt Lanza on Instagram and Bluesky

Visit Dr. Wood’s website and follow them on Google Scholar and Bluesky

Donations went to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country's Kerr County Flood Relief Fund and The Trevor Project

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Meteorology (WEATHER & CLIMATE), Oceanology (OCEANS), Nephology (CLOUDS), Disasterology (DISASTERS), Fulminology (LIGHTNING)

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.

Tempestology (HURRICANES) Part 1 with Matt Lanza & Dr. Kim Wood

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 bonus episode about Optical Technology features the charmingly hilarious director of the Museum of the Eye in San Francisco, Jenny Benjamin. Then we bop over to Houston, Texas for the ultra-knowledgeable real-life optometrist, Dr. Nadia Sledge to chat about the importance of annual exams and where our eyesight is trending in the digital age. Also: dark Roman trivia, Downton Abbey fashion, how online eye tests overlook critical conditions, and how you would have survived in the past without spectacles. 

Donations went to Onesight and the Museum of the Eye

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Ophthalmology (EYES), Medieval Codicology (WEIRD OLD MANUSCRIPT ART & MEMES & SNAILS), Experimental Archeology (OLD TOOLS/ATLATLS), Literary Olfactology (THE POLITICS OF SMELL), Proptology (THEATER & FILM PROPS), Disability Sociology (DISABILITY PRIDE), Funology (YES, FUN), Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES)

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.

Bonus Episode: Optical Technology (HISTORY OF EYEGLASSES + MODERN DAY VISION)

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. You loved her Oceanology episode and now she is in your feed to address everyone’s agonizing internal question: IS MY CARBON FOOTPRINT BS?! I don’t drop a lot of podcast episodes into my precious Ologies feed, but this topic was so wonderfully covered by Dr. Johnson and co-hot Alex Blumberg that I had to do it. And as a bonus, stay tuned for Wednesday’s episode between me and my old friend C. Andrew Hall, the creative director of the non-profit illustration collective, the Drawdown Design Project. I’ve been consulting with him for 2 years on a giant project that just dropped and I think you’ll love what he has to say about our individual roles and responsibilities in climate change. 

 

So yes: onward with “How to Save a Planet.”

Listen to Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s Oceanology episode: https://www.alieward.com/ologies/oceanology2

 

Drawdown Design project: https://drawdowndesignproject.org/

 

Follow the Drawdown Design Project: https://www.instagram.com/drawdowndesignproject/

Buy Dr. Johnson’s book! https://www.allwecansave.earth

Her podcast: “How to Save a Planet:” https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet

Dr. Johnson's collective: https://www.allwecansave.earth/

Dr. Johnson on Twitter @ayanaeliza and Instagram @ayanaeliza

Dr. Johnson's website: ayanaelizabeth.com

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 @Ologies on Twitter or Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter or Instagram

More links at www.alieward.com

Sound editing by 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.

Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?: How to Save a Planet takes over Ologies

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