Episodes

  • CAVES with Gina Moseley
    Mar 12 2026

    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 stalagmite, and are giant cave crystals real? Also: How caves can tell us about ancient climates and why nothing beats the longing for the underground. Grab a friend and wear a helmet. We’re goin’ in.

    Follow Dr. Gina Moseley on GoogleScholar

    A donation went to the British Cave Rescue Council

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Speleology 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 and Jake Chaffee

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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    26 mins
  • CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS with Katherine Hatcher
    Mar 6 2026

    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 make better sleep habits. We also chat about a tiny magical area in our brains that acts as your body's Big Ben. By the end of the episode, you'll be in footie pajamas eager to change your whole life.

    A donation went to the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Chronobiology 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, Jake Chaffee, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, & Steven Ray Morris

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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    25 mins
  • FIELDWORK with Corina Newsome
    Feb 26 2026

    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 Wildlife Ecologist. She dishes about nest checking, camera traps, salt marsh dramas and more. She is hilarious, informative, and dedicated to her work in avian conservation and truly has the best laugh. Also: find out whether or not animals are laughing at her.

    Visit Corina Newsome’s website, Instagram and Bluesky

    A donation went to SkypeAScientist.com

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Wildlife Ecology 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, Jake Chaffee, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
  • MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY with Joseph Saunders
    Feb 19 2026

    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 Saunders is an Oklahoma-based wildlife photographer whose larger-than-life photos of bugs and reptiles will make you realize just how little we appreciate the creatures on our window sills and skittering up our porches.

    Support Joseph’s photography on Patreon

    Follow him on Instagram and Bluesky

    A donation went to the American Chronic Pain Association

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Aperiology 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, Jake Chaffee, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, and Steven Ray Morris

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    27 mins
  • VOICE BOXES with Ronda Alexander
    Feb 16 2026

    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 Alexander. We just… we love her so much.

    Follow Dr. Alexander on Instagram

    A donation went the Laryngology Education Foundation Health Equity Grant

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Laryngology episodes + 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, Mark David Christenson, and Jake Chaffee

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
  • TARDIGRADES with Paul Bartels
    Jan 29 2026

    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 naps, glow-in-the-dark moss piglets, cryptobiosis, kitten claws, balloon butts, and the friends living in your gutters.

    Follow Dr. Bartels on ResearchGate and Google Scholar

    A donation went to the Xerces Society

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Tardigradology 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 and Jake Chaffee

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    27 mins
  • MEAT-EATING PLANTS with Hali’a Eastburn
    Jan 23 2026

    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 do they lure their prey? How do bugs pollinate them without being eaten? Do they poop? And who calls pitcher plants “home?” Plus: The world’s fastest hunters and nature’s grossest vending machines.

    Follow Hali’a Eastburn on Instagram

    Donations were made to North American Sarracenia Conservancy and Kauluakalana

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Carnivorous Phytobiology 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 Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, and Jake Chaffee

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins
  • GARBAGE with Robin Nagle
    Jan 15 2026

    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 on Earth to trash talk with. We cover our long history of figuring out what do do with our waste, what you can and can’t actually recycle, sticky mustard bottles, incinerators, the journeys our trash takes, why rats love plastic garbage bags, and how and why can thank your local sanitation workers.

    Visit Robin Nagle’s website

    Follow Robin on Instagram and Bluesky

    Read Robin’s book Picking Up, an ethnography of New York City's Department of Sanitation

    A donation was made to the Sanitation Foundation

    Full-length (*not* G-rated) Discard 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, 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 Jake Chaffee

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

    Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    26 mins