Ologies with Alie Ward

Other episodes you may enjoy: Castorology (BEAVERS), Lepidopterology (BUTTERFLIES), Ethnocynology (ANCIENT DOGS AND HUMANS), Lupinology (WOLVES), Road Ecology (ROAD KILL)

More episode sources and links, including info on Federal Workers

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

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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.

Agnotology (WILLFUL IGNORANCE) Updated Encore with Dr. Robert Proctor Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

Yes, there is an -ology for that. And yes, we’re airing this episode -– with a ton of 2025 updates -– because it’s never felt more relevant. Dr. Robert Proctor is a Stanford professor of the History of Science and co-edited the book “Agnotology: The Making & Unmaking of Ignorance,” having coined the word 30 years ago. We chat about everything from tobacco marketing, to the sugar lobby, to racial injustice, horse vision, the psychology of the Flat Earther movement, which countries have the highest rates of climate denial, empathy, how to navigate difficult conversations and why it's critical to dismantle the systems of willful ignorance, starting locally.

Dr. Robert Proctor’s book: "Agnotology: The Making and Unmaking of Ignorance"

His 2021 book: Science and the Production of Ignorance: When the Quest for Knowledge Is Thwarted.

Donations in Dr. Proctor’s name went to: SavingBlackLives.org and the Public Health Advocacy Institute

An additional donation went to The National Black Law Students Association

Other episodes you may “enjoy”: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Attention Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Eschatology (THE APOCALYPSE), Critical Ecology (SOCIAL SYSTEMS + ENVIRONMENT), Disasterology (DISASTERS), Conservation Technology (EARTH SAVING), Phenology (FALL/SEASONS), Oceanology (OCEANS), Futurology (THE FUTURE), Selenology (THE MOON), Gemology (STONES & GEMS), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION), Neurotechnology (AI + BRAIN TECH), Pedagogology (SCIENCE COMMUNICATION) with Bill Nye, Vaccine Infodemiology (COVID-19 IMMUNITY),

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

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Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

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Editing by Steven Ray Morris and Jarrett Sleeper of Mindjam Media

Encore editing by Jake Chaffee and Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions

Additional encore producing 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

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

Hippopotomology (HIPPOS) with Rebecca Lewison Feb 05, 2025

Show notes

Do they sweat blood? Will one kill you? What are cocaine hippos? Is Moo Deng… okay? Actual real life Hippopotomologist Dr. Rebecca Lewison explains how hippos have some of the best – and worst – PR. We chat about pet hippos, subspecies, daily diets, the current state of hippo conservation, the absolute chaotic affection we have for pygmy hippos, their role as ecosystem engineers, what’s up with their nostrils, and how to keep a hippo in your pocket. Also: how to flatter your friends into planning a group vacation.

Visit the Lewison Lab at SDSU and follow Dr. Lewison on Google Scholar

A donation went to The Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary (WCHS)

Other episodes you may enjoy: Pinnipedology (SEALS & WALRUSES), Wildlife Ecology (FIELDWORK), Cucurbitology (PUMPKINS), Culicidology (MOSQUITOES), Scatology (POOP), Conservation Technology (EARTH SAVING)

Learn more about Dr. Patel

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.

Thyroidology (THYROID GLAND) with Kepal Patel Jan 29, 2025

Show notes

Sad? Cold? Hot? Wired? Blame the thyroid. Maybe. In your throat there is a butterfly-shaped gland under a shield-shaped Adam’s Apple and it controls your whole life, kind of. We asked Thyroidologist and surgeon Dr. Kepal Petal of NYU's Langone Hospital about libido factors, radioactive cats, stress and thyroids, how diet can affect them, deciphering labs, flim-flam and how being on TV might save your life. He’s a delight and your thyroid honestly DESERVES the attention. Pass it on to everyone who has ever talked to you about a thyroid.

Follow NYU Langone Health on Instagram and YouTube

NYU Langone’s Thyroid Program

A donation went to The American Association of Endocrine Surgeons (AAES)

Other episodes you may enjoy: Diabetology (BLOOD SUGAR), Laryngology (VOICE BOXES), Trichology (HAIR), Evolutionary Anthropology (METABOLISMS), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT)

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 Jacob 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.

Eco-Odorology (SCIENCE-SNIFFING DOGS) with Kayla Fratt Jan 22, 2025

Show notes

Dogs doing science. With their faces. As a follow-up to last week’s Ethnocynology episode about humans domesticating wolves, we chat with conservation biologist and Eco-odorologist Kayla Fratt (and her working dog Barley) about how trained animals help scientists. Sit – and stay – to learn how rescue dogs can get their dog-torate degrees, which rewards work when training, dogs on a boat, dogs in the jungle, wolves in the sea, why noses are wet, how your sense of smell is trash, the price of a police dog, and how you can get into this field working with your best buddy.

Visit Kayla Fratt’s website and follow her on Bluesky

Visit K9 Conservationists’s website and follow them on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok

Listen to the K9 Conservationists podcast on Apple and Spotify

Donations went to K9 Conservationists and Fundación Naturaleza El Salvador

Other episodes you may enjoy: Ethnocynology (HUMANS & DOGS THROUGH TIME), Field Trip: How to Change Your Life, Cervidology (DEER), Mammalogy (MAMMALS), Urban Rodentology (SEWER RATS), Lupinology (WOLVES), Canine Speech Pathology (DOGS WITH BUTTONS), Felinology (CATS), Island Ecology (ISLANDS), Wildlife Ecology (FIELDWORK), Scatology (POOP)

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 Jacob 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.

Ethnocynology (HUMANS & DOGS THROUGH TIME) with David Ian Howe Jan 15, 2025

Show notes

Ancient dogs! Domestic wolves! Anthropology! Archaeology! It’s all Ethnocynology: when humans and dogs started living and working together. The wonderful and iconic David Ian Howe is an educator and professional archaeologist whose focus is canines and people. So let’s curl up and be cute – like dogs – as we listen about breed histories, what evidence we have for doggies being friends, how wolves tamed themselves, why our relationships with canines make us what we are, talking dogs, if it’s fair it ask your dog to love you back, corn paws, and why your dog is trying to make fetch happen.

Visit David’s website and his podcasts, The David Ian Howe Show & Ethnocynology with David Ian Howe

Follow David on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Patreon and Bluesky

A donation went to the Native American Humane Society

Other episodes you may enjoy: Lupinology (WOLVES), Canine Speech Pathology (DOGS WITH BUTTONS), Felinology (CATS), Experimental Archaeology (ATLATLS), Momiology (MUMMIFICATION), Egyptology (ANCIENT EGYPT), Classical Archaeology (ANCIENT ROME), Mythology (STORYTELLING), Indigenous Cuisinology (NATIVE COOKING), Radiology (X-RAY VISION), Delphinology (DOLPHINS), Functional Morphology (ANATOMY), Zymology (BEER & YEAST), Columbidology (PIGEONS)

CDC Advisory on Wildfire Smoke

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 Jacob 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.

Fire Ecology (WILDFIRES & INDIGENOUS FIRE MANAGEMENT) Mega Encore with Gavin Jones & Amy Christianson (LA Fires Re-Release) Jan 10, 2025

Show notes

As wildfires burn across L.A. — and my neighborhood evacuates — we thought it would be a good time to encore these Fire Ecology episodes so I can literally catch my breath. First Dr. Gavin Jones brings the heat talking about what fire is, how hot it burns, fire trends, tinderboxes, lots and lots of forest fire flim-flam, tolerant wombats, Angelina Jolie Movies, cunning pine cones, thick bark, Indigenous fire stewardship and more.

After the break, co-host of the podcast Good Fire Dr. Amy Christianson talks about how cultural burns and prescribed blazes can create healthy forests. She also discusses Indigenous history, collaborations between Western science & First Nations elders, Aboriginal thoughts on cultural burns, more flim-flam, evacuations, snowmelt, hunting strategies, land stewardship, happy trees, climate strategies, and the social science behind wildfire education. Also learning from Native wildfire fighters. Huge thanks to her and Matt Kristoff -- who also hosts the Your Forest Podcast -- for allowing us to use excerpts from their interview to launch Good Fire. Subscribe to both podcasts to get more ecological knowledge in your ears.

Follow Dr. Gavin Jones on Bluesky, Google Scholar and Instagram

Follow Dr. Amy Christianson on Bluesky, Google Scholar and LinkedIn

Donations were made to The Common Good Community Foundation and Indigenous Residential School Survivors

Listen to the Good Fire podcast

Also great: Your Forest podcast

Other episodes you may like: Dendrology (TREES), Forest Entomology (CREEPY CRAWLIES), Xylology (LUMBER), Pyrotechnology (CAMPFIRES)

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 Steven Ray Morris, Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions 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

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

Eudemonology (HAPPINESS) Encore with Laurie Santos Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

HAPPINESS RESEARCH, straight up. 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 feel guilty for feeling happy? When is positivity “toxic?” In this encore of an episode favorite, Yale cognitive scientist, Eudemonologist, and host of The Happiness Lab podcast Dr. Laurie Santos chats about how scientists measure human happiness and what their research has shown helps achieve it, even during the worst of times. Also: silver medal face & countering counterfactuals, which will make sense when you listen.

Visit Dr. Santos's website and follow her on Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube, and Facebook

Her podcast: Happiness Lab

A donation went to DonorsChoose.org

Other episodes you may enjoy: Awesomeology (GRATITUDE FOR LITTLE THINGS), Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS), Thanatology Encore (DEATH & GRIEF), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Traumatology (PTSD), Sports & Performance Psychology (ANXIETY & CONFIDENCE), Phonology (LINGUISTICS), Neuropathology (CONCUSSIONS), Quantum Ontology (WHAT IS REAL?), Disability Sociology (DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH), Dolorology (PAIN)

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 & Steven Ray Morris

Additional 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.

Cabinology (CABINS) Encore with Dale Mulfinger Dec 24, 2024

Show notes

The time is right to revisit cabins: Log cabins, woodsy getaways, A-frame cuties, cottages, tiny homes, lake houses. WE GET INTO IT, including 2024 updates. World famous Minnesota architect, author, professional cabinologist and human delight Dale Mulfinger sits down to discuss everything from what makes a cabin a cabin, to why we bond better surrounded by wood, Scandinavian hygge-ness, where to situate windows, cabin history, horror flicks and vacation activities. Alie sits there starry-eyed and stammers a bunch because she's so excited.

Other episodes you may enjoy: Indigenous Cuisinology (NATIVE FOODS), Domicology (ABANDONED BUILDINGS), Bisonology (BUFFALO), Oneirology (DREAMS), Xylology (LUMBER), Dendrology (TREES), Sciuridology (SQUIRRELS), Ursinology (BEARS), Nassology (TAXIDERMY), Acaropathology (TICKS & LYME DISEASE)

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 & Steven Ray Morris

Additional 2024 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.

Castorology (BEAVERS) with Rob Rich Dec 18, 2024

Show notes

Orange teeth! Vanilla butts! Architecture with twigs! Olde-timey joke books? Field naturalist, conservationist, wildlife tracker and “beaver believer” Rob Rich works with the National Wildlife Federation’s coordination of the Montana Beaver Working Group and answers all of our Castorological questions about: baby beavers, tooth tools, lodges, dams, the sound of water, the slap of a tail, who eats beaver and why, beavers in peril, in folklore, in smut books, in your neighborhood and in your dreams forever. Also: yes we discuss slang.

Follow Rob Rich on LinkedIn

A donation went to Tracker Certification North America