Episodes

  • Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 1 with R.J. Gutiérrez

    Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 1 with R.J. Gutiérrez
    Nov 5 2025

    OWLS. FINALLY. In no particular order: what’s up with their eyes, legs, hoots, feathers, silent flight, nests, folklore, necks, barfs, conservation status, and omens? Go take a walk or sit on a porch in the dusk and make friends with Rocky. Dr. R.J. “Rocky” Gutiérrez is a celebrated researcher, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, a legend in the owl world, and simply one of the loveliest ologists. He’ll take us on a trip next to a river, scrambling up some trees, over rocky terrain and through the forest to learn why owls are so magnetic. Yeah, I called owls the best bird. Not backing down.

    Follow Dr. Gutiérrez on Google Scholar

    Donations went to the International Owl Center and Northcoast Environmental Center

    More episode sources and links

    Other episodes you may enjoy: Ornithology (BIRDS), FIELD TRIP: Birds of Prey and Raptor Facts, Condorology (CONDORS & VULTURES), Plumology (FEATHERS), Corvid Thanatology (CROW FUNERALS), Chickenology (HENS & ROOSTERS), Columbidology (PIGEONS? YES), Ophthalmology (EYES), Lutrinology (OTTERS), Lemurology (LEMURS), Procyonology (RACCOONS), Opossumology (O/POSSUMS), Scatology (POOP)

    400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

    Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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    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.
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    55 mins
  • Historical Toxicology (OLD TIMEY POISONS) with Deborah Blum

    Historical Toxicology (OLD TIMEY POISONS) with Deborah Blum
    Oct 29 2025
    Metal poisons. Odorless ones. Toxic plants. Iocane powder, arsenic, old lace, poisons as self-defense, black mirrors, Aqua Tofanas, movie myths, and the start of testing for that which ails or kills you: we’ve got Historical Toxicology with Pulitzer Prize-winning science author & chemistry connoisseur Deborah Blum. She wrote the beloved “Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York” and takes us through a spooky walk in time, when chemistry was magic and homicide was an easier feat.Visit Deborah Blum’s website and follow her on InstagramBuy her books including The Poison Squad and The Poisoner’s Handbook on Amazon or Bookshop.orgDonations went to World Central Kitchen and EarthjusticeMore episode sources and linksOther episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Toxinology (JELLYFISH VENOM), Medusology (JELLYFISH), Alligator Ecotoxicology (GATOR POISONS), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT), Conotoxinology (CONE SNAIL VENOM), Scorpiology (SCORPIONS), Kalology (BEAUTY STANDARDS), Victimology (CRIME VICTIMS), Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT), Mycology (MUSHROOMS), Foraging Ecology (EATING WILD PLANTS)400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topicSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesSponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!Follow Ologies on Instagram and BlueskyFollow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTokEditing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake ChaffeeManaging Director: Susan HaleScheduling Producer: Noel DilworthTranscripts by Aveline Malek Website by Kelly R. DwyerTheme 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.
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Critical Ponerology (WHAT IS “EVIL”?) with Kenneth MacKendrick

    Critical Ponerology (WHAT IS “EVIL”?) with Kenneth MacKendrick
    Oct 22 2025
    What is evil? Who is evil? Does evil exist? Who decides? Can we scream over turkey at grandma’s house? Let’s chat Critical Ponerology with scholar, professor, author of Evil: A Critical Primer, and a gem of a person, Dr. Kenneth MacKendrick of the University of Manitoba. He’s been teaching courses on the notion of evil for 25 years and it’s a much deeper rabbit hole than you’d ever expect. So rub your fingers together and enjoy a discussion about different cultural approaches to evil, if your toddler is evil, vampires, angry mobs seeking vigilante justice, news personalities saying unhinged things, and subjects vs. objects. Also: why you should be nicer to your coffee table. Get Dr. MacKendrick’s book, Evil: A Critical Primer, on Amazon or Bookshop.orgA donation went to North Point Douglas Women’s CentreMore episode sources and linksSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesOther episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Demonology (EVIL SPIRITS), Vampirology (VAMPIRES), Teratology (MONSTERS), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Momiology (MUMMIFICATION), Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT), Disinfectiology (BLEACH), Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Medieval Codicology (WEIRD OLD MANUSCRIPT ART & MEMES & SNAILS), Victimology (CRIME VICTIMS), Artificial Intelligence Ethicology (WILL A.I. CRASH OUT?)400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topicSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesSponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!Follow Ologies on Instagram and BlueskyFollow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTokEditing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake ChaffeeManaging Director: Susan HaleScheduling Producer: Noel DilworthTranscripts by Aveline Malek Website by Kelly R. DwyerTheme 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.
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Bonus Episode: COCKROACH MILK with Joshua Benoit and Sinead English

    Bonus Episode: COCKROACH MILK with Joshua Benoit and Sinead English
    Oct 20 2025

    Cockroach milk for Spooktober. STAY HERE. Don’t tell me you like haunted houses and slasher films but can’t listen to a lovely conversation about how cockroaches make milk to feed their young. It’s one of the most nutritious substances on Earth, and I own some. Sort of. Coem along for a brief and enthralling discussion from two researchers, Dr. Joshua Benoit and Dr. Sinead English, all about why and how some insects give live birth and nurse their young. What does it taste like? Will we replicate it for barista use? And why didn’t I get to eat any on TV?

    Watch Alie with bugs on her Tonight Show segment

    Blattodeology (COCKROACHES) episode with Dr. Dominic Evangelista

    Learn about Dr. Josh Benoit’s lab and Dr. Sinead English’s lab

    More cockroach sources and links

    Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Entomology (INSECTS), Mantodeology (PRAYING MANTISES), Odonatology (DRAGONFLIES), Discard Anthropology (GARBAGE), Forest Entomology (CREEPY CRAWLIES), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Fearology (FEAR), Entomophagy Anthropology (EATING BUGS), Speleology (CAVES)

    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

    Produced by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions

    Editing by Mercedes Maitland 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.
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    28 mins
  • Blattodeology (YES, COCKROACHES) with Dominic Evangelista

    Blattodeology (YES, COCKROACHES) with Dominic Evangelista
    Oct 15 2025

    Dazzling colors. Remote habitats. Gentle parenting. Fantastic genitalia. And yeah, swimming through sewers to surprise you. It’s cockroaches and I promise you will find something to love about them in this chat with cockroach evangelist and Blattodeologist Dr. Dominic Evangelista. Which are the prettiest? Are roaches better at raising kids than you? How do roach scientists feel about the ones in kitchens? How does one catch a cockroach in a dark rainforest? Can roaches pull a Ratatouille and steal our hearts with a casserole? Dominic explains it all. I swear they can be lovable, OKAY?

    Visit Dr. Evangelista’s Roach Brain Lab and follow him on iNaturalist and Google Scholar

    A donation went to Teach for America and Entomologists of Color

    More episode sources and links

    Other episodes you may enjoy:

    Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Entomology (INSECTS), Mantodeology (PRAYING MANTISES), Odonatology (DRAGONFLIES), Discard Anthropology (GARBAGE), Forest Entomology (CREEPY CRAWLIES), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Fearology (FEAR), Entomophagy Anthropology (EATING BUGS), Speleology (CAVES)

    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.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Haunted Hydrology (SPOOKY LAKES) with Geo Rutherford

    Haunted Hydrology (SPOOKY LAKES) with Geo Rutherford
    Oct 8 2025
    Mudbank bones. River wrecks. Salty seas. Pink ponds. Poison dust devils. Steamy streams.. It’s Haunted Hydrology with your favorite Spooky Lakes ambassador, the artist and author Geo Rutherford who is widely known as Geodesaurus. Geo covers the dark history of The Great Lakes, a stump that controls the weather, the what and why of a good lagoon, the field excursions she’s been on for research, the lakes she wants to see the most, and how a drought can shiver your spine. It’s a Spooktober spectacular, folks. It’s Haunted Hydrology. Ologies live show tickets for Monday Nov. 17 at the Bell House Visit Geo Rutherford’s website and follow her on TikTok and InstagramVisit Geo Rutherford’s website and follow her on TikTok and InstagramBuy Geo’s Spooky Lakes Books including her new coloring book and 2026 calendarVisit SpookyLakes.com to buy stickers, pins, prints and more designed by Geo A donation went to the Alliance for the Great LakesMore episode sources and linksOther episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Maritime Archaeology (SHIPWRECKS), Speleology (CAVES), Oceanology (OCEANS), Disasterology (DISASTERS), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Environmental Microbiology (TESTING WASTEWATER FOR DISEASES), Ichthyology (FISHES), Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES), Ethnoecology (NATIVE PLANTS)400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topicSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesSponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!Follow Ologies on Instagram and BlueskyFollow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTokEditing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake ChaffeeManaging Director: Susan HaleScheduling Producer: Noel DilworthTranscripts by Aveline Malek Website by Kelly R. DwyerTheme 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.
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Serpopsychology (WHAT’S CREEPY?) with Frank McAndrew

    Serpopsychology (WHAT’S CREEPY?) with Frank McAndrew
    Oct 1 2025
    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 BlueskyA donation went to WTVP, the PBS affiliate for Central IllinoisMore episode sources and linksOther 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 topicSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesSponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!Follow Ologies on Instagram and BlueskyFollow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTokEditing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake ChaffeeManaging Director: Susan HaleScheduling Producer: Noel DilworthTranscripts by Aveline Malek Website by Kelly R. DwyerTheme 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.
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Revolutionology (REBELLIONS & SOCIAL CHANGE) with Jack Goldstone

    Revolutionology (REBELLIONS & SOCIAL CHANGE) with Jack Goldstone
    Sep 24 2025
    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 ScholarBuy his book, Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction (Second Edition), on Bookshop.org or AmazonDonations went to City of Hope in honor of Rita Saleman and to the Hand of Salvation Initiative in Gaza More episode sources and linksOther 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 topicSmologies (short, classroom-safe) episodesSponsors of OlogiesTranscripts and bleeped episodesBecome a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a monthOlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!Follow Ologies on Instagram and BlueskyFollow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTokEditing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake ChaffeeManaging Director: Susan HaleScheduling Producer: Noel DilworthTranscripts by Aveline Malek Website by Kelly R. DwyerTheme 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.
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    1 hr and 30 mins