Ologies with Alie Ward

SHAAAARKS. Leading shark researcher Dr. Chris Lowe dishes about bad shark PR, behind-the-scenes Jaws trivia, his thoughts on Sharknado, surfing safety, immune system marvels, cannibal twins, shark personalities, sea sex, and knife teeth. Alie learns that sharks are not the ocean's sociopaths but true evolutionary marvels who suffer from sensationalized reputations and sometimes inside-out butts. Listen up as a science primer during this, the holy Week of the Shark. (Note: the study of sharks can is also called elasmobranchology, a distinction which could also include skates and rays. Both -ologies are difficult to spell.) Dr. Chris Lowe's SharkLab at Cal State University Long Beach Track sharks and fish and turtles at Scattn.org Dr. Lowe's Twitter and Facebook More links at www.alieward.com/ologies OlogiesMerch.com has hats, pins, totes, shirts, etc. Follow Ologies at Instagram or Twitter Follow Alie Ward at Instagram or Twitter.com Sound editing by Steven Ray Morris Music by Nick Thorburn Support the show.

Crazy dongs! Gardening tips! Snail-based beauty products! Weather the LA heatwave and slug along with Dr. Jann Vendetti of the Natural History Museum of LA County as she gossips with Alie about some sensual slug lovemaking, Gold Rush lore, urban snails, beer bingeing and why you should stop and high five (high one?) a gastropod for evolving into such an interesting critter. Also: should you adopt a rabbit-sized pet snail? Watch Dr. Vendetti on the The Curiosity Show S.L.I.M.E project at the NHM.org More links at www.alieward.com/ologies OlogiesMerch.com has hats, pins, totes, shirts, etc. Follow Ologies at Instagram or Twitter Follow Alie Ward at Instagram or Twitter.com "The Snail Song" ending lullaby by Maple Leaf Learning Editing by Steven Ray Morris Music by Nick Thorburn Support the show.

Last week we got a big thicc primer on ol' Mars, that dusty desert doomsday cabin millions of miles away. This week, Alie continues the conversation with areologist Dr. Jennifer Buz and asks your Patreon questions about whether we could landscape Mars to look like a golf course, what a water balloon fight on Mars would be like, and if people in Jennifer's lab quote science fiction. Plus we hear directly from Kim Staney Robinson on the moral quandaries of inhabiting the red planet and explore the question: "Why is Elon Musk so horny for Mars?" Definitely take a gander at Dr. Jennifer Buz's website JNNFR.BZ Follow Jennifer on Instagram OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes! AND ALSO SWIMSUITS. Follow @Ologies on Twitter or Instagram Follow @AlieWard on Twitter or Instagram More links at www.alieward.com Support the show.

The Red Planet. A mysterious dusty orb millions of miles away. Our emergency escape bunker. Alie sits down with Dr. Jennifer Buz to talk about what Mars’s DEEEEAL is, why we send rovers there, good science fiction, so-so science fiction, double egg yolks, the poetry of the moon Phobos and some of the best science dreams perhaps ever recorded. Jennifer is maybe the chillest areologist on this planet and an absolute gem. You're going to want to look at Dr. Jennifer Buz's website JNNFR.BZ Info on the 2020 rover workshop via JPL OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes! AND ALSO SWIMSUITS. Follow @Ologies on Twitter or Instagram Follow @AlieWard on Twitter or Instagram More links at www.alieward.com Support the show.

Melons. Fire. Waterfights. It's finally summer and Alie's into it. So with this solo mini-ep, learn about a few ologies that are not real but should be such as aestaology (summer) & hydropolemology (waterfights). Also discussed: a few ologies that are in fact real, like cucurbitology (melons), pyrotechnology (humans chillin' and grillin' around a fire) and lampyridology (fireflies.) Just a little buffet o' facts to get you excited about summer. OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes! AND ALSO SWIMSUITS. Follow @Ologies on Twitter or Instagram Follow @AlieWard on Twitter or Instagram More links at www.alieward.com Support the show.

Why were postcards invented and why do they still exist? Why do we lie to people and say our lives are better than they are? Alie stopped into the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and talked to curator of 40 years, Donna Braden, about her work with the postcard collections -- as well as her musings about how emotions impact memory, why Americans love to hit the open road and what the biggest postcard you're allowed to mail is. Listen while riding off into the sunset or sipping tea on a porch and then send someone you love a giant postcard because you can. The Henry Ford Museum Postcard Archive 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 Support the show.

Allergies. Nose jobs. Smell nostalgia. Street drugs. Septum piercings. Snoring. Hang on to your faces because Dr. John Craig goes deep and shares why he's so passionate about rhinology. You'll have a whole new relationship with your whiffer, appreciating what happens behind your nas-holes and coming away with some strategies to combat hay fever, Afrin addiction plus: a very legal substitute for illegal party drugs. Also: why you may want to shove a crayon into your nose. Dr. John Craig's YouTube Channel Help send Aidan to camp via this t-shirt fundraiser 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 Support the show.

Vocal fry. Code switching. Black Twitter. Valley girls. Culture vultures. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TALKING. Alie battles traffic to sit down with linguistics professor Dr. Nicole Holliday about intonational phonology: how tones and pitch help us bond with others and construct identities. Inspired in part by former President Barack Obama's masterful linguistic variability, Dr. Holliday's work focuses on how language is used in the crossing and construction of racial/ethnic boundaries. She graciously fielded tons of questions for a fascinating dive into the nuances and strict grammatical rules of African American Language, cultural appropriation, our educational system, honoring your identity, what not to wear in Paris and the roiling debate over who is the best rapper. Also: Alie is maybe a lizard person. Follow Dr. Nicole Holliday @MixedLinguist on Twitter and Instagram 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 Support the show.

Your best friend is a hairy beast and that's something to celebrate. This episode is a little different in tone and let's just say GOOD LUCK NOT CRYING, SUCKERS. Alie sits down with "Lucky Dog" host Brandon McMillan, who cares more about saving shelter mutts than he does about the 3 Daytime Emmys he's won for doing it. Learn about his Hollywood drama-worthy backstory that led to being one of the world's most celebrated dog trainers, plus how to calm anxious pups, breeders vs. shelter rescues, and how and why dogs help our brains and save our lives. Dogs 4 president 2020. For more info, see: Brandon's website: www.canineminded.com Follow Brandon on Instagram and Twitter Brandon's non-profit to provide service dogs to veterans is called ARGUS. I said Angus; how embarrassing. 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 Clip credits: “I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel” is from the world’s best movie, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.  Who let the dogs out? Baha Men did. Support the show.

Butterflies are gross. Yes they are delightful and beautiful and part of any idyllic picnic-scape but lepidopterologist, TV host and jungle explorer Phil Torres is here to gossip about how shamelessly disgusting our favorite bugs actually are. Learn their secrets, their mating habits, how they turn themselves into goo and then into another creature, what moth os the most goth, what flowers to plant to attract them, the scariest thing about the jungle and what it feels like to help discover new species. Also butterflies get sloppy drunk and we talk all about it. For more info, see: Phil-Torres.com Follow Phil on Twitter and Instagram Follow Phil's inspiration, @AndyBugGuy, on Twitter Xerces.org has resources on native plants 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 Support the show.

Peach fuzz. Chin hairs. Mammalian ponytails. WHY DO THEY HAPPEN. Yale researcher and associate professor Dr. Valerie Horsley stops by California to chat with Alie about the nature of hair and why it grows in the wrong places, the causes and remedies for hair loss, the grossest museum ever, and why we love and hate and need our hair as animals. Also: Dr. Horsely's decision to run for office and Alie's disgusting confessions, per usual. Dr. Valerie Horsely is on Facebook and Twitter The Horsely Lab at Yale Action Together Connecticut 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 Support the show.

Do trees have feelings? How do they talk? How old can they get? Are there any tree stories that will make me cry? Spoiler: YES. Possibly the world's most enthusiastic tree expert, J. Casey Clapp, shows Alie his many tree tattoos, explains how roots communicate to each other, addresses "crown shyness" and schools Alie on the mental health benefits of tree proximity. Also: banana facts and Casey f*cking hates apples. Follow Casey Clapp on Instagram @Clapp4Trees 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 Support the show.

FEAR. Anxiety. Stress. Dread. It's all the same dang thing, as it turns out. Biologist and fear expert Mary Poffenroth is back for Part 2 of what has been one of the most helpful interviews of ol' Alie Ward's life. Learn how super successful people approach fear, Mary’s scariest hour, plus answers to all of your questions about night terrors, self-spookery, sharks' bad PR image to how likely it is that a snake will bite your butt. Plus: the best thing about following your passions in life. If this episode helped you at all, consider telling friends about it so we can all get over being chicken sh*ts and, as Mary would say "die with great stories." For more info on Mary Poffenroth, see: MaryPoffenroth.com, her Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 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 Support the show.

Every day, your brain tries to save your life by being terrified. Thanks, brain! Also, calm the f*ck down, brain. Alie hunted down Mary Poffenroth, an expert in the biological and sociological causes/effects of fear and it is riveting. This real life FEAROLOGIST (which is a real word) talks about how fear is literally killing you, the difference between stress and fear, how to get along with your co-workers, friends, or partner better, and how to talk to your brain when it has needlessly pulled the fire alarm. Part 1 of a 2-part series that will honestly change your life. For more info on Mary Poffenroth, see: MaryPoffenroth.com, her Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 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 Support the show.

Hey, kiddo, it's what's INSIDE that matters -- like your guts and bones and squishy brain and intestines and stuff. Meet Dr. Varshana Gurusamy: diagnostic radiology resident, Texan and amazing person with great stories. You'll learn the difference between an MRI and an ultrasound, between a CT scan and a CAT scan and why you should not put big things in orifices that you might not be able to retrieve them unaided. You'll want to hug a radiologist ... as soon as they take their lead gonad shield off. More links at www.alieward.com/ologies Become a patron 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 Support the show.