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.
509 episodes transcribedIs anything real? How many universes are there? Is everything a simulation being run by a quantum computer through a wormhole from a future era? Is th...
Scrap quilts. Sewing bees. Secret codes. Political activism. Controversies. Three of your new favorite Culcitologists – Olivia Joseph, Luke Haynes, an...
Barbs. Spurs. Stinks. Scutes. Shrieks. Fashion. Drama. Animal behaviorist, evolutionary biologist, Cal State Long Beach professor, and your new favori...
In case you missed it, ICYMI stands for In Case Y’all Missed It. And while 2025 was a weird year (not as weird as 2026!) it was filled with some favor...
You’ve got junk, and we have info. The charming and hilarious researcher, professor, sex-positive health advocate, and author of the science book “Str...
Histories, mysteries, memories and families: it’s time to clamber up our ancestral trees. Author and genealogist Stephen Hanks -- who teaches genealog...
Tall ears. Huge teeth. Underestimated wit. And vocalizations that would make a songbird envious. Let’s talk donkeys with researcher and Director at Th...
Excuse me, why do you have teeth? How did they get in your mouth and where did they come from? Let’s ask researcher, tooth enthusiast, and Paleohistol...
Tongue twisters. Frosty holidays. Scandals. Big ol’ rodent butts. Let’s talk groundhogs with UCLA conservationist, field biologist, professor and Marm...
Gassy veils! Orange sunlight! Alien life? It’s the sole goddess of our solar system: Venus. And to tour us through her beauty is the charming and enth...
Did Part 1 leave you informed and now you need a pep talk? Get ready for an absolute banger of an encore episode with 5 experts: René Brooks of BlackG...
Focus. Productivity. Relationships. Distraction. Neurodiversity. How do you know if you have ADHD? How can you get others to understand your ADHD brai...
Duck bills. Beaver tails. Underground lairs. Eggs. Milk. Venom? A platypus has it all. Scholar, conservationist, and Ornithorhynchologist Dr. Tahneal...
The microbiome is back! In 2018, we chatted with Dr. Elaine Hsiao - a UCLA microbiome researcher– and learned all about the hot cauldron of your guts....
Dehydrated eggs. Airborne tortillas. Pouches of chicken. Tang. Work up an appetite for space food with artist, designer and Astrobromatologist, Maggie...
Fronds. Forest dwellers. Spores. Houseplants. Queer icons. We’ve got ferns. The charming and hilarious professor and author of “Ferns: Lessons in Surv...
Note: if you haven’t already heard it, please start with our original, May 2024 episode with Dr. Moses: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) Part 1A lot...
Bison bison! Not just something to holler into the sky, but also the scientific name for North America's majestic wild bovines. In this encore, we exp...
OWLS. FINALLY. In no particular order: what’s up with their eyes, legs, hoots, feathers, silent flight, nests, folklore, necks, barfs, conservation st...
OWLS. FINALLY. In no particular order: what’s up with their eyes, legs, hoots, feathers, silent flight, nests, folklore, necks, barfs, conservation st...
