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.
423 episodes transcribedCrows have funerals? CROWS HAVE FUNERALS. The inky black bird with the big brain warns and maybe mourns around their fallen friends and Dr. Kaeli Swif...
Grab your fire extinguisher and hang on to your eyebrows, we’re building FIRES today. Now, this is pyrotechnology in the anthropological sense; the ki...
Teeth. Tails. Concentric nipples. This not-at-all-rodent has the distinction of being North America’s sole marsupial and so Alie hunted down lauded Op...
How ya like them apples?! Well, liquified. And fermented. Author, podcaster, cider-maker and globally lauded beverage historian Gabe Cook, aka The Cid...
HAPPINESS RESEARCH, straight up. What is happiness? How do our circumstances affect happiness? Why is the word “gratitude” kinda cringey? What can we...
Art meets science! Problems meet solutions! Climate change meets … hope? In this atypical episode, things get casual as hell as Alie sits down to talk...
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. You loved her Oceanology episode and now she is in your feed to address everyone’s agonizing internal question: IS MY CAR...
YA LIKE BEES? You will -- after this short, edited-for-all-ages Smologies cut of our classic Melittology episode featuring President of the Urban Beek...
Cultural burns. Prescribed blazes. A healthy forest. What exactly is “good fire?” Let’s ask Indigenous fire scientist Dr. Amy Christianson, who is a c...
As Smashmouth said, “My world’s on fire, how ‘bout yours?” Why yes, Mr. Mouth, it is, indeed, on fire. As so many of us around the globe are sharing i...
Ohaaay another edited-down, classroom-friendly Smologies! About... toads! Are they frogs? Do they have arms? What do they eat? How long do they live?...
Biological mysteries solved with numbers! Graphs! Patterns! Data points! Systems biology! You never knew it existed, yet it’s keeping us alive. Syste...
We’re BACK! With a fresh new episode to light up your life and butt. World renowned firefly expert Dr. Sara Lewis of Tufts University joins to share h...
Introducing… SMOLOGIES. Smaller, shorter, G-rated episodes cut from your favorite classics. Listen to Smologies in classrooms, around people whose lan...
Yes, a double dose of short, all-ages episodes to launch Smologies! We cleaned up the full version and polished it into a safe-for-work digest of dino...
Lemon sharks! Goblin sharks! Bonnet sharks! Whale sharks! And ...sawfish? WE NEEDED A BIGGER BOAT. One shark episode was not enough, during this: The...
SHAAAARKS. Leading shark researcher Dr. Chris Lowe dishes about bad shark PR, behind-the-scenes Jaws trivia, his thoughts on Sharknado, surfing safety...
A special encore as your dad hastily preps to wed your podmom, Jarrett. Refresh your brain about your heart, then stay tuned for a new secret at the e...
UFOs are real. Straight up. There are unidentified objects flying around — but does that mean they’re aliens? Two experts in the research and culture...
Wasps!? Don’t even THINK of skipping this one, my beautiful chickens. You’re about to change your outlook on the most maligned winged sky babies, and...
