What exactly IS a puffin? Who are they related to? Are they disco birds? WHY are they so cute? Should you kiss one? Throw one? Are they in danger? Get up in a blanket burrow and listen to field researcher and legit Puffinologist, Jillian Taylor, give us all the details on who eats them, if they are neat freaks or not, their surprising life expectancy, and how they make their long marriages work. Also: the toilets with the best views, Star Wars trivia, a cereal lore, and who should NOT become a puffinologist.

Follow Jill on Instagram and TikTok

A donation was made to CPAWS Newfoundland and Labrador

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Ornithology (BIRDS), Penguinology (PENGUINS), Oceanology (OCEANS), Oology (EGGS), Pelicanology (PELICANS), Island Ecology (ISLANDS), Ophthalmology (EYES), Lutrinology (OTTERS)

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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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

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

Boy howdy hot dang, Ologies has hit its 300th new episode! In celebration of this milestone, we’ve turned the tables and lead editor Mercedes Maitland hosts this episode with special guest… Alie Ward! We talk about Alie’s twists and turns finding her way into a career in science communication, selling art to child actors in LA, how she built Ologies from a small indie podcast into a chart-topping favorite, why it’s important to give adults a fun space in SciComm, putting yourself out there, how fear can kill curiosity, what it takes to be a science communicator and so much more. Buckle in for Mercedes’ debut as a host and find out whether she can be trusted to carry this beloved Fabergé egg we know as Ologies.

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Find @Alie_ologies on TikTok

A donation went to TheScienceHaven.org

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Pedagogology (SCIENCE COMMUNICATION), Tiktokology (THE TIKTOK APP), Alieology (YOUR HOST), FIELD TRIP: How to Change Your Life via the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Volitional Psychology (PROCRASTINATION), Agnotology (IGNORANCE), Fearology (FEAR), Victimology (CRIME VICTIMS)

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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 X

Hosted by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions

Editing by Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Part 2 of mosquitoes is here! Now that you know WHY they would like to eat you mosquito expert and Culicidologist, Dr. Fhallon Ware-Gilmore of the CDC gives us SOLUTIONS. How do we avoid bites? Why do they itch so much? Which repellents are safe for whom? What should you use in your yard? Does climate change mean an ongoing hellscape thick with mosquitos? Could Jurassic Park happen? What if mosquitoes were to, say… go extinct? Also: how do we learn to love these things that vex us?

Follow Dr. Ware-Gilmore on Google Scholar and X

A donation went to Malaria No More

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Dolorology (PAIN), Entomology (INSECTS), Dipterology (FLIES), Acaropathology (TICKS & LYME DISEASE), Spheksology (WASPS), Melittology (BEES), Native Melittology (INDIGENOUS BEES), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS), Neuroendocrinology (SEX & GENDER)

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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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

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

They’re gorgeous. They’re picky moms, and tremendous flirts. They are sparkly. And they drink blood. We hopped on the line with mosquito researcher, medical entomologist, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, and Culicidologist, Dr. Fhallon Ware-Gilmore to chat about mozzies. Why do skeeters bite you, specifically? Which ones should we watch out for? Why do they make high-pitched sounds? WHAT DO THEIR HELL MOUTHS LOOK LIKE? And how can I learn to love them? But also, how can I keep them away from me? Scream in your date's face and drink blood, if you’re a mosquito, because things are about to heat up. Next week: we’ll cover diseases and repellents, just for you.

Follow Dr. Ware-Gilmore on Google Scholar and X

A donation went to Malaria No More

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Entomology (INSECTS), Dipterology (FLIES), Acaropathology (TICKS & LYME DISEASE), Spheksology (WASPS), Melittology (BEES), Native Melittology (INDIGENOUS BEES), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS)

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

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

Clay tablets! Printing presses! Old timey audio books! Speed reading strategies! Attention spans! Dyslexia history! Literacy campaigns! Dr. Adrian Johns is an historian, professor, and author of the book “The Science of Reading” and we have a nice mellow chat about when humans started to “read,” what that means, being Hooked on Phonics, Dick, Jane, character languages, audiobooks, e-readers, school segregation, literacy rates, and how long we can focus at a time. He literally wrote the book on it.

Visit Dr. Adrian Johns’ faculty bio at University of Chicago

Shop Dr. Johns’ books including The Science of Reading: Information, Media, and Mind in Modern America (2023) and The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making (1998)

A donation went to 826LA.org and Glioblastoma Research Organization

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Anthropodermic Biocodicology (HUMAN LEATHER BOOKS), Egyptology (ANCIENT EGYPT), Curiology (EMOJI), Attention Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT), Quantum Ontology (WHAT IS REAL?), Abstract Mathemetology (UH, IS MATH REAL?), Pedagogology (SCIENCE COMMUNICATION) with Bill Nye

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

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

Pointy heads. Spiked arms. Tragic romance. It’s a whole episode about praying mantises with a real life Mantodeologist, Lohit Garikipati. Do they really eat hummingbirds? Are they endangered? Invasive? Smart? Extraterrestrial? Get your fill of mantid mythology, evolutionary gossip, sexual cannibalism, mantis motherhood, their alien egg cases, huge eyes, pet advice, and why they can show you the way to hell with this delightful entomologist, UC Davis entomology graduate and longtime keeper of mantids. You’ll lose your mind, but not your head.

Follow Lohit on Instagram and iNaturalist

A donation went to the World Wildlife Fund

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Entomology (INSECTS), Spheksology (WASPS), Melittology (BEES), Native Melittology (INDIGENOUS BEES), Myrmecology (ANTS), Etymology (WORD ORIGINS), Mythology (STORYTELLING)

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

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

A short little episode to tell you about a change we're making to Ologies that I am genuinely very pumped about, as well as some weird secrets I did not intend to tell. But my point is that you can now have a kid-safe show and feed that is safe for kids and classrooms and a road trip with your shy parents.

Subscribe to Smologies on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Podcast Addict, or wherever you get podcasts.

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jacob Chaffee, 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

The world is confusing, but there are experts in everything. In our least funny episode ever, we thankfully convinced a global expert, professor, researcher, author, and Genocidologist (it’s a real word) Dr. Dirk Moses to answer the questions that we may secretly have: What exactly is genocide? How long has it been happening? Is it a war crime? Is it a crime of atrocity? Who makes up humanitarian law? What's self-defense — and what's offense? How is it litigated? Whose business is it? Why do we do this to each other? What can be done? It’s a dense, long episode with lots of asides for history and context, but it might be just what you need to give you perspective on the conditions — and cycles of trauma — that can lead to crimes of atrocities.

Follow Dr. Dirk Moses on X

Read his book, “The Problems of Genocide: Permanent Security and the Language of Transgression”

A donation went to student tuition at City College of New York

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Agnotology (IGNORANCE), Genealogy (FAMILY TREES), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION), Indigenous Fire Ecology (GOOD FIRE), Indigenous Cuisinology (NATIVE FOODS), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Bryology (MOSS), Black American Magirology (FOOD, RACE & CULTURE), Bisonology (BISON)

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jacob Chaffee, and Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media

Additional producing and research 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