Cultural burns. Prescribed blazes. A healthy forest. What exactly is “good fire?” Let’s ask Indigenous fire scientist Dr. Amy Christianson, who is a co-host of the podcast ...Good Fire. This wonderfully generous and informed scholar took a quick break from her Canadian wilderness vacation to fill me in on Indigenous history, collaborations between Western science & First Nations elders, Aboriginal thoughts on cultural burns, flim-flam, evacuations, snowmelt, hunting strategies, land stewardship, happy trees, climate strategies, and the social science behind wildfire education. Also learning from Native wildfire fighters. Huge thanks to her and Matt Kristoff -- who also hosts the Your Forest Podcast -- for allowing us to use excerpts from their interview to launch Good Fire. Subscribe to both podcasts to get more ecological knowledge in your ears.

Follow Dr. Amy Christianson on Twitter 

Listen to the “Good Fire” podcast

Also great: Your Forest podcast

A donation was made to Indigenous Residential School Survivors 

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Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, totes, masks… 

Follow @ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @alieward on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

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 in this burning sensation, what better time than now to sit down and fire off a lot of questions at Fire Ecologist, Dr. Gavin Jones. We talk about what fire is, how hot it burns, fire trends, tinderboxes, lots and lots of forest fire flim-flam, tolerant wombats, Angelina Jolie Movies, cunning pine cones, thick bark, Indigenous fire stewardship and more. This episode might get you pretty heated but that’ll only release seeds of new ideas and hope, because it's serotinous. That bad joke will make sense after you listen.

Follow Dr. Gavin Jones on Twitter 

A donation was made to The Common Good Community Foundation 

More episode sources & links

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts & bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, totes, masks… 

Follow @ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @alieward on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

ANNOUNCEMENT: SMOLOGIES NOW HAS ITS OWN FEED! SUBSCRIBE  FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY THURSDAY. 

Subscribe to Smologies: https://pod.link/1746567248

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? What’s with the warts? Amphibian enthusiast Priya Nanjappa joins with a toadally awesome episode that will change the way you crouch down and shake hands with your tiny backyard grumpa.(And for the full version with NSFW stories, the link is below.)

New full-length episodes of Ologies drop Tuesdays, and new Smologies come out every other Thursday.

More Smologies episodes

Full uncut episode of Bufology

Follow Priya on Twitter and Instagram

A donation was made to The Amphibian & Reptile Conservancy

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, pins, totes!

Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Zeke Thomas Rodrigues & Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray Morris

Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

Biological mysteries solved with numbers! Graphs! Patterns! Data points! Systems biology! You never knew it existed, yet it’s keeping us alive. Systems Biologist Dr. Emily E. Ackerman join to chat about why the field appealed to her, how her work shifted during the pandemic, why she wants to scream at Excel sometimes, how computing might replace specific types of animal testing, accessibility in STEM, the immune system, why she loves being a disabled scientist and advocate, the ethics of CRISPR, and some really nice guy named Doug.

Dr. Emily E. Ackerman’s website emilyeackerman.com

Follow her at Twitter.com/EmilyEAckerman

More links at www.alieward.com/ologies/systemsbiology

A donation was made to HEARD: https://behearddc.org/

Sponsors of Ologies: alieward.com/ologies-sponsors

Transcripts & bleeped episodes at: alieward.com/ologies-extras

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month: www.Patreon.com/ologies

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes and now… MASKS. Hi. Yes.

Follow twitter.com/ologies or instagram.com/ologies

Follow twitter.com/AlieWard or instagram.com/AlieWard

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Transcripts by Emily White of www.thewordary.com/

Support the show: http://Patreon.com/ologies

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 her love of a bug that many think is merely a mythological delight. Learn how these tiny animals illuminate the night, the dos and don’ts of firefly observation, how to take good firefly photos, femme fatales, pink glowworms, secret languages, artificial lights, what’s up with their population numbers, why Western states can chill out with their lightning bug envy, and how you can ensure the world stays aglow with these beloved bugs. Also: nuptial gifts, both human and lampyridological.

Dr. Sara Lewis’s website silentsparks.com

Buy her book, Silent Sparks: The Wondrous World of Fireflies!

Follow her at Twitter.com/silent_spark

More links at www.alieward.com/ologies/sparklebuttology

A donation went to: Xerces.org

Sponsors of Ologies: alieward.com/ologies-sponsors

Transcripts & bleeped episodes at: alieward.com/ologies-extras

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month: www.Patreon.com/ologies

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes and now… MASKS. Hi. Yes.

Follow twitter.com/ologies or instagram.com/ologies

Follow twitter.com/AlieWard or instagram.com/AlieWard

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Transcripts by Emily White of www.thewordary.com/

Support the show: http://Patreon.com/ologies

ANNOUNCEMENT: SMOLOGIES NOW HAS ITS OWN FEED! SUBSCRIBE  FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY THURSDAY. 

Subscribe to Smologies: https://pod.link/1746567248

Introducing… SMOLOGIES. Smaller, shorter, G-rated episodes cut from your favorite classics. Listen to Smologies in classrooms, around people whose language is squeaky clean, and in safe-for-work settings. You get bite-sized info in a jiffy, and I get to reserve my filthy language for our longer, regular episodes that drop on Tuesdays. In this episode, planetary geologist Raquel Nuno chats about when the moon formed, what its made of, how moon phases work, gravity, conspiracy theories debunked, the far side of the moon, lunar caves and why she pulls out the telescope to stare at the sky every night.

Full, uncut, original Selenology episode

More Smologies episodes

Raquel Nuno's website and Instagram

A donation went to the The Planetary Society

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, pins, totes!

Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Zeke Thomas Rodrigues & Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray Morris

Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

ANNOUNCEMENT: SMOLOGIES NOW HAS ITS OWN FEED! SUBSCRIBE  FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY THURSDAY. 

Subscribe to Smologies: https://pod.link/1746567248

We cleaned up the full version and polished it into a safe-for-work digest of dinosaur facts and tales from a paleontologist with Dr. Michael Habib. Learn about the economics of a dino dig, his favorite beasts, cloning from amber samples, which museum dinos are real vs. fakes, Jurassic Park flimflam and more. (And for the full version with NSFW stories, the link is below.)

New full-length episodes of Ologies drop Tuesdays, and new Smologies come out every other Thursday.

More Smologies episodes

Full, uncut, NSFW episode on Paleontology

Follow Dr. Michael Habib on Twitter and Instagram

A donation went to nhm.org

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, pins, totes!

Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Zeke Thomas Rodrigues & Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray Morris

Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

Lemon sharks! Goblin sharks! Bonnet sharks! Whale sharks! And ...sawfish? WE NEEDED A BIGGER BOAT. One shark episode was not enough, during this: The Week of the Shark. Sure, Alie just got married a few days ago, but that doesn’t mean we can’t throw together this bundle of wonder with a few of the incredible researchers from Minorities in Shark Science. Get ready to befriend Jaida Elcock, Jasmin Graham, and Amani Webber-Schultz as they spin yarns about wild field stories, explain why they love sharks, debunk common flim flams, quote favorite shark flicks, and make sure appreciate the stunning diversity and evolution of these ancient creatures. Sharks: nicer than a holy water vending machine. (That’ll make sense later.)

MISS: Minorities in Shark Science on Twitter

Jaida Elcock on Twitter and TikTok

Jasmin Graham on Twitter

Amani Webber-Schultz on Twitter and check out the hashtag #HowItPants

MISS co-founder Carlee Jackson

A donation went to: MISS (Minorities in Shark Science)

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts & bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, totes, masks… 

Follow @ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @alieward on Twitter and Instagram

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

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 in this, an encore-but-refreshed episode with your newly married pod-dad. Alie learns that sharks are not the ocean's a-holes 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 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/selachimorphology

A donation went to: http://www.misselasmo.org/

Sponsors of Ologies: alieward.com/ologies-sponsors

Transcripts & bleeped episodes at: alieward.com/ologies-extras

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month: www.Patreon.com/ologies

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, pins, totes and now… MASKS. Hi. Yes.

Follow twitter.com/ologies or instagram.com/ologies

Follow twitter.com/AlieWard or instagram.com/AlieWard

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Support the show: http://Patreon.com/ologies

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 end.

Love! Romance! Intimate relationships! Marriage! Divorce! Remarriage! Clowns! This episode has it all. The wonderfully warm Dr. Benjamin Karney of the UCLA Marriage lab has been studying romance and intimate relationships for 20 years and sits down to chat about being single and the mechanisms behind finding a partner, what behaviors foster intimacy, why some couples stay together vs. splitting up, some bananas proposals, wedding budgets, how parenting affects marriage, historical problems with matrimony and his own experiences with marriage and divorce. These behaviors are also so applicable to friendships, work partnerships and as it turns out...professional clowns.

Dr. Ben Karney at the UCLA Marriage Lab

This week's donation was made to Care.org, which works to end gender-based violence.

Juuuust in case you want to toss anything in the travel jar to ease wedding costs for others: https://www.zola.com/registry/jarrettandalie

Sponsor links: alieward.com/ologies/sponsors

More links at alieward.com/ologies/matrimoniology

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

Sound editing by Steven Ray Morris & Jarrett Sleeper

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Support the show: http://Patreon.com/ologies