Dearest Dad Ward, My real Dad died a week ago. Your episode about death and dying prepared me to be by his side the whole time. What you do really changes lives. It changed mine. Thank you so much for what you do. Science communication matters 🩷

Alie does an incredible job of bringing on the most incredible guests, asking all the questions I want to know and making me laugh when I am deeply uninterested in laughing. I know so many things now.

This podcast will expand your horizons, and help you indulge in your hyper-fixations (both known, and yet to be discovered). Alie brings genuine curiosity and excitement into every conversation; opening the door for the experts she interviews to dive deep into their field of study. Her willingness to be humble and curious creates space for all of us to ask smart people our stupid burning questions. It makes the world a better place. 10/10 would (and often do) recommend. Sorry it has taken me over 5 years to finally write a review!

I love Ologies- however I’m always sad when the ologist say their least favorite thing about the job- is basically my full time job! I’d love to hear a Research Bureaucracy-ology episode given all the current turmoil in the federally funded research world. Actually, I take it back. More episodes about bugs please! 💚

I’m a massive science nerd, I love statistics, I love numbers and I love anything that reminds me of the professor from Gilligans Island. Great show. I hope you won an award.

Alie, thank you for doing an episode on long COVID when so many people are ignoring it. I had to come back and add after listening to Part 2 of the long COVID episode that both episodes brought me to tears and made me feel so seen. Dr. Ely gives me hope that more doctors will learn how to treat long COVID patients with dignity and care.

This is the science podcast all my fellow grad students listen to. I love the enthusiasm, the humor, the heartfelt moments—and you KNOW I’m listening to those spooktober specials all year long. I’m friends with a past guest and sometimes they get recognized around town from being on the pod! Do yourself a favor and pick up some new fun facts to badger your family with.

I have been looking for a new podcast for a while. I fell in love right away. It’s fascinating, funny, creative, and all around well done!

I started listening to this pod about a year ago, binged every episode, and it literally changed my life. Besides the fact that I always feel a little bit smarter & a little bit happier after every episode, it helped me manage my driving anxiety greatly. After a trauma, I had a very difficult driving, especially alone, and listening to ologies has made driving alone much more manageable! Feels like an old friend chatting to me 🥰 Love you dadward!

Excellent show. I humbly request a show where you entertain the opposing view to one of your sponsors. It would be spicy. 😉. I’ve listened since volcanology. A receptive conservative typing. Cheers

I learned so much about Hippos and I never really thought about how little we know about them. Now I am going to do more research. Also you asked every question I was thinking about. Thank you!

An Ologies t-shirt! Alie you rock. I’m running out of episodes to binge! (My problem, not yours 🤣) If you’re riding the hot mess express, this podcast is the thing you need!

Amazing podcast, love the teuthology episode and can’t believe it’s a job to study bobtail squid’s. Good show, good science, keep it up! I love bobtail squid’s. Mine would spit the shrimp heads out after it ate them, is that weird?

From the first episode I found to the episodes I went back in history to hear to the episodes that I don’t think I want to hear (ants and later flies, for example), you have kept me learning, cocking my head in wonder, getting inspired (climate ferventology, outdoor grazing [can’t remember the name right now]) so many times, recommending to friends, sharing odd tidbits with friends/colleagues/patients/families, and overall entertained. Thank you for keeping me on my neurological toes.

with every single episode of ologies, i truly feel my knowledge of the world is expanding. it makes me feel good about myself to listen to this podcast, which isn’t something i can say about the other podcasts i listen to, honestly. (at least not in the same way.) even the episodes that at first seem unappealing (like for example the one about garbage) end up being a nice surprise that truly enlightens me in ways i didn’t even realize were possible! therefore this podcast deserves ALL the stars, it is the best podcast of all podcasts. i love how insanely informative and entertaining it is, simultaneously. Allie has a talent of making anything interesting and I just love her so much for that! i hope she is taking care of herself and resting, bc we need her longevity! and not to burn out! 😉 thank you for doing what you do Allie! it’s such a pleasure to have found such a special podcast that makes me feel so happy to listen to.

Swear words do not offend me. If that is what people are getting out of this, they need to go head over to smologies for those G rated episodes. I learned so much by listening to this podcast over months. I love it so much more than I did science class and I’m so glad Alie Ward has created it. Thank you so much, Alie. You have continued my education in the funnest, easiest way possible as a 35-year-old woman I feel enlightened every time I tune in.

This is such a great podcast, so interesting, the experts are amazing and Alie is witty and brilliantly adds humor to all of it. Bravo, and thanks for the smiles!

Me and my dad listen to almost every episode, and will talk about how cool that week’s topic is. I appreciate the context and explanations that Dadward gives us, so I never am confused or feel like I don’t understand. Amazing show!!!

Ologies is my all around favorite podcast. It provides me with a steady stream of cool science facts to share in lieu of small talk, and has been playing both times I found asleep/comatose snakes in the woods. (Given my habit of listening to Ologies on hikes it’s almost certainly coincidental, but it’s still kinda funny.) All anecdotal snake correlations aside, this podcast is AWESOME. It’s like a tour of assorted scientific rabbit holes guided by the experts themselves with a host who’s as enthusiastic about it as they are. I’d highly recommend it for anyone who’s interested in science! P.S. Both snakes ended up being okay.

I’ve been listening for a few years and have always loved your podcast. Recently I accepted a job as a forester, and I realized I was a bit nervous about being in the woods by myself. I was worried I might not be suited for this job. And yes, I do understand how silly that is given my career pursuit - but I didn’t realize how creepy and eerie the woods can be! What I want to say is that last week I decided to put on your podcast while I’m walking around, alone, in the middle of nowhere and you gave truly made all my anxieties go away. It’s become so peaceful for me to be out here with your voice in the background. Thank you so much 🥲

“Sponsors? Why sponsors?” When I say this along with Alie I know I’ve packed in enough knowledge to go info dump onto my coworkers for the day. A glorious morning routine

This whole show made me miss school. Yes, I loved school. It allows me to go back into learning with out breaking my bank account again in tuition. Thank you for supporting and fueling my hyper fixations.

The best thing about this podcast (beside going over really interesting topics, good pacing, and fun questions), Ali always looks up things that I would say “ah ya I’ll look that up later.” She puts it all in one episode. You have a side thought… no worries…she thought of it, looked it up, and added it right into the podcast at the right time. That’s my fav. A lot of times I listen without service, so she does the googling for me and I love it.

I can’t believe I waited so many years to listen to this. This podcast fills a void I didn’t know I had. I will now proceed to listen to it five times in a row and make it my entire identity.

I love this show. The host is genuine and hilarious. I now entertain my mom and coworkers with fun animal facts and other knowledge I’ve been gifted with by this show. Alie says things like “sad inner goblins” and has other witty and dorky asides and wordplay that make me laugh. Keep dropping those f-bombs and being you bc I’m one of the many who are here for it.

It seems that every time I get drunk and goto a bar I walk around and ask/tell people about your podcast. I’m a park ranger and everyone of our rangers religiously listen to you! Thanks for being curious!

I’ve been listening since Volcanos came out, even my kids listen (whether they want to or not) so going through life now - to the zoo, the park, to school and I keep hearing myself saying “there’s an ology for that!” Feel free to use that Alie, I would buy a shirt with that on it. There has never been an episode I haven’t been fully invested in and look forward to every new episode.

Hi Alie! I’m a 14 year old homeschooler who is always looking for ways to learn, and when I found your podcast a few months ago, it opened me up to so many new things, engaging me in ways I hadn’t before. I really appreciate your view on such a wide range of topics, and your guests always grasp my attention. Thanks for creating an outlet for learning and curiosity! P.S: I would love to see an episode on Cosmology or Enzymology. 😁

During a recent shift working the cash register in my role as a Death Doula of JoAnn Fabrics, I was ringing up a person who was buying a snail mug. I shared that I had just been listening to an Ologies podcast about mediaeval snails and she lit up! “Oh, with Ali Ward?! I haven’t heard that one yet!”When I mentioned that you have ties to Montana she actually squealed. We both hope to happen upon you in the wilds of our Big Sky country some day. Your show has armed my shy self with the confidence to pepper strangers with odd bits of information and now I have much more interesting conversations. Thanks for that and I give Ologies allllll the stars in the Big Sky. RIP JoAnn’s, the world is a lesser place without you.

Have you ever been sad that you can’t live a million years so that you could dedicate a lifetime to researching and learning all of the things? This is the podcast for you! You can live vicariously through all of the people you are wildly jealous of on account of their super cool jobs and brains.

This podcast is a breath of fresh air in a climate filled with misinformation. Science for the win!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I just started listening to Ologies last year and I’m addicted. It’s exactly what I need when I can’t listen to anymore current events and just want to laugh while learning fun facts. The hippo episode saved this Sunday afternoon for me. Thanks, Allie, you’re my favorite!

If you’re looking for a podcast that might change your life, this one is it! I use to LOVE science when I was younger but eventually found myself in marketing as an adult bc I thought I wouldn’t be able to pursue science. But after listening to this podcast, I fell back in love with science and have since worked with animals from dogs and bunnies to penguins and stingrays! Alie Ward is an energetic host and brings great guests on the show no matter what your jam is! Love it!

Listening to Alie talk each week about an intelligent topic by an informed smart person is enough for 5 stars. What makes this podcast so perfect is Alie. Listening to her talk and be witty is like listening to the audio version of warm tea with a little honey. Just cozy and perfect, calming and reassuring. Thanks Alie, this is what perfect content is.

I’m a vet tech — the animal and medical episodes speak to my soul!! I love listening before bed. Alie has such a lovely personality

Talked to my math teacher about ethiopian blends of coffee today. All of my teachers and friends recognise me as the girl who knows all these random tid bits of info now. Makes nyt connections better.

Ologies is an absolute gem of a podcast—an exuberant, hilarious, and heartfelt journey into the wild and wonderful world of science. Host Alie Ward brings an infectious enthusiasm and razor-sharp wit to every episode, making even the most obscure disciplines feel immediately fascinating and accessible.

And I just wanted to let you know how much I’m enjoying it (a lot!). I’ve been listening to Ologies for years and it introduced me to so many cool facts and inspired a number of poems I wrote for my university’s zoology newsletter. Thanks Dadward!

I’m 11 years old and love this podcast. No, I’m not kidding. No I do not listen to smologies. No, I do not listen to the bleeped ones. Yes, I actually understand it. This podcast is awesome and amazing and funny and helps me be smarter than my friends. My teacher does trivia every Friday and my team always wins because of this podcast. It would be really awesome to hear my review on the podcast but it’s totally 100% fine if u can’t/ won’t. Byeeeeeeee.

I love this podcast so much, because I just love learning about stuff. But boy does it grind my gears to think of how many niche careers my high school guidance counselor never told me about. The first episode I listened to was about lightning. I thought, “you can be an expert in lightning??” Dude said he got his degree in “fire science.” Like, I’m sorry, do you mean you’re a WIZARD? 1000/10, this podcast will both entertain you and peak your curiosity about subjects you never thought you’d be interested in.

This is the best of the best as a retired indoor landscape caregiver I love so much of this one it validates my life long experience with indoor gardens Thanks for every episode but this right now is my joyous moment

Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love Ologies more, Alie did the houseplants episode. I’ve slowly developed more of a green thumb over the past decade, but this episode validated my incredible difficulty with succulents, while discussing one of my favorite topics:”.

I’ve been listening to ologies for a couple of years and promised myself I would write a review once I finally caught up. Instead, last night at bar trivia, I helped my team get a winning answer (what is the study of eggs? Oology, obviously) all thanks to ologies and ol’ dad Ward. Hopefully I’ll get caught up soon and maybe hear my review!

I really don’t know how this could be any better, week after week after week. 1000 thank yous.

I was waiting till I was caught up on episodes before I left a review, but then Alie made an episode about House Plants and I did a VERY perceptible butt dance. The content is top notch and the way Alie breaks concepts down to be relatable and memorable is beyond amazing. The best podcast to learn factoids that will forever leave your coworkers thinking you are a lunatic with an extremely adhd interest in science and the world. Thank you for all that you do Alie!

I finally have an answer to the evergreen question, who would you invite to dinner? I’ll invite Alie Ward. Standing invitation to dinner at my house, Alie! Let’s talk native plants. Or butterflies, or birds, or video games, or photography, or ….

Truly, the best science podcast out there. I have a commute of an hour or more and Alie never misses. Even when I find myself not interested in a topic, she makes it palatable. The worst thing about it is the show notes: you thought you were done, well here’s five more episodes you might like. Seriously, give it a listen. I proudly display my ologies merc everywhere I go and awkwardly find myself interjecting in conversations “oh there is an episode of ologies about that…”

Great podcast!! The most recent 3 (LC x2, trash TV) were well done, and highlighted ologies that I thought were pretty niche to me. I’m excited to see more people get introduced to these fascinating (if sometimes scary) subjects.

Never knew why people were into podcasts until I had to listen to an Ologies episode for a class. Now I can’t stop! Somehow Ologies blends together the perfect amount of entertainment with education. Only been a listener for 2 weeks now but I am a hungry caterpillar who can’t stop eating these up. I listen constantly from driving to work to doctors appointments (seriously suggest learning about super ant colonies while getting blood drawn to distract yourself 10/10). Alie Ward has gotten me, and countless others, to get that dream drive going again to continue on to get my next degree in ecology after I thought I had lost it forever. *I am updating this now in March 2025 and have since achieved my dream of being a park ranger. Do I use this as a source of knowledge to use during educational programs? Absolutely. No shame. But do I cite this as a primary or secondary source? That’s the real question.

Alie has been a great companion on commutes, errands and long drives for so many years. She has enlightened me and my family and my friends. I have quoted the show so often that my family cheered when opened a sweatshirt at Christmas