Ologies is the real life version of being on The Magic School Bus and Alie is like the real life version of Miss Frizzle - I never walk away without learning something cool about this weirdly beautiful (and beautifully weird) world from a teacher who is articulated, welcoming, unapologetically herself, always audibly smiling, endlessly compassionate, and if every person on Earth had her as their teacher, the world would objectively be a better place. Sending a giant “thank you” hug for making this podcast because I get the vibe that she’s a hug person <3

As a former gifted child who peaked in 5th grade being the only girl who won every science award…this show has re-awakened something in me. My love for science and constant asking of “why???” had been squished out of me almost entirely, but Alie has completely changed that. Her hilarious wit and natural genius, alongside these brilliant guests, is just the most perfectly palatable dish of discourse that I could ever dream of. Thank you, Alie, for simply existing and being a gift to the world. But also thank you for giving the world this truly incredible show. I literally burst into my husbands office today screeching “did you know pigeons produce MILK?!” and I am still riding that high, tbh. PS. I wish we could be best friends. Okay, that is all!

This is my go to podcast when I am feeling overwhelmed or emotionally isolated. It brings me a sense of comfort to be part of and intellectual conversation and learn about random things!

I really enjoy the podcast but I have a problem with the sentiment for Palestine. I find it disturbing that podcasters that I like such as you and Cara Santa Maria are so one sided in the conflict in the Middle East. What about the fact that the entire thing going on in Gaza is because terrorists slaughtered Israeli citizens. Terrorists from Hamas who were voted into office by Palestinians and who. Most Palestinians support. And of course these terrorist groups use their own people as human shields and launch missões from hospitals and orphanages so when their weapons are taken out they can play the victim because their innocent children were blown up. What is Israel supposed to do? They are being attacked and killed by terrorist groups. And have to protect themselves and fight for their lives.Do you expect them to just give up and not fight against those who are trying to kill them? There is a huge antisemitic undercurrent in liberal ideology and it is supported with lots of money from Arab groups that organize and back up pro Palestinian protests at places like Columbia. So you have an episode in genocide and mass atrocities? Palestine is NOT a genecide. Why don’t you do an episode on terrorism and radical Muslim ideology?

While on vacation in Slovenia two years ago, I begged my friend DK to cut my hair, and we decided to take a listen to this podcast my friend Sophie had recommended. It took DK an hour to cut my hair, which meant I quickly stopped really listening to the podcast, because I was too concerned about why my friend was only cutting a millimetre of hair at a time. Then I started binging Oologies a couple months ago and I realised that DK was just captivated by the podcast and wanted to extend the haircut an hour. If that’s not a 5-star review, I don’t know what is.

Was recommended by a friend when stuck in a perpetual doom spiral. Love that it breaks these bits of life and science down to digestible levels! The rapport Alie has with guests is great! If I had one criticism, the constant context interjections Alie makes in the middle of the conversation are really distracting and throw off the flow of the conversation. A few here and there are fine, but it feels like they happen every 5 minutes and I lose track of what the guest was in the middle of saying. Especially when it’s something like a siren in the background — unless it’s completely ruining the audio, not really necessary to throw in an interjection there. Just good for thought! Thanks for what you do.

You will always learn something new! Alie’s voice is so soothing, and she’s relatable, funny, and asks the guests great questions. The guests are very diverse, and every episode is so insightful. It’s a great, feel-good, intriguing podcast and I look forward to each episode!

I really like the content/subject material but I think more important in audio is the host. I think it’s a brilliant brainchild and clearly has a lot of effort put in but the amount of times the host makes thing about herself, appears to think she’s pretty cute and funny, is off-putting and detracts from the subject material.

Such an interesting podcast! So many different, interesting subjects and the host had a fantastic energy. By the end of the episodes you’ve learned so much 🙌🏻

This podcast helped me BECOME a podcast person after trying so many things. I’ve been able to cut my doomscrolling to almost nothing because Ologies always keeps me on the edge of my seat. Thank you thank you thank you for making this space possible

Don’t tell the HardFork team, but this is now my favorite podcast. I love it. I think I love Ali Ward too, but I’m 72 and spoken for and she’s married so it’s not going to work out. I’ll just keep listening to the show. Great engaging guests addressing a multiverse of fascinating topics enhanced by Alie’s research, sidebars, digressions, resources, humour, and obvious enthusiasm.

Love this podcast. Alie has a way of facilitating the experts expression of passion for their topic that makes every topic compelling. I have found my self fascinated by topics I would never have considered diving into. I am a health care professional and I find myself referring people to this podcast all the time. It’s informative but delivered in a digestible and entertaining way. Thank you Alie!

Holy cow, Alie Ward. You and this podcast are gifts to us listeners. We love your show and recently listened to the candy episode with Susan Benjamin. WOW! What an incredibly informative, funny, memorable episode! The climate fervorology episode?! Fantastically smart. We have appreciated you since Innovation Nation and we are thrilled to follow and learn with you here. Thank you for this delightfully educational pod, your witty smarts, and wonderful personality. 😊

Alie is my favorite podcast dad. Instead of just telling me to read the encyclopedia like my real dad did when I had a question as a child, Alie talks to all of the best experts in their field to teach me about everything from opossums to dreams to volcanoes to medieval snail memes. My favorite day is when we get a new Oologies episode, or even an encore, because all of the episodes are well worth multiple listens!! Keep up the good work Alie, you’re doing a fantastic job. 💖

I love this podcast. Thank you Alie for granting mere mortals with knowledge that I could not gain from reading the entirety of Wikipedia. I am eternally grateful.

I loved learning about hobbies and their effects on mental health, especially as a hobbyist with mental health issues. Can you do an episode about holisitic medicine?!

I wait for Wednesdays to get started with that week’s episode. Almost all topics are things I don’t know anything about, and by the end of the episode I either love those ologies or I know they’re not for me.

Allie, as a VERY young child I saw you on Brainchild and a couple years ago when I found this podcast I was hooked IMMEDIATELY. Not only because the host was none other than the amazing ✨Allie Ward✨, but also because I could tell how much heart and soul you put into this phenomenal podcast. Also I physically can’t write this review without bringing up the Urban Rodentology (I hope I spelled that right) episode. I can’t stop talking to my family about rats (which I can tell they are very tired of), and I recently went to New York and my main goal was to see at least one rat. Love Allie, love this podcast, love everything about this podcast, oh, and did I mention I love this podcast? P.S. never saw a rat in NYC😭😭😭

Your podcast is fascinating, more great facts and people than I can list. Two personal favorites - the show about Urban Rats and the one on Hippos. I wanted to recommend a book The Observologist by Giselle Clarkson it’s one of the winners of the John Burroughs Natural History Society’s Riverby awards. It’s supposed to be for kids but it’s for everyone 😸🐾

I have been listening to this podcast for years and it has brought so many fun facts and some weird ones too! Even if you might not think garbage or climate or any topic is interesting, Alie Ward is the person to get you interested! 🩷

A small thing that I notice and appreciate about this podcast is their use of gender neutral pronouns before the expert declares their own. Using “they” as a singular is something my little brain struggles with immensely and the small weekly reminder that “they” can be one person has helped me come a long way in using the right pronoun to refer to my non binary friends. I don’t talk to or about them often, so practice for me is minimal. It’s such a small, thoughtful thing that normalizes non binary language that is so helpful in an online world where being non binary is anything but normalized.

I’ve been listening to multiple episodes a week for the past two years. I finally finished them all. Am I sad? No! Now I get to go back and listen to all of them over again. Hopefully I can retain more of the amazing stuff I learned the first time. Thanks Alie! - Dr. Lisa B

Hi Alie! Had to use my husband’s account because I don’t have any Apple devices. I love your episodes!! I have ADHD but I’m always able to listen to the podcast the whole way through because it’s so interesting! It also tricks my brain because I feel like I’m being productive since I’m learning.

I never thought I’d be riveted by an hour-long deep dive into the science of garbage, but here we are. Ologies has officially made me the person who brings up obscure facts about fungus and jellyfish at parties (you’re welcome, everyone). Alie Ward is the delightfully nerdy, hilarious tour guide I didn’t know I needed through the wild world of “ologies” I had never once considered—and now can’t stop obsessing over. Her voice? Pure velvety serotonin. Like a warm mug of tea for your ears. I’ve fallen asleep to her whispering about volcanology more times than I care to admit, and it’s the only time in my life I’ve been excited to drift off mid-trash science lesson. (Yes, trash science. It’s a thing. And it’s amazing.) 10/10 would recommend to anyone who wants to feel smarter, laugh unexpectedly, and blissfully conk out to someone explaining the mating rituals of obscure insects.

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!