Yes, Chickenology is a real word. And we have questions. Such as: should you get a chicken?! Chicken-haver and author of “Under the Henfluence” Tove Danovich stops in to recall how her casual backyard chicken experiment turned into an obsession, a lifestyle, and then a book. We chat about junglefowl, chicken competitions, egg prices, chicken statues, bird personalities, coop logistics, avian flus, shell hues, earlobes, live chicken cams, and more on this Part 1. Stay tuned next week as we address a record-breaking number of listener questions. And watch out for leghorns. 

Buy Tove’s book: Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them

Visit Tove’s website and follow her on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Tove’s chickens on Instagram

A donation went to Second Hen’d

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Oology Encore (EGGS), Ornithology (BIRDS), Pelicanology (PELICANS), Penguinology (PENGUINS), Procyonology (RACCOONS), Opossumology (O/POSSUMS), Veterinary Biology (CRITTER FIXING), Bisonology (BUFFALO), Indigenous Cuisinology (NATIVE COOKING), Plumology (FEATHERS), Condorology (CONDORS & VULTURES), Wildlife Ecology (FIELDWORK), Felinology (CATS), Lupinology (WOLVES)

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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Red eyes. Ten-foot wings. And an absolute dumptruck. Let’s get to the bottom of the great American mythology of the world’s sexiest cryptid, Mothman. Haunting the hills of West Virginia in 1966-67, he vanished as fast as he flew. Point Pleasant-raised Jeff Wamsley is the owner/operator of the Mothman Museum and an expert in the legends of this creature. What’s the story? Who is telling it? Is Mothman real? What are some scientific explanations? Do other cultures see a Mothman? Is he even a moth? Is he even a man? Where did he go? Why do we want to see him? Who are the Men in Black? Also: why is he so caked up?

(Content warning: we discuss an entity that likely is not real. I know that. Don’t email me.)

Visit the Mothman Museum website

A donation went to Save-the-Academy.org

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Teratology (MONSTERS), Vampirology (VAMPIRES), UFOlogy (UNEXPLAINED AERIAL PHENOMENA), Disasterology (DISASTERS), Museology (MUSEUMS), Mythology (STORYTELLING), Strigiformology (OWLS), Ornithology (BIRDS), Lepidopterology (BUTTERFLIES), Psychedeliology (HALLUCINOGENS), Cannabinology (MARIJUANA)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

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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 Bluesky

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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Whisks and witches. Bristles and Shakers. Potions and prisons. From making brooms to jumping them, teacher, author, broomsquire, and Broomologist Cate O'Connell Richards gives us the overlooked history of how that broom got in your garage. So light a candle and tuck in for fibers, harvests, how-tos, angel wings, hawktails, besoms, labor laws, Broomcorn Johnnies, utopic communes, wedding traditions, oral histories, care tips and how everything is more interesting with context. Even brooms. Content warning as requested by the guest: when we talk about history, especially witches, there may be mentions of violence, death or sexuality.

Visit Cate’s website and store and follow them on Instagram

A donation went to Prison Arts Collective

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Canistrumology (BASKET WEAVING), Ceramology (POTTERY), Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT), Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Disinfectiology (BLEACH), Cabinology (CABINS), Traumatology (PTSD), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION) 

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Punted seals. Sunken yachts. Beach ambushes. And salmon hats? What’s even happening with killer whales? Are they sadists, or just hungry hungry hippos turned marine mammals? The Natural History Museum of LA County’s marine mammal expert  Dr. Jorge Vélez-Juarbe joins the show to chat about peachy babies, how their language is like a trucker radio, tiny whiskers, the formal wear, what’s with the nubbin teeth, if you should go whale watching, pod sizes, Indigenous folklore, captivity struggles, whales that meow, fatty melons and so much more. Also: baby whiskers. Spooktober continues, with these aquatic killers. 

Visit Dr. Vélez-Juarbe’s website and follow him on Instagram and Google Scholar

A donation went to the Ocean Animal Response and Research Alliance

Save the Academy Virtual Rally: Thursday, October 15 at noon Eastern. Register on Zoom

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Oceanology (OCEANS), Delphinology (DOLPHINS), Selachimorphology (SHARKS), Elasmobranchology (MORE SHARK STORIES), Pinnipedology (SEALS & WALRUSES), Ichthyology (FISHES), Mammalogy (MAMMALS), Functional Morphology (ANATOMY), Hyaenidology (HYENAS) 

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thrills. Chills. Hiding behind your hands. It’s officially SPOOKTOBER month with a huge, fascinating (and I promise, mellow) episode on why humans watch horror, and what’s happening in your brain. Not only do we have the author of “Horror on the Brain: the Neuroscience Behind Science Fiction,” neuroscientist Dr. Austin Lim, but this also features CUTS from other episodes to FLESH it all out. Enjoy the political sociology of zombies vs. vampires, feminist body horror, horror as anti-war art, liminal spaces, the best blood in the business, goosebumps and Goosebumps, evolutionary mismatches, why clowns unsettle you, and if horror is having its moment. (Note: it is.)

Also, we had to cap this at 2+ hours so if we don’t cover *your* favorite movie or series and you yell at me about it, I will roll my eyes so hard that I will die and then I will haunt you by hiding your car keys.

Visit Dr. Lim’s website and follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube 

Buy his book, Horror on the Brain: The Neuroscience Behind Science Fiction

A donation went to Homes For Animal Heroes and Homeboy Industries

Make your donations go further – up to 100% matching – by using GivingMultiplier, the amazing portal co-founded by Harvard professor and Trolleyologist, Dr. Joshua Greene

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Serpopsychology (WHAT’S CREEPY?), Fearology (FEAR), Teratology (MONSTERS), Vampirology (VAMPIRES), Mnemonology (MEMORY), Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD), The OCD Experience with a Neurobiologist, Trolleyology (MORAL DILEMMAS + THE TROLLEY PROBLEM), Desairology (MORTUARY MAKE-UP), Taphology (GRAVESITES), Metropolitan Tombology (PARIS CATACOMBS), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Osteology (SKELETONS/BODY FARMS)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Basement card games. Fireside reminiscing. Being forced to learn a dance. Does acting like a cornball matter? Will bits save your life? Yes. I got myself to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to talk with research psychologists Dr. Sara Algoe and Dr. Laura Kurtz, who also run the research collective, The Love Consortium. They’re the team behind studies proving that laughing does predict and enhance lasting social support and lead to longer, better lives. We chat sneaky studies, in person vs. remote hangouts, which came first: the giggle or the oxytocin, which “novel and arousing” activities strengthen relationships, the immersive bonding of a slumber party with people you trust, words vs. actions, laughter amid conflict, and how connecting with old friends can keep you out of the hospital unless you decide to try amateur rodeo night at the fair. 

Visit Dr. Algoe’s website and follow her on Google Scholar

Follow Dr. Kurtz on Google Scholar

A donation went to The Love Consortium

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Personality Psychology (PERSONALITIES), Eudemonology (HAPPINESS), Awesomeology (GRATITUDE FOR LITTLE THINGS), Funology (YES, FUN), Gelotology (LAUGHTER), Ergopathology (BURNOUT), Philematology (KISSING), Cardiology (THE HEART)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gems of lightning and shadows. Rainbow fossils. Underground tunnel homes. Mysterious sedimentary origins. Aboriginal dreamtime stories. Armored snails. Questionable song lyrics. It’s opals, folks. And world expert geophysicist and University of Sydney professor Dr. Patrice Rey is here to talk about why he left France to explore the geological mysteries of the Outback. Should you get an opal engagement ring? Can they get wet? What’s the difference between an Australian and Ethiopian opal? What was one doing in a Kenyan cave 3000 years ago? What’s a Kyoto Opal vs. opalite? And why was your great grandma named Opal? 

(Cultural warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners: this episode mentions names and stories of people who have passed.)

Visit Dr. Rey’s website and follow him on Google Scholar 

A donation went to the GO Foundation

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Geology (ROCKS), Areology (MARS), Speleology (CAVES), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), FIELD TRIP: I Go France and Learn Weird France Stuff, Gemology (GEMS & MINERALS), Volcanology (VOLCANOES), Biomineralogy (SHELLS) 

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

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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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s the Ologies 9th Anniversary episode – and the customary gift is willow. So I reached out to an artist whose work means a lot to me, and convinced world-renowned environmental sculptor Patrick Dougherty to chat about his work, and about willows in general. Twisting and tangling literal tons of willow saplings, Patrick and his crews create huge, site-specific sculptures that look like fantastical buildings, but made almost entirely of sustainably-sourced branches. I’ve loved his work for decades, and this chat was like a kid meeting their basketball hero. We also address: cleaning up ecology with willows, their spine-like roots, why some willows weep, plumbing follies, medicinal uses of willows, why they’re so bendy, the poetry that nature inspires, why sniffing sticks is healthy, the physics of birds’ nests, and reconnecting with the wonder you had as a child. Instant classic. 

Visit Patrick’s website and follow him on Instagram

Buy James Florio’s photography book Sticks featuring 16 of Patrick’s projects

A donation went to the NC Conservation Network

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Dendrology (TREES), Canistrumology (BASKET WEAVING), Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Indigenous Fashionology (NATIVE CLOTHING), Modern Toichographology (MURALS & STREET ART), FIELD TRIP: I Take You to the Making of a Mural, Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES), Castorology (BEAVERS), Field Trip: How to Change Your Life via the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

El Niño. La Niña.  United Nations Environment Programme doomerism? It’s been a helluva week for Meteorologists and the humans who live on planet Earth, so we made you a fresh episode recorded just days ago with our favorite climate scientist, professor, author, and Weather Geeks podcast host, Dr. Marshall Shepherd.

What is going on with this hurricane season? How do Pacific waters affect you all over the globe, what’s behind the headlines of the UN’s “strategic retreat” on climate change mitigation, how have El Niño weather patterns changed over time, what’s dust from Africa got to do with it, should you quit your job and start a roofing company?

And if you’re like: dude I don't know if I can handle weather gloom: I implore you to listen so you know the flim-flam, how to read these climate articles in the news, what to tell friends and family who otherwise might not care, and how you can instigate change and keep yourself safe. 

Visit Dr. Shepherd’s website and follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky

Listen to his podcast Weather Geeks 

A donation went to the Institute for Sustainable Communities 

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Meteorology (WEATHER & CLIMATE), Oceanology (OCEANS), Tempestology (HURRICANES), Climate Fervorology (ECO-ADVOCACY WITHOUT IT BEING A BUMMER), Fire Ecology (WILDFIRES), Fulminology (LIGHTNING), Nephology (CLOUDS), Phenology (FALL/SEASONS), Disasterology (DISASTERS), Conservation Technology (EARTH SAVING)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

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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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bomb cyclones! Polar vortices! Atmospheric rivers! And rained out barbecues. One of the world’s leading Meteorologists, Dr. Marshall Shepherd – a former NASA scientist and current Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Georgia – is here to field a downpour of questions. We chat about percentages in forecasts, hail, sleet, storm chasing, heatwaves, fluid dynamics, TV weather people, climate change delayism and his favorite weather-themed movies. Also: what not to do with a weather balloon. 

Visit Dr. Shepherd’s website and follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky

Listen to his podcast Weather Geeks 

A donation went to the Institute for Sustainable Communities 

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Tempestology (HURRICANES), Fulminology (LIGHTNING), Nephology (CLOUDS), Snow Hydrology (SNOW/AVALANCHES), Cryoseismology (ICEQUAKES), Astrobiology (ALIENS), Oceanology (OCEANS), Phenology (FALL/SEASONS), Spesh Ep: Drawdown Design Project

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and engineering by 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

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rituals. Gatherings. Celebrations. Surprise parties. Weekend getaways. Campfires and birthday candles are in our DNA, and colleagues/social psychologists Dr. Danielle Brick & Dr. Kelley Gullo-Wight explain why. This conversation was like if you got seated at a dinner party next to two friends who study why we have dinner parties. We cover the neuroscience of anticipation, how much is too much for the ‘gram, a time machine to the middle ages, and how enjoying the good times together helps us weather our storms.

Follow Dr. Brick on Google Scholar

Visit Dr. Gullo-Wight’s website and follow her on Google Scholar

Donations went to Middle Way House and Rosie’s Place

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Other episodes you may enjoy: Matrimoniology (MARRIAGE), Fanthropology (FANDOM), Eudemonology (HAPPINESS), Awesomeology (GRATITUDE FOR LITTLE THINGS), Funology (YES, FUN), Food Anthropology (FEASTS), Zymology (BEER), Mixology (COCKTAILS), Enology (HOW TO DRINK WINE), Indigenous Fire Ecology (GOOD FIRE)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

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 Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek 

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.