Ologies with Alie Ward

Scoville units. Nightshades. Hot ones. Sweet ones. Scandalous data. Pull up a seat for a wild, hot ride through New Mexico. Pepper expert, horticulturist, and Capsicumologist Dr. Paul “The Chileman” Bosland of New Mexico State’s Chile Pepper Institute dishes up stories of how chile peppers got from the wild into your mouth, what parts of peppers are the hottest, why mild peppers don’t get enough credit, how to grow peppers at home, how to recover from the burn, some lore behind your favorite hot sauces, red vs. green, Guiness World Records, Ig Nobel Prizes, why you can’t handle peppers but your mom can, hot foods in hot places, seeds, walls, piths, myths, bigger lips, pepper roulette, and so much more. Also: I abuse myself with Ashes to Ashes. 

Follow Dr. Bosland on Google Scholar

A donation went to NMSU Chile Pepper Institute

Visit the Chile Pepper Institute website and online store and follow them on Instagram

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Gustology (TASTE), Evolutionary Anthropology (METABOLISM), Thermophysiology (BODY HEAT), Dolorology (PAIN), Foraging Ecology (EATING WILD PLANTS) with @BlackForager, Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Pomology (APPLES), Cucurbitology (PUMPKINS), Scatology (POOP), Allergology (ALLERGIES), Optical Technology (HISTORY OF EYEGLASSES + MODERN DAY VISION), Ophthalmology (EYES), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY)

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.

What is your Roman Empire? It’s about to be this episode. What causes the big dogs to stumble and fall? Do societies collapse suddenly, or would one notice as it happens? What *is* a complex society – and is it better than a simple one? Depends on who you ask, and we went straight to the source: the legendary anthropologist, scholar, historian and author of “The Collapse of Complex Societies,” Dr. Joseph Tainter. New obsession awaits you in the fall of the Roman Empire, cities lost to the desert dust, diminishing returns, fiddling amid the flames, the worst beard in history, fossil fuels, fertilizer, bread, circus, hanging chads, and if you should go live on a small goat farm. Happy 250th birthday to the currently United States of America!

Follow Dr. Tainter on Google Scholar

Buy his book, The Collapse of Complex Societies

A donation went to Utah State University's Ecology Center

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Classical Archeology (ANCIENT ROME), Revolutionology (REBELLIONS & SOCIAL CHANGE), Futurology (THE FUTURE), Nomology (THE CONSTITUTION), Genealogy (FAMILY TREES), Agnotology (IGNORANCE), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Syndesiology (CONNECTIONS), Space Archaeology (SPACE JUNK), Astrobromatology (SPACE FOOD), Paternology (FATHERHOOD)

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.

The promised follow up bonus episode to our biomusicology episode with theoretical, neuro- and biomusicologist Dr David Bashwiner. This one is guest hosted by Podmother Jarrett Sleeper and we steer the discussion more toward the process of creating music, where creativity comes from, the relationship between theory, technique, and creativity, how to unleash or access one’s own creativity, synthesizers, whether new sounds are possible, emulation vs simulation, music as it exists in nature, whether or not animals use instruments, why we know the instinctively the difference between purring and growling, and perhaps a bit about the effects of drugs on mixing?

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

You can find Jarrett on Instagram and Bandcamp

A donation went to Gaza Hand of Salvation Initiative

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Mnemonology (MEMORY), Eudemonology (HAPPINESS), Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS), Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES), Ornithology (BIRDS), Mantodeology (PRAYING MANTISES), Primatology (APES & MONKEYS), Misophonology (DISTRACTING SOUND & NOISE RAGE), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Funology (YES, FUN)

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.

Music. Emotion. Brain waves. Whale songs. Toadfish. Distant moons. Loud apes. And why it’s worth it to practice piano. Brilliant and warm musician and assistant professor at Albuquerque's University of New Mexico, Dr. David Bashwiner is a theoretical, neuro- and biomusicologist. Settling into his office (with a baby grand) we covered everything from bird songs to aquatic echolocation, how scales work, major vs. minor keys and their impact on the brain, music therapies, white noise, binaural beats, mole crickets, fandom as identity, spider guitar strings, Baby Mozart, so-called perfect pitch, and so much more. Stay tuned for a bonus episode hosted by Podmother Jarrett Sleeper about getting more creative musically. Go bang on something. Hard. 

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

A donation went to APS International High School

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Mnemonology (MEMORY), Eudemonology (HAPPINESS), Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS), Salugenology (WHY HUMANS REQUIRE HOBBIES), Ornithology (BIRDS), Mantodeology (PRAYING MANTISES), Primatology (APES & MONKEYS), Misophonology (DISTRACTING SOUND & NOISE RAGE), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Funology (YES, FUN)

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.

Will changing your sunscreen save coral reefs? What even IS a coral? Where do they grow and what do they eat and why are they so pretty? Is it reefs or reeves? The wonderful and charming coral biologist and cnidariologist Shayle Matsuda takes time out of his busy schedule during a coral spawning event to chat about how magical and beautiful coral can be and why reef health is important. Also: whether or not "Finding Nemo" got coral right, making transitions during grad school, and how to pursue your ambitions while being bravely authentic. He'll quickly become your favorite cnidariologist.

Catch up with Dr. Shayle Matsuda’s work at the Shedd Aquarium’s Center for Conservation and Research

Shayle's blog post about coral spawning

Donations went to paepaeoheeia.org and pointfoundation.org

More episode sources and links

Other episodes you may enjoy: Pride Month: Guests to Know and Love, Oceanology (OCEANS), Zoohoplology (ANIMAL DEFENSES), FIELD TRIP: A Hawaiian Breadfruit Rev'ULUtion, Climate Fervorology (ECO-ADVOCACY WITHOUT IT BEING A BUMMER, Conservation Technology (EARTH SAVING), Critical Ecology (SOCIAL SYSTEMS + ENVIRONMENT), Macrophycology (SEAWEED), Biomineralogy (SHELLS), Nudibranchology (GLAMOROUS SEA SLUGS), Echinology (SEA URCHINS & SAND DOLLARS), Medusology (JELLYFISH), Cheloniology (SEA TURTLES), Selachimorphology (SHARKS), Teuthology (SQUIDS), Carcinology (CRABS), Ichthyology (FISHES)

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 Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, Steven Ray Morris, 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.