Thorny leaves! Embarrassing imports! Basket gossip! Making cool stuff from invasive vines! Renowned weaver and teacher, James C. Bamba, connected more deeply with his Mariana Island heritage through weaving and shares how you know when plant fiber is ready, the anatomy of a coconut tree, how to look a gift basket in the mouth, the baskets that he cherishes the most, how to design with your mind, what he thinks about when he’s weaving, basket jokes he hates the most, and when learning another culture’s craft is appropriate or appropriation.

Follow James on Instagram

A donation went to Sagan Kotturan Chamoru

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Ethnoecology (ETHNOBOTANY/NATIVE PLANTS), Dendrology (TREES), Indigenous Fashionology (NATIVE CLOTHING), Indigenous Cuisinology (NATIVE COOKING), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Heliology (THE SUN/ECLIPSES), Neuroendocrinology (SEX & GENDER), Ergopathology (BURNOUT), Corvid Thanatology (CROW FUNERALS)

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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

Exhaustion! Numbness! Anger! You’re stressed out. I get it. Let’s fix it. I cornered one of the world’s experts on Ergopathology, scholar and author Dr. Kandi Wiens, to ask about the causes of burnout, warning signs, what professions are more at risk, how to recover from burnout and prevent it in the future, which was the focus of her book, “Burnout Immunity.” We also chat about neurodiversity, hockey mascots, childhood trauma, how do you tell your boss you're burned the F out, grit, and guilt. Also, you don't need to wait until you're on a tropical vacation to recharge. In fact, don't.

Visit Kandi Wiens’ website

Buy her book, Burnout Immunity, on Amazon or Bookshop.org

A donation went to Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Eudemonology (HAPPINESS), Personality Psychology (PERSONALITIES), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Funology (YES, FUN), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Suicidology (SUICIDE PREVENTION & AWARENESS), Traumatology (PTSD)

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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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

They’re acrobatic fliers with long bodies and veined wings and their babies breathe through their butts: dragonflies. Let’s get into the difference between a damselfly and dragonfly, how fast they dart around, how big they were in the age of the dinosaurs, sci-fi aviation inspiration, mating choreography, attracting them to your yard (maybe to eat them) and lots more with scholar, American Museum of Natural History curator, and dragonfly expert: Dr. Jessica Ware.

Visit Dr. Ware’s website and follow her on Google Scholar, Instagram and X

Buy Jessica’s children’s book, Bugs (A Day in the Life): What Do Bees, Ants, and Dragonflies Get up to All Day?, on Amazon or Bookshop.org

A donation went to the World Dragonfly Association

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Entomology (INSECTS), Lepidopterology (BUTTERFLIES), Cicadology (CICADAS), Sparklebuttology (FIREFLIES), Dipterology (FLIES), Entomophagy Anthropology (EATING BUGS), Plumology (FEATHERS), Melaninology (SKIN/HAIR PIGMENT), Ophthalmology (EYES)

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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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Licorice opinions! War chocolate! Candy corn origins, circus peanut secrets, the sourest sourballs, and your great aunt’s purse. Stay until the very end for the biggest shocked laugh I have ever had on this show. The incredibly charming author, journalist, candy historian, and Confectiologist Susan Benjamin chats about everything from apothecary origin stories, ethnobotany, having horehound on hand, the warheads that could save you, vegan candy controversy, sugar sources from beets to corn, Turkish temptations, Roman flim-flam, marzipan mini-sculptures, sugar plum ballets, what she gives out for Halloween candy. and the best way to enjoy treats if you're trying to stay healthy. An absolute instant classic.

Visit Susan Benjamin’s historic candy company True Treats

Buy Susan’s latest book, Fun Foods of America: Outrageous Delights, Celebrated Brands, and Iconic Recipes, on Amazon or Bookshop.org

A donation went to Animal Welfare Society of Jefferson County

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Gustology (TASTE), Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS), Carobology (NOT-CHOCOLATE TREES), Glycobiology (CARBS), Diabetology (BLOOD SUGAR), Melittology (BEES), Native Melittology (INDIGENOUS BEES), Columbidology (PIGEONS? YES), Felinology (CATS), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), FIELD TRIP: My Butt, a Colonoscopy Ride Along & How-To, Nephology (CLOUDS)

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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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jacob Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Let’s kick off Spooktober with… RATS: They love pizza. They invade taquerias at midnight. They scurry. They cuddle. They outsmart. They inspire movies that inspire musicals. Proving that not just woodsy megafauna can be charismatic, rats have lives we would never suspect. Globally-lauded Urban Rodentologist Dr. Robert Corrigan, or Bobby if you like, has been studying these animals in their big-city ecosystem for decades and he is a wonder-filled joy. Learn about rats’ origin story, the difference between a rat and a mouse, where they live, their preferred “food dialects,” and how to (hopefully humanely) keep one out of your house -- or car? Might as well start to love and respect them, because we’re not-too-distantly related and one day… they may be steering the ship.

Follow Bobby on X

A donation went to the Yash Gandhi Foundation

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Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Sciuridology (SQUIRRELS), Hydrochoerology (CAPYBARAS), Procyonology (RACCOONS), Opossumology (O/POSSUMS), Columbidology (PIGEONS? YES), Mammalogy (MAMMALS), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Discard Anthropology (GARBAGE), Epidemiology (DISEASES), Maritime Archaeology (SHIPWRECKS)

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 X

Follow @AlieWard on Instagram and X

Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, & Steven Ray Morris

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn