Ologies with Alie Ward Alie Ward

Giant brains! Communication mysteries! Infamous sensuality! Dolphins are here to blow your relatively tiny mind with their squeaks, clicks, cliques, history, lore, zany evolutionary path, psychedelic experiences, and so much more. Learn why some dolphins are pink, why NASA poured cash into groovy research, what it’s like to touch a dolphin, if they can learn to speak English, their mating strategies, captivity, and the researchers that made our culture obsessed with them. Also: how a screensaver can save your life. Stay tuned next week because the questions only get weirder.

Come check out my butt with me! 1 in 16 people in the U.S. will have colon cancer, and 0 in 16 want to talk about getting a camera up your guts to check things out. I am one of them, but after losing loved ones to colon cancer – and staring down the barrel of my first-ever colonoscope — I recorded tips, tricks, taste tests, foggy drug hazes, bar room advice, and finally my surprising results. It may save a life. Possibly yours.

We’re back for Part 2! If you missed Part 1, start there for the chicken basics and then come back for the weird stuff like chickens eating chickens, why chickens bother laying unfertilized eggs, rooster gossip, fairy eggs, nest abominations, bird grief, beak accessories, soft burbling chicken sounds, spicy chicken feed, safe corners of the internet, multicolored eggs and the big questions: SHOULD YOU GET A CHICKEN OR WHAT. We help you decide.

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.

A G-rated, kid-safe Smologies edit all about getting your Zzzzzs. Neurologist and somnologist Dr. W. Chris Winter is an expert on sleep, and since his first interview, he’s released a book called “The Rested Child” all about sleep and kiddos! So parents, kids and anybody else can dive in to learn about different sleep stages, what sleep does to the brain, insomnia, ideal bedtime conditions, brain performance and how doctors often overlook pediatric sleep disorders. You’ll learn so many facts that will help you get to dreamland. (And for the adult version, the full-length episode is linked below.)

What’s inside that boarded up house? Should you explore an abandoned mall? A vacant factory? And how much of an old house ends up in a landfill? The founder of Domicology, Dr. Rex LaMore of Michigan State University’s Center for Community and Economic Development, is an expert on these things and answers any possible question you might have, from ghost towns to hidden house notes, arson, recycling wood, stealing metal and how to leave a better housing situation for future generations. Also: whale poltergeists.