Ologies with Alie Ward15 Dec 2025

Bonus Episode: Nutritional Microbiology (GUT HEALTH & DIET) with Miguel Freitas and Elaine Hsiao

The microbiome is back! In 2018, we chatted with Dr. Elaine Hsiao - a UCLA microbiome researcher– and learned all about the hot cauldron of your guts. In this 2025 update bonus, we chat again with Dr. Hsiao to get updates on the last 7 years of her research. We also stop by White Plains, New York to hang out with Dr. Miguel Freitas, lead nutritional microbiologist and director of the non-profit Danone Institute North America, and ask a million questions about good vs bad microbiota, how they simulate a human gut in a lab, what exactly is a pre-biotic vs. probiotic, why are they such good friends, how diet can impact not only your gut health but also your heart and your brain — and if friendly yogurt critters are robust enough to make the journey from your mouth to your toilet.

Browse Dr. Freitas’s publications on ResearchGate

Visit the Hsiao Lab at UCLA and follow Dr. Hsiao on Google Scholar

Donations went to GiveDirectly.org/ologies and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

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BONUS EPISODE Creating Music with Jarrett Sleeper and David Bashwiner

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 th...

28 Juni 55min

Biomusicology (OUR MUSICAL NATURE) with David Bashwiner

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 o...

25 Juni 1h 32min

Cnidariology (CORAL) Encore with Shayle Matsuda

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 biologi...

17 Juni 1h 21min

Paternology (FATHERHOOD) with Darby Saxbe

DADS. What makes a good one? What if you had a bad one? And how can fatherhood turn the tides on toxic masculinity? Also: diapers. The brilliant USC research psychologist, fatherhood expert, and thus...

10 Juni 1h 21min

Awe Psychology (WONDER) with Dacher Keltner

Awe?! You can study this? You can, and it turns out it’s really important for our mental health. Dr. Dacher Keltner, the legendary UC Berkeley psychology professor, author, and founding director of th...

3 Juni 39min

Enology Part 2 (HOW TO MAKE WINE) with Tara Gomez & Mireia Taribó

Wineries vs. vineyards. Metal vs. oak. DIY wine. Carbonic fermentation situations? Enologists Tara Gomez and Mireia Taribó – co-owners of the boutique California winery Camins2Dreams – join us to cha...

27 Maj 1h 13min

Enology Part 1 (HOW TO DRINK WINE) with André Hueston Mack

To chill or not to chill? That is the question. And then a bunch more questions. Thankfully, author, winemaker, sommelier, and Enology expert, André Hueston Mack is on hand to explain Old World vs. Ne...

20 Maj 1h 14min

Special Episode: Wall to Wall Secrets, Sorry!

Listen. Sometimes we like to shake it up. So while we’re finishing up next week’s episode, I decided to open a sound file and spilled only secrets. This was an exercise in just chilling with you, and ...

14 Maj 53min