Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Discussion thread: Andragogology (300TH EPISODE SPECIAL) is up! (Patreon)

Published:
2024-06-22 22:31:18
Imported:
2026-06

Content

[party horns] This week marked 300 full-length Ologies and I figured it's a good time to talk sci-comm!

So y'all asked questions a few weeks ago and for this one, Mercedes has the keys and I'm riding shotgun as a guest to talk about: the many routes that can lead toward a job as a science-communicator, learning through experience, what an academic science communication program is like, how to get people pumped for weird facts, why we respond to some info but not others, my advice for becoming a science communicator and of course...

... the worst and best parts of the job.

Thank you, Patrons, for making these 300 full-length beasts of information possible. I have the best job ever. And thank you to Mercedes for hosting this week, and Jake for taking over as lead editor for this episode!

It's up and live and let me know what you thought!

300 imperceptible butt dances,

Your Podfather Alie Ward

Files

Andragogology (300TH EPISODE SPECIAL) with Alie Ward - alie ward

Boy howdy hot dang, Ologies has hit its 300th new episode! In celebration of this milestone, we've turned the tables and lead editor Mercedes Maitland hosts this episode with special guest... Alie Ward! We talk about Alie's twists and turns finding her way into a career in science communication, selli

Comments

Hex

I had a radio Dad too and as usual Alie you have made me cry. But this episode was really so inspiring as someone working on my own podcast and trying to find my place in the world. Truly thank you

Renee Wanger

Also heartily enjoyed, I love hearing people have mutual awe for eachother too 🥰

RoadLesTravelled

Thank you two for this episode. It’s a delight to know backstories and to be encouraged that failure is proof of effort. Some of us just take longer recovering and moving on from rejection. This episode reminde me of the Q&A you did with podmom Jarret. I asked a question about what drove you to create.

Malorie Albee

Alie!!! In this episode you suggested making a podcast about repatriation?! This anthropologist is SO IN. Please (let's) do it!!

Emily Krieger

i luuuuurved!!😍 the gut punch of realizing facts alone don't persuade --- oof yes!!! the job allowing you to be the adult you are not the adult of mythology --- yesssss!!

Bonnie M Rutherford

I too would be excited about an episode on repatriation.

Emily Krieger

also...i live in bozeman and live for adult classes in art and nature here. nerding out together + learning = 🌈

Alie Ward

Thank you for listening to this one and potentially hundreds of others!

Alie Ward

YESS! What kind of radio dad did you have? And just use your voice. It's the most valuable thing you have.

Alie Ward

It's hard to be in the hot seat and Mercedes did an excellent job

Lizzy Martinez

What an incredible listen. Awesome job Mercedes! And wow way to tell allll the stories beautifully and inspire us long time listeners Alie!! From a fellow nor cal now so cal human, love you k thanks!!!

Alie Ward

All roads to success are paved in bricks of little and big failures. Just keep going forward <3

Alie Ward

Thanks for saying that, Spencer! And thanks for being such a support over the years to me!

Alie Ward

I mean, we would never run out of episodes for this spin-off

Alie Ward

Thank you for listening! For real

Dylan V

Not sure what to say other than appreciate all the hard work that goes into Ologies. Nice to hear Mercedes on the pod too!

Matt Hirschl

Great episode! Did I sense vibes that Mercedes will be the host moving forward?

Alie Ward

I juuuust got back from Kalispell!

Alie Ward

Thank you so so much, Lizzy! Please go out and be weird and fail and enjoy life.

Alie Ward

Thank you so much! It truly is a labor of love, best job in the world.

Alie Ward

Ha! No! We love her but MATT, I'm here to stay! Unless I drop dead or find a satchel with one billion dollars. This was just a special episode and timing worked out well because I was at a family reunion this week in Montana!

Elysha Schuhbauer

The amount of times I cried in this episode was high for an Ologies. I worked in sci comm for like eighteen seconds (ok seven years "of bad luck") but somehow didn't find the right band of weirdos to fit in and thrive with, try as I did! It's ok. Glad you are both out there spreading the joy. Also it made me finally join as a patron so hi, maybe I can scrape together a question one day xoxo

Hex

He did a morning 4 hour radio show in a small trucker town, he always said "all that matters is that people think you know what your talking about" when I asked how me managed 4 hours 5 days a week

Spencer Parks

You are very welcome and the support you get from ALL these people is proof enough that you’re doing awesome stuff. You clearly are listening to your own advice. Be yourself. Do what makes you happy. Be weirder than you think you should/can. Etc. One of my favorite phrases is “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.”

Mimz

My 12 year Ologite Elliot came running in my room this morning and said Mom! Guess what? There's a 300th episode of Ologies out and guess who is hosting?? I said her hubby? And he said No! Mercedes Maitlin (spelling?? Sorry) of Mind Gem media!! It was proof of how much he loves the pod and how often he listens til the end lol. Something that makes my kid love to learn and gets it to stick in his brain meats?? How could you love it more. Keep spreading knowledge in your amazing way Alie!

Michael McNulty

Mercedes did a fine job. She's gonna go far. lol

Saira (‘Sarah’) Manns

Loved this ep, so inspiring as always! I particularly loved your advice Alie to write down what your absolute dream life/job would look like, no matter how weird or embarrassing it may feel. And the realisation that even if that job doesn’t *currently* exist, that is, in fact, a GOOD thing coz you can make it happen for yourself!! Thank you for the reminder to just be ME and not try to be someone else. xx

Nicole Robb

By far one of my favourite episodes!! I’ve been really having a tough time with the idea of going to school (36yo mom) this episode has inspired me to chase my dream job! It’s never too late!

Matt Hirschl

That is great! Mercedes did an excellent job but I had to ask. We’d hate to lose our podfather!

PerryC

The episode is perfect, as expected. 😉 Thank you Alie, Mercedes, Jake and everyone else who had a finger in making the OlogiesPie so tasty. 😁 Oh, before I forget, the first half hour is particularly inspiring. I need to get my son to listen in; he just graduated high school and feels like a leaf in a roaring river. Thank you!!

90 Miles From Needles, the desert protection podcast

I NEEDED to hear this episode as I struggle with OUR next episode (due Tuesday with zero percent finished so far). Thank you for the shot in the arm. How do we get Mercedes her own podcast?

Emmett

Your stories are always so inspiring Alie! Thank you and thank you Mercedes & Ologies crew for this wonderful episode! ♡

Scott Hanley

Just started listening but I had to stop to point out the pun Alie makes as she lists all the jobs she had: “… I worked at a Pottery Studio ( and like a clay pot ) I got fired…”

Zuleika Pevec

I do love hearing behind-the-scenes stories, and putting a voice to Mercedes’ name. I imagined her in a town like Letterkenny, eh (from a fellow Canuck).

zackever8

I really loved this episode. As an ologite for only the last year, I stepped into a conversation between listeners and Alie. All of the vision and intention you put into this project — from your asides to your shout outs to your Patreon & FB community — is really felt as a listener. And it was a privilege to hear Alie’s perspective on the whole project. Brilliant to use Mercedes as the interviewer and flip the script; she did a terrific job editorially. Cheers

Nicole Robb

Being outside with the animals and the bugs!

Paulina Krasińska-Sroka

I had so many questions when listening and forgot all of them before I got to comment here! Shout out to fellow ADHD folks 😆

Helen Langille

As soon as she mentioned Tim Hortons I knew, haha

Kim

I joined the patreon at last because of this episode. Love what you do. My career has been all over the place too, I feel like I've lived a hundred lives sometimes! Right now trying to find the courage to do the thing (or a thing, there's more than one brewing!) so this was just what I needed.

Heidi Stooshnoff

Mercedes you did so well! Cheers to you from a fellow Canadian Ologite. Dad Ward, as always it’s lovely to feel like we know you more!

Val Vanderlip

Happy 300th Episode! May knowledge and curiosity continue to expand through Ologies to the world.❤️

Mie [me-ay]

this episode is amazing, it was MUCH NEEDED as my very long undergrad is coming to an end!!! i’m terrified of everything, but listening to this helped me remember to also be excited and curious. also SO nice to put a voice to the name!!!!! mercedes if you’re reading this, you’re the coolest person in the world

Raja

Way to go Team Ologies! Great episode! Loved hearing about sci comm journeys and also loved the little references to things Canadian! (Torontonian here) Thanks for putting this together!

Paul Alcantra

Such an incredibly relevant episode for current events. Thank you. Oh, and yeah, fun, fun, fun.

Allison McD

Well I didn’t love it. I skipped through most of the asides but I know that’s a me problem. I love listening to Alie’s even voice and have gotten used to it. I did love the questions and quality answers and the topic of the ep.

Lee Wang

So this isn't specific to this episode but I think for the last few months, the audio volume has been mixed lower than it used to be? I listen to the pod on an Echo Dot and I've found myself needing to increase the volume only for Ologies and not any of the other podcasts I listen to on it.

christina

alie, i'm so proud of you, i ugly cried at mercedes getting to ask you The Two Questions

Susan G

Loved this episode and Mercedes absolutely killed it with the interviewing and asides.

Rachel von Morrigan

Near the end of this episode, I 100% thought you said, “What’s going on with fish sticks?” and I was oddly concerned 🤣 Congrats on 300, pops!! You’re doing amazing!

Robin C Pike

Thank you for the insane amount of commitment at the beginning to have such an amazing show today! Ologies is my favorite podcast by far!

Off to a Good Start

How has this podcast touched my life that my face started leaking when I heard Mercedes start the intro. I was authentically moved by the authenticity and sharing of your life and enthusiasm. On the other hand, bye bye cruise ship on the title. Alieology was left on the pier. (Gotta be in the lit search - whatever.)

Merryn Lush

Mercedes did such a great job hosting this! The tone was so consistent with the other episodes it was like if you interviewed yourself, but through the voice of a northern Ontarian. I loved everything about this episode and hearing how you both got to this point. Mercedes was also a such a great choice considering her own subject matter expertise, and I loved the perspective she brought to this conversation. This is an all time favourite!

Wandering Wyatt

Congrats on 300! Awesome episode. Only half way through but there is a podcast called Stuff the British Stole that talks about artifacts / repatriation etc.

Darren Bush

Fantastic episode. Thanks for being you.

Mimz

This was amazing! You guys vibe so well and Mercedes is an Ontarian too?? Love that! Great job

Emilie Shely

Alieeeeeee I keep checking today, it hasn’t dropped yet 😭😭😭

ChickenChomper

As an academic who interacts with a lot of other academics I understand completely that science communication is a skill, and an undervalued one at that. They just made the entire sci communication department redundant at my university and they expect researchers to fill this gap. It is very unfortunate. So I agree that the world needs more sci communicators, but we also need institutions to step up and support the people with these skills. Also Awesome job Mercedes! And I absolutely loved learning more about our PodDad ! The science world is so fortunate to have you in it!

Hezy Anholt

Hearing Mercedes pronouncing "uwtward" and "uwtside" instead of "outside" and remembering she's in Northern Ontario made me happy as I drove to work down Yellowhead hwy on Haida gwaii this week 😆 a good Canada shout uwt!

Kiirsten May

Mercedes, I also spent a tonne of time at Science North. My prime time there was the '90s. I loved seeing that stinky old beaver in his habitat and playing with the water/locks model. Your show hosting sparked a wonderful walk down memory lane. Thank you!

Mickey

I got on the comments to recommend the same podcast!

Taylor campbell

when y’all talked about your neurodivergent brains work best it gave me hope as a person with adhd. Such a great reminder that i’m not lazy my brain just works different

Kaitlin Comet

I have actually messaged Jeopardy requesting that they have Alie read Ology questions!!! I really hope this happens.

Rick T

Do we know if animals perceive fun in the same

Jessica Rudd

Loved this one!! It was super cool to hear from Mercedes as well!! I was born & raised in Sudbury, and spent basically my entire childhood at Science North. That place is special and really got me interested in science and nature at a young age. The fact that they’ve partnered with Laurentian for the sci comm program is so awesome. I am a Laurentian student as well (nearly done my undergrad in chem eng!) and am looking at masters programs (probably bioprocess/metallurgy/engineering science!). I remember when it was announced that Mercedes got the job with Ologies and I was so excited to see someone from Northern Ontario/Laurentian working on my favourite podcast. Anyways, great show as always. This one left me so inspired to keep doing what I love in the world of science 👍🏻

Mouse Paxton

This was a wonderful episode! Happy to hear from a fellow Ontarian! Also, this was just a really great episode to hear at a time in my life when I might be making a big career change. Thanks Pod Dad for helping me feel like things are all going to be okay! Also also you absolutely nailed it at making your ologists into rockstars. I was watching a science video with my girlfriend that briefly featured Phil Torres (the butterfly one) and was excitedly telling her how cool he is.

Mouse Paxton

(You replied to the wrong post)

Rebecca Jackson

All I want to say is THANK YOU to Alie and the Ologies team. I have for so long been angered that sci comms is always aimed at kids (media, museums etc). I don’t know why they think we should all stop learning when we leave school but I think that is a sad and dangerous thing. Thank you again. Ps. My husband is a remote sensing scientist (uses satellites to look at the earth for environmental science, in particular ocean colour where the colour of the ocean tells us what sort of phytoplankton is living there. He’s ready if you’d like an ologies on that! X