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*This episode is published and ready to hear wherever you get podcasts. Let's talk about it.*

Hey. So our Enology (WINE) episode needed another week to mature, so late last night I wrote a bunch of secrets on slips of paper and plucked them from a mug and this is what you get.

It's a slow, imperfect "oops all berries" episode of all secrets with not a single edit. Exposure therapy for me, confessions and a few life tips and meanderings for you.

Did you endure it? Feel free to tell me if this is your new night-night sleepy episode.

Thanks for being here, as always. Papa love you.

Confessionally,

Alison Ann

Files

Special Episode: Wall to Wall Secrets, Sorry! - alie ward

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 not editing a thing.

Comments

Lee Horton

Loved this episode Alie! Your charm and personality bring so much to your science podcast. Please keep bringing your wonderful self to each episode.

Yuri

Listening now! Time to chill with DadWard? Yes, yes please. One of my new favorite episodes

Ninja Squirrel

Good news! Cover girl is cruelty free certified with the leaping bunny. I'm listening to the episode now and literally just got to that part and had to look it up.

MeganTheLibrarian765

My secret? I’m currently read the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book and I’m obsessed.

Sonjabird

It was like sitting down with a friend and shootin’ the shit. Absolutely loved it. Thank you for sharing your true self with us in this and all your episodes. You are so shiny!

Yuri

YES PLEASE DO AN ELECTION EPISODE. I want ranked choice voting SO BAD. It naturally curbs extremism and attacking politics, it's well studied, it turns out MORE voters, people thinking about it say oh it's too confusing we can't do that but afterwards people who try it are like wow i really liked that i would do that again, it engages more independent voters, it makes it so even if ten people from party A are running the person from party B can't win with only 30% of the vote, and on and on. Is it perfect? No. Is it a LOT better than winner take all. Yes

Jessica

This was probably one of my fav episodes. It was so cozy and listening to a friend talk to you. Thank you for this awesome episode Alie!

Renee Wanger

I loved this episode, so chill, so fun, so good to get to know you more & further appreciate what goes into a regular show and the rest of what you do!

DreamTree CaliGirl

Was so HERE for this episode! I love when you do these type of things every now and again. My love for Ologies includes YOU and the special sauce that you bring, so a whole hour with you is like chatting with a "friend." (parasocial love is so funny--new ology topic?)

Naomi Jane

You have a wonderful journey ahead with the rest, I finished the 7th yesterday 🥹

Yuri

Vote: scientists will save your ass

Matt Shaw

I’d be down for more of these in the future, love random ass ramblings

Elinor Wahl

This was a very enjoyable listening experience! I only paused it to watch a squirrel digging in the dirt of the Great Lawn in Central Park, and a red-winged blackbird hopping around the railing of the observation deck of the pond below Belvedere Castle. Regarding your moral dilemma about meat consumption, here's the Buddhist perspective: the difference between ending the life of a skin mite by washing your face, and choosing to eat beef, is intentionality. You're not intentionally thinking about harming insects you accidentally step on, or the microscopic organisms that get attacked by your immune system. But if a person understands the harms of the meat industry, and chooses to eat meat regardless; if they see a cockroach that isn't harming them, but choose to kill it - they're making a deliberate choice to ignore the harm they're complicit in, or to commit harm, respectively. Buddhist ethics say to strive to reduce harm as much as possible, to acknowledge harm you accidentally commit, and to take those actions as motivation to act in honor of all lives you've impacted, for better or for worse. I'm a strict vegetarian, but I still have ethical dilemmas about the dairy and egg products I consume, and I'm hoping to find a way to get enough protein without experiencing deprivation

Addie Cappello she her

I’m in the middle of this episode and love it. The things coming out of Alie’s mouth are like listening to what’s going on in my own brain all day. But spoken out loud by another human… so far my favorite was the tangent about being scared about recording sometimes, then that thought was interrupted four times over by tangential thoughts and Alie says “I don’t know what the point was there…” and just moved on. 🧡 It’s bold of me to say but I feel like maybe we’d be friends in real life LOL Thank you Alie!!!

Addie Cappello she her

I also have to tell you… my dear friend from college, Santino, reconnected with me after 20 years in the best way possible… My phone number is the same so one day I got a text from him saying “…Are you the same Addie Cappello I keep hearing called out on Ologies?” Not going to like it was like a rockstar moment. Best and most nerdy thing that’s happened to me in a long time. My mom absolutely beeks me about it. 🧬🔬⚗️🔭🩵💙🩶 Ologies is the best - educating, entertaining, and connecting friends from across the country!! 💫 Thank you!!!!

DrWhitr

I loved this episode! 500+ episodes in and you've earned our trust and appreciation. Was it a typical Ologies ep? No. Was it awesome? Yes! Thank you for modeling vulnerability. Your fans have this parasocial relationship with you and it was really nice to hear our podward slow and unedited. Would listen again 13/10

Francesca Huggins

Girl, the more raw or more unpolished or more you that an episode is the more I love it

Margaret Downs

My thoughts exactly!!!! I always feel very seen by Alie and this was no exception.

Cuddly Turtle

I loved the unscripted, lightly rambling, unedited episode. What a lift to my afternoon.

Yuri

Dadward - no demotion , you actually get a promotion!!

Elysha Schuhbauer

"I'm gonna take the bra off of my heart" omg alie thank you always 😂❤️🤪

Yuri

So the tofu in the 80s thing - a big part of the problem was white people teaching white people how to eat it, and not going to Asian communities or supporting Asian chefs, cookbooks, etc. I still see this today on ig, a white vegan saying they "discovered" that freezing tofu makes it soak up sauces, get crispy, etc, and I'm like biotch please my people have been doing that for hundreds of years, it's just getting passed around like telephone with white vegans. So, some communities have been eating bugs for hundreds of years. My chemistry professor in college was from Madagascar and talked about how we in America have been socialized to not like eating insects, but lots of places do. There they eat crickets. If you are interested, maybe look into places around the world that have insects as part of their traditional cuisine. And support chefs, cookbooks, cooking styles etc from those places.

Yuri

And I'm realizing my America comment is totally leaving out indigenous peoples. Wow. Apologies. Not accurate. At all. Quick search showed how wrong i am. And also lots of others in America. Facepalm. Apologies. I would edit the main comment but my keyboard isn't letting me scroll up in the comment

Lindsay Mixer

I am loving this episode. Your crash out about dudes refusing to even try and plan stuff for their wives was so warranted and real. Also, for the Webby thing, "Ask smart people stupid questions" is 5 words so you could just go with the classic! It's the line that really hooked me on this podcast way back in 2018. 💖

Matt Ceccato

Great episode, Alie! I remember Connor Knighton from his days hosting "InfoMania." Miss that show

Rob Worman

Please make this a (regular!) habit. You are a delight. And I honestly can't believe that was ZERO edits? Sure there were some disfluencies here and there, but you were still 10x smoother than soooo many other podcasts.

Shelby.0.0

Alie! This was like getting the “Just Marshmallows” version of Lucky Charms! The best parts all together. And I loved how it was a natural stream of consciousness. I felt like we were hanging out the whole time! Thank you!

Kevin Tiemeyer

For what it's worth, this episode took a comment my wife casually made last night about having never made Rice Crispy Treats and wanting to do it to me making this request happen! And now, for no particular reason, I am also going to try and make Apple Jacks Treats to go with them because the thought sounded amazing. We'll see how it goes

El Pete

I was literally driving to the store, specifically to buy pepperoncinis. And just when I think I couldn't love* you more, "...because you fuckin' bit the dust..." *not in a creepy stalker way

A. Ortega

I love these kind of episodes, Allie! In this age of social media, where we see so many curated versions of people’s lives, I’ve found it very refreshing to see (or hear) people confortable with their own vulnerability. Every now and again I think about the field trip episodes to the museum in LA you used to work at and your mystery surgery. Those were really vulnerable and emotional, and they really helped me through some of my own life stuff at the time

Camille

ALIE this is one of my favorite episodes you’ve done - a very happy surprise when I discovered this was an episode of just secrets! It felt like a hug and a lowkey hang out, which is about all the mental bandwidth I had today and just what I needed. I am so here for you doing a lil episode like this from time to time :)

Camille

Also my secret is that I have a wicked armpit infection right now featuring four lumps. I have named them Frederick, Francisco, Frank, and Francis. We are a very toxic and troubled family 💕💕

Sleepy John

I keep wanting to reach over and pat you on the head.

StateSchoolSemicolon

This episode was so much fun, Alie and I'm glad you did it. I am also on Team Get The Thing In A Color That Stands Out. My closet is still wall to wall black. But my phone? Pink. My wallet? Bright green. My last car? Orange. We will not be camouflaging at the bottom of my bag or in a parking lot. Nope.

Christian Crayton

One of my favorite episodes! I think you should do these more often, and I would love to hear another Alieology episode with you and Jarrett. It was so funny that you kept trying to turn conversation away from yourself, and he just gently kept turning it back. Maybe you guys could do a Christmas show together and just hang with us. There are a lot of science podcasts in the world, but this is my favorite because you bring out the fun in people. I love listening to the glee when the ologists find out they can curse and let their hair down. I love learning new stuff, but at the end of the day I keep coming back because it feels like I'm learning with a friend. I'll stop fangirling now but please never change!

Gardener Gabbi

I absolutely loved this episode, so wonderful! You covered some amazing, hilarious and really quite deep and meaningful topics. Much love xx

shorky

I loved it so much I didn't fall asleep listening to it and then had to spend another hour finding a suitably boring podcast. It was an old guy reading something about screws and the threading on screws, out like a light. YOU are included in my love for ologies, and it felt like a chit chat with a friend. Thank you Alie!

Lyssa Mercier

This special episode was a joy Alie! You are so wonderful, warm and funny, it's a delight to listen to you no matter the topic. It also makes me happy whenever you give yourself permission to take a break or make things a bit easier for yourself. We all need to be kinder to ourselves. Thank you for being you!

Doug Paice

I feel a little called out. It's my wife's 50th birthday later this year. We have a long standing agreement that surprise parties are not on. Also she's been clear she doesn't really want a party. However, I wonder how much of that is because she knows I don't cope with parties. (Panic attack at my mum's 80th last year, spent about an hour using DBT skills and (finally) an Ativan to be able to go back in). Also her closest friends live 4000km away, we don't really socialise apart from family. So, called out, but conflicted. Not asking for advice as much saying "I hear you, and that's fair criticism."

GhoulNextDoor

This was great!! I usually doom scroll on the first day of my period when I’m feeling really really bad to distract myself, but I also hate doom scrolling. But this episode came out just in time! It kept me perfectly distracted while I curled up into a little ball to listen to you tell us secrets! Thanks dad Ward And I guess here was a secret of my own in return for secrets episode

Lee

You’re a delight Alie, and this secrets episode was delightful.

kris a. knight

My admiration and respect for your work only grows and grows.....one of the greatest blessings to my ears/brain/soul is you.

Melanie Metzger

OMG! So many things to say about this episode. 1) I, too, was a 4-year Latin in High School kid and participated in the Junior Classical League. 2) YES on the Rice Krispies treats, but may I suggest swapping out the Rice Krispies with Golden Grahams and adding chocolate chips for a quick and easy S'mores Bars. 3) I was just talking to someone about starting to carry a stack of cheap bar towels with me, especially to my kids' sporting events. And 4) Now I need to add matches and a candle to my "I have everything you need" kit ! So many great ideas!

Zo3_3

Loved listening to you yab away Ali ❤️ personally I’m here for the yabbin. All kinds. Intellectual or not. If it’s you, I’m here for it.

Mini Minnie

Listened to the whole thing, my friend! Could make a drinking game out of that episode. Every time you say “thank you” take a drink. We would all be smashed.

Mini Minnie

I looked that up too 😄

Mini Minnie

Don’t make it a surprise. Let her know it’s coming g and let her have a little input, but you do all the work

Heather Woodford

I'm NEVER mad about the weird special episodes!!!!!

Sandy Pickup

You just make me laugh in the car. People probably wonder what I'm doing. Thanks for being smart and funny. I'm going to be in LA next week so if you want to go for a drink give me a holler. I'm an old lady that loves the tar pits.

Jes Woodard

It was fab! I liked scientists will save your ass one / but also “ask smart people ..” / cozy episode / fell asleep first night but wanted to rewind to catch it all. Dreams were less weird than when I fell asleep in the middle of the turkey episode (I always go back and listen!)

Brain 🧠 Shenanigans

VOTING. I thought you were saying boating, and I was so confused. Le sigh. Alie you’re a gem, and you are so appreciated and adored. Thank you for being you! Also. To the dear Patreon compatriots. Rice crispy treats? If you have a little more time on hand, let me introduce you to browned butter rice crispy treats. You only need an additional two ingredients (salt and vanilla). I use vegan marshmallows because I just can’t stand big box brand marshmallows, I’m sorry! But I found vegan marshmallows at the grocery store and they’re actually so delicious, almost as good as homemade. Anyway, TL;DR: I highly encourage brown butter rice crispy treats, you won’t regret it. PS — this past week I took some time and tidied up my computer desktop 🩵

Inka

Alie, this is the kind of content we all come here for (even the ones who don’t feel ready to admit it). Please always feel free to be a little unedited and not too “by the book” because we will lap it up.

Oscar Courchaine

Great episode! Not sure why we need to farm bugs when there are a plethora of plant-based options out there. Why not choose the more ethically safe option?

Barbara

What a treat. Thank you, Alie!

Cow Katt

“Ask Smart People Stupid Questions” - 5 word Webby speech

Naomi Jane

I loved this. It was like having a friend keep you company whilst you did some tasks, pure wholesome yapping. Thank you 🧡

Lillian Rolfe

Alie, thank you for this episode. I’m sitting here knitting a second koi fish for my daughter’s 23rd birthday….she works at the St Louis Aquarium and on the rare times we are road tripping together (since she’s grown and flown now and I live in Mississippi) we listen to Ologies together. She’s like my own little extra commentary companion when she gives me extra tidbits of knowledge or we ramble off on tangents together. She’s graduated from Mississippi State last year with her bio/zoology degree. Anyway, this episode is the perfect brain break for me as I’m on a leave of absence from a job I absolutely adore while I hold someone accountable for bad behavior. Everything is hard right now, but this episode has been delightful. ❤️

Jmo

as a vegan who has shopped at trader joe's for years, the grief of a product you love being discontinued is so stupidly painful... it makes you feel unreasonable but like, they used to have this non-dairy feta in brine that was SO GOOD... but no, we can't have nice things.. just memories of how things used to be better..

Lucinda Parks

I will share a secret with you… I hope one day we can go to a zoo together and just geek out about facts and just melt over the amazing beautiful creatures. I will bring my night vision binoculars, regular binoculars, my handheld travel microscope, and my borescope and a bunch of other science fun stuff. I live in Orange County, hi neighbor 👋 also me and my kids go on trash walks we can validate your opinion about picking up items with precision being satisfactory. I concur. 😁

Leslie

What an enjoyable episode, you have my vote to do this again whenever you need to shake it up.

Alie Ward

What are some other TJs vegan options you like? Lemme hear em!

Alie Ward

Already used that a few years ago for the Webbys! Also someone just started a new podcast (a friend of a friend) called "Smart Girl, Dumb Questions" and I didn't want anyone to get us confused

Alie Ward

I just mean to transition the general public from larger animals...

Cow Katt

🧡 duh 🙄 ofc you used that when you won earlier!!! And I’ll have to check out the other pod too now 😻

Jmo

there's some good things in the frozen aisle. some mock bulgogi and orange chik'n morsels. they had a kung pao cauliflower but I'm not sure they sell that anymore. they've really discontinued more in the past few years than they have kept. the frozen stuff is nice because not a lot of people are thinking about vegans with prepared/easy dinners. the shredded parmesan cheese is tasty though. if you're in LA though, honestly the best spots are going to be the international markets. if you can find a mercado or Asian market that carries soya chucks / soy curls, you're in business!! they usually have good produce and bulk spices too.

LizPea

This was a really lovely listen on my long commute to salsa-ensemble practice last week. Some thoughts, even though my brain etch-a-sketches pretty frequently: Thank you for the life tips alongside secrets. I had totally forgotten about the magic marker for your face that is Outlast Lip Stain... Your brilliance and conversational tone are a joy to listen to with or without editing. And that's coming from someone with not-great patience (and a side of misophonia).

Chris Curious

Loved this so much Alie! ❤️ Totally felt like hanging out with you.

Fernando López Haro

I completely agree with Oscar. If the options are convincing 98% of people who are not vegan to eat more plant-based options or nearly 100% of people to regularly eat insects, I think like it makes much more sense to continue the task we are already closer to achieving. Plus, even when insects are more efficient at turning plants into usable protein than vertebrates, they still result in an unavoidable inefficiency because some of the calories that they eat will be used in growth, metabolism, and producing heat. So why not instead of feeding them plants to we can eat them, we take those plants and eat them ourselves. That is not to mention the ethical concerns of having to kill orders of magnitude more individuals to supply the same amount of protein. For all we know they still experience pain and try to avoid being killed when given the chance. Plus the energetic requirements of killing them by cooling them down are too high to implement at a large scale. Having said that, absolutely delightful episode!! Lovely to hear the unedited version with all the umms and uhhs. As an aspiring science communicator, it's a reminder never to let "perfect" be the enemy of the "good"!! Love all your work Alie!!

Kleargle

I loved your weird secrets episode! Slay julien bakers song, yes gotta feel the revolutionary feels, 10/10 hangout vibes thanks for the tips

Jason

I really liked “Everything’s interesting if you ask”, I’d buy merch with that on it!

Oscar Courchaine

Thank you Fernando! You explained this much more eloquently than I did, and I didn't know about issues with those scaling energy requirements so thanks for that info as well! But as you said, my main concern is the billions of insect lives that would be made commodity in this process.

Sean Luchs

This fits right in with my headcanon that each episode is me, pod dad, and the ologist (okay, not one of those this time but in general) hanging out on the porch of a mountain cabin at sunset, sipping on whiskey (or preferred drink) and having an ology chat.

Nick A

This was such comfortable drive home content. Just cozy and fun

Dave Brewer

The latest episode of "Endless Thread" revolves around a similar theme of people "discovering" things that have been around for generations.

Dave Brewer

Winner winner secrets episode dinner!

Toni Vernelli

Unfortunately the data do not support the claim that we've made more progress in moving people to plant-based diets as the number of animals killed for food globally is at an all-time high. And the increase is skewed towards chicken and fish - the animals who endure the most intensive farming conditions. I dedicated 30 years of my life to vegan advocacy but now realise this has done little to help reduce animal suffering as it is too big of an ask for most people. Reduction, transitioning to other forms of animal protein and working to end the most cruel practices will help more animals in our lifetime than relentlessly promoting an ideal that is simply unrealistic for 98% of people. Alie is spot on here!

Nora Bartley

Medium Build mentioned?! Honestly loved this episode I was just hanging with my close personal friend Alie Ward

ChickenChomper

Love it! It was like having a glass of wine with you in my living room :) Love the vibe, love Alie, and love the show! Keep the ologies coming please!

ChickenChomper

Also, please don't let the haters get you down. Haters gonna hate. I've been listening for years now and I have notice it has tamed down a bit... not in a bad way, but yes, as you say, in a way where it seems like it is more filtered and maybe a little less impulsive. I used to really enjoy all the swearing ;)- haha

norab

okay i am only halfway through this episode but im listening to it on my way home from work and it just feels like getting a hug from a best friend. thank you alie for being so real, this episode really made me smile

norab

i listen to this podcast every day on my commute and will be so sad when i am all caught up

Amie with an ie

(Long time listener, first time commenter) Alie, thank you for this episode! I’ve been feeling down lately, and the way you delivered your secrets made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. I love your wit and dark sense of humor. I can always count on you to lift my spirits, and whisk me away to a realm of learning. Keep being you!

Ted Vician

RCV also allows voters to express preferences in a way that shows the eventual winner where their support comes from. Taking the UK as an example, I could vote Green then Labour. If Labour wins and a big chunk of their votes comes from Green first voters, then they know the policies to pursue to keep those votes in next election.

Yuri

Great example! I really really hope it comes to where i am. The capital of the state I'm in is doing it next election

Dr. Niki

I know you had doubts about this one but I loved it. The unedited Alie episodes are my favorite ❤️