About this episode
Grab your fire extinguisher and hang on to your eyebrows, we’re building FIRES today. We’ll hear all about how our ancient ancestors learned to wield a flame, tame it, transport it, and use it to make tools, keep us warm, and maybe even make us smarter. So get ready for sharp rocks, hairy jello, sooty caves, glowing coals, iron sparks, fluffy fungus, molten metal, ember tending and more with Yale anthropologist and pyrotechnologist, Dr. Ellery Frahm. Visit Dr. Frahm’s website and follow him on Bluesky and Instagram A donation went to Armenia Fund Full-length (*not* G-rated) Pyrotechnology episode + tons of science links More kid-friendly Smologies 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 Bluesky Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions , Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray Morris Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.