Smells repel and attract; they bring emotionally charged memories to mind; they guide behavior and thought nonconsciously; they give food much of its taste; and the loss of sense of smell can help diagnose disease. But what features of the world do smells pick out? What is the olfactory code?
In her new book, Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind (Harvar ... Show More
Today
Rivka Weinberg, "The Meaning of It All: Ultimate Meaning, Everyday Meaning, Cosmic Meaning, Death, and Time" (Oxford UP, 2026)
You can stock your life with important work, relationships, activities, and art, and yet, you can still ask: what's the point of it all? Almost every thinking person has had that question—many more than once. Granted, you're more likely to worry about the point of life when thing ... Show More
49m 59s
May 24
PJ DiPietro, "Sideways Selves Travesti and Jotería, "Struggles Across the Américas" (U Texas Press, 2025)
How does coloniality shape the sociosomatic possibilities of our bodies? More importantly, how do gender-nonconforming people not only resist the limitations of that coloniality but also make, connect to, and revitalize other possibilities? How do displaced people use old and rad ... Show More
1h 17m
May 10
Alexander Klein, "Consciousness is Motor: William James on Mind and Action" (Oxford UP, 2025)
When it comes to consciousness, William James is well-known for his descriptions of it rather than his theory of it and its relation to the body. In Consciousness is Motor: William James on Mind and Action (Oxford UP, 2025), Alexander Klein elaborates James’ theory of the evoluti ... Show More
1h 6m
Mar 2021
What COVID-19 is teaching us about the importance of smell, with Pamela Dalton, PhD
Many people around the world have lost their sense of smell this past year due to COVID-19. Before the pandemic, scientists had already begun to gain a deeper understanding of how sophisticated our sense of smell is and how it is intertwined with our mental and physical health. N ... Show More
34m 1s
Dec 2021
Encore - Unlocking the mysteries of smell, our most underappreciated sense, with Pamela Dalton, PhD
Many people around the world have lost their sense of smell this past year due to COVID-19. Before the pandemic, scientists had already begun to gain a deeper understanding of how sophisticated our sense of smell is and how it is intertwined with our mental and physical health. N ... Show More
34m 43s
Jul 2020
Losing your taste to coronavirus
Taste and smell loss are thought to be two of the most common symptoms of coronavirus, but some of the least understood, persisting long after the virus has gone. Scientists all over the world are racing to find out why Covid-19 is attacking these senses, and what this might teac ... Show More
29m 15s
May 2023
How Smells Influence Our Hormones, Health & Behavior | Dr. Noam Sobel
In this episode, my guest is Noam Sobel, PhD, professor of neurobiology in the department of brain sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Sobel explains his lab’s research on the biological mechanisms of smell (“olfaction”) and how sensing odorants and chemicals in ou ... Show More
3h 10m
Jun 2023
Odor Receptors, Whale Vocal Fry, Body Donation
Today you’ll learn about what really happens when we get a whiff of something, about the mechanism that allows dolphins to communicate with vocal fry, and the dark and windy history of body donation.Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/ep ... Show More
13m 8s