Prompt Cast
The Power of Smell: Memories, Identity, and Discrimination
TLDR Our sense of smell plays a crucial role in our relationships, sense of self, and memory. It can be weaponized to exclude certain groups of people, as seen in the racist perceptions of smell that influenced the Supreme Court case Plessy vs. Ferguson. Smell triggers emotional memories that connect us to our past and help us remember our family's history, and it is a powerful tool for preserving our heritage.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The episode explores the importance of smell in our lives and how it can evoke memories and emotions, as well as the impact of losing the sense of smell.
05:27
Our sense of smell is deeply connected to our relationships and our sense of self, but we still don't fully understand how it works.
10:40
Scientists in 1988 didn't fully understand how the nose and brain process and make sense of the wide range of chemicals we breathe in, but Linda Buck and Richard Axel's research on the genomic sequence of smell receptors in the nose led to a better understanding of how we smell and ultimately won them the Nobel Prize in 2004.
16:27
Our sense of smell is directly involved with the health of our brain and body, and smell training can help reactivate the sense of smell after loss.
21:12
Smell has shaped society and determined who belongs, and the meaning we ascribe to smells can be weaponized and used to exclude certain groups of people.
27:14
The Supreme Court case Plessy vs. Ferguson, which legalized separate but equal treatment and laid the foundation for modern segregation in the United States, was based on racist perceptions of smell and the assumption that race can always be detected visually.
32:39
The Supreme Court case Plessy vs. Ferguson, which legalized separate but equal treatment and laid the foundation for modern segregation in the United States, was based on racist perceptions of smell and the assumption that race can always be detected visually.
38:42
Smell triggers emotional memories that enable us to momentarily travel across time and place, serving as bookmarks that remind us of who we are and help us remember our family's history, such as Ernestine's experience of forced removals during apartheid in South Africa.
43:51
Smell triggers emotional memories that enable us to momentarily travel across time and place, serving as bookmarks that remind us of who we are and help us remember our family's history, such as Ernestine's experience of forced removals during apartheid in South Africa.
49:27
The narrator reflects on the impact of her Yaya's scent on her memory and identity, and now, as she prepares to become a mother, she considers what smells she wants to pass down to her daughter to remind her of her family and heritage.
Categories:
History
Society & Culture
