Podcast: Pablo Torre Finds Out
Episode: This Is Life Without Your Sense of Taste and Smell
Date: November 16, 2023
Host: Pablo Torre
Guest: David Samson
Episode Overview
In this episode, Pablo Torre sits down with David Samson—former Miami Marlins president, podcast host, known Survivor contestant, and "remarkably candid human being"—to explore the deeply personal and unexpected consequences of losing the senses of taste and smell due to COVID-19 in early 2021. Through the lens of Samson’s distinctly intense, methodical approach to life, the discussion meanders from the impact on his routines and relationships to existential reflections and awkward culinary adventures. The episode culminates with a physical experiment involving some of the world’s hottest hot sauces.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. David Samson’s Life Philosophy & Happiness Test
- Samson shares his unique approach to self-contentment: he tests his happiness by asking if he’d rather trade lives or situations with someone else. If the answer is ever "yes," he changes something about his own situation.
“Would I rather be in that person's chair or in my chair?... And whenever I answer no, it means I've got to make a change.” — David Samson [02:54]
2. Losing Taste and Smell—The Moment and Acceptance
- Samson recounts losing both senses on the day of President Biden’s inauguration, January 20, 2021, after testing positive for COVID. Though doctors assured him recovery would come in “three to five days,” it’s now been nearly three years.
- His discovery was mundane—he noticed his cologne "smelled off," googled “does cologne expire,” and only later realized in the doctor’s office that he had lost the senses altogether.
“Three to five days, what's the difference? And that was January of 21, and now it's been... coming on three years.” — Samson [07:43]
3. Adaptation and Routine—From Denial to Acceptance
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Initially, Samson thought the loss temporary, making “temporary adjustments”—including testing jelly beans to distinguish flavors (spoiler: he couldn’t), and eating only healthy foods, figuring he could optimize his diet if pleasure from taste was gone. But, he missed the normalcy of social eating and treats.
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After a period of frustration—especially when meals disappointed regardless of location—Samson acknowledges he’s learned to "trick himself" into remembering or imagining flavors from memory, living in a “culinary arrested development” where only foods he already knows can have subjective taste.
“Now my brain literally tells me what I'm eating and tells me what it's going to taste like as a reminder of what it did taste like. So new food is not impactful.” — Samson [15:47]
4. Sensory Workarounds & Social Impact
- Samson compensates with texture and heat. He uses hot sauce liberally for the physical sensation (“my lifeline”). He warns chefs and companions in advance.
- He’s hyperaware of the impact on social dynamics—meals with friends or at elite restaurants (e.g., Jiro Sushi, three-star Michelin in Italy) no longer give him pleasure, and he pretends for the benefit of others.
- A comical and poignant clip: Girlfriend records him at an elite restaurant, guessing that a composed dish is "ice cream," when it is, in fact, "oyster compote and lamb carpaccio."
"It's cold, like ice cream. What's the green? Jill, what's the green?" — Samson [21:56]
“...I want to be a part of it. What is, what is it?... I want to feel something. Anything that you're eating.” — Samson [23:58]
5. Physical, Social, and Emotional Consequences
- Top Five Most Impactful Aspects:
- Fear of Being Alone Again: Loss of smell reignited childhood/adult anxieties about being alone and safe (“I’m constantly calling my doorman asking, 'do you smell that? Is something burning?'") [36:07].
- Loss of Connection: Food and smell were sources of intimacy and bonding—now replaced by seeking connection through other shared interests.
- Dependency with Dairy: Paranoia about spoiled dairy as he cannot “test” by smell, leading to restrictions when eating alone.
- Increased Social Awareness: Pays more attention to others' meal reactions, depending on them to simulate gustatory experiences.
- Lack of Discrimination: Unable to discern good/bad food, forced to focus on presentation, ambiance, and social cues rather than flavor.
- Thanksgiving and holidays are less affected, as for Samson, "family drama" always eclipsed culinary tradition.
6. Evolution of Preferences
- Samson’s lifelong affinity for black licorice jelly beans stems from being bullied; he learned to love what others wouldn't steal from him. He generalizes:
“I'm not going to crave for what I don't have. I'm going to desire what I do have.” — Samson [39:28]
- He continues to eat foods he once loved, playing mental games, running “tests” during every meal hoping for recovery, but always landing in his comfort zone.
7. A Glimpse of Hope—and Disappointment
- Once, a whiff of a familiar bad odor led him to believe his sense of smell was returning, only to quickly realize it was fleeting.
“I yelled, yahtzee. I'm back, baby. We celebrated, thinking, you're. You're done... But I went to the cologne... And I didn't smell it.” — Samson [43:07]
8. "Hot Ones" Challenge: Physical Proof
- In a playful experiment, Sean Evans from Hot Ones sends Pablo and David three extreme hot sauces (500,000 to over 2,000,000 Scoville units) to test David’s claim: he can’t taste, but he can feel heat.
- Samson samples each generously, nonchalant and slightly despondent as Pablo reels.
"Well, I couldn't tell the difference between any of them." — Samson [49:40]
Notable Quotes and Moments (with Timestamps)
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Self-Contentment Test:
“Would I rather be in that person's chair or in my chair...And whenever I answer no, it means I've got to make a change.” — Samson [02:54]
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Discovery of Loss:
“Oh, the cologne is stale...so my first thought only was, this is not the normal cologne smell that I know I smell like. Obviously, there's something wrong with the cologne.” — Samson [06:16]
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Jelly Bean Test:
“My biggest taste sensory issue is differentiating jelly beans between licorice jelly beans and cinnamon jelly beans. And that's the test I use to this day. To this day. I eat licorice and cinnamon jelly beans every day.” — Samson [08:24]
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Phantom Taste Buds:
“You're feeling in the way that some people feel a phantom limb. You feel phantom taste buds as if they're still there as they used to be.” — Torre [15:17]
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Sushi and Culinary Casualties:
“I can't tell the difference between salmon and tuna or eel or yellowtail or certain amazing umami...Which was everything. Everything now. Because now it's nothing.” — Samson [18:15]
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Culinary Performance:
“What flavor is it? What flavor is the white stuff? It's cold, like ice cream cream. What's the green, Jill? ...What flavor?” — Samson, in Italy, guessing at a dish [21:56]
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Dependency on Hot Sauce:
“Everything I do is spicy and I require it.” — Samson [14:36]
“I'm not laughing. I'm sad... It's the opposite of laughter.” — Samson, after trying all the hot sauces [49:51] -
On Hope & Acceptance:
“There’s nothing I can do. And one of the things you know about me is I don't spend much time on things I don't control. So I maximize what I can control, and then I control it." — Samson [42:05]
Important Timestamps
- [04:23] Samson’s COVID diagnosis and immediate aftermath
- [07:43] Realization that taste/smell are not coming back; duration sinks in
- [11:14] On living without smell in NYC: "I don't smell urine...I don't smell weed..."
- [14:46] Trickery and compensation: relying on spice to “feel” something from food
- [21:56] Footage from elite restaurant in Italy, Samson fails to identify dishes
- [28:02] Top Five List of impacts by loss of taste/smell (detailed)
- [36:07] Fear of being alone resurges due to safety concerns
- [44:52] Hot Ones hot sauce experiment with Sean Evans’ sauces
- [49:40] "Well, I couldn't tell the difference between any of them."
Tone & Speaker Dynamics
- The conversation is candid, often funny, frequently poignant. Samson’s dry humor and hyper-analytical style collide with Pablo’s incredulity and empathy.
- They share a camaraderie of mutual ribbing, but also vulnerability—especially as food, safety, and connection all become fraught, sometimes surreal, for Samson.
- Samson reveals haunting anxieties, and yet at every step, pivots to pragmatism and adaptation—sometimes with tinges of sadness or frustration.
Conclusion: A Rich, Humorous, and Moving Exploration
This episode uses the story of one man’s lost senses as an unexpected window into adaptability, memory, identity, and the psychology of habit and pleasure. As David Samson says, it's about learning to “desire what I do have,” even as he mourns—and playfully tests—the missing parts. Whether or not Samson’s senses ever return, the episode is a testament to finding ways to connect, persevere, and still seek the small joys, however bizarre or bittersweet.