History of the Self: Smell and Memory - Throughline

Summary

Throughline: History of the Self – Smell and Memory

Host: Christina Kim
Guests: Rachel Hearns (Neuroscientist), Mark Smith (Sensory Historian), Ernestine Deane (South African Musician and Medicine Woman)
Release Date: December 19, 2024

Introduction

In the episode titled "History of the Self: Smell and Memory," Christina Kim delves into the intricate relationship between our sense of smell and the formation of memories, emotions, and even societal structures. Through personal anecdotes, scientific insights, and historical analysis, the episode explores how olfaction not only shapes individual experiences but also influences broader historical narratives.

Personal Connection to Smell

Christina begins by sharing her deep personal connection to scent, particularly the Spanish perfume Alvarez Gomez Agua de Colonia, a fragrance worn by her grandmother and mother. She vividly describes how specific smells evoke powerful memories:

Christina Kim [01:49]: "It's like home. The act of smelling a perfume is like hearing a full orchestra."

However, Christina's life takes a dramatic turn in the summer of 2022 when she loses her sense of smell due to COVID-19. This loss severs her connection to cherished memories, including her grandmother's comforting hugs and her mother's reassuring presence.

Christina Kim [05:35]: "It felt like my tie to my mom and my grandmother was severed."

Determined to regain her sense of smell, Christina consults Rachel Hearns, a renowned neuroscientist specializing in the psychology of smell.

The Science of Smell

Rachel Hearns explains the biological mechanisms behind olfaction, detailing how our noses detect and process a vast array of odor molecules:

Rachel Hearns [16:13]: "Our ability to detect smells is actually far greater than our ability to detect any other sensory experience."

She emphasizes the evolutionary significance of smell, highlighting its crucial role in the survival of prehistoric humans by detecting predators, prey, and environmental changes.

Christina recounts her journey back to olfaction through smell training, a method Rachel recommends. This involves regularly sniffing distinctive scents to reactivate the olfactory pathways.

Rachel Hearns [18:37]: "All you need are four distinctive scents... try to keep on going at it for at least 12 weeks."

After months of diligent practice, Christina successfully redevelops her sense of smell, allowing her to reconnect with both past memories and present experiences.

Historical Impact of Smell: Plessy v. Ferguson

The episode transitions to a historical analysis of how smell has been intertwined with societal constructs, particularly in the infamous Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. Mark Smith, a sensory historian, explains how racist perceptions of smell were legally codified to justify segregation:

Mark Smith [28:27]: "If you don't pay attention to smell, you've really missed the foundation of modern segregation in the United States."

In 1890 Louisiana, Homer Plessy intentionally violated segregation laws by boarding a whites-only train car. The prosecution argued that Plessy's race could be identified by smell, an assertion rooted in racist ideologies rather than scientific fact.

Prosecutor [33:46]: "I can smell it."

The Supreme Court's decision in a 7-1 vote upheld segregation, illustrating how subjective interpretations of smell were weaponized to maintain racial hierarchies. This case underscores the societal power of scent perception and its manipulation.

Memory and Emotion

Rachel Hearns elucidates the profound connection between smell, memory, and emotion, explaining that olfactory signals are processed in the brain regions responsible for both:

Rachel Hearns [17:49]: "That's the amygdala hippocampal complex. And this is where we go, ah, it's lemon."

This neurological link explains why certain scents can instantly transport individuals back to specific moments in time, evoking vivid emotional responses.

Personal Stories: Ernestine Deane

Ernestine Deane shares her poignant narrative of how scents connect her to her heritage and family history amidst the traumatic legacy of apartheid in South Africa. She recounts how the smell of roasted almonds at a German Christmas market transported her back to her grandmother's kitchen in Constantia, eliciting memories of family traditions and the pain of forced relocations.

Ernestine Deane [37:33]: "It was like patchwork quilts... the scent was so familiar and reminded me so much of my grandmother's kitchen."

Her story highlights how smell serves as a "bookmark" for personal and collective histories, enabling individuals to preserve and pass down memories through generations.

Conclusion

The episode concludes by reinforcing the idea that scent is a powerful, often underappreciated sense that shapes our identities, memories, and societal structures. Christina reflects on her restored sense of smell and its newfound significance in her life, particularly as a mother:

Christina Kim [49:06]: "I'm thinking about what smells do I want to pass down to my daughter?"

Through "History of the Self: Smell and Memory," Throughline invites listeners to appreciate the profound impact of olfaction on both personal and historical levels, encouraging a deeper understanding of how our senses intertwine with who we are.

Notable Quotes:

Rachel Hearns [10:44]: "The fabric of our existence... is deeply connected to our sense of smell."
Mark Smith [27:20]: "We're kind of hostage to visual conceits."
Ernestine Deane [43:08]: "They're very important bookmarks that remind us of who we are and also really who we are."

Key Takeaways:

Olfaction is Integral to Memory and Emotion: The sense of smell is uniquely linked to the brain regions that process memories and emotions, making scents powerful triggers for recalling past experiences.
Scientific Understanding of Smell: Advances in neuroscience, particularly the discoveries by Linda Buck and Richard Axel, have deepened our understanding of how humans perceive smells, revealing the complexity and vast capacity of our olfactory system.
Historical Influence of Smell: Smell has played a role in societal and legal constructs, as illustrated by the Plessy v. Ferguson case, demonstrating how sensory perceptions can be manipulated to uphold discriminatory practices.
Personal and Cultural Significance: Individual stories, like those of Christina and Ernestine, showcase how scents are tied to personal identity, heritage, and memory, serving as conduits for preserving and transmitting cultural narratives.
Restoration and Enhancement of Smell: Practices like smell training not only aid in recovering lost olfactory abilities but also highlight the importance of actively engaging our senses to maintain cognitive and emotional health.

This episode of Throughline offers a comprehensive exploration of how the seemingly simple act of smelling is interwoven with complex threads of memory, identity, and history, urging listeners to recognize and appreciate the profound role of olfaction in their lives.

Transcript

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Christina Kim (0:19)

Before we get started, a note to listeners that this episode includes exploration of racist material.

Narrator (0:29)

So the other day I was reading this book about the First Crusade. It's a moment in history that anyone who knows me knows I have long been obsessed with, and in one passage there was a detailed description of what the city of Antioch was like. Then there were details about the way the streets looked, the size of the citadel, how loud the central market was. But there was something noticeably missing. No description of what it smelled like. It was weird because I register a lot of thoughts and memories in my head through smells. I'm sure you do too. And I realized I almost never stopped to think about how or why I smell things like why does a rose smell like a rose? Would the people in medieval Antioch have described the smell of a rose the same way I do? Well, Christina Kim, a reporter and producer on the Throughline team, has been thinking about those kinds of questions a lot over the last last few years. The other day she even described smell as a superpower that allows us to time travel. Yeah, she went deep on some of the big questions about our sense of smell and ended up on this winding historical journey. And now you get to go on it too. Christina is going to take it from here.

Christina Kim (1:49)

Ever since I was a little girl, I've been enveloped by the smell of lemon, rosemary and spice spices. It's the smell of this Spanish perfume called Alvarez Gomez Agua de Colonia, the classic fragrance that's been made in Spain since 1912 that my grandmother, Mil Yaya and my mother have always worn. It's the smell of Maya sitting on the couch in Madrid with her legs crossed, wearing her kitten heel house slippers, right? Reminiscing about being a little bit wild, un poco travieza as she reaches over with her soft hand to give mine a squeeze. It's the smell of my mom running after me whenever I'm in my childhood home in California with a bottle of it, trying to spritz some over my head, a foos foos before we leave the house to smell fre and the smell of her reassuring hugs, which let me know I am never alone. The top note is crisp, sharp, like a Mediterranean lemon whose yellow hued brightness makes my nose tingle once I let the inhale get to my chest. I reach the fragrance's heart note, and it becomes more green and fresh. And finally, when my breath makes it all the way to my belly, the base note rounds everything together. It's like the umami part of the fragrance, this kind of fullness and richness that expands throughout my whole body like a soft hug. Like home. The act of smelling a perfume is like hearing a full orchestra. In order to actually smell it, your nose has to parse through thousands of different molecules, translate them, and then transmit it to your brain so that you can smell what you recognize as your favorite scent, be it a perfume or a rose. And that's just what has to happen to smell a single thing. The reality is that for most of us, our noses are parsing through a massive number of different odor molecules a day. And it's so easy to take this riot of smell for granted, unless it disappears. In the summer of 2022, I became one of the 15 million estimated people to have lost their sense of smell because of COVID The minute I noticed that I wasn't able to smell anything, I ran around from room to room, sniffing anything I could get my hands on. I went to the kitchen and opened a jar of peanut butter. Nothing. I took a spoonful of peanut butter and put it in my mouth. Instead of the sweet, salty, nutty flavor I expected, all I could sense was how it felt. A thick, flavorless paste sticking to my tongue and gums. Finally, I ran to my bedside table, where I kept my giant glass art deco bottle of Alvarez Gomez Agua de Colonia. I took a big breath, waiting for the fresh herbal scents to take over and make me feel better. But all that I inhaled was an empty void of what I knew was there, but I could no longer access. It felt like my tie to my mom and my grandmother was severed. After I gathered myself, I did what any journalist would do next. Hello? Okay, you are here.