Podcasts Culture Arts & Ideas Sneezing, smells and noses

Sneezing, smells and noses

Published: May 26, 2023, 9:52 a.m.

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The profound effects of losing our sense of smell, why historians should think more about the smells of the past and some thoughts on sneezing from Montaigne and La Condamine. Rana Mitter is joined by philosopher and wine-taster Barry Smith, Chrissi Kelly who founded the charity AbScent following her own experience of anosmia (the loss of smell), sensory historian William Tullett and New Generation Thinker Gemma Tidman.

William Tullett's book Smell and the Past: Noses, Archives, Narratives is out now.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

You can find previous Free Thinking discussions about other body parts available on BBC Sounds and as the Arts & Ideas podcast. We have looked at\\nKnees From dance to prayer, knees ups to kneeling https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gv2t\\nHands Matthew Sweet explores hands with psychoanalyst Darian Leader, an art historian and a computer scientist https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07gnj18\\nBarry Smith discussed what gives us Pleasure https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000tf72\\nNovelist Michele Roberts discussed evoking smell in fiction https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08n24f5

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