Christina Kim

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Okay, wonderful. And that meant calling up someone who's dedicated their life to studying and understanding smell.

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. Okay, wonderful. And that meant calling up someone who's dedicated their life to studying and understanding smell.

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. Okay, wonderful. And that meant calling up someone who's dedicated their life to studying and understanding smell.

Rachel is the person for all things smell. She's the author of The Scent of Desire, Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell. And she immediately empathized with how I was feeling.

Rachel is the person for all things smell. She's the author of The Scent of Desire, Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell. And she immediately empathized with how I was feeling.

Rachel is the person for all things smell. She's the author of The Scent of Desire, Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell. And she immediately empathized with how I was feeling.

But even though our sense of smell is such an important facet of our lives, it turns out we still don't seem to know that much about it.

But even though our sense of smell is such an important facet of our lives, it turns out we still don't seem to know that much about it.

But even though our sense of smell is such an important facet of our lives, it turns out we still don't seem to know that much about it.

The deeper I dug into what we know about smell, the more I started to realize how much our sense of smell has shaped not just our personal experiences, but also the world we live in and our understanding of the past and the present. And it got me thinking about how smell is kind of like the science of history because it's so wrapped up in who we think we are and how we remember the past.

The deeper I dug into what we know about smell, the more I started to realize how much our sense of smell has shaped not just our personal experiences, but also the world we live in and our understanding of the past and the present. And it got me thinking about how smell is kind of like the science of history because it's so wrapped up in who we think we are and how we remember the past.

The deeper I dug into what we know about smell, the more I started to realize how much our sense of smell has shaped not just our personal experiences, but also the world we live in and our understanding of the past and the present. And it got me thinking about how smell is kind of like the science of history because it's so wrapped up in who we think we are and how we remember the past.

which kind of makes it the perfect ThruLine episode. So here we go. I'm Christina Kim, and today on ThruLine from NPR, I'm asking you to go on a little adventure to unpack the enigma of smell.