The science of taste and smell with Rachel Herz | from ReThinking with Adam Grant

TED Health

TED

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Shoshana Ungerleider, Medicine, How To Be Healthier, Ted Shoshana, Ted Talks Health

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Do you hate the taste of cilantro and chocolate? You might be a super taster! Rachel Herz is a neuroscientist at Brown University who specializes in taste and smell. In this episode, Adam, Rachel, and Adam’s wife Allison Sweet Grant investigate the sources of their different food preferences, uncover the overlooked power of smell, and analyze the effects of the gene that can turn some people into picky eaters.

This episode originally aired on ReThinking with Adam Grant July 22, 2025.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever wondered why New York City bagels are so great?
0:04.7	Does it really have to do with the water?
0:06.4	Maybe you're curious why so many people these days have food allergies.
0:11.1	Do scientists know what's going on?
0:13.2	How about that long-standing argument we've all had?
0:15.4	Do we actually need to rinse the plates before we put them in the dishwasher?
0:19.0	You'll find the answer to all of these important questions and more when you join us and listen to
0:24.5	Gastropod.
0:25.1	It's all the weird and wonderful stories about the foods you eat every day.
0:28.7	Find Gastropod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
0:34.7	If you have to give up one of your five senses, which would you pick?
0:40.9	Given the options, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, many people often resort to
0:47.0	smell and taste.
0:48.6	Maybe to most of us, they seem like the least important, right?
0:52.1	Well, you might be surprised.
0:55.7	Today, we're spotlighting an episode from Rethinking with Adam Grant, another podcast from TED. In this episode, Adam is speaking
1:01.9	with cognitive neuroscientist Rachel Hertz on the mind-bending science of smell and taste,
1:07.8	and how your nose might be your most underrated superpower.
1:11.9	I hope you enjoy the episode, and you can follow Rethinking with Adam Grant wherever you
1:16.7	get your podcasts.
1:21.6	Hey, everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast with Ted on the
1:26.2	science of what makes us tick.
	...

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