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ReThinking

The science of taste and smell with Rachel Herz

ReThinking

TED

Worklife Podcasts, Adam Grant, Rethinking Podcast, Ted Podcast Adam Grant, Organizational Psychology, Ted Talks, Adam Grant Podcasts, Society & Culture

4.7626 Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ 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. 


Follow

Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/)

Guest: Rachel Herz (Instagram | LinkedIn: @rachelherz | Website: rachelherz.com/) 


Links

Books: Why You Eat What You Eat (2019),  That’s Disgusting (2013), The Scent of Desire (2008)


Subscribe to TED 

Instagram: @ted

YouTube: @TED

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LinkedIn: @ted-conferences

Website: ted.com

Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.


For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Claire worked in the marketing department for an up-and-coming artisan bakery.

0:05.0

Unfortunately, the artisan bakery in question was so up-and-coming.

0:10.0

Nobody actually knew it existed.

0:13.0

But then she had the really good idea to use Canva to create a business plan.

0:18.0

It looked good, really, really good. Their investors thought so too.

0:23.7

And now their hotcakes are selling like, well, exactly. Thanks, Canber. Hi, I'm Frances

0:31.0

Fry. And I'm Anne Morris. And we are the hosts of a new TED podcast called Fixable. We've helped

0:37.1

leaders at some of the world's

0:38.4

most competitive companies solve all kinds of problems. On our show, we'll pull back the curtain

0:43.9

and give you the type of honest, unfiltered advice we usually reserve for top executives. Maybe you have a

0:50.0

coworker with boundary issues, or you want to know how to inspire and motivate your team. No problem

0:55.1

is too big or too small. Give us a call and we'll help you solve the problems you're stuck on.

1:00.3

Find fixable wherever you listen to podcasts.

1:09.7

Hey everyone, it's Adam Graham. Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast with Ted on the science of what

1:14.9

makes us tick. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating

1:20.1

people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking. Like Rachel Hers. We are hardwired actually

1:26.8

to find bitter, bad, and sweet good.

1:29.9

Now, the problem of today's world is that we have an overabundance and easy access to all kinds of things that are sweet,

1:37.5

and overconsumption of those sorts of things is not healthy.

1:41.6

For years, people made fun of me for eating like a five-year-old.

1:45.0

Then I learned something that changed my understanding of my palate

1:47.5

and might change yours too.

...

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