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Discussion thread: Literary Olfactology (SMELL POLITICS) is published! (Patreon)

Published:
2025-07-31 00:24:07
Imported:
2026-06

Content

This episode is up and published and ready to hear wherever you get podcasts! https://pod.link/1278815517

We did it. The famed Dr. Ally Louks of Cambridge University is finally on Ologies to talk about her virally sensational PhD "Olfactory Ethics, The Politics Of Smell In Modern And Contemporary Prose."

Smell and culture. Scent descriptions in novels. Fragrances and class. Stink and stigmas. We cover it all. This one is such a beautiful ride through so many classic novels -- and under-the-radar works -- and it really runs the gamut between stench and heavenly aromas.

Did you listen? What did you think? Also we snuck in a bonus episode on Monday with the lovely Uma Chatterjee, a neuroscientist, board-certified mental health peer specialist, and survivor about her lived experience of having OCD, and researching new treatments.

Let's chat about them below, kiddos!

Ologistically,

Podward

Ps: we were finishing up Ally's episode last last night as LA was on tsunami watch and it's just be such a long 2025. Musta really jumped timelines somewhere.

Files

Literary Olfactology (THE POLITICS OF SMELL) with Dr. Ally Louks - alie ward

Smell and culture. Scent descriptions in novels. Fragrances and class. Stink and stigmas. We cover it all. Scholar, author, and Literary Olfactologist Dr. Ally Louks burst into the zeitgeist in 2024 with her PhD thesis "Olfactory Ethics, The Politics Of Smell In Modern And Contemporary Prose" and we

Comments

ScienceInTheArt

Just how much of smell is instinctive? That is are things that smell instinctively bad, bad for us, and vice versa?

Brie

Saw the smell part and was hoping it was dr ally louks- YAY

Alie Ward

This episode is up and published, and ready to listen to!

Felix Lasselle

Hoping to find out what Teen Spirit actually smells like

Between Dumplings

An amazing conversation. Would love to hear a follow on to examine smell + taste. Harold McGee wrote On Food & Cooking which explains the science behind cooking. Of course there relationship to smell is key. Beyond things like why some people think cilantro tastes like soap...there are curious connections to what we smell (and how well we smell it) and how something tastes. Really fun and enlightening. I have to listen again!

Jamie

Absolutely loved this episode! Dr. Louks was an amazing guest. I never would have thought such a niche topic would be so interesting despite the fact I’ve never even considered the existence of it. So interesting and will definitely change the way I perceive writing in everything I read from now on (and everything I write) - not just smell, but all those small details that can completely change the experience of the book. Super interesting and important also, diving into the deep social implications of smell and its association to different things.

Katie Hammond

I really loved the intro to this episode. The phrase "following your first love, and having the last word" has really stuck with me. Overall great episode.

Don Elliot

Just wrote a really long post and the phone rang and now it’s gone… Here goes again. Bear with me. This episode is on a topic I’ve been waiting to hear about on something specially of interest to my condition. I have anosmia (no sense of smell. So rare that autocorrect doesn’t know it). Even more rare are people like me who have never has a sense of smell. Congenital Anosmia (not animus). Thanks to the internet I have been able to connect with some of the few others in this situation. So, here’s how it goes: “So, you can’t taste things?” Wrong. It’s just missing flavor that comes from the smeller. Always the first question. Then there are the dangers. Fire/smoke, gas, rotten food, wrath of a girlfriend wearing perfume in the absence of a compliment. Convenient for me, but not others nearby. Skunk, puke, dead stuff. Horizons. The neighbors a block away are having a cookout. The situation that even though you’ve been best friends for 40 years they ask you if you smell something. It’s a challenge trying to get across to people what it’s like. So, recently I was reading The Girl on the Train, and one of the scenes included her entry to the train and the description that it smelled like cigarettes. So I realized that I was missing important context that had a significant effect on the writing and story line and tenor of the scenes. So I’m glad for this episode Try this (something I’ve taken to doing in the process of discussing my anosmia (not anomie). Just stop at any random moment in your life and take notice of the smells you are aware of. From what I gather, smells are always there. Think about what it would be like if you couldn’t know. Thanks for this great episode and being patient enough to read this whole thing.

Katy

The aside about the smells of garlic and onions being potentially aversive to some people is interesting to me - I had a colleague who couldn't eat garlic due to some health condition, and I can understand that becoming a gross smell if you can't eat it. But I also figured out a long time ago that the easiest way to get someone to say, "Ooh, what are you cooking? That smells so good!" is to make a recipe that starts with simmering onions. But all of this is also so contextual (and you probably address that later in the ep or I missed it earlier). I can totally understand why some food smells are fantastic when you're about to eat, or even when you know others are eating something, but absent that context, they're off putting - such as many cheeses.

Katy

Assuming it hasn't been discontinued since I was a kid, you can find out in the deodorant aisle.

Don Elliot

More… I actually wrote this comment before listening to the episode. I’ve collected this list, some because I’m remembering things I want to know about already. BO Bad breath Smell-print? Each person has a recognizable odor? Notes: I’m a musician and try to figure this one. Memory trigger. Can I smell myself (the BO self check before socializing)? Interesting to hear about the physical basis of the sensory system. Mostly because one of the primary concerns is how this happened in the first place and if I can ever gain a sense of smell? There number one question amongst is CA’s is if we sky to gain a sense of smell and what it would be like. Some people absolutely do not! I do, but wonder what the initial days or weeks would be like just flooded with new powerful sensations. Is walk around in a daze for days.

Don Elliot

…and more. Revisit the episode and try to imagine not knowing what the hell those people are talking about. Thanks for continued patience if you got this far.

Don Elliot

Typos. Auto incorrects.

JC

I feel like Dr. Louks would get out of the Shadow of Leviathan series. The narrator uses vials that he smells to recall with accuracy a scene or information. Seemed weird on the surface but after listening to this it all makes sense

Nick Thayer

I listened to this episode ONLY because of that dickhead's tweet that you shared a while back. Conservatism is nothing!

Claire Gebben

This was such a fascinating topic! Looking forward to the books!

Elinor Wahl

You're spoiling us with all these episodes lately! I'd love to talk more with Ally Louks, it's rare for someone to take such interest in such a fundamental and overlooked sense

Victoria scholes

Absolutely loved this episode, listened with my kids on a car journey and got is talking about so many of our own asides, as you said at the beginning, instant classic

Hannah

Long-time Ologite, first-time Patreon joiner, chiming in with an all-caps HELL YES to everything Dr. Uma Chatterjee said. She put words to my experience of OCD treatment and recovery with such incredible insight and compassion. It took me over a decade to find ERP treatment, but the results have been life-changing. I wouldn’t have believed how effective it is if I hadn’t experienced it myself. So thank you, thank you thank you to Dr. Chatterjee for her advocacy and research, and to Alie for helping bring awareness to this issue. Ask OCD experts hard questions — just don’t ask for reassurance.

Genesis

I absolutely loved this episode; it's everything I love about this podcast. Dr. Ally Louks is such a legend. I'll be thinking about all my newfound knowledge for so long. I cannot wait to get my hands on her book.

Megan R

I have been having a god awful week (car problems, health problems, relationship problems) and I just listened to this episode for the first time. I had no idea my question was picked as the last listener question! Thank you so much, hearing my name and question pop up made my day!