The Stories of Smell — Sissel Tolaas, Revisited

About this episode

Sissel Tolaas discusses the role of scent in storytelling and its ability to reveal forgotten histories.

Today, we’re re-releasing an episode with Norwegian chemist, artist, linguist, and smell researcher, Sissel Tolaas, whose work explores scent as a powerful medium for storytelling. In this conversation, Sissel shares how she analyzes smell molecules in everything from garments in museum archives, to the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Through collaborations with institutions such as the Cooper Hewitt, the Tate Modern, Venice Biennale, and Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sissel reveals how the invisible world of scent can uncover forgotten histories and deepen human connection. To learn more, visit our website at fost.org . To get your copy of Charlie’s book, The Future of Storytelling , visit thefutureofstorytelling.com/home . -- © 2026 Future of StoryTelling, Corp. Produced by Future of StoryTelling, Corp. 124 West 13th Street New York, NY 10011 Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher Director, Carolyn Merriman Assistant Producer, Tsuki Carlson in collaboration with Charts & Leisure Founder, Jason Oberholtzer Producer, Meghal Janardan Editor, Garrett Crowe Mix and Music, Michael Simonelli With special thanks to Sissel Tolaas, Madison Brown, Lor Simpson, David Gray, Bonnie Eldon, and Megan…

People in this episode

Host: Charles Melcher

Guest: Sissel Tolaas

Topics covered

• scent
• storytelling
• art
• history
• chemistry
• human connection

Keywords

• scent
• storytelling
• Sissel Tolaas
• chemistry
• art
• history
• human connection

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cooper Hewitt, Tate Modern, Venice Biennale, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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