Perfume on the Radio

It’s easy to idealize a place, when you’re just passing through. Having said that, Chile is a remarkable country, full of remarkable perfumers, making remarkable smells.  Perfume on the Radio is back after a long hiatus, and we are resurfacing with a field report about the indie perfume scene in the delightful South American country. It’s the indies, in the Andes!  With Alejandro Soto Rodríguez (S...

Indulge in a bit of armchair travel as Perfume on the Radio visits Doha, in Qatar. This episode explores the culture and smells that a group of people encountered while on a trip to the country with the Qatar America Institute for Culture. There's incense, there's perfume, there's art, and, yes, there are cats.  In order of appearance: Fatima Al-Dosari (Qatar America Institute for C...

Have you ever met a person who had a strange and uncanny sort of magic about them? So it is with John Steele. LIfelong learner and seeker, John is also a purveyor of the strange and the rare, the oddball beauties that our world produces. We’re talking, here, about aromatics.  Perform on the Radio returns with a long overdue episode, which we’re calling The Quiet Magic of John Steele.  With: John S...

Veteran perfumer and all around brilliant human Christopher Brosius (Demeter, CB I Hate Perfume) joins us to answer our most pressing question: does he, in fact, hate perfume? Well... yes. But also, not at all. With: Christopher Brosius ( CB I Hate Perfume ) Hosted by Saskia Wilson-Brown. This episode premiered on Lookout FM, Los Angeles. Lookout FM can be heard on KGAP 96.7  FM Burbank, KFQM 101....

The vroom-vroom of the engine, the honk-honk of the horn. Cars come with a lot of sounds. They also come with a lot of smells. In this episode, we lean into the gassy side of things and explore the aromatics of these beautiful, belching metal beasts. With: David Moltz (DS & Durga) Daniel Krasofski (labDK) Killian Wells (Xyrena) Nick Kurczewski (Automotive Reporter) Pia Long (Olfiction) Pedro N...

There is an anecdotal correlation between perfume-making and cat ownership. Perhaps it's the solitary nature of the work that lends itself to humanity's least co-dependent relationship. In this episode we explore the catty side of perfumery. With: Perfumer Ashley Eden Kessler sharing cat smells and cat accords Cat expert Jackson Galaxy exploring how cats use smell to relate to the world...

Mmmm… Donuts. Mmmm… Limburger Cheese? In this episode we quote Camus and Hemingway and their Moveable Feasts to explore retronasal olfaction. Specifically, how smell enhances our favorite activity: feasting on delicious things, whenever and wherever we bloody well like.  With: Maite Gomez-Rejón (ArtBites) sharing historical research into chocolate, Jude Stewart (author) exploring truffles LaVay Ul...

It’s January and as we all recover from our New Year's Eve hangovers, we can't help but cast our thoughts towards just what, exactly, we imbibed. Do we even remember?  In our first episode of season 2, Perfume on the Radio explores the aromatic liquids that vex and sustain us. With: Gina Zupsich (August Uncommon) covering the aromatics and geopolitics of tea Maite Gomez-Rejón (Art Bites)...

This episode explores language and scent - more specifically, the potential relationship between the spoken word, the written word and smell in Arabic. We are joined by two people who deeply engage with the language. Oakland-based educator Dr. Gaye Walton-Price provides a brief primer on the Arabic language (and its various dialects). Dr. Walton-Price is followed by Bradford-based artist Razwan Ul...

The pleasures of the chase. The joy of the discovering. Humans LOVE a challenge - especially one with a treasure at the end of it. Good news for perfume lovers: aromatic materials can be the most challenging and enticing treasures of all. For episode 16 of Perfume on the Radio we are joined by experts in the chasing, and the uncovering, of magical botanicals, aromatics, and landscapes. Chris Kemp...

In episode 15 of Perfume on the Radio we explore some great unknowns. Three artists and one poet join us to discuss their work with places that we'll never truly know: outer space, the deep ocean, the human mind. GUESTS Audra Wolowiec - website Helga Griffiths - website Carrie Paterson - website Poems by Donna Lipowitz - website Songs by Emmitt James - website Hosted by Saskia Wilson-Brown Pe...

In this episode, guest host Minetta Rogers creates a meditation on scent and the postal system: from scratch and sniff stamps to shipping mishaps, mailed expressions of  longing and nostalgia, delivery failures and post office robberies, all the frustrations and endeavors of getting a letter from point A to point B. GUESTS Jas Brooks ( Academic ) Regina Mamou and Lara Salmon from Research for the...

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science” said Einstein. And this week we ask ourselves: what lies on the fringes of human awareness? What do we miss when we focus only on the obvious? This week’s episode explores practices, stories and experiences that lie in the outer limits of human perception, from trance states to witchcra...

In episode 12 of Perfume on the Radio, perfumer, writer and artist John Biebel joins us as guest host. Much creative dialog focuses on the cross section of senses, or where sensibilities meet, inform, and guide each other. Such is the case when sound interacts with smell. Join us as John takes us through his evolving relationship with sound and how it relates to the generative process of making pe...

The sun and the moon, the rain and ocean, the rose and the jasmine: these are just some examples of the phenomenal bounty that nature provides. In this episode we explore what our planet offers us, and how we can respectfully make use of it in perfumery. GUESTS Simon Constantine ( ånd Fragrance ) Mandy Aftel ( Aftelier Perfumes, the Aftel Archive for Curious Scents ) With contributions from member...

Independent Perfumer and smell enthusiast Heather Cvar joins us as a guest host on this week's episode. Sniffing out of the inner working/ biological side of how we use olfaction for things other than just perfume; from a lover’s underarm, to bees using smell harmony in their busy hives and dogs  trained to find human remains. GUESTS Tega Brain (artist, tegabrain.com) Cat Warren (writer, dog...

How do music and scent interrelate? In this episode, we team up with Dana El Masri ( On the Nose podcast ) to explore facets of musical thinking and the synesthetic connections between smelling and hearing.  GUESTS Dana el Masri (Jazmin Saraï) Peter De Cupere (artist) Yo-Yo Fearless (rap icon) Heather d'Angelo (Carta Fragrances) Chavalia Mwamba (Pink MahogHany Fragrances) Kaya Sorhaindo (Foli...

This episode explores concepts of masculinity in scent. And by masculinity, we mean all facets of the gender identification.  GUESTS Joshua Smith (Libertine) Miles Regis (Artist) Tom Blunt (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab) Billie Stimpson (Pink Manor Decant Club) Ömer İpekçi (Pekji Perfumes) Alia Raza (Régime des Fleurs) Chavalia Mwamba (Pink MahogHany Fragrances) Hosted by Saskia Wilson-Brown (The Inst...

In this episode of Perfume on the Radio, we give ourselves license to imagine the most fearsome, entrancing, magical and aromatic beings. Join us to learn all about some fantastical beasts, and meet the people who smell them. GUESTS Antonio Gardoni (Bogue Profumo) Bayyana Davis (IFF) Dr. J.W. Dotson (Uncanny Scents) Lakenda Wallace (Modern Peasant Beauty) Spyros Drosopoulos (Baruti) Boris Raux (ar...

In episode 6 of Perfume on the Radio, we welcome iconic perfume pioneer Sissel Tolaas for a deep dive into her practice. With Sissel Tolaas (artist) Saskia Wilson-Brown (host) Airing on Los Angeles' Lookout FM on the second and fourth Thursday of every month and as a podcast thereafter, Perfume on the Radio is a radio show about scent culture, perfumery and olfactory art produced by the Insti...

We explore the aromatics (and perceptions) of naughty behavior in an episode that would well have the vice squad scrabbling for their notebooks. Guests: Donna Lipowitz (Lipowitz Smells) James McHugh (USC) Persephenie (Persephenie Botanical Perfume) Avery Gilbert (Headspace Sensory) Chris Gordon (Maison Anonyme) Etienne de Swardt (Etat Libre d'Orange) Lakenda Wallace (Modern Peasant Beauty) Ch...

In the second part of a two part series about scent and class, Artist Anicka Yi, academics Hsuan L. Hsu and Nuri McBride, and entrepreneur Mary Richardson-Lowry join us to discuss our aromatic bodies, our aromatic environment, and how scent plays into the concept of “the other”.    Airing on Los Angeles' Lookout FM on the second and fourth Thursday of every month and as a podcast thereafter,...

Guest host Maxwell Williams of UFO Parfums leads an aromatic excursion into the techno scene, with Oval, DJ Python, Isabel Lewis and Maria Golovina from Holynose Parfums.  Airing on Los Angeles' Lookout FM on the second and fourth Thursday of every month and as a podcast thereafter, Perfume on the Radio is a radio show about scent culture, perfumery and olfactory art produced by the Institute...

 So you want to live like the common people? In the first part of a two part series about scent and class, we explore social structures through perfumery. Host Saskia Wilson-Brown is joined by fashion designer Jake Treddenick, perfume historian and museum professional Jessica Murphy (Perfume Professor), fragrance reviewer Miya Porubcan (Fab Smells by Miya), academic Nuri McBride (Death and Scent),...

Ahhh... the sweet smell of home. Our inaugural episode explores how location relates to scent as host Saskia Wilson-Brown speaks to several perfumers and artists that work with real or imagined geographies in their practice. First, perfumers Spyros Drosopoulos (Baruti Perfumes), Dana El Masri (Jazmin Saraï) and Frank Bloem (The Snifferoo) talk about scent in relation to culture and location. Dr. K...