In this episode, Frauke sits down with Israeli-based writer, perfumer and community organizer Nuri McBride to discuss the intersection of death and olfaction.

Nuri shares her life journey that led to the work that she's doing now, including working in refugee resettlement and torture treatment primarily in Kenya, Thailand, Israel, and the United States, as well as later joining a Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society) and becoming a Metaheret. 

She explains what death and scent have in common in Western culture (hint: both are ignored and heavily sanitized). She also discusses the concept of "death positive" and argues for the need to teach death literacy instead. 

Nuri talks about using art in her death meditation workshops to help people become more comfortable with the idea of death, and shares why the concept of the brevity of time, and the immediacy of pleasure, are so critically important to understand and embrace. 

Nuri also gives a global perspective on the intersection of death customs/rituals and scent, revealing the many ways cultures use scent to create space around special occasions like death. 

This is a conversation that will certainly leave you with new perspectives on death and the positive role olfaction can play. 

Visit Nuri's website.

Learn about Nuri's Scent & Society Lecture Series at The Institute for Art & Olfaction.

Subscribe to Nuri's Aromatica de Profundis Newsletter.