Incense Explorer – A Podcast
No review today, but a podcast recommendation: Incense Explorer.
The creator, Alyssa Severeid talks to her interesting guests about a wide range of topics relating to incense, the culture and background; she tries to clear up misconceptions and raise more awareness of quality and sustainability.
In the first season, with 8-10 weekly episodes, the podcast gives us about one-hour long insights into the complex and fascinating world of incense and lets us soak up the knowledge of incense and fragrance experts.
I’m usually not a podcast fan, but I’m excited about this one.
The first (double) episode is with Stephen Hoffman, a long-time incense enthusiast who writes for the Olfactory Rescue Service. They talk about his introduction to the hobby and the history of incense in different cultures, with Stephen drawing some interesting parallels.
The podcast can also be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
I really have little patience with podcasts. They tend to be quite long and rambling – and the first one is like that. I found I couldn’t jump forward – the best I could do was speed it up. But even then I lost interest very soon. I certainly did not get to what sounds like the interesting bits where parallels are drawn between the history of incense in different cultures.
I like reading. I can skim read very quickly to find bits of interest, and I can re-read quickly and easily the bits that I find valuable.