Should organ donors be compensated? Plus, the psychology of smell

Would you give your kidney to a stranger? What if you could get a $50,000 tax credit for it? That's just one proposal for upping organ donation in the US.

Air Date: July 30, 2024 12:00 pm

Would you give your kidney to a stranger? What if you could get a $50,000 tax credit for it? That's just one proposal for upping organ donation in the US - where hundreds of people die every month while waiting on an ever-growing transplant list.

Just a whiff can take you back to a moment in time. Smells have a powerful hold on our memories and emotions. Of course, this hasn’t escaped marketers using signature scents to connect us to brands — everything from electronics to clothing. This hour, the psychological science of smell and where our noses lead us with Brown University neuroscientist Rachel Herz.

Would you give your kidney to a stranger? What if you could get a $50,000 tax credit for it? That’s just one proposal for upping organ donation in the US, where hundreds of people die every month while waiting on an ever-growing transplant list. We debate over paying organ donors and the ethical questions that could arise with Arthur L. Caplan, professor of medical ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, Dr. Gregory Hess, physician and kidney transplant recipient, and Lauren Sheppard who donated her kidney to a stranger a decade ago.

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