In this month’s Sparks podcast, FiveThirtyEight’s science team talks about how humans experience the flavors of food and discusses the book “Flavor: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense” by Bob Holmes. In the podcast, which runs in FiveThirtyEight’s What’s The Point feed, lead health writer Anna Maria Barry-Jester, senior science writer Maggie Koerth-Baker, lead science writer Christie Aschwanden and senior editor Blythe Terrell talk about how factors such as smell and mouthfeel influence how we perceive what our food tastes like. Plus, the gang does a little bit of flavor tripping with miracle berries (and Pop Rocks are involved).

The second part of this month’s podcast will feature an interview of Holmes by Anna. We’ll post that audio here when it’s ready.

VIDEO: Here’s what a flavor trip looks like