How much can a scent tell us about history, memory, identity and even rebellion? Host Sarah Dowd is joined by Valerie Sadoh, playwright and founder of House of Mahogany, for an evocative deep dive into the scented stories of the last century.

From the roaring 1920s release of Guerlain’s Shalimar (the "flapper’s fragrance" that changed perfume forever) to the creative resurgence after World War II, this episode explores how perfume is more than luxury or self-expression. Scent is a time machine – linking us across generations, cultures, and continents.

Valerie shares her personal journey from playwright to scent curator, weaving storytelling and nostalgia into immersive sensory experiences. Learn how the House of Mahogany came about, and why scent transports us so powerfully to other times and places, and how fragrances can spark dialogue across identity, migration, and history.

Together, Sarah and Valerie dig into the upcoming Windrush 80 immersive experience: marking the anniversary of the Empire Windrush’s arrival and honouring the Afro-Caribbean stories too often left untold. Hear why “to be educated is to be enraged” when confronting the gaps in collective memory and how immersive, multi-sensory storytelling helps us feel history in three dimensions.

What’s inside this episode:

• The wild history of Shalimar and the rise of the modern woman
• How scent shapes memory, identity, and even social change
• Valerie’s creative process fusing storytelling and fragrance
• The power of immersive and multi-sensory history experiences
• Windrush 80: reckoning with community, migration, and the complexities of British history
• Why museums and heritage spaces need to embrace ALL the senses

Valerie is a British playwright, producer, and community consultant whose work explores identity, race, feminism, and personal history through sharp, immersive storytelling. Her debut play Pussy Liberty won the Bread and Roses Theatre Company Award in 2017.

She has since contributed to contemporary theatre through her involvement with esteemed institutions like the Almeida Theatre, the National Theatre, Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group (2022), and the Gate Theatre. Valerie combines her dramatic craft with strategic cultural work through Les Raconteurs, leveraging her expertise in inclusive programming, audience engagement, and heritage interpretation.

Alongside her artistic pursuits, Valerie co-founded House of Mahogany, a mother-daughter-led luxury, home fragrance brand that crafts scented candles, diffusers, and sprays inspired by nostalgia, memory, and personal narrative.

Connect with Valerie:

Website: https://houseofmahogany.co.uk/

About Sarah Dowd:

I’m Sarah Dowd - writer, speaker, heritage and arts consultant, producer, and all-around nerd - here to share the stories of our past that make us laugh, gasp, and mutter: It’s History… For F***k’s Sake.

For 25+ years I’ve created immersive, inclusive experiences that bring history alive, from rallying Second World War convoys through London to staging performances between Pearly Kings and Gen Z creatives. My work spans museums, cathedral crypts, pop-up theatres, global brands, and community projects across the UK and beyond.

As a Canadian living between the UK and France (with a late ADHD diagnosis that fuels my curiosity and creativity), I zigzag through culture, history, and big ideas, but never boring ones.

Every week on HistoryFFS, we explore how history echoes through today, from Drag Race to prefab tiny houses, with voices from musicians to mischief-makers.

Follow @HistoryFFS - because we’re all making history, one ridiculous, wonderful moment at a time.

Connect with Sarah:

Website: www.historyffs.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahdowd/

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