Info

SHHH: The Poopcast (aka S**t and Shame with Shawn)

Join Shawn Shafner (The Puru), performer, activist, and educator for serious but entertaining talk about poop, fecal matters, LGBT shame and other unnameable taboos that clog our bodies, minds, and communities. Shawn and his esteemed guests talk (and might even sing) about taking responsibility for our literal shit and our metaphorical shit, to transform them from waste to resource. It’s time to get our shit together, before it hits the fan.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
2018
May
April
March
January


2017
December
September
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
September
August
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December
November
October
September


All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: 2018
May 31, 2018

Disability, gender and sexuality, politics of public space, and intersectional accessibility. Some enchanted conference, across a crowded plate of beans at Sheffield Hallam University, Dr. Charlotte Jones and Dr. Jen Slater discovered a shared passion for poop. One year later, “Around the Toilet” was born, performing collaborative arts-based research on bathrooms as places of inclusion and/or exclusion. Shawn Shafner (The Puru) sits down with the dynamic doo-o to discuss how restrooms can become inaccessible because of age, gender, ability, religion, profession and more, plus the online tools, videos, and corrugated cardboard water closets they created to entice designers towards innovation. Pushing past the "one-stall-fits-all" model, we imagine a compassionate world where every deuce can be dropped with dignity. 

Also mentioned in this episode:

Edinburgh Scotland, Sex Drugs and Activism, PrEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis), sex categories, gender binary, disability studies, Alison Kafer, Feminist Queer Crip, overlapping identities, oppression, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Norbert Elias, Civilizing Process, Changing Places, Barbara Penner, bladder leash, Victorian toilets, toilet tourism, London Loo Tours, Broadway theater, muslim, truckers lorry drivers, NYU Bobst Library.

Apr 3, 2018

Human-centered design, dignified aid, and internet innovation for water / sanitation. Engineer, mother, and communications expert Esther Shaylor introduces Shawn Shafner (The Puru) to the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), a network of WASH stakeholders and online resources for all. Esther explains how market-based solutions are changing development practices, and we discuss the perils and virtues of Wikipedia, storytelling’s primal power, and why a batch of tasty biscuits is worth its weight in gold.

Also mentioned:

Backpacking, humanitarian, parenting, #MeToo, gender pay gap, engineering, market based approaches, refugee crisis, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Toilet Day, World Water Day, L’oreal, WSUP, The Bottom Line game, WaterAid, Pookemon Go, gamification, e-learning, Policy and Practice, virtual reality

Mar 1, 2018

Taboo-breaking comedy, toilet knives, wiping stones and Jewish perspectives on poop. Celebrities are just like us! Director Aaron Feldman’s new film POOP TALK finally proves it, as Kumail Nanjiani, Eric Stonestreet, Dr. Drew and more divulge the contents of their colons. In this hour with Shawn Shafner (The Puru), Feldman explains how his own sensitive stomach inspired the film, why colon cancer specialists are praising its creation, and how a silly film about poop might also be a profound meditation on our common humanity. Finally, Mama Feldman has reason to be proud. 

Also mentioned:

Sustainability, taboo, comedians as anthropologists, relationships, dating, handling discomfort, Sklar Brothers, Sammi Edelson, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Adam Carolla, Paul Provenza, Penn & Teller, Jewish geography, summer camp, Ramah Conover Wisconsin, Comedy Dynamics, Sephardim, Ashkenazi, chulent, taboo hinders research, Alexander Kira, Reginald Reynolds, Cleanliness and Godliness, Norbert Elias, David Inglis, Microbiome, Stercurius, Seedbed: Soil Symposium UCSC, Confronting Vulnerability: The Body and the Divine in Rabbinic Ethics by Jonathan Wyn Schofer, Gemara, David Walter Taos, Origin of the Feces, Milorganite, Milwaukee, SOIL, Sasha Kramer, container based sanitation, Bill Gates

Jan 30, 2018

Business for social change, avoiding burnout, effective altruism, ineffective development practices, and the UK’s first luxury mobile toilet. The average person spends 80,000 hours working. Water / sanitation engineer Andy Narracott tells host Shawn Shafner how a near-death experience helped shift his 80k hour goals from making money to making change. Andy also hands out pro tips for social entrepreneurs and everybody else gleaned from his podcast Finding Impact. To start: find out your “why.” Hint: it’s probably not to gain more money and buy the latest phone.

Also mentioned:

India, Posh & Bex, Rider cup, Tiger Woods, Gary Glitter, London Fashion Week, Nicaragua, University of Pennsylvania, Center for Social Impact, Global Social Impact House, fulfillment, David Goldberg, Scott Roy, social media, sales, listening, effective giving, charity, Buddhism, mindfulness, givewell.org, The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer, Christmas Cracker

1