Best Shawn Shafner The Puru Podcasts (2024)

1
Here We Go “Around the Toilet” with Charlotte Jones and Jen Slater 1:08:29

6y ago1:08:29

1:08:29

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 resear…

1
Oh, SuSanA: Oxfam’s Esther Shaylor and the Online Sanitation Portal 58:32

6y ago58:32

58:32

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 dev…

1
POOP TALK Director Aaron Feldman Brings Fecal Matters to Film 51:19

6y ago51:19

51:19

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 sensi…

1
Muck Makes Brass: Scaling Social Impact with Andy Narracott 1:00:49

6y ago1:00:49

1:00:49

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 chan…

1
Shame on Who? Jennifer Barr Researches Development with Dignity 1:02:20

6+ y ago1:02:20

1:02:20

Community Led Total Sanitation as colonial hangover, how to poop while on the trail, shoehorning sanitation inside other sectors, and the importance of sunblock. Shawn “The Puru” Shafner spends an hour with anthropologist and Emory University PhD candidate Jennifer Barr. Jennifer spent 13 months living in Delhi and writing case studies of NGOs incl…

1
Wee My Valentine: An Hour with Wastewater Expert Nancy Love 1:00:38

6+ y ago1:00:38

1:00:38

Building water infrastructure in Addis Ababa, filtering Flint’s taps to keep kids healthy, and tackling traditional paradigms of where to put your pee. In this episode, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) sits down with Nancy Love--professor, pioneer, engineer and expert who literally wrote the book on Biological Wastewater Treatment. Often the lone woman in …

1
Art Monastery Project: Creativity, Community, Contemplation and a Compost Toilet 46:52

6+ y ago46:52

46:52

What happens when you take a bunch of artists and put them together in a beautiful house in rural Vermont with a shared schedule dedicated to creativity? The Art Monastery Project. While in-residence at the monastery, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) hosts a roundtable of “Artmonks” at their finest. St. Francis, King Solomon, Buddha and a bunch of Rabbis a…

1
Designing Out of the Pot: Mathew Lippincott 1:23:30

7y ago1:23:30

1:23:30

Legalizing green sanitation, kite safety through cartwheels, coming back from serious crisis, and all the ways your shower can kill you. In this special live episode, polymath Mathew Lippincott enlightens Shawn Shafner (The Puru) with his encyclopedic knowledge of everything. A designer who creates future technologies influenced by history, Mathew …

1
Empowered by Plastic Crotch Devices: Krista Eickmann from The pStyle Company 1:21:47

7y ago1:21:47

1:21:47

Sustainable menstruation management, exploding the privilege to pee standing up, queering the country through relocation, and how to make money with minimal misery. In this episode, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) communes with Krista Eickmann, whose passion for menstrual cups and urine diverters once had her proselytizing these products straight from her…

1
Food Waste Wizard: Composting with WeRadiate’s Sashti Balasundaram 1:10:29

7y ago1:10:29

1:10:29

Got some peanut shells, banana peels, and old newspapers? Then you might also have the power to generate renewable enegy, fight coastal erosion, control heavy metals, increase civic participation, create nourishing soil, and much more. That’s the magic of compost! Join Shawn Shafner (The Puru) and Sashti Balasundaram, eco-educator and entrepreneur …

1
Poop on A Pedestal: The National Poo Museum’s Dan Roberts 1:23:10

7y ago1:23:10

1:23:10

Passion or paycheck, profession or play, beauty or the butt? We tackle the art world’s opposing objectives to redeem or exploit our excrement, the politics of status (and Brad Pitt’s pet rat), the importance of whimsy, and how every poo has a story to tell. Join Shawn Shafner (The Puru) in conversation with Dan Roberts from the National Poo Museum …

1
Jurassic Poop: The American Museum of Natural History Loans Us Carl Mehling 1:32:00

7y ago1:32:00

1:32:00

In this Dinosaur-sized episode, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) joins paleontologist Carl Mehling for a deep dive into fossilized dung (called “coprolites”), the scientific method, and why truth is often controlled by the storytellers. Wanna borrow a bone from the American Museum of Natural History? Carl’s your man. We’ll go behind the scenes at the museu…

1
Turds, Trash and Tweets: A Conversation with Raul Pacheco-Vega 1:02:23

7y ago1:02:23

1:02:23

In this fast-paced hour, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) sits down with water and wastewater governance expert Raul Pacheco-Vega for a discussion that leapfrogs from the culture of flushing and bottled water, to the politics of poverty and what it means to pick trash for a living. Remember that kid who took their ball and went home when they didn’t get th…

1
Olga Gershenson: Transgender Rights to Toilets, Internet Trolls, and the Secret Language of Nerds 1:07:37

7+ y ago1:07:37

1:07:37

In 2005, Professor Olga Gershenson sent out a call for academic papers on public toilets--"the holy of holy for nerds." Ladies and Gents: Public Toilets and Gender, the book that resulted, virtually created the toilet studies field. But along with the nerds, geeks and dweebs who answered the call came bigots who slandered the premise and Gershenson…

1
Public Women and the Public Convenience: An Hour with Barbara Penner 1:13:16

7+ y ago1:13:16

1:13:16

What do you call a woman who’s not at home, and needs a private place to pee? A “public woman,” or “prostitute.” At least that’s what London’s men thought at the turn of the 20th Century. How far have we come? This World Toilet Day (Nov 19), Shawn “The Puru” Shafner talks with Barbara Penner, pedigreed architectural history expert*, feminist, and p…

1
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Christina Irene!!! 1:19:54

7+ y ago1:19:54

1:19:54

Faster than a speeding bowel! More powerful than a laxative! Able to leap small-minded men in a single bound! In this episode, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) sits down with real-life Superwoman Christina Irene: writer, trainer, stand-up comedian, and a powerful advocate for women's empowerment and those with invisible disabilities. Did I mention that she…

1
Lil' Tinklers Part 2: Rachel Mullen and Dan Marks 42:03

7+ y ago42:03

42:03

This past August, Shawn Shafner traveled to Brattleboro, VT to join Urine Diversion Summit 2016—a conference brimming with pee-ple making waves over how we “make water.” While The Puru didn’t want to disrupt the flow, he was able to divert a few participants away from micturation and into the microphone for some short interviews. Thus: The Lil’ Tin…

1
Lil' Tinklers Part 1: Hannah Ray, Daniella Saetta and Cat Bryars 43:04

7+ y ago43:04

43:04

This past August, Shawn Shafner traveled to Brattleboro, VT to join Urine Diversion Summit 2016—a conference brimming with pee-ple making waves over how we “make water.” While The Puru didn’t want to disrupt the flow, he was able to divert a few participants away from micturation and into the microphone for some short interviews. Thus: The Lil’ Tin…

1
Pee and Prosperity: Kim Nace of the Rich Earth Institute 1:08:17

7+ y ago1:08:17

1:08:17

What do you get when you mix 5,000 gallons of urine and 5 acres of hay? It might just be the future of our food. In this episode, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) talks to Kim Nace, co-founder of the Rich Earth Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont, where hundreds of local citizens collect their pee for science. But this is no kids stuff--the Rich Earth Instit…

1
You're Tuned to CBS: SOIL's Sasha Kramer, Kory Russel and Container Based Sanitation 1:12:23

8y ago1:12:23

1:12:23

When is a five gallon bucket of poop more than just a five gallon bucket of poop? In this episode, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) s(h)its down with Sasha Kramer, co-founder and Executive Director of SOIL, and engineer/academic Kory Russel of re.source. Their Container Based Sanitation model is creating health and wealth in Haiti--one five gallon composti…

1
Thinx’ Miki Agrawal: Pizza, Periods, Pee and Poop 53:19

8y ago53:19

53:19

There’s so much happening in our underwear zone: poop, pee, period blood. And Miki Agrawal is tackling them all, with a side of vegan, gluten-free, farm-to-table pizza. This week, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) sits down with the serial entrepreneur and creator of Wild pizzerias, Thinx period underwear, Icon incontinence underwear, Tushy attachable bidet…

1
The Sex Episode: A Podcast Collision with Sex for Smart People* (*that means you) 1:05:47

8y ago1:05:47

1:05:47

Sex and poop. Both are natural parts of having a body. Both can be intensely pleasurable. And both are rich boiling pots of shame and cultural baggage. Which is why The Puru has teamed up with S. Ryan Johnstone and Dave McGee of Sex for Smart People* (*that means you) to bring you this very special episode tackling the mother of all modern taboos. …

1
Pooping Gold: Transforming Trauma with Amanda Miller 58:21

8y ago58:21

58:21

Might the way to enlightenment just be through your anus? In this episode, The Puru cozies butt-up with Amanda Miller--writer, actor, massage therapist, yogi, and compulsively creative person--in order to investigate the inner alchemy of transforming our shit to gold. Hear how Amanda's trauma became the driving force behind her memoir and solo show…

1
American Wasteland: Dr. Daniel Gerling Gets Down with Doodie 1:02:09

8y ago1:02:09

1:02:09

Constipated? Take relief: it's probably not because your sphincter is too tight. In this month's episode of SHHH, The Puru sits down with Dr. Daniel Gerling, Assistant Professor at Augustana University and perhaps the foremost expert on poop history in the United States (who else could write the dissertation, "American Wasteland: A Social and Cultu…

1
The Loo Lady: Rachel Erickson 1:09:32

8+ y ago1:09:32

1:09:32

Wanna know how your floating ball cock measures up? In this episode, Shawn “The Puru” Shafner sits down with Rachel “The Loo Lady” Erickson. Rachel spent the past few years leading critically-acclaimed Loo Tours in London. Now back in the States, The Loo Lady explains how her unwillingness to pay-per-pee led to a full time job in the john, and trad…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Shawn Shafner The Puru Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
SHHH: The Poopcast (aka S**t and Shame with Shawn)

Shawn Shafner 'The Puru'

1
Here We Go “Around the Toilet” with Charlotte Jones and Jen Slater 1:08:29

1
Oh, SuSanA: Oxfam’s Esther Shaylor and the Online Sanitation Portal 58:32

1
POOP TALK Director Aaron Feldman Brings Fecal Matters to Film 51:19

1
Muck Makes Brass: Scaling Social Impact with Andy Narracott 1:00:49

1
Shame on Who? Jennifer Barr Researches Development with Dignity 1:02:20

1
Wee My Valentine: An Hour with Wastewater Expert Nancy Love 1:00:38

1
Art Monastery Project: Creativity, Community, Contemplation and a Compost Toilet 46:52

1
Designing Out of the Pot: Mathew Lippincott 1:23:30

1
Empowered by Plastic Crotch Devices: Krista Eickmann from The pStyle Company 1:21:47

1
Food Waste Wizard: Composting with WeRadiate’s Sashti Balasundaram 1:10:29

1
Poop on A Pedestal: The National Poo Museum’s Dan Roberts 1:23:10

1
Jurassic Poop: The American Museum of Natural History Loans Us Carl Mehling 1:32:00

1
Turds, Trash and Tweets: A Conversation with Raul Pacheco-Vega 1:02:23

1
Olga Gershenson: Transgender Rights to Toilets, Internet Trolls, and the Secret Language of Nerds 1:07:37

1
Public Women and the Public Convenience: An Hour with Barbara Penner 1:13:16

1
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Christina Irene!!! 1:19:54

1
Lil' Tinklers Part 2: Rachel Mullen and Dan Marks 42:03

1
Lil' Tinklers Part 1: Hannah Ray, Daniella Saetta and Cat Bryars 43:04

1
Pee and Prosperity: Kim Nace of the Rich Earth Institute 1:08:17

1
You're Tuned to CBS: SOIL's Sasha Kramer, Kory Russel and Container Based Sanitation 1:12:23

1
Thinx’ Miki Agrawal: Pizza, Periods, Pee and Poop 53:19

1
The Sex Episode: A Podcast Collision with Sex for Smart People* (*that means you) 1:05:47

1
Pooping Gold: Transforming Trauma with Amanda Miller 58:21

1
American Wasteland: Dr. Daniel Gerling Gets Down with Doodie 1:02:09

1
The Loo Lady: Rachel Erickson 1:09:32

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