Chelsea Wald on Sanitation Stigma: Potty Talk with the Author of 'Pipe Dreams'

Chelsea Wald has repeatedly plunged into the topic of toilets since 2013, when editors first approached her to write about the latent potential in our stagnating infrastructure. Since then she has traveled to Italy, South Africa, Indonesia, and Haiti, as well as throughout the Netherlands and the United States, in search of the past and future of toilet systems. With a degree in astronomy from Columbia University and a master’s in journalism from Indiana University, Chelsea has more than fifteen years of experience in writing about science and the environment. She has won several awards and reporting grants, including from the Society of Environmental Journalists, the European Geosciences Union, and the European Journalism Centre.  She lives with her family in the Netherlands, in a region renowned for its water-related innovations. Her book Pipe Dreams is fascinating- and filled with humour.

In this podcast episode, we talk about shame and disgust around toilets; the need for choice and valuing socio-cultural understandings, history, and preferences in developing community sanitation solutions; and the future of the toilet. We also discuss how humour can cut through shame around toilets- and the need to make toilets cooler.

Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie. Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions, who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.