In hindsight Shawn Shafner, also known as The Puru, played an important role in the creation of the Just Sustainability podcast. Several years ago, I spent several days hanging out and chatting with Shawn while he was performing and giving a number of talks at the University of Minnesota Morris. Speaking with Shawn led me to think more deeply about how poorly most of us within the academy (myself included) invite folks to join in our discourse and more expansively about how we might be better hosts and offer more inviting invitations (which is exactly what I’m now trying to do with this podcast). Indeed, I would suggest that Shawn — and his broad body of work — are the archetype of what I hope this podcast accomplishes in some small way.

Shawn Shafner is an educator, an artist, and an activist. He skillfully invites folks to join him in difficult conversations about uncomfortable (but necessary to discuss) topics about sustainability and equity (with a particular emphasis on poop and public sanitation). Shawn is the founder of the POOP (The People’s Own Organic Power) Project, the creator and star of several (I would describe as avant garde — I mean he gets folks to do Kegels together in one of his performances) one-person shows, and has created educational programming for more organizations and programs than I could begin to list. He’s also been recognized in a number of really cool ways — for example, CBC Radio One featured him as a “Waste Warrior”, he’s been a LABA fellow, and a LMCC artist in residence.

In this first episode featuring Shawn, we talk about: mindfulness and the importance of (talking about) poop.

Links: https://thepoopproject.org/ https://poopcast.libsyn.com/ https://www.wweek.com/arts/2020/02/19/shawn-shafners-one-man-show-delivers-the-straight-poop-on-sustainable-sanitation/