Rose George looks deeply into topics that are unseen but fundamental, whether that's sewers or latrines or massive container ships or pirate hostages or menstrual hygiene.
Why you should listen
Rose George thinks, researches, writes and talks about the hidden, the undiscussed. Among the everyone-does-it-no-one-talks-about-it issues she's explored in books and articles: sanitation (and poop in general). Diarrhea is a weapon of mass destruction, says the UK-based journalist and author, and a lack of access to toilets is at the root of our biggest public health crisis. In 2012, two out of five of the world’s population had nowhere sanitary to go.
The key to turning around this problem, says George: Let’s drop the pretense of “water-related diseases” and call out the cause of myriad afflictions around the world as what they are -- “poop-related diseases” that are preventable with a basic toilet. George explores the problem in her book The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters and in a fabulous special issue of Colors magazine called "Shit: A Survival Guide." Read a sample chapter of The Big Necessity >>
Her latest book, on an equally hidden world that touches almost everything we do, is Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, Food on Your Plate. Read a review >>
In the UK and elsewhere, you'll find the book titled Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry the Brings You 90% of Everything.
What others say
'The Big Necessity' [takes] a subject that seems fixed and familiar and taboo and makes us understand it is ... dazzlingly intriguing.
Rose George’s TED Talks
More news and ideas from Rose George
We humans
4 ways to understand one of the world’s most overlooked problems
July 14, 2014
Journalist Rose George cares a lot about poop. But, she would argue, so should everyone. Here she gives four resources about toilets and sanitation.
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Talking s**t with Rose George: A Q&A about the global health issue no one wants to bring up
April 15, 2013
A single gram of poop contains 50 diseases, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasites, 100 worm eggs and 10 million viruses, by journalist Rose George’s tally. For people who have flushing toilets, this is something that they rarely have to think about. But for the 2.5 billion people in the world who have no toilet at […]
Continue readingWe humans
Let’s talk crap: Getting to the bottom of a critical global health issue
April 15, 2013
2.5 billion people around the global don't have access to a toilet, and feces is to blame for a devastating toll of disease. Journalist Rose George explains why we need to start talking shit.
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