From ancient mixtures of boiled goat fats and ashes to modern artisanal soaps with calendula and coffee grinds, humans have been inventing clever ways of cleaning themselves since the very beginning.

This quest for cleanliness has wound its way through religion, sexuality, culture, and more. It has been the source of everything from comedies to conflicts to consumer crazes. This hour we talk to experts and historians about the history of hygiene.

GUESTS:

Katherine Ashenburg - Toronto-based author of several prize-winning books including The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History and All the Dirt: A History of Getting Clean
Virginia Smith - Historian, honorary fellow of the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and author of Clean: A History of Personal Hygiene and Purity

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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired February 15, 2018.

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The History Of Hygiene: Humanity's Quest For Cleanliness