Garbage pt. 1

Garbage, shit, waste, crap, refuse, discards, dreck - these are all words we use to describe that pile of stuff we all collect but will soon find a way to make disappear. In America, it's never been easier to throw away your trash and in this episode we face the pile head-on. Fannie and Sophie hitch a ride with the NY Dept of Sanitation to make the morning pick up rounds, and later sit down with Anthropologist-in-Residence for the NY Dept of Sanitation, Robin Nagel, whose recent book, Picking Up, is a detailed survey of the Sanitation Department from the inside. Then we try and figure out just how much waste Americans are creating with the help of the EPA and Edward Humes, author of Garbology (a great book if this show happens to turn you into a trash nerd). Plus we dig up some footage of the late Professor William Rathje and the curious discoveries he made abot decomposition (or lack of) in our nation's landfills. Music by Dave Nelson and Kevin Shipp.