
Edwin Chadwick & The History of Sanitation
From Public Health Insight by PHI Media
May 13, 2026 · 15 min
About this episode
This episode explores the history of sanitation and its significance in public health, focusing on Edwin Chadwick's contributions and the Great Stink of 1858.
How did sanitation become one of public health's greatest triumphs, while being its oldest unfinished problem? In this episode of the Public Health Insight Podcast, host Gordon Thane traces the story from Victorian Britain's overcrowded streets to Edwin Chadwick's groundbreaking 1842 report, which reframed disease as a product of "removable circumstances" rather than individual fate. We revisit the Great Stink of 1858, when London's sewage crisis finally reached Parliament, where swift ...
People in this episode
Host: Gordon Thane
Topics covered
- sanitation
- public health
- Victorian Britain
- disease
- historical events
Keywords
- sanitation
- public health
- Edwin Chadwick
- Great Stink
- Victorian Britain
- disease
- sewage crisis
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Parliament
Places: Victorian Britain
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