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PODCAST

The Colin McEnroe Show

Connecticut Public Radio

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable

society & culture

All Episodes

50:00

Building utopia

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/27

Over 500 years ago, Sir Thomas More wrote about utopia. Since then, countless communities around the world have worked to create their own versions of a perfect world. This hour, we look at examples of utopian communities from around the world. GUESTS: Avery Trufelman: Host of the podcastNice Try! Akash Kapur: Author ofBetter to Have Gone: Love, Death, and the Quest for Utopia in Auroville Samir Patel: Former editor-in-chief ofAtlas Obscura Join the conversation onFacebookandTwitter. The

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49:00

We can never escape The Rock: A look at Alcatraz

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/23

President Trump has instructed his administration to work towardrebuilding and reopening the notorious maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. But why? One theory has it that it’s because the Clint Eastwood movieEscape from Alcatrazaired on South Florida’s PBS station, Mar-a-Lago’s PBS station,on the day the president announced the plan. As ridiculous as that is or would be, it kind of illustrates a larger point: When Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed in March, 1963, there

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49:00

The value of expertise in a world where everybody...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/22

What is the status of expertise in our world? This hour we look at the so called "death of expertise." We talk about the role of experts throughout society. Plus, we learn how to master a skill, and the joy of trying. GUESTS: Tom Nichols:Staff writer atThe Atlantic. He is the author ofThe Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters. He is also a professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, and a five-time

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49:00

All calls: Just because you’re exhausted doesn’t mean...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/21

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to Tolkien’s potential Lord of the Rings sequel, planned Flag Day protests, parasocial relationships, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, former Vice President Kamala Devi Harris, Annie Lennox* … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are

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49:28

From zeppelins to dirigibles to the Goodyear Blimp,...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/20

There’s something almost romantic about airships. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feels both nostalgic and futuristic. In the early 20th century, airships were on the leading edge of aviation; today, they mostly live on in the domain of steampunk art and speculative fiction. But a number of companies are betting they can bring airships out of the history books and into modern real-world applications like cargo transport and military uses. This hour, the past and future of airships,

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50:00

Why ticks are on the rise and how humans are fighting...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/19

You may have heard that tick borne diseases are on the rise. But don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. This hour, we’re taking you through three ways to defeat ticks. From tick-immune blood, to a tick-destroying robot and tried-and-true tweezers, this show is not for arachnids who are faint of heart. GUESTS: Rick Ostfeld: Distinguished senior scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Holly Gaff: Professor of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University Jen

en-US

49:00

Is this just the worst era of American pop culture …...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/16

Writer and critic Spencer Kornhaber just published a similarly-titled piece in The Atlantic: “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?” According to Betteridge’s law of headlines, the answer to both versions of that question is just, plain, “No.” And maybe it is. Maybe even probably it is. But maybe it’s more complicated than that, too. This hour, we wonder just how bad things actually have gotten with our popular culture. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan:

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50:00

A salute to accordions

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/15

Here are some songs from your life, "Backstreet Girl" by the Rolling Stones, "Joey" by Bob Dylan, "Road to Nowhere" by the Talking Heads, "Boy In The Bubble" by Paul Simon, "July Fourth, Asbury Park", better known as "Sandy" by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys. They all rely heavily on the accordion. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" is the biggest shock. Even if you know that song, it might never have occurred to you that Brian Wilson uses I'm pretty sure two

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49:00

What Wikipedia can teach us about truth, information,...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/14

Wikipedia has lately been under attack, accused of bias and spreading propaganda. And for years students have been told not to trust the source. But are any of those claims fair? This hour, we take a look at the free online encyclopedia, how it functions, and its role in the modern world. We'll ask: can we trust the information we find there? And we'll celebrate the joys of falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. GUESTS: Stephen Harrison:Writer and tech lawyer. His new novel,The Editors, is inspired

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49:00

All calls: Which is worse, translating Cicero or...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/12

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to Colin’s constant laughter (or not) and his nearly life-threatening reaction to Weekend Update on last week’s SNL, The Kennedy Center Honors, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s proposed autism database, Elissa Slotkin on The New Yorker Radio Hour, the 60 Minutes piece on

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50:00

Our tribute to Jill Sobule

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/09

Our friend, the singer, songwriter, and performer Jill Sobule, died May 1 in a house fire in Woodbury, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. She was 66. Jill appeared on our show at least seven times between 2012 and 2022, including the Season Two premiere ofPardon Me and the time she wrote an original song for our dumb towels episode. But it was her four full-show, in-studio appearances that really made her such an important force in the history of our show. This hour, cobbled together from bits of those

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49:00

Fashion Critic Vanessa Friedman discusses Trump's...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/08

The New York Times’ Chief Fashion Critic, Vanessa Friedman, joins us for the hour to discuss fashion in President Donald Trump's second administration, what we can learn from how politicians dress, the impacts of tariffs on the clothes we wear, and more. GUEST: Vanessa Friedman:Fashion Director and Chief Fashion Critic ofThe New York Times Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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50:00

Are you still the you that you used to be? And other...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/07

Are you the same person, today, that you were when you were a little kid? Are you the same person, right now, that you will be in the last years of your life? When Scotty beams folks up, are the people arriving back on the Enterprise really the same people who were down on the surface of whatever alien planet? In a movie like Mickey 17, is the 16th cloned Mickey really the same person as the original, first Mickey? This hour, a look at the age-old philosophical concept of continuity of self. GUESTS:

en-US

49:00

O Romeo (and Juliet): The lasting appeal of...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/06

Shakespeare’s tragedy about two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, has appealed to audiences for centuries. It’s been adapted countless times for stage and screen. And it’s in Hartford for the next few weeks. From the set of Romeo and Juliet at Hartford Stage, and in front of a live audience, we talk with experts exploring the play and its legacy. GUESTS: David Sterling Brown:Associate professor of English at Trinity College; he is the author ofShakespeare’s White

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49:00

All calls: Are we living in a simulation? Are you...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/05

This hour we take your calls about anything you want to talk about. You can now watch our calls shows onConnecticut Public’s YouTube. Subscribe and get notified when we go live. Or join the conversation onFacebookandTwitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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42:04

The Nose looks at ‘Sinners’ and our culture...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/02

Sinners is the fifth feature film written and directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan. (Coogler has never made a feature without Jordan.) After years of sequels and Marvel movies, it’s Coogler’s first wholly original movie based on no other source material whatsoever. Sinners is a sexy Southern musical horror gangster thriller set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta. With vampires. And it’s the No. 1 movie in the country. Plus: We read Jill Lepore’s New Yorker

en-US

42:00

From boredom to handwriting: Christine Rosen on the...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/05/01

This hour we talk with Christine Rosen about her book, The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. We talk about how technology has impacted face-to-face interactions, boredom, loneliness, handwriting, and more. GUEST: Christine Rosen: Author of The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. She is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a columnist for Commentary magazine, senior editor at The New Atlantis and fellow at the University of

en-US

50:00

There are rules for punctuation, but we don’t always...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/04/30

Should people use the Oxford comma? Is there a correct number of exclamation points per email? If someone ends a casual text with a period, does that mean they’re mad at you? This hour: punctuation and how we use it. We talk about the history of punctuation marks, timeless punctuation debates, and how writing for texts and emails has changed the way we use punctuation. GUESTS: Raquel Benedict: The most dangerous woman in speculative fiction; she’s the host of the Rite Gud podcast Claire

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49:00

We're still pushing the boulder on the meaning of...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/04/29

This hour, a look at the myth of Sisyphus, and how we invoke it today. Plus, we'll hear from a musician who has found inspiration in the story, and we'll discuss when it's time to give up. GUESTS: Joel Christensen: Professor of Classical Studies and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Brandeis University. His newest book is The Many-Minded Man: The Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic Noah Baerman: Pianist, composer, and educator. He is director of the Wesleyan University Jazz

en-US

49:00

All calls: Temporary tattoos, Americans emigrating,...

The Colin McEnroe Show ·

2025/04/28

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to temporary tattoos as an “I’m Spartacus” type of protest, Americans emigrating elsewhere, MobLand and Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren’s accents, why people are intimidated by classical music … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for

en-US

3,036 results

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