The Colin McEnroe Show
Episodes
The toll of perfectionism
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Perfectionism is on the rise among young people. This hour, we look at the impact of perfectionism on mental health and how to deal with perfectionist...
The Nose looks at ‘Blonde’ and ‘Elvis’
07 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is like the trick you do with the wiggling, getting all the girls hipped up. Blonde is Andrew Dominik’s fourth feature film as wr...
Why should we care about politics?
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
And, just like that, we’re in the midst of yet another election season. With news fatigue and election fatigue, it’s easy to feel jaded. This hour...
A history of men mistaken for gods
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world, history is filled with men mistaken for gods. This hour we talk with Anna Della Subin, the author of Accidental Gods. She takes us t...
List making, listicles, lists of lists: An hour devoted to list culture
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lists feel especially suited to the digital age, but humans have been creating lists for a long time. So why are we drawn to lists? This hour, we look...
We take your calls
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we take your calls about anything you want to talk about. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr...
‘A very particular set of skills’: A look at late-career Liam Neeson movies
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If I say “Liam Neeson movie,” you picture, at this point, a pretty specific thing, right? It’s kind of an action-thriller. Neeson is avenging so...
‘Literature as resistance’: Azar Nafisi on the subversive power of reading in troubled times
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Azar Nafisi is the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, which spent 117 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Her newest book, Read Dangerousl...
An hour with John Waters
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Note: This episode contains strong language and a number of things intended to be in bad taste. This hour, we shoot the, er, breeze with the filmmake...
An hour with Harvey Fierstein
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Harvey Fierstein has won four Tony Awards, for writing and acting in Torch Song Trilogy, for writing La Cage aux Folles, and for acting in Hairspray. ...
Incarcerated content producers challenge the myth of prison reform
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The purpose of incarceration in America is supposed to be a balance between punishment and reform, with the scales tipping toward reforms that can lea...
The Nose looks at ‘Abbott Elementary,’ Apple’s Will Smith problem, and more
23 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose uses the rug as its plan B. Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary sitcom that airs on ABC, created by and starring Quinta Brunson. Th...
First come, first served: There is an art, and an etiquette, of queues
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Well designed queues give you hope and feel fair, while poorly designed ones can ruin your day. Queues are everywhere around us, and not all are desig...
Wisdom can save us from bad thinking
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We all do some bad thinking sometimes, whether in relatively minor ways or relatively major ones. This hour, we look at why bad thinking happens, how ...
The road to sainthood: Who’s on it and how did they get there?
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, a look at the path to sainthood and how it’s changed over time. Plus: the local example of the Rev. Michael McGivney. GUESTS: Teresa Ber...
We take your calls
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...
The Nose looks at ‘She-Hulk: Attorney At Law’ and ‘Paper Girls’
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose watches two recent comic book television adaptations: She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, from Disney+, and the recently canceled Paper Gi...
Jill Sobule sings, reflects on the impact of music, and celebrates finding lost things
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jill Sobule is back in town and in our studio. This hour: songs, seventh grade, fanny packs, the power of sad music, and much more. These are the song...
You tried, you did not conquer: When a book becomes unreadable
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Most of us have books that we just can’t finish, no matter how many times we try. This hour, a look at those books that we find unreadable, whether ...
‘Our national pageant of stupidity’: Andy Borowitz on American politicians today
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, comedian and The New Yorker columnist Andy Borowitz on his new book, Profiles in Ignorance, which explains how our nation’s elected leade...
Honk if you’re listening to this show about bumper stickers
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bumper stickers are everywhere. They range from funny to informative to political to provocative and beyond. This hour: bumper stickers — the philos...
The Nose looks at ‘House of the Dragon’ and ‘The Rings of Power’
09 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose will not sit here and suffer crows that come to feast on their corpses. Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon is the second show in ...
Historical reenactments can deepen our relationship to history
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour is all about historical reenactments. We look at the role reenactments play in helping us understand or experience history. We talk with ree...
There’s no shame in schadenfreude
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Schadenfreude, the German idea for taking pleasure in others’ misfortune, seems like an ugly human emotion. But psychologists and philosophers argue...
We take your calls
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back from the long weekend and, in a way, from the summer! We figured you might have some things to say on a day like today, and we’ve been ...
The ‘Nope’ Nose looks at Jordan Peele’s latest and more
02 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose gets the Oprah shot. Britney is back. Over the last week, Britney Spears released a 22-minute ‘audio statement’ covering her co...
Tuberculosis has shaped history, art, and architecture — and it’s still here today
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tuberculosis has been around for thousands of years and still infects millions per year. This hour, we look back at how tuberculosis has shaped histor...
What chess, Scrabble, and Monopoly can teach us about life
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In his book, Seven Games, Oliver Roeder says that games are a “slice of life.” This hour we look at three games: chess, Scrabble, and Monopoly. We...
Put your hands together for a show about clapping
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we wrap our heads around clapping — its history, its varied permutations, and the kinds of occasions on which people applaud. GUESTS: ...
We take your calls
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...
The Nose rides into the danger zone: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and more
26 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is one hell of a steep climb outta there. Top Gun: Maverick is a sequel 36 years in the making. It’s also the No. 1 movie of the ...
Please don’t give this show on the art of the online review one star
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chances are you have used online reviews to try new restaurants, dry cleaners, hotels or even movies. But what makes us trust the opinions of stranger...
From ‘Ninotchka’ to ‘Love Actually’: A celebration of the romantic comedy
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In his new book, From Hollywood with Love, critic Scott Meslow lays out two ways to tell if a given movie is a rom-com. First, his own definition: “...
‘Megafauna mania’: Our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bears, bobcats, coyotes, and deer are repopulating Connecticut, despite being hunted to near extinction by early settlers. Is the mountain lion among ...
Warning: If you have a heart, it will likely get broken (in more ways than one)
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nobody ever died of a broken heart, right? Not true. A condition known as broken heart syndrome can be brought on by a sudden shock, such as grief fro...
The Nose settles the top sheet debate and looks at ‘The Sandman’
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is sittin’ here, moping, pigeon feeding. It’s the generational divide that’s been tearing the nation asunder for as long as w...
There’s still a pandemic going on, by the way
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a recent Quinnipiac poll, people were asked the most urgent issue facing the country. COVID-19 came in dead last among 13 options. And the Centers ...
How indexes help organize our world
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chances are you’ve used an index at the back of a book. But how much thought have you given to their creation, their function, their history? This h...
We take your calls
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...
‘Tackiness is joyfulness’: A celebration of all things tacky
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What makes something tacky? This hour, a celebration of all things tacky. Plus, a look at why reality TV is sometimes tacky and at the tackiest home d...
PODCAST EXCLUSIVE: The Nose looks at ‘I Am Groot’
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose got the walls wet and on fire. We present here a podcast-only segment on I Am Groot, Marvel’s new Disney+ series of shorts (each ...
The Nose looks at James Franco as Castro, ‘The Rehearsal,’ ‘I Am Groot,’ and more
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose got the walls wet and on fire. The producers of an upcoming biopic about Fidel Castro’s exiled daughter, Alina of Cuba, reportedl...
Stop, drop, and stay there: An episode all about leisure
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How do you like to relax? Do you read a book? Go for a hike, maybe? How about grabbing dinner with friends? The list goes on, and we consider these ac...
The rise of conspiracy theories following Sandy Hook
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In her book Sandy Hook, Elizabeth Williamson investigates the conspiracy theories that arose following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, i...
Why our food looks different than grandma’s did
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Food isn’t just a way to cure hunger. In food, we find identity, history, politics, and more. This hour, a look at the evolution of food and how our...
We take your calls
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...
We’re still bananas for The Monkees
05 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Nose is off this week. In its place this hour, a look at why, more than half a century after they first came walking down the street, we’re stil...
From geckos to gum: The science of stickiness
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stickiness. We know it when we see it — or when we feel it under our feet at the movie theater. But what is stickiness, scientifically speaking? How...
Who’s inventing new instruments?
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Think about it: When’s the last time you saw a brand-new instrument in a marching band? New instruments don’t come around too often — but it’s...
You couldn’t have predicted we’d do this show about predicting the future
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have been trying for, well, forever to predict the future. But how helpful is predicting the future, really? And what factors determine whether...
Former Senator Joe Lieberman believes the best seat in the House is in the middle
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Former Senator Joe Lieberman believes the center of Congress is the best place from which to legislate. It’s the sweet spot for negotiation and comp...
The Nose looks at the art of organizing bookshelves, ‘The Last Movie Stars,’ and more
29 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose poured gasoline on the tapes and lit them on fire. Armageddon and Deep Impact and Antz and A Bug’s Life in 1998. The Illusionist ...
Why Jane Austen’s work endures, on the page and on the screen
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Austen completed six full-length novels. And, more than two centuries later, those novels are still present in our culture today. This hour, a lo...
The one about Joni Mitchell
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Joni Mitchell is a singer-songwriter from Alberta, Canada. In 1968, her debut album, Song to a Seagull, was released and since then, Mitchell has bec...
From the mouths of Boomers, X-ers, Millennials, and Zoomers, why we keep categorizing one another by generation
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all heard the generational stereotypes, and rolled our eyes at them. This hour: we investigate generational groupings to discover why we’re ...
‘Betcha can’t eat just one’: The science and art of snacking
25 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Snacking on snacks, savory or sweet, has become a way of life. This hour, a look at our snack-food obsessions. GUESTS: Andrea Hernández: Founder o...
The following show about movie trailers has been approved for appropriate audiences
22 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Nose is off this week. In its place, a look at movie trailers. Maybe you wonder what a movie critic thinks of trailers. Actually, critics don’t ...
From mall music to dead malls: The past, present, and future of malls in America
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Malls are an important gathering place for people of all ages to shop, eat, be entertained, walk, and enjoy the controlled temperature. This hour, the...
On the quietest sports day of the year, an hour about sports
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Baseball’s All-Star Game was Tuesday night. (The American League won for the ninth year in a row, which doesn’t matter at all.) As such, the sport...
Conspiracy theories find potting soil in the Christian right and the New Age left
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Conspirituality is a convergence of right-wing conspiracy, New Age spirituality, and grift. The throughline from a left-leaning yoga instructor to a r...
The King: Before there was Lebron, there was Elvis
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis left two legacies. Musically, he pulled several American musical traditions out of the shadows, braided them together, and made them mainstream....
The Nose looks at the James Webb Space Telescope images, ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,’ and more
15 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose shows no hails from the surface or sub-space chatter. No interplanetary traffic. Not one orbital dock. This week, NASA released the...
We take your calls
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...
Anger, politics, death: Revisiting Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ through a modern lens
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Homer’s The Iliad is a literary classic. This hour, we look at some of the many ways the epic applies to life today, from our understanding of plagu...
How robots, and our attitudes towards them, have evolved
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What counts as a robot? This hour, a look at what robots are and the latest in robot technology. Plus, how robots were used and thought about in medie...
Neanderthals were more than cavemen
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Recent scientific discoveries have shown just how much we’ve previously underestimated Neanderthals. It turns out that their lives were very similar...
The Nose on James Caan, ‘The Old Man,’ and more
08 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose wants Sollozzo. If not, it’s all out war. James Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for playing Sonny in The Godfather. Early...
‘Monuments aren’t history lessons’: A look at the present and future of monuments
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we look at the landscape of monuments across the United States and explore how new monuments are created and how old ones are decommissioned...
‘Like a prime-time news special’: The Jan. 6 Committee hearings as television
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The hearings put on by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol have been produced and presented less...
We take your calls
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...
The Nose looks at ‘The Bear’ and ‘Kim’s Convenience’
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is more just like a regular, chill-archy. The Bear is a new half-hour foodie dramedy series from FX and Hulu. Here’s some of FX’...
From Achilles to Harry Potter and beyond: How does the hero’s journey help, or limit, our storytelling?
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The concept of the hero’s journey was popularized by Joseph Campbell and outlined in his 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell based t...
Hey, ho, let’s go! 50 years of punk rock
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Punk rock’s been around for a good half a century, but we’ve never devoted a show to it. This hour, a deep dive into punk’s past and present. GU...
There are rules for punctuation, but we don’t always agree on them
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The Nose on Beyoncé’s ‘Break My Soul,’ ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,’ and more
24 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is ’bout to explode, take off this load. “Break My Soul” is the lead single from Beyoncé’s forthcoming album, Renaissance....
Lost in translation: Our ode to the art of translating
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Translators help open up our worlds by bringing us stories from around the globe. But often they’re not given very much credit for their work. This ...
We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a lot of weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. We don’t even, anymore, star...
The Nose looks at ‘Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers,’ ‘Is It Cake?’ and more
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose gave an idiot a machete. Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a hybrid live-action and animated sequel to and reboot of the 19...
50 years later, why we can’t stop talking about Watergate
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the Watergate burglary. This hour, we look back at the events surrounding Watergate, discuss how we remember them...
What does it mean to be a good citizen today?
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we investigate what it means to be a good citizen today. What are our responsibilities? What do we owe each other? GUESTS: Tamar Gendler: ...
Connecticut’s cartoon county
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For a period of about 50 years, many of America’s top cartoonists and illustrators lived within a stone’s throw of one another in the sout...
The Nose looks at ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ rainbow capitalism, and more
10 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is one bubble floating in the cosmic foam of existence. Everything Everywhere All at Once is the second feature film written an...
How emoji have changed how we communicate and why we ❤️ them
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, our new favorite way to communicate: emoji. We look at how emoji are created and how they change meaning and talk to the creator of Emojila...
Our (maybe) 12th (almost) annual song of the summer show
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve done this show every year (except 2012) since 2011. (We maybe even did it in 2010. We probabl...
‘The Good Place’ creator Michael Schur explains how to be a good person
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You know Michael Schur from the shows he’s created, like The Good Place, Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This hour we talk with Sch...
We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been doing these shows a lot of weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. We don’t even, a...
The Nose looks at ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ and more
03 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose thinks the less it says, the less it gives away. But, really, it’s the opposite. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a six-part Disney...
What our search for extraterrestrial life can tell us about ourselves
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have long been interested in the possibility of extraterrestrial life. This hour, a look at why that interest has persisted. Plus, we talk to a...
Fun shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure. Fun is the point
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you had fun? I mean the kind of fun where you lost track of time, you didn’t care what others were thinking of you, and y...
Two thumbs up: A show all about fingers
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Touch, grip, read, dance, gesture — what can't they do? Our fingers are so vital to our everyday life, sometimes it seems they have minds o...
The Nose looks at ‘George Carlin’s American Dream’ and ‘Brigsby Bear’
27 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is the first one to say it’s a great country, but it’s a strange culture. George Carlin’s American Dream ...
The human range of emotions stretches beyond our vocabulary
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You probably know when you’re feeling happy, sad, or angry. But our range of emotions stretch beyond the language we have for them. This hour, w...
From zeppelins to dirigibles to the Goodyear Blimp, airships capture our imagination
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There’s something almost romantic about airships. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feels both nostalgic and futuristic. In the early 20th...
Music critic Kelefa Sanneh says music genres are communities
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we’re joined by Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. We talk about music genres and loo...
What our attitude towards the Middle Ages can teach us about ourselves today
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the one hand, calling something “medieval” carries with it negative connotations of outdated times. But lately there has almost been a nostalgi...
The Nose looks at ‘We Own This City’ and ‘The Northman’
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your strength breaks men’s bones. This week’s Nose has the cunning to break their minds. We Own This City is a six-part HBO miniserie...
The fax machine is dead. Long live the fax machine
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the long timeline of long-distance communication technology that starts with the telegraph and leads all the way to the iPhone and beyond, there&rs...
An hour with Francisco Goldman
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Francisco Goldman made a big choice as a young man. He chose to spend a year in Guatemala living with his uncle instead of pursuing the master’s...
Shaking assumptions about the humble tambourine
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The humble tambourine is the underrated, understated, unsung hero of contemporary music. This hour we shake our assumptions about this surprisingly en...
What’s in a word? A look at the ways words change
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we investigate the ways in which words change when they enter our discourse and how they acquire new meanings, or sometimes even lose their ...