The Colin McEnroe Show

From productivity culture to workplace technology, we’re rethinking how we work

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In their new book, Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home, Anne Helen Petersen and Charlie Warzel argue that “wh...

Your mind makes it real. A look back at ‘The Matrix’

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The 18-year wait is nearly over, and the fourth Matrix movie, The Matrix Resurrections, is almost here. This hour, we look back at the original film a...

We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything

13 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows most weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last few times, we hav...

The Nose on Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ and intermissions at movies

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, The Nose might mind if you come to the table without a washup. The 1970s are back. Again. For the nth time. But maybe it’s different ...

This is the age of peak newsletter

09 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Newsletters have become a great way for journalists and others to dive deep into less-covered topics and engage directly with their readers in ways no...

We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows most weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last few times, we hav...

Former Senator Joe Lieberman believes the best seat in the House is in the middle

07 Dec 2021

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 ...

What we know about the omicron variant, cute cat videos are spreading misinformation, and the keys to critical thinking

06 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we talk about an assortment of topics. First, the omicron variant has been found in at least 16 states. We’ll learn about the latest ...

The Nose looks at (all 468 minutes of) ‘The Beatles: Get Back’

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, The Nose was a frying pan. The Beatles: Get Back is a three-part Disney+ docuseries produced and directed by Peter Jackson. It’s...

Don’t worry. We’ve got enough maple syrup. But beyond that, the supply chain is still a mess

02 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From toilet paper shortages, to delayed shipping and low product inventories, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on our global supply chains. This...

We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows most weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last few times, we hav...

Sly like a (domesticated) fox

30 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1959, Soviet geneticist Dmitri Belyaev started an ambitious experiment to study the origins of domestication: he would attempt to breed domesticate...

A Monday in the park. Our tribute to Sondheim and his songs

29 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Sondheim was, put simply, among the most important figures in the history of musical theater. His major works include West Side Story, Gypsy, ...

The Poet Laureate of Rock ’n’ Roll at 80

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bob Dylan turned 80 years old in May. His first album, 1962’s Bob Dylan, is in its 60th year on record store shelves. We’re at a point whe...

The enduring appeal of boy bands, from ‘Bye Bye Bye’ to ‘Butter’

23 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From New Kids on the Block to *NSYNC to One Direction, boy bands have been a staple of popular music for decades. This hour, a look at the history &md...

Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’ at 50

22 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joni Mitchell’s album Blue turned 50 this year. It may not have the artistic sophistication of her later albums, but Mitchell’s vulnerabil...

The Nose looks at Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well,’ ‘The Problem with Jon Stewart,’ and ‘The Harder They Fall’

19 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, The Nose is lightning with the blam blams. First: Taylor Swift’s new 15-minute film for the new 10-minute version of her old five-min...

Who’s running for president in 2024? Why isn’t there a COVID vaccine for pets? And what happened to Eric Clapton?

18 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a smorgaspourri of disparate topics this hour. First: Who will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2024? President Biden says he&rsq...

Occam's razor makes the case for simplicity in a complex world

17 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Occam's razor states that "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.” This hour is all about Occam’s razor: where the principle ...

Scientists confirm existence of woo-woo. Woo-woo declares results inconclusive

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Between all we know to be true and all we know to be false lies a world of woo. “Woo-woo,” to use the full term, refers to ideas considere...

We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows most weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last few times, we hav...

Here be dragons

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dragons have captured our imagination going back to the Greek and Roman Empires when the skeletal bones of dinosaurs fed the myths we still believe to...

Toad’s Place and the Shaboo Inn had a magic in the ’70s and ’80s that may never happen again

11 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Toad’s Place and The Shaboo Inn were part of a magical era for music in Connecticut in the 1970s and ’80s. It was a time when small music ...

Operators are standing by! A show about infomercials

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The inconic inventor and pitchman Ron Popeil died July 28. He was 86 years old. This hour, we listen back to the 2016 show we did with Popeil on the f...

The Meta Formerly Known as Facebook. Rebranding in business, culture and, well, this very radio show

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Morris became Altria. Apple Computer became Apple. Radio Shack became The Shack (and then went bankrupt). The New Britain Rock Cats m...

Architecture vs. humans. Why do architects sometimes design buildings that make people feel bad?

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past few weeks, there has been a debate surrounding Munger Hall, a dorm designed by billionaire Charles Munger to house over 4,000 students o...

The Nose goes on a ‘Voyage’ with ABBA (and HBO’s ‘Succession’)

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Voyage is ABBA’s ninth studio album and their first album of new material in 40 years. Its 10 tracks dropped early this morning. A concert ...

We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything

04 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows most weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last few times, we hav...

There are rules for punctuation, but we don't always agree on them

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Should people use Oxford commas? Is there a correct number of exclamation points per email? If someone ends a casual text with a period, does that mea...

A show about nothing (really!)

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Why is there something rather than nothing? This has been described as perhaps the most sublime philosophical question of all. This hour, we try to an...

Airships in history and fiction capture our imaginations. Could they have a real-world role to play?

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There's something almost romantic about airships--from zeppelins to dirigibles to little Goodyear Blimps. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feel...

The Nose looks at Facebook’s Meta rebranding, ‘Dune: Part One,’ and more

29 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Facebook announced Thursday that its umbrella company will rebrand as “Meta.” Mark Zuckerberg said that the new name reflects th...

Not Necessarily The Nose: The year in horror, 2021

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We realized a few years ago that — basically because Colin and I are fraidy cats — The Nose doesn’t cover very much horror...

Has America become the land of failed opportunity?

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An entrenched anxiety is taking hold throughout America. You can feel it in the air and see it in the rise of guns, doomsday preppers, and mask wars. ...

An ode to ink

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From ancient scrolls to modern toner cartridges, ink (in one form or another) has been around for millennia. And while we may take it for granted now,...

Music critic and author Kelefa Sanneh writes that music genres are communities

25 Oct 2021

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 an...

The Nose looks at the BBC’s 100 greatest TV series of the century, Netflix’s ‘Maid,’ and more

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, BBC Culture dropped its list of “The 100 Greatest TV series of the 21st Century.” No. 1 is exactly what you’d think ...

Combating corrosion: the war on rust

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rust is all around us. It’s in our cars, our homes, our infrastructure. It’s also the subject of Jonathan Waldman’s book Rust: ...

We take your calls. Ask (or tell) us anything

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows most weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last few times, we hav...

Jewish unity is kryptonite to antisemitic rage

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jews have a long history of resistance against antisemitism that has sought to eradicate their literal existence. The power of their resistance lies i...

Alcohol is bad for us. So why have humans been drinking it for thousands of years?

18 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Drinking alcohol has a number of negative impacts. But humans have been doing it for thousands of years, and show no signs of stopping. This hour, we ...

The Nose plays 'Squid Game' and discusses 'Who Is the Bad Art Friend?'

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, The Nose talks about Netflix’s hit show Squid Game. Plus: the viral New York Times Magazine article “Who Is The ...

Needle phobia is as old as human history

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Human beings are wired to hate pain, even in the form of a teeny tiny needle delivering life-saving elixir. Needle phobia, or trypanophobia, rang...

The role of the Senate parliamentarian, the importance of local newspapers, and the history of the wheelie suitcase

13 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, a potpourri of topics: the Senate parliamentarian, local news, and wheelie suitcases. First, we talk about the Senate parliamentarian. And ...

Good bulldozer, bad bulldozer

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Everybody loves a bulldozer. In fact, we all grew up loving bulldozers, didn't we? From Benny the Bulldozer to Katy and her big snow, from a...

The phones are open. We're taking your calls

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these almost weekly shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. This hour, we do it aga...

The Nose looks at ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ and Dave Chappelle’s ‘The Closer’

08 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Many Saints of Newark is a film prequel to The Sopranos. It takes place in the 1960s and ’70s, and part of Tony Soprano’s or...

No, Mark Twain did not say that. If we're going to quote people, let's get it right

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From our favorite songs and movies, to Shakespeare and Maya Angelou, we regularly quote others in our daily lives. This hour, we talk about famous quo...

COVID won’t kill the handshake. It has survived worse PR problems.

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

COVID is no match for the enduring power of the handshake. It has survived cholera, the 1918 pandemic, and Donald Trump’s lengthy grip. It has t...

Ted Williams: the greatest hitter who ever lived?

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

During his remarkable career with the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams earned many nicknames: The Kid, The Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ballgame… but t...

We take your calls: ask (or tell) us anything

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these almost weekly shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last few times, we ...

The Nose is a very strong rooster: revenge bedtime procrastination, Clint Eastwood’s ‘Cry Macho,’ more

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

So you get home from a long day of work, and then you spend a long evening dealing with the family and the dinner and the house and the pets. And then...

The Longest Continuous Human Thought: A Look At Mathematics

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been a while since we’ve done a math show. So this hour, some discussion of just what mathematics even is in the first plac...

A Conversation With Ruth Ozeki

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we’re joined by novelist Ruth Ozeki. Her latest novel is The Book of Form and Emptiness. We talk about animism, hearing voices, ...

The Following Show About Movie Trailers Has Been Approved For Appropriate Audiences

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we talk about movie trailers. Maybe you wonder what a movie critic thinks of them. Actually, critics don’t see as many as you do beca...

An Hour With Francisco Goldman

27 Sep 2021

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...

The Nose Won The Apocalypse: ‘Y: The Last Man,’ The Real-Time True Crime-ification of Gabby Petito, More

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Y: The Last Man is an FX on Hulu television series (whatever that means) based on the DC comics series. It stars Diane Lane as President Jennifer...

Radiation: Maybe Not As Bad As You Think

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Radiation is everywhere. It’s emitted by our sun, by cat litter, by bananas, and occasionally by nuclear bombs. It’s even emitted by you a...

Looking At Our World Through Glass

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Glass is all around us: from windows and mirrors, to phone screens and fiber optic cables. This hour, we learn how glass helped shape our world, about...

The New England Patriots: From Winner To Champion, From Champion To Dynasty

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Seventeen AFC East championships. Nine Super Bowl appearances. Six Lombardi trophies. Twenty seasons pairing maybe the greatest head coach in the hist...

The Best Laid Schemes Of Mice And Men: Human And Wildlife Conflict

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Animals, which were in the service of man, could be arrested, tried, convicted and executed,” according to Edmund P. Evans in his book Th...

The Nose Knew The Deceased Only In Passing: ‘Only Murders In The Building,’ ‘Small Engine Repair,’ More

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Only Murders in the Building is a half-hour-ish (!) mystery-comedy series on Hulu. It stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, and Amy Rya...

The Art Of Gossip

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Gossiping is considered a bad habit. But, when done well, it can actually have social benefits. This hour on the Colin McEnroe Show, we’ll discu...

The State Of Vax Requirements, Dunkin' Drops Merch, And Resurrecting The Woolly Mammoth

15 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, a smorgasbord of disparate topics: mandates, mammoths, and merch. First, a look at the state of America’s patchwork of COVID vac...

Fire: Sparking Imagination Since 2 Million B.C.

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Fire imagery abounds in music, literature, art, and scripture. It thrives at the center of ceremony and ritual around the world. We associate fire wit...

We Take Your Calls: Ask (Or Tell) Us Anything

13 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these weekly shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. A few times, we haven’t ...

A Radio Show About Mimes? You Bet.

10 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mimes have been gesticulating their way into our hearts (or nightmares) nearly for forever. It may be that the legendary Marcel Marceau popularized th...

A Tribute To The Proud And Peaceful Pigeon

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

B. F. Skinner thought pigeons were so smart they could be used to guide missiles during World War II. He proposed a system in which pigeons would...

Star Trek: 55 Years Of Boldly Going

08 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 8, 1966, NBC aired the premiere of a new series called Star Trek. The episode was “The Man Trap.”...

Bastards! A Look At Illegitimacy From ‘Game Of Thrones’ To ‘Hamilton’ And Beyond

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The word “bastard” hasn’t always been meant to offend. Used simply as an indication of illegitimate birth at first, the label &ldquo...

The Nose Is Important For The Health Of The Department: ‘Seinfeld’ On Netflix, TV’s White Guys, And ‘The Chair’

03 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

According to Vulture, TV’s white guys are in crisis, and specifically on a bunch of shows The Nose has covered: Kevin Can F**k Himself...

The Movies, Mysteries, And Marvels Of Christopher Nolan

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the 20 years since Christopher Nolan’s Memento hit theaters, his movies have grossed more than $5 billion, earned 36 Academy Award ...

From ‘Bye Bye Bye’ To ‘Butter’: The Enduring Appeal Of Boy Bands

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From New Kids on the Block to *NSYNC to One Direction, boy bands have been a staple of popular music for decades. This hour, a look back at the histor...

The Search For What It Means To Be Alive (And Human)

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution.” That’s the so-called “NASA definition of...

We Take Your Calls: Ask (Or Tell) Us Anything

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these weekly shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. The last couple weeks, we have...

The Nose Never Wears Shoes: Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Barefoot CEOs, 'Roadrunner,' More

27 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There is a longstanding tendency among tech CEOs to be sort of performatively photographed with bare feet. Also: It’s gross. And: Washingto...

Exploring Climate Solutions

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released a report detailing the latest scientific understanding about cli...

Words That Shall Not Be Said

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Profanity used to be about someone swearing insincerely to God. Then the Reformation came along and made profanity about sex and the body. Today, our ...

New Thinking About Cavities, Smokey Bear Needs A Rebrand, And Earth As Exoplanet

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, a potpourri of topics. First, some new thinking around dental cavities — are they really an oral microbiome problem? And, as we ...

We Take Your Calls: Ask (Or Tell) Us Anything

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these weekly shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. This week, we aren’t eve...

The Nose Won’t Be The New Host OfThe Nose Won’t Be The New Host Of ‘Jeopardy!’ Either: Mike Richards, ‘FBOY Island,’ More ‘Jeopardy!’ Either: Mike Richards, David & Dershowitz, ‘FBOY Island’

20 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Nose had planned to discuss all the scandals around Jeopardy! executive-producer-turned-incoming-host Mike Richards. But then&...

The Humble Fly

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are thought to be about 17 quadrillion flies alive on Earth at any one time. That’s 17 million for every living human. They’re preda...

Building Utopia

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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...

We Take Your Calls

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these weekly shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. This week, our plan was to for...

Sly Like A (Domesticated) Fox

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This show originally aired July 26, 2017. In 1959, Soviet geneticist Dmitri Belyaev started an ambitious experiment to study the origins of domesticat...

The Nose Wants 2 B Released Posthumously: Prince’s ‘Welcome 2 America’ And T.J. Newman’s ‘Falling’

13 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome 2 America is a brand new, never-before-released full studio album of Prince material. And it’s the first one of those released afte...

‘To The Hobbits’: Celebrating ‘The Lord Of The Rings’

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It has been almost 20 years since the The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie was released. This hour, a look back at the The Lord of ...

The Semiotics of Cigarettes, Sexy Shoes, and Some Other Stuff

11 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Semiotics is the study of sign process, which is to say: it’s the science of the search for meaning. And then, part of the underlying premise of...

A Failed Star Dubbed ‘The Accident,’ The Rise And Fall Of The Segway, And Squirrel Parkour

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a magazine show — which is to say, it’s a show covering a number of disparate topics linked only by the fact that we’ve d...

We Take Your Calls: The Delta Variant

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As compared to two weeks ago, new COVID case counts are up 112%, hospitalizations are up 90%, and deaths are up 92%. This would seem to be driven by t...

The Nose Booked The Pineapple Suite: Ashton Kutcher’s Irregular Bathing, Tapbacks, And ‘The White Lotus’

06 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have publicly admitted that they rarely bathe. Kutcher, in fact, went as far as to say he washes his “armpits...

The Return Of The Music Mavens

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Three Music Musketeers return! Are you bored with your playlist? We’ve reunited our trio of music mavens — novelist Wally Lamb, critic...

Hunting For Treasure

04 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Treasure hunts are prolific across literature, film, and history. This hour we talk about treasure hunts, including what happens when you drop one in ...

How Soon Is Too Soon? (And Other Classic Questions And Conundrums About Comedy)

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

humor = tragedy + time OK, but then the logical next question is: How much time? If it’s OK, at this point, to joke about, say, The Spanish...

We Take Your Calls: Trying To Get Comfortable With Uncomfortable Conversations About Race

02 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, a conversation not exactly about the recent anti-CRT hysteria on the right and not exactly about extreme wokeness on the left, but about ho...

The Nose Watches ‘Schmigadoon!’ And ‘Summer of Soul’

30 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Schmigadoon! is a musical comedy series on Apple TV+ starring Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key. In it, the couple gets stuck in a musical tow...

Taking Your Calls: Simone Biles, House Select Committee Hearing On The Capitol Attack

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we take your calls about Olympian Simone Biles. She withdrew from competition on Tuesday to focus on her mental health, just weeks after te...

Profiling Criminal Profilers

28 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Criminal Minds. Mindhunter and Manhunt. Cracker and Profiler. Nearly the whole of the Hannibal Lecter universe: Man...

An Ode To Obituaries And Obituarists

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On the one hand, obituaries are an amalgam of a bunch of different kinds of journalism: they’re feature stories, they’re profile pieces, t...

Do The 2020 Olympics Deserve A Medal?

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The 2020 Olympics began late last week in Tokyo, Japan. This hour: we look back at the opening weekend, and ahead at the rest of the games. GUESTS: B...