The Colin McEnroe Show
Episodes
The Scramble Takes Your Calls
26 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A lot has happened in the recent days. The news is fast, complicated, disturbing and in some cases, hopeful.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/don...
A Nerding Out About Clouds
23 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
No one likes a cloudy sky. A cloud on the horizon is seen as a harbinger of doom. We feel like clouds need to have silver linings.But here's our thesi...
The Microbiome: Friend, Foe, or Both
22 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For most of time, microbes ruled the planet alone. Microbes have been around for billions of years - long before people ever began to inhabit the...
A Salute to Accordions!
21 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
A Show About Infomercials. Operators Are Standing By!
20 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Thighmaster, the Chop-O-Matic, the George Foreman Grill and the Clapper: Products which are all part of American consumer culture and which w...
The Scramble: Trump And Facebook; Animal Abuse; The Return Of The Phone Booth
19 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Cambridge Analytica, a data company backed by Republican donor Robert Mercer and headed by Steve Bannon, harvested private information from almost 50 ...
The Nose Travels Through 'A Wrinkle In Time To Watch 'The Bachelor'
16 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There was a lot of pressure on Ava Duvernay to bring Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 classic book, A Wrinkle In Time, to the screen. This is the first $100-m...
The Making Of Adolf Hitler
15 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How did a figure like Hitler emerge so quickly and so forcefully onto the world stage? How, in what was thought to be an enlightened and civilized so...
Our Ninth* Annual March Madness Show
14 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Every year at this time, we invite an improv comic and an ex-politician-turned-political-pundit on to break down the NCAA tournament brackets and batt...
Human Guinea Pigs Are So Unappreciated
13 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do you ever think about the people who make sure the medicine you're taking is safe for you to take? If your like most of us, probably not. Suppo...
One Leg At A Time: The History Of Women And Pants
12 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
According to mytho-historical accounts, the ancient Amazons wore pants while riding into battle. But the trend this tribe of warrior women set was sho...
The Nose Watches 'Seven Seconds'
09 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's Ridiculous Moments in Late-Stage Capitalism: Pizza Hut's new shoes -- because there are Pizza Hut shoes, apparently; they're, of course...
An Hour With Martin Amis
08 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Times of London has said that Martin Amis "is as talented a journalist as he is a novelist." His latest collection of essays and reportage covers ...
Is Democracy Dying?
07 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Populism is on the rise from Europe to India to the United States.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
Voodoo Unveiled
06 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Voodoo is more than just a misunderstood religion, its practice draws on age-old beliefs, cultural elements, and folk traditions from a multitude of n...
The Scramble: Dark Clouds Over The White House
05 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Like the Alexander of children's literature, President Trump had a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" week.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/...
It's The Nighttime Noscars!
01 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's The Nose's annual Academy Awards special, and this year we're doing it live at night.The Nose has covered 15 of this year's Oscar-nominated movie...
An Ode To Obituaries And Obituarists
01 Mar 2018
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, they cover hi...
Slime: From Spontaneous Generation To Internet Sensation
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Slime is not something we often think about. But there are plenty of reasons why that should probably change: From the theory that life on Earth may h...
An Hour With David Gelernter
27 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Consciousness has been an elusive enigma for philosophers and scientists alike for about as long as there've been philosophers and scientists.And, whi...
The Scramble: Mueller And Parkland Developments, Plus: Your Calls
26 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Grading on the post-2016 scale, it was a relatively earth shattering revelation-free weekend. And so we have some time to regroup and take a look at ...
The Nose Goes To 'Black Panther'
23 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Coogler's Black Panther is the eighteenth feature film entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the sixth movie in Phase Three, and it's mos...
The Rise And Fall Of The Hat
22 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Take a look at at any early 20th century photograph and you'll see them: Hats! From Beavers and Bowlers to bonnets and baseball caps, for hundreds of ...
How Soon Is Too Soon? (And Other Classic Questions And Conundrums About Comedy)
21 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
humor = tragedy + timeOkay, but then the logical next question is: How much time?If it's okay, at this point, to joke about, say, The Spanish Inquisit...
The Scramble: Russia; Parkland; "The Greatest Showman"
20 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Mueller on Friday indicted 13 Russian nationals and three organizations on charges related to interference in the 2016 U.S. electoral process.&...
Hartford Convention: 200 Years Since We Started the Fight Over States' Rights
19 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Legend holds that years after the the Hartford Convention, a visitor from the South was touring the Old State House and asked to be shown the room whe...
It's Expensive To Die In America
16 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's expensive to die in America. We spend upwards of $3 trillion on medical care, a large percentage of those dollars concentrated in the last year o...
The History Of Hygiene: Humanity's Quest For Cleanliness
15 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
From ancient mixtures of boiled goat fats and ashes to modern artisanal soaps with calendula and coffee grinds, humans have been inventing c...
Love Is In The Nose
14 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
During last week's Super Bowl, Netflix announced the surprise release of the third installment in the already-super-unconvential Cloverfield film fran...
Bastards! A Look At Illegitimacy From Game Of Thrones To Hamilton And Beyond
13 Feb 2018
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 bastard didn't bring ...
The Scramble: Will The Mueller Report Matter?
12 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Special counsel Robert Mueller has already charged several people associated with the Trump campaign with crimes uncovered in his investigation into R...
The Nose Is So Close To Being Ready For The Oscars
09 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are nine movies nominated for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards. And, as of this week, The Nose has seen eight of them. We saw Get Out ...
A Non-Threatening Conversation About Jazz
08 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Who's afraid of the Bix bad Beiderbecke?Hartford has an amazing jazz history, and Colin has a lot of jazz musician friends. This hour, a little onstag...
Stand Up And Be Counted: The 2020 Census
07 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do you remember where you were on April 1, 2010? That's the last time the U.S. Census Bureau counted you as one of the 323.1 million people who live i...
Cities That Changed The World: Mapping History's Hubs Of Innovation
06 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In looking to our past, a curious trend appears. A vast amount of mankind's great accomplishments in art, music, science, technology and language seem...
Did You Watch The Super Bowl...Ads?
05 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There have been some really great Super Bowl ads over the last 35 years. They changed the way we spoke and the way ads were created and consumed.Suppo...
The Groundhog Day Nose Buys All Of Its Twitter Followers From Richard Roeper
02 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I, Tonya is a big, brash, brightly-colored, quirky comedy that happens to be telling a story that's ultimately kind of super sad. It's that mixture of...
The A-Maze-Ing History Of Mazes And Labyrinths
01 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The history of mazes and labyrinths spans thousands of years. From Bronze Age stone carvings, to Medieval gardens, to modern-day laboratories, these e...
Argumentation Nation: America's Love Of War With Words
31 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Americans like to argue, a lot. In politics, in media, and in society at large, arguing has (arguably) become the default means by which we handle dis...
A Legally-Obligated Look At Bees
30 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Federal regulatory requirements mandate* that all public media outlets occasionally devote significant air time to the health and welfare of bees.Supp...
The Scramble: The Eerie Similarities Between The Mueller Investigation And Watergate
29 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The central question in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is whether a foreign agent interfered in our electoral process and whether the ...
The Nose Tugs At A 'Phantom Thread'
26 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Anderson, and Best Supporting Act...
Colin's Constipation Contemplation And Cogitation
25 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We've been trying to push this show out for quite a while now. It's been a bit of a strain, and we got kind of backed up.But, this hour, we let loose ...
It Was A Dark Night In The City. Death Hung In The Air Like...
23 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A hard-boiled private eye, a glamorous blond, and a hapless drifter all sit at a bar on the seamy side of town. It's night, the streets are wet, the s...
Is Marijuana The Holy Grail Of Good Health?
23 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Acceptance for medical marijuana is growing among people who swear by marijuana's power to relieve their ills. Older people are choosing marijuana for...
The Scramble: The Government Closed; Women Are Running; Trump Has A Rubber Duck
21 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This is one of the worst flu seasons in a decade. For the first time in thirteen years, the entire country is getting sick at the same time. While the...
The Nose Went On A Date With Aziz Ansari
19 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Post is Steven Spielberg's first movie since he turned 70 (and it's actually his first movie since he turned 71 too). It's just a little newspaper...
Predictions Of A Paperless Future
18 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Predictions of a paperless future go back to the 1800's. And since then, as technology has advanced, such predictions have only increased. Today...
An Ode To Ink
17 Jan 2018
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,...
Redheads: From Stereotypes To Superpowers
16 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
They smell better, they're better at sensing temperature changes and they can handle more pain. These are just a few of the actual differences between...
It's Hard To Be Black In America. Still.
15 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Race is a myth; racism is not. I'm stealing this line from Gene Seymour, one of our guests on our show today. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.o...
The New Haven Nose Watched Both Of The New Dave Chappelle Specials
12 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Chappelle somewhat famously walked away from his Comedy Central series and went twelve years without releasing a comedy special. He broke that st...
Connecticut's Cartoon County
11 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For a period of about fifty years, many of America's top cartoonists and illustrators lived within a stone's throw of one another in the southwestern ...
Are We In A Golden Age Of Awkwardness?
10 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Some would say we're living in a golden age of awkwardness. We recognize it in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls, and Silicon Valley. It's in Buzzfeed gif-t...
Sugar Highs (And Lows): A History of "White Gold"
09 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The history of sugar is a complicated one. Once available to only the rich and powerful, sugar now shows up in everything from cereals and soups, to c...
The Scramble: The President's Mental Health; Golden Globes
08 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Goldwater Rule was put in place by the American Psychological Association in 1964. It says it's unethical for psychiatrists to give a professional...
The Nose Muses On 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'
05 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Sherman-Palladino created "Gilmore Girls." Her new Amazon Prime show, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," is nominated for Golden Globes for Best Televis...
The Romance of the North
04 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's cold, snowy winter times like this that make us question why we choose to live in a place where snow, sleet, and wind define one-third of the yea...
Look Back At The Best Jazz Of 2017!
03 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Because Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts and founded Connecticut so there could be jazz, we'll take it upon ourselves to look back at the best jazz of...
The Scramble: Presidential Power, Wesleyan Sports, Words of the Year
02 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump is changing the office of the presidency.He spent his first year in office defying political conventions and norms followed by the for...
It's About Time We Talked About Time
01 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever woken in the middle of the night, looked at the clock, and noticed that it's the same time you woke up the night before - and the night ...
The New Year's Eve Eve Eve Nose Watched 'The Crown'
29 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Netflix's The Crown tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II, starting with her wedding in 1947. The second season, released this month and nominated for...
Celebrate the End of 2017 with "Big Al" Anderson & Jim Chapdelaine
28 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Don't miss -- for the 5th year -- a very badly planned live New Year's Eve special featuring chaos muppet and music legend "Big Al" Anderson and the g...
An Hour With Kurt Andersen
27 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Kurt Andersen's new book is Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire. It's a 500-year history "of America jumping the shark." The idea, largely, is that ...
I Want To Follow Jesus But... Can You Hold The Religion?
26 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump's election last November was the culmination of a venom-filled campaign that was nastier than almost any in recent memory. Mean-spirited ...
The Nose Usually Says The Lord's Prayer In Pig Latin
22 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Greta Gerwig's solo directorial debut, Lady Bird, is a coming-of-age comedy/drama that stars Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges. Oh, and ...
The Evolution Of Our Relationship To Machines
21 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant, etc. These are just the beginning of what experts believe will be a future filled with verbally interactive, d...
The Evolution Revolution: Women Call the Shots
20 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The Argus Pheasant is a lifelong bachelor. He mates with multiple females but has no further contact with his mates or the baby pheasants he sires. By...
The Battle For Butter
19 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We tend not to think much about that pat of butter we put on our morning toast, including how the store-bought sweet cream butter we're eating likely ...
The Scramble: The "Weinstein Effect" Comes To Public Media
18 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Ashbrook. John Hockenberry. Michael Oreskes. David Sweeney. Garrison Keillor. Tavis Smiley. Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz. Charlie Rose.The...
The Nose Takes Its "Cat Person" Date To See 'The Last Jedi'
15 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For once in our lives, it's actually kind of obvious what this week in pop culture has been all about.Star Wars's Episode VIII -- the ninth live-actio...
Neither Snow Nor Rain Nor Heat...
14 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Alexis de Tocqueville toured America in the early 1830's to gather observations that he would later put on the pages of Democracy in America...
An Hour With Geno
13 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Geno Auriemma has been a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame since 2006, and he's coached the UConn Women's Basketball team since 1985.This hour, Co...
Child Labor In America And Abroad
12 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Few things evoke such antipathy and condemnation from the western world than the idea of children toiling away for low pay in dangerous conditions. An...
The Scramble: #MeToo; Roy Moore; Net Neutrality
10 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Harvey Weinstein was vanquished from atop his powerful perch just over two months ago after an investigation by the New York Times uncovered alle...
An Evening With Patti Smith
08 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Patti Smith wasn't seeking fame when she landed in Manhattan in 1969. She was a fan of the greats of the day - like Dylan, Mapplethorpe, Pollock...
Mmmm, Donuts
07 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
My mom would take me and my brothers to the beach on summer days when I was a little kid. I couldn't yet swim but I could stand in Long Island Sound w...
It's The Breast Day Of The Week!
06 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Marie Antoinette's breasts were believed to inspire the design of the shallow French champagne coupes we see on the shelves of the local Pottery Barn....
Spielberg At 70
05 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jaws, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones. Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan. Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. And the ...
An Hour With John McPhee
04 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
John McPhee is a writer's writer. He's thought of as one of the progenitors of the New Journalism, of creative nonfiction or narrative nonfiction, alo...
The Nighttime Nose Doesn't Want To Sing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" Anymore
30 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is probably the funniest movie you'll ever see about a mother trying to avenge the rape an...
Sucking Up
30 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
At President Trump's first full cabinet meeting in June 2017, we watched with some amusement while each member expressed over-the-top gratitude for t...
Voodoo Unveiled
29 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Voodoo is more than just a misunderstood religion, its practice draws on age-old beliefs, cultural elements, and folk traditions from a multitude of n...
Prog Rock: The Show That Never Ends
28 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The bands Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Rush, Asia, and Styx have sold, literally, hundreds of millions of albums...
The Scramble: Has America Fallen Into A State Of Unreality?
27 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today's Scramble will be another all-call show. We won't have any guests - just you and your calls to Colin. Support the show: http://www.w...
JFK Assassination, 54 Years Later
22 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Mistrust of the government's version of the facts... Paranoid conspiracy theories... Allegations of treason... Distrust of American institutions... Co...
Radiation: Maybe Not As Bad As You Think
21 Nov 2017
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, and by me, an...
The Scramble: Tax Cuts; Nuclear Codes; Elephants
20 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The House of Representatives passed a 440-page tax bill Thursday that was introduced two short weeks ago. Among other things, the bill would remove de...
The Nose Is People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive
17 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a crazy week. (Of course, they're all crazy weeks.) As such, this week's crazy Nose tries to rapid-fire its way through as many crazy topics...
America Through The Looking Glass
16 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I have traveled to three foreign countries since President Trump was elected. While I have always been proud to be American, even as I criticize much ...
A Deep Dive Into The World Of Insects
15 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There are an estimated 10 quintillion insects living on the planet right now-- That's 1.4 billion insects for each human. If they decided to take over...
Teaching An Old Fox New Tricks
14 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1959, Soviet geneticist Dmitri Belyaev started an ambitious experiment to study the origins of domestication -- he would attempt to breed domestica...
The Scramble: Men Are Pinned With A Scarlet Letter
13 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The 'Weinstein Ripple Effect' can be seen in the dozens of powerful men brought down by accusations of sexual misconduct in recent weeks by women who ...
The Nose's Celebrity Ragnarök Holiday Special
10 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Thor: Ragnarok came out last weekend, and so this week The Nose celebrates with an old-fashioned, star-studded holiday special.There will be the singi...
Funerary Rituals Across Time And Culture
09 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
You're going to die. It's OK, so will I. In fact, everyone will. And so with that said the conversation turns to how we wish to go. For over a century...
Where's The Beef!??
08 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The veggie burger is enjoying a renaissance! They've been in America since the Kellogg Brothers first fed their soy-based burger to guests at th...
Profiling Criminal Profilers
07 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter series. "Criminal Minds" on CBS. Just in the last few months there've been "Mindhunter" on Netflix and "Manhunt: Unab...
All Cults Are Not Created Equal
06 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
All cults are not created equal. From the wide array of beliefs they teach, to the variety of people who are involved, cults are as different from eac...
The Nose Invades Yale's Family Weekend
03 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Netflix announced this week that it has suspended production on the sixth and final season of its award-winning drama series "House of Cards." Its lea...
The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Life In A Small Town
02 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump wants to "Make America Great Again," by turning back the clock to a time he believes was safer, purer, and removed from the dangers of...