The Colin McEnroe Show

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...

A Journey To The International Space Station

01 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The International Space Station is the most expensive thing ever built. It's about the size of a football field, it weighs a million pounds, and it's ...

A Look Back At 200 Years Of Frankenstein (And His Monster)

31 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

There are few monsters more iconic or enduring than Frankenstein's. From Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, to the 1931 Hollywood film, to the countless plays...

The Scramble: Russia Probe; World Series; Your Calls

30 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates surrendered Monday morning to special counsel Robert Mueller after he asked them to do so. ...

The Nose Is Ready For Another Janet Jackson Halftime Show

27 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix's new 10-episode series "Mindhunter" tells the story of the beginnings of criminal psychology and criminal profiling at the FBI. As such, at i...

An Hour Of Reason With Richard Dawkins

26 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Dawkins is probably the best-known ethologist and evolutionary biologist in the world. And he's maybe the best-known atheist and secularist --...

It's Just Another Dam Show!

25 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In 1955, Connecticut experienced catastrophic flooding that killed more than eighty people. Two back-to-back hurricanes  - Connie and Diane - dro...

A Conversation With Stephen Schwartz

24 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

From his work on Wicked, to Pippin, to Godspell, to The Magic Show and more, few people have had such a hand in shaping the music of Broadway theater ...

The Scramble: Stories From Puerto Rico; The Final Files On The Assassination Of JFK

23 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The devastation left by Hurricane Maria on September 20 is overwhelming the millions of Americans who are still without power and unable to meet basic...

The Nose Suffers Through 'Gerald's Game'

20 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I mean that verb a couple different ways. Some of The Nose suffered through Gerald's Game because they didn't like it. Some of The Nose suffered throu...

An Hour With Kurt Andersen

19 Oct 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...

Hurricanes, Wildfires, Flooding -- Is The Apocalypse Upon Us?

18 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Novelists have been writing for decades about worlds in which the climate is in crisis. Those stories are becoming increasingly realistic -- in a sens...

Live From Watkinson: The Great Democracy Suggestion Box

17 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Everybody has this feeling that American Democracy isn't what we want it to be right now. It doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel like we're unified ev...

The Scramble: Voter Data; Iran; NFL

16 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

President Trump decertified the internationally-supported Iran nuclear deal Friday but didn't walk away from it. Instead, he kicked it to Congress to ...

The Nose Went To 'Blade Runner 2049' (Even Though No One Else Did)

13 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

That's not really true. LOTS of other people went to see Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner" sequel. It grossed almost $82 million in its opening weeken...

The Secret Lives Of Numbers

12 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Numbers are so fundamental to our understanding of the world around us that we maybe tend to think of them as an intrinsic part of the world around us...

An Atheist Quaker, A Jewish Christian, And A Christian Buddhist All Walked Into A Bar...

11 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Until about 150 years ago, most people  were born into a religion that carried them to adulthood. That's no longer the case. Support the sho...

An Ode To Yodeling

10 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

What is yodeling, anyway? Some consider it singing, some say it's an ululation, and still others consider it merely a means to herd animals. Whatever ...

The Scramble: Contraception; Abortion; Harvey Weinstein

09 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins about the Department of Health and Human Services decision Friday to give employers and corpora...

The Nose Boldly Goes

06 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's a good time to be a Star Trek fan... inasmuch as there's a bunch of new Star Trek-related content, anyway. CBS has a real-live, brand-new Star Tr...

October Baseball Is Here!

05 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The American League Division Series start today. This afternoon, the lowly Boston Red Sox play in Houston, and then tonight, the 27-time world champio...

Deconstructing "Deconstructing 'Sgt. Pepper's'"

04 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It was 50 years ago that The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's been called the beginning of the album era. In 2003, Ro...

Fairies And Fairy Tales From Shakespeare, To Grimm's, To The Modern Age

02 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Mischief and mirth abound in the magical realm of fairies. Whether it's Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream or J.M Barrie's Tinkerbell, ...

The Scramble: Las Vegas; U.S. Missteps In Puerto Rico

01 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A gunman opened fire on a crowd assembled for an outdoor concert festival Sunday night, killing more than 50 people and wounding hundreds, from a high...

What's Your Problem? With Chion Wolf

29 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

I’m Chion Wolf and this is What’s Your Problem?!Since Colin McEnroe is away, I’m taking over with a radio version of my live advice show, What’...

An Hour With John McPhee

28 Sep 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...

Nutmeg May Seem Pretty Harmless...

27 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1800s, Connecticut peddlers would travel south to peddle goods made in small factories around the state. The best way to increase their profit ...

The Movies Get "Split Personalities" All Wrong

26 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The movie "Split," by director M. Night Shyamalan, is the latest in a long line of movies that portray people with "split personalities" as either vio...

A Conversation With Sam Waterston

25 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sam Waterston says he's been been lucky to have good fortune in his career and personal life. He's been nominated multiple times for Emmy, Academ...

Cash Culture: The History (And Future?) Of Our Love For Paper Currency

22 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As our society moves further away from paper currency, we pause to look back at the once predominant form of payment. Its look, its feel and its smell...

Cannibalism: History Of A Taboo, From The Bible To The Box Office

21 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Of the many strange behaviors we humans have engaged in, few seem more abhorrent than cannibalism. But the act of feasting on another human's flesh ca...

A Poet, A Limo Driver, And A Pastor Walk Into A Talk Show...

20 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Colin McEnroe is taking a couple weeks off, so today Chion Wolf introduces you to three Connecticut residents who have careers in very different field...

The Spirit Is In The Music

19 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Recently, I hopped into my car to go home after a long and grinding first day back to work. I had just returned the day before from a two-week vacatio...

The Cost Of Health Care Is Killing Us

18 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We spend over three trillion dollars on health care every year and we have worse outcomes than any other developed country - all of which spend on ave...

The Nose Has A Close Encounter With 'Close Encounters'

15 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was originally released on December 14, 1977. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards and has gone on to gross ...