The Colin McEnroe Show
Episodes
A Cartoonist's Mother's Love Affair With a Cartoonist
24 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
I first met cartoonist Bill Griffith back in the 1980s. I arranged for us to tour a Boston-area Hostess Twinkie plant, which sounds like a weird first...
Scientists Confirm Existence of Woo-Woo. Woo-Woo Declares Results Inconclusive
22 Sep 2015
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 official term, refers to ideas considered irrati...
Is America Losing Its Bearings?
22 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
There was a time when hard work brought most Americans a decent wage, a secure life, and opportunities to aim for a better life. George Packer says th...
The Scramble: Emmys Start the Week, Pope Closes It
21 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
There's a lot of great TV. We already knew that, but the Emmy Awards reiterated that we live in a golden age of television. "TV is where you meet peop...
The Nose: Clock Debacle and GOP "Crazy Talk"
18 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ahmed Mohamed is a 14-year-old Texas student who likes to tinker. He was arrested for bringing a home-made clock to school, because school officials t...
The World According to Atlas Obscura
17 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Online guidebook Atlas Obscura considers itself a "friendly tour-guide to the world's most wondrous places" -- a number of which can be foun...
An Hour With Song-and-Dance Man Ben Vereen
16 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Vereen was plucked from the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn to go to the prestigious Performing Arts High School because somebody thou...
Checking In With a Physicist and a Filmmaker
15 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we get updates from a few of our favorite former guests. UConn physicist Ron Mallett is looking to fund a feasibility study to pay for the ...
How Can We Help the Syrian Refugees?
14 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ever since a photo of a Syrian boy dead on a beach made the rounds of the internet, there has been a new focus on the refugee crisis. The United Natio...
Late Show With The Nose
11 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It was a rocky start to Stephen Colbert's Late Show debut. He admitted he went way over time, and barely got it on the air. But days later, his emotio...
A Conversation With Joyce Carol Oates
09 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Joyce Carol Oates has been writing since before she could read, making "books" by drawing and coloring characters in her tablet. She preferred upright...
Storytelling With Matthew Dicks
09 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Caroline Jacobs is a grown woman with children of her own. But by all accounts, she's a wimp. She would prefer to suffer in silence than stand up for ...
Christopher Shinn Taps Local Roots for Play at Hartford Stage
08 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Hartford and raised in Wethersfield, playwright Christopher Shinn pays homage to Connecticut in a new play called "An Opening In Time."Su...
Making The Nose Great Again
04 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we'll talk Evan Osnos' in-depth look at the nationalist movement behind presidential candidate Donald Trump. How much power lies with the fr...
Black Holes: How an Idea, Hated By Einstein, Became Loved
03 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Einstein's general theory of relativity with author and scholar Marcia Bartusiak. Bartusiak'...
The Inner Circle of Hunter S. Thompson
02 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Hunter S. Thompson was one of those writers whose lives start to matter more than their art. From almost the beginning, life and art were intentionall...
Obsolescence: Novelty Versus Nostalgia in the Age of Mass Production
31 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In an era awash in the rollout of brand new gadgets, gizmos, fashions, and fads, it's easy to think of obsolescence as part of the natural order: Reme...
The Scramble: Bears, Blumenthal, and Boastful Americans
31 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Does it seem like there are a lot of bears in Connecticut? It's hard to have a conversation this summer without someone mentioning they spot...
What Makes a Word a Word?
28 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
If you know how to read, you're probably pretty good at recognizing words. But, new words like "egg corn," "crema" and "slendro" are challenging our c...
Getting to Know Our Iranian-American Neighbors
27 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
America and Iran have not had an easy relationship since 1979, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days by students supporting the Iranian Rev...
Are You Smarter Than an Octopus?
26 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The octopus has always been the stuff of spine-tingling legend, like that of the Kraken, the many-armed sea monster believed to drag ships to the bott...
Protest Music: Then and Now
25 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Music can be a powerful, transformative tool in the quest for social change. Protest songs are the songs associated with a particular movement. E...
The Scramble: So Wait, What Should You Do in a Terrorist Attack?
24 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Officials in France and the United States are celebrating the actions of three brave passengers aboard a train who thwarted an attack. Did these passe...
Another Supposedly Fun Nose We Will Never Do Again
21 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
“Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a k...
Dragons Rule!
20 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
She who controls the dragon controls the world.Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion are the most recent dragons to capture our attention, thanks to "Game of T...
Getting Graphic With Roz Chast
19 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In her graphic memoir Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, cartoonist Roz Chast brings humor to the difficult topic of aging parents. Last ye...
Talking With Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch
18 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Colin spent the last few weeks speaking with each of the Bridgeport mayoral candidates likely to qualify for the September 16 primary. First, Joe Gani...
The Scramble: Song of The Summer? Not This Year
17 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this summer, we spent a full hour listening to candidates for "song of the summer." Now that summer is winding down, we’re still trying to f...
The Nose: Cuckie Monster and Crimson Tide
14 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Last week's Republican debate created chaos on the internets: Trump insulted Fox's Megyn Kelly, which naturally led to ladies live twe...
It's a Left-Handed Show
13 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Lefties have been scorned as evil, and celebrated as superior. But, like so many things in life, being a southpaw is not so easily defined. Suppo...
We're Having a Poo Party!
12 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Today, our show about poo.First, the 'no-poo' movement. Before the last century, people washed their hair a lot less often than we do today. A little ...
Will Mary-Jane Foster Be Bridgeport's Next Mayor?
11 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Candidate Mary-Jane Foster is hoping to qualify for the Bridgeport mayoral primary on September 16. She thinks she's got a pretty good chance.Foster i...
The Scramble: There's an Atheist in the Huddle
10 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Athletes have always used their elevated platform to advance products and ideas. After a game winning play, it's almost expected to hear the star than...
The Nose Has Its Moment of Zen
07 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
So we know that everyone in the world is covering the end of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show today. We know that you’ve probably already listened to ...
Brrr... Turn Off the Air Conditioner
06 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It's summer and 90 degrees -- so why am I freezing at the office?A recent New York Times article on air conditioning has sparked a debate on whether a...
Talk to the Hand: The Puppet Show
05 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Who doesn't love puppets?From the Muppets to Edgar Bergen to the Thunderbirds, they defined our childhoods. Today they're taking over the theater with...
Does Your Dog Really Know How You Feel?
04 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Our show is all about "man's best friend." Dogs are, generally, cute and cuddly and many of us adore them. But what's the science behind our pupp...
The Scramble: Can We Say %&!* On-Air?
03 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Internally, NPR has debated when and where it is appropriate to swear. If the President of the United States says the N-word, should it be bleeped on ...
The Nose: The Revenge of Cecil and Amy
31 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This past week, a Minnesota dentist and father of two shocked us out of our complacency. Desensitized by the weekly shootings this summer of African A...
Is Bridgeport Ready for Joe Ganim's Return?
30 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
No one can argue the charisma of former Bridgeport mayor Joe Ganim. He served five terms as a beloved leader in a city long plagued by crime, po...
Martin Short Is On, I Must Say!
29 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Two funny men. Two funny books. I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend follows the life of Martin Short, a funny man who spent his childho...
Marriage in Our Modern World
28 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Across the United States, partners still hold the institution of marriage dear. Yet as time moves on, there are significant changes in the way America...
The Scramble Kisses Its Chickens*
27 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The CDC recently announced that kissing or cuddling your chickens is a health hazard. Because… Well, because people kiss or cuddle their chickens, a...
The Nose Refuses To Talk About Sharknado
24 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, the Nose will definitely NOT talk about Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!But they will cover Gawker's horrible week. After lots of backlas...
A Woman and Her Store: Remembering Beatrice Fox Auerbach and G. Fox and Co.
23 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, a panel of experts and historians gives us an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Beatrice Fox Auerbach, owner and CEO of Connecticut's...
The Flap Over Flags
22 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Flags have been in the news a lot lately. South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from its Statehouse this month and one Missouri county thre...
The Backstory of Advice
21 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What makes advice good or bad? When and why do we listen to what others have to say? It is human nature to turn to others for advice when the going ge...
The Scramble: The Education of a Mass Murderer
20 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 2011, Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in Norway, most of them teenagers. He's serving a 21-year prison term, which can be extended. But in ...
The Nose Talks Race, Politics, and Pluto
17 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we'll talk about Ben Rothenberg's Serena-driven body image piece, and the stir it caused. Mark Leibovitch's peice on Support the show:...
What Happened to the Great American Songbook?
16 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, author Ben Yagoda joins us as we explore the rise, the fall, and the rebirth of the Great American Songbook. Support the show: http://...
The Allure of Gold Throughout History and the Modern Age
15 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The history of gold is a history of beauty, bloodshed and obsession. Gold has been fought for, worn ornamentally, traded as tender and at times even w...
Stalin's Ghost
14 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Joseph Stalin's only daughter grew up the beloved pet of a man responsible for a decades-long campaign to arrest, torture, execute or forcibly impriso...
The Scramble: Big Week in the Book World
13 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the long-awaited sequel to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird hits bookshelves. Since it was announced, questions were raised abo...
The Nose Takes a Selfie With Donald Trump
10 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Univision and NBC cut ties to Donald Trump and he won't be returning to The Apprentice, his long-running television show, because of the inflammatory ...
You Have How Many Kids?
08 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When I was a child in the 1960's, it was not uncommon to have friends with 5 or 6 siblings. I was one of 4.But, times have changed. For all sorts of r...
The (Sort of) Growth of the Podcast
08 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Podcasts weren't born last year with the arrival of Serial, the wildly successful story of an unsolved 1999 murder that you could hear solely on ...
Which Writers Get Museums?
07 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Twain has many literary sites; yet Henry James has none. You can visit Edith Wharton's house but not Shirley Jackson's. You can walk where Wallac...
Think You Can Write a Broadway Song?
06 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
So, you think it's easy to write a Broadway song? I say not so fast. The four aspiring writing teams that attended Goodspeed's Festival of New Mu...
Innovation in the Arts: The Search Continues
02 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
It's hard to imagine: the idea that the arts, the grand bastion of our creative genius, may soon be bankrupt. But are new ideas really an unlimited co...
Life, Death, Church, and ALS: a Conversation With Nancy Butler
01 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Once upon a time Nancy Butler lived in the Beltway and used her MBA to secure a high paying job with a defense contractor. But Butler had consid...
A Portrait of the "Bro" as a Young Man
30 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In some ways, the 'bro' is not new. He's there, for example, in Philip Roth's "Goodbye Columbus" as Ron Patimkin, the big athletic empty-headed brothe...
Recovering From a Brain Aneurysm With the Power of Cooking
29 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
At 28, Jessica Fechtor suffered a life-threatening brain aneurysm that knocked out some of her senses. Now she has written Stir: My Broken Brain and t...
The Nose: Did Clarence Thomas Watch "GWTW" One Too Many Times?
26 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the right of gays and lesbian to marry, as a matter of equal protection. In New York City, the cops were closing o...
I'm "Tryin" to "Take It Easy" But Everyone's Fighting Over The Eagles
25 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Eagles first album touched a cultural nerve in 1971, with songs like "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Witchy Woman," a prelude to the hits to come. An...
The Insidiousness of Propaganda
23 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We usually think of propaganda as a tool used by autocrats eager to manipulate minds and limit rights we take for granted in the West. Vladimir Putin,...
Fighting Climate Change Could Involve Changing Your Lifestyle
23 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 1997, more than 180 nations signed the Kyoto Protocol. The idea was clear and ambitious: Begin the process of saving the planet from global warming...
The Continuum of Racism in America
22 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of another mass shooting, President Barack Obama took the podium in the White House press briefing room to address reporters. The shooting...
The Nose: Live From The 2015 Festival of Arts and Ideas
19 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We're taking The Nose, our weekly culture round table, to The Study at Yale in New Haven, joining the International Festival of Arts, Ideas, and Panca...
Song of the Summer 2015
18 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How do you define “The Song of the Summer?” DJ Brendan Jay Sullivan likens it to a summer romance: Fresh faces only (no repeat artists), love at f...
Write the Future: Women in Speculative Fiction
17 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For some readers, it's hard to imagine speculative fiction without female writers. After all, Margaret Cavendish and Mary Shelley practically created ...
Stage Fright Feels Awful
16 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Oh no! It's my turn to speak. My throat is tight, my mouth is pasty and the butterflies are eating at my stomach. My mind feels blank, what if my voic...
The Scramble Will RSVP "No" To Any Westeros Wedding
15 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
You get that Facebook invite. You think to yourself, "Yeah, that could be fun." You get reminders in the days leading up to the event. As the clock ti...
The Nose Has a Problem With Women
12 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Elinor Burkett, citing Summers' speech and asking if men and women have different brains.We'll talk about the controversy surrounding one of the Inlan...
Is Technology Getting Too Smart?
11 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Wendell Wallach predicts that crises in public health and our economy will increase dramatically in the next 20 years, likely a result of ou...
Esperanto In The Internet Age
10 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Esperanto was first published in 1887 by Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist L.L. Zamenhof. His goal was to create a neutral language; one that would foster...
What Makes a Word a Word?
09 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
If you know how to read, you're probably pretty good at recognizing words. But, new words like "egg corn," "crema" and "slendro" are challenging our c...
The Scramble: In New York, Tonys and Crowns
08 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Lots of awards were handed out in New York this weekend. The annual Tony Awards were given to the best Broadway productions of the year. But no amount...
The Nose is Talking About Caitlyn Jenner Too
05 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Way back -- I don't know -- a week ago, the story of Caitlyn Jenner was pretty amazing.The gender transition of one of America's most acclaimed male a...
Dragons Rule!
03 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
She who controls the dragon controls the world.Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion are the most recent dragons to capture our attention, thanks to "Game of T...
Order From Chaos: Why Patterns Prevail in the Physical World
03 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Patterns are everywhere: both in the wonders of nature and in the man-made world. They exist in the formations of crystals and clouds, in art and musi...
I'm Having a *$#%! Miserable Day
01 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
All of us know what it feels like to have a bad day - the pain, the regret, the sheer misery. We also know how one bad decision can spiral into a...
The Scramble: a Visit to the 2015 Berkshire International Film Festival
01 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, we went up to do our annual live show from Great Barrington, Massachusetts at the Berkshire International Film Festival. Our usual host, Th...
This Trailer Show is Rated G for Great
29 May 2015
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 becau...
I'm So Tired! At Least, That's What My Head Is Telling Me
28 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 1954, Roger Bannister did the previously unthinkable. He ran a mile in under four minutes. Six weeks later, his chief rival John Landy, did the sam...
Exploring What It Means To Be Jewish
27 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jews make up 2.2 percent of the population although it fluctuates depending on who gets counted. The U.S. Jewish population is roughly the same size, ...
The Many Moods of Hartford Stage's Darko Tresnjak
25 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Connecticut has been incredibly lucky in the directors who have made its regional theaters their basis of operations. Don't miss this full-length conv...
The Nose Goes Crazy Over Mad Max
22 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Setting into your movie theater seat for "Mad Max Fury Road" you are treated a series of trailers that remind you how many movie screens this year wil...
From Mozart to Radiohead: Sybarite5
21 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
From Mozart to Radiohead, Sybarite5’s eclectic repertoire and dynamic performance style is turning heads throughout the music world: “…that impa...
Understanding Hierarchies in Nature and Society
20 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Social structures, in almost all cases, are defined by some form of hierarchy. Whether in academics, sports, religion, business, or politics, there's ...
Transcending Gender Roles Across Cultures
18 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As our culture continues to progress, one elephant in the room that seems to be growing harder to ignore is our views on human sexuality. The traditio...
A Serial Scramble: Podcast's Co-Creator Julie Snyder
18 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
If you listen to public radio, you probably know her name. If you don’t listen to public radio, then you probably know her name from the massively p...
The Nose Wonders Why Canned Hams Are Funny
15 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
David Letterman reinvented television. He's irreplaceable. He was a comedic revolution. According to President Obama, Letterman is "a part of all of u...
Was The American Revolution a Riot?
14 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Hartford is one of the poorest cities in America. While there is lots to love about this city, like the fact that poor minorities are not subject to t...
The Healing Power of Music: Colin McEnroe at Watkinson School
13 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of interconnected things were happening in the 1990s, an oncologist and hematologist named Mitchell Gaynor discovered through a Tibetan mo...
Nudism: No Shoes, No Shirt... No Problem!
12 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
There are many kinds of nudism - or naturism. There are people who just like doing stuff while not wearing clothes. And there are those who believe th...
The Scramble: "Shoveling While Black" Leads Doug Glanville to State Capitol
11 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The discussion about race and police started long before the recent events in Baltimore, Ferguson, Staten Island, and many other communities. Last yea...
The Nose Gets All Dressed Up To Eat a Big Mac
08 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
This hour on the nose: Sports! Did you know it’s a mistake to include content that makes light of domestic violence? Damn, why didn’t WE...
Practice of Forgiveness Shown to Help Victims Heal
06 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Think back to a time you felt wronged by someone. Does the memory of the injury still make you upset or cause you stress? Considering the amount ...
Think You Can Write a Broadway Song?
06 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
So, you think it's easy to write a Broadway song? I say not so fast. The four aspiring writing teams that attended Goodspeed's Festival of New Mu...
Living the Freelancer Life
05 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We all know that the days of punching our clock for exactly forty hours is over. One of the alternatives that has risen in its place is what's called ...