The Colin McEnroe Show

We take your calls

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...

The Nose looks at ‘3 Body Problem’ and ‘Ramy Youssef: More Feelings’

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s Nose has crazy substitute teacher energy. 3 Body Problem is a Netflix series created by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo a...

Inside the confusing, time-sucking, unequal world of taxes

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's tax season. How did this quintessentially frustrating thing come to be so frustrating? And must it be so? This hour, we’re learning about why t...

From ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to ‘Dune,’ a look at the world of constructed languages

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Constructed languages have existed in popular culture for a long time, but they've reached a new level of ubiquity today. This hour, we talk with prof...

Reverence? Rejection? Reckoning with the actions of our ancestors

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we grapple with the impact our ancestors have on our lives and what our responsibility is if they did something we disagree with. GUESTS: ...

A look at our ‘toxic love story’ with plastic

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Plastic is everywhere in our world, and scientists are increasingly discovering the negative health and environmental impacts of the material. This ho...

A triptych of celebrity scandals: Kate Middleton, Dan Schneider, and Jonathan Glazer

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Nose is off. In its place this hour, a look at the current controversies swirling around certain celebrities: Catherine, Princess of Wales hasn’...

Our 14th* (almost) annual March Madness show

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

March Madness is here! And so the only logical thing to do is to get improv comedian Julia Pistell and the actual Bill Curry together to talk basketba...

How to be wrong

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We all strive to be right about things — we do our research, we listen to people who seem smarter than us, we make compelling arguments over dinner ...

The hidden joys of searching

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You’re probably familiar with the panicked rush that comes when you’re running around your house, looking for keys or a wallet you’ve misplaced....

We take your calls

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we take your calls about anything you want to talk about. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Googl...

What’s happening to the Great American Songbook?

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hammerstein. These, along with many other...

Shiver me timbers! A show about sea chanteys

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, the sea chantey is something people listen to while having a good time in bars or at festivals, but its roots are more complex, stretching into...

From ‘Memento’ to ‘Oppenheimer,’ the movies, mysteries, and marvels of Christopher Nolan

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Nolan’s movies have grossed more than $6 billion, earned 49 Academy Award nominations, and won 18 Oscars — including seven wins this y...

Spilling the beans about secrets

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our lives are entrenched in secrets — the average person, apparently, keeps as many as 13 of them at any given time. They’re largely regarded as b...

The Nose looks at ‘Dune: Part Two’ and ‘The Greatest Night in Pop’

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dune: Part Two is the third film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel. It is the second part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation and the first...

‘If the wind is right’: A deep dive into the smooth sounds of yacht rock

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Doobie Brothers. Christopher Cross. Steely Dan. Kenny Loggins. Toto. Michael McDonald. Ambrosia. Supertramp. (The Eagles? Uh, Michael Jackson?) So...

A look at one of our most forgotten presidents: Chester A. Arthur

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour is all about America’s 21st president, Chester A. Arthur, who took office after President James Garfield was assassinated. We look at Arth...

Keeping it brief: A celebration of short stories

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When was the last time you read a short story? This hour, we talk about why short stories are so popular in the classroom, but why adults don’t seem...

Lunch: It's so much more than what we eat

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour: lunch — from the hungry judge effect to the sad desk lunch. We’ll look at the history of our mid-day meal, talk about school lunches, a...

The Nose looks at ‘Poor Things’ and Jon Stewart’s return to ‘The Daily Show’

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Poor Things is the eighth feature film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. It is written by Tony McNamara and based on the 1992 novel Poor Things: Episode...

We’re having crisis fatigue

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Everything's felt like, and been called, a "crisis" lately. This hour, we talk about the overuse of the term "crisis," and crisis fatigue. Plus, we'll...

Voting for the lesser of two evils

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"The lesser of two evils" is a phrase we hear a lot during election cycles. Why is that? This hour, we look to philosophy, the polls, and forensic psy...

Are you an ENFP? An ISTJ? A look at the history, validity, and potential of Myers-Briggs

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Who am I? We’ve all wondered at some point. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a personality test based on Carl Jung’s psychological types, has offe...

We take your calls

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...

‘Always getting it wrong’: A look at the state of awards shows

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With the Academy Awards just two weekends away, this year’s awards season is coming to a close. With that in mind, this hour we take a Nose-ish look...

Invisible and essential, scanning through the history and impact of barcodes

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Barcodes are everywhere, and they helped to shape the world we live in. This hour, we'll look at the history and impact of barcodes. Plus, we'll look ...

Stop making sense: A salute to incoherence

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, partly cloudy spies with a 50% chance of certain rain. Have you ever wondered if you really exist? Consider that you might not exist at all...

Unpacking the impact of J. Edgar Hoover on the FBI and 20th century America

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

J. Edgar Hoover served as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under eight presidents and made the FBI into the organization it is toda...

The Nose looks at ‘American Fiction’ and ‘Criminal Record’

17 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

American Fiction, the feature film directorial debut of Cord Jefferson, is a comedy based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett. It is nominat...

From privacy to paper jams, a look at printer problems

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour is all about printers. We’ll talk about printer problems and why, despite our struggles, we can’t seem to quit them. And, we’ll talk w...

What's in a pseudonym?

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From pen names to online aliases, pseudonyms are all around us. This hour, we’re talking about what compels people to adopt an alternate identity wh...

Our second hour with Joyce Maynard

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, novelist Joyce Maynard joins us for a second time to talk about her latest novel, the blurring of life and fiction, and her new career ru...

From the Super Bowl to streaming, commercials are back

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour is all about commercials. We'll look at the Super Bowl ads, and how commercials have infiltrated streaming. Plus, a look at what’s going o...

The art of the ending

09 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Nose is off this week. In its place, and with the week coming to an end, it’s time for an hour on endings. We look at the art of the ending, won...

Finding humanity in humanism

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we look at the philosophy of humanism. We survey the history and evolution of the humanist tradition, and discuss what it means to practice ...

We take your calls

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...

From therapy-speak to armchair psychology, conversations around mental health are changing

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Terms that started out in the therapist’s office have moved into the public discourse. This hour we talk about therapy-speak, armchair psychology, a...

Did we even have a choice to do this episode about free will?

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we revisit the classic debate about whether or not we have free will. Plus: Is there anything that makes you feel like you have free will m...

The Nose looks at ‘In the Know’ and ‘Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative’

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the Know is a stop-motion, claymation, half-hour comedy series created by Zach Woods, Brandon Gardner, and Mike Judge. It follows a third-rate NPR...

Songs getting shorter, fish-poop beach sand, and Scramble the Duck

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour: popular songs are getting shorter, tropical sand is made of fish poop, and Scramble the weather-predicting duck puts Punxsutawney Phil to s...

An ode to yodeling

31 Jan 2024

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. Whateve...

A look at the state of philanthropy

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we take a look at the state of philanthropy with Amy Schiller, author of the new book, The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong ...

Our hour with the late Hal Holbrook

27 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Samuel and Olivia Clemens and their children moved into the house they’d had built at Nook Farm in Hartford — the house that we now call the Mark ...

The Nose looks at the current "hard-boiled women in cold climates" phenomenon

26 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in Alaska in True Detective: Night Country. Juno Temple, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Richa Moorjani in Minnesota in the rece...

From "Iowa nice" to New England blunt, how do we define "nice" in America?

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever heard someone say that East Coasters are kind but not nice, and West Coasters are nice but not kind? This hour, we’re figuring out wha...

From plagues to climate change, a look at how 2024 was imagined

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we take a look at the science fiction books and movies set in 2024 to see how close to reality they turned out to be. We'll discuss the 1960...

What’s going on with loneliness?

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Loneliness: It’s often cited as an “epidemic” and can have a health impact comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This hour, we talk about w...

we take your calls

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we take your calls about anything you want to talk about. SONGS:  “Now You Know” by the Original Cast of Merrily We Roll Along “Wins...

The Nose looks at ‘Saltburn’ and ‘The Holdovers’

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Saltburn is the second movie written and directed by Emerald Fennell, following Promising Young Woman. It is a comedy-drama-thriller set mostly on t...

“A safety valve”: The impact of ballot measures on democracy

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From abortion rights to partisan school board elections, ballot measures are a big deal in 2024. But what are they? A drop of direct democracy to defe...

Eternal flame: The continued relevance of the myth of Prometheus

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give it to humans, and suffered an eternity of punishment for doing so. This hour, we revis...

What our tears can tell us

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why do humans cry? This hour, we look at the science of crying and discuss what it does for us, emotionally and culturally. Plus: musician Dar William...

A look at the state of stand-up comedy

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In lieu of a standard Nose, we decided to take a show-length look at some of the best stand-up comedy from 2023 and some of the most-anticipated stand...

The cars have eyes: Data privacy (or lack thereof) and your vehicle

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Somewhere along the way, cars stopped being just a means of transportation — now, they’re also a dining room, an entertainment center, even an ext...

It’s kind of Civil War days right now

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s kind of Civil War days right now. Presidential candidate Nikki Haley choked on the cause. Former President Trump is being disqualified from sta...

What’s spoken flies away: The history and art of reading aloud

09 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s an old Latin saying from the early Middle Ages: Verba volant, scripta manent — What is written remains, what is spoken flies away. Essenti...

We take your calls

08 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we take your calls about anything you want to talk about. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancien...

The Nose looks at ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and the state of sex in movies

05 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d’une chute) is a French courtroom drama thriller directed by Justine Triet and written by Triet and Arthur Harari. It ...

When authenticity’s in crisis, we value it more

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of Merriam-Webster’s 2023 Word of the Year, we're doing a show on authenticity! What is it? Why do we care about it? And whether we're talk...

Political merchandise can tell us a lot about an election

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we look at the world of political merchandise. We explore the history of political merchandise, what it can tell us about an election, and t...

Humanity’s ongoing quest to end epidemics and escape contagion

02 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before Covid, Most Americans couldn’t imagine the staggering loss of life that earlier generations experienced during epidemics of smallpox, diphth...

The year-end Nose looks back at 2023

29 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing a streak of long, strange years, it’s been a long, strange year. And so, The Nose wonders how our popular culture is dealing with it all....

Our favorite jazz of 2023

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As we have every year for at least the last 10 years, to round out the year, we round up the best jazz of the year. GUESTS: Jen Allen: A pianist, com...

Invisibility fascinates and frightens us. But will it ever become reality?

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour: invisibility. We learn about the science of invisibility and whether we’re getting close to having the technology to turn invisible. We a...

We ❤️ romance novels

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Romance novels have long had a reputation for being flimsy, sexist, trashy bodice-rippers. But there’s lots more to the genre than meets the eye. Th...

Our 10th annual holiday spectacular with ‘Big Al’ Anderson and Jim Chapdelaine

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every year since 2014, we’ve done some version of this show. We get “Big Al” Anderson and Jim Chapdelaine and Colin together, we sing some songs...

The Nose looks at Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’

22 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Maestro is the second film produced, written, and directed by Bradley Cooper. Netflix calls it a “love story chronicling the lifelong relationshi...

Back from the dead: Exploring the cutting edge of de-extinction

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

At the beginning of the year, the company behind the public effort to de-extinct the wooly mammoth announced it will also be de-extincting the dodo. T...

Checking in on self-checkout

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As some stores announce they are getting rid of self-checkout machines, we take an hour to explore that technology and its impacts. We'll debate its p...

What does it mean to treat something as sacred?

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we look at the idea of sacredness — in both religious and secular spaces — and ask how we can identify and make places for the sacred i...

We take your calls

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...

The Nose looks at the glut of cult docuseries

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cult documentaries and docuseries sure seem to be having a moment right now. (On the other hand.) This isn’t the sort of material The Nose usually ...

Let’s hear your endorsements!

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A listener told us we should do a call-in show dedicated to endorsements from listeners. What a great recommendation! So we’re doing just that. Join...

Drowning in packages, junk, and other consumerism woes with 'Atlantic' writer Amanda Mull

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amanda Mull writes The Atlantic’s “Material World” column about American consumerism. This hour, we talk with Mull about the state of online sh...

Meet Connie Converse, the haunting songwriter whose work stayed hidden for decades

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have you heard the music of Connie Converse? She was a singer-songwriter in New York City in the middle of the 20th century, who, in her lifetime, nev...

From can openers to ricers, a look at what’s in our kitchens

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What’s in your kitchen? With a plethora of kitchen tools available to us today, the contents of our kitchen drawers varies. But a recent survey ...

The Nose looks at ‘May December’ and ‘John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial’

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

May December is the 10th film directed by Todd Haynes and his fifth collaboration with Julianne Moore. It stars Natalie Portman, Moore, and Charles M...

Go with your gut: All about the gut-brain connection

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This show's all about guts! How are our guts and our brains connected? How much of our emotional lives come from our stomachs? And how, across history...

From Barbra to Beyoncé: A look at the appeal of divas

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What is a diva? And how has the term evolved? This hour: divas. We look at how the term emerged in the opera and moved into the popular music landscap...

The art of the dial: Why we like hotlines and phone calls with strangers

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hotlines: whether you realize it or not, you’ve likely used one before. From emergency services to customer service and crisis lines, they often fly...

We take your calls

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...

From ‘Star Trek’ to ‘Arrival’: How pop culture helps us imagine extraterrestrial life

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We come to the end of our week of special coverage with a show about how we imagine extraterrestrial life. What do you picture when you picture extrat...

An hour with astronauts!

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you follow the show, then you probably know that we’ve had a bogus ban on astronauts for quite some time now. In case you don’t follow the show...

From flying saucers to flying saints: Belief and how we react to the “impossible”

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we continue our week of special coverage with a show focused on belief, and how we react when we experience things that we think should be impo...

Astrophysicists Adam Frank and Neil deGrasse Tyson discuss the search for extraterrestrial life

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, our week of discussions about life in the universe continues as we talk with two prominent astrophysicists about the possibility of life outsid...

Garrett Graff on the history of UFOs and our government’s attempts to make sense of them

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The United States has a long history of UFO sightings and reports, dating all the way back to the 1940s. This hour we talk about that history, and, sp...

‘Though the heavens fall’: The JFK assassination in our media and culture

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963. It would be hard to argue that the modern American era, the era that we’re still...

Who gets the part? There are no small actors or roles

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all recognize the big names or fall in love with a brand-new star — but what about that lady who killed it with her one line ab...

We take your calls

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we take your calls about anything you want to talk about. You can reach us at 888-720-9677. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter...

The Nose looks at ‘The Killer’ and ‘Albert Brooks: Defending My Life’

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s Nose has had to work through the occasional civilian who’s stood between eyes and the prize. The Killer is the 12th movie directed by ...

A COVID update: New vaccines, new variants, and new data on Paxlovid rebound

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

COVID, by the way, is … still a thing. The new vaccines are here, and people mostly aren’t getting them. The new variants are here, and the peopl...

Heather Cox Richardson helps us make sense of this moment in American history

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You likely know historian Heather Cox Richardson from her Substack, “Letters from an American,” where she puts the news of the day into historical...

Don’t sleep on bedtime stories: What we can all learn from these nighttime tales

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour: bedtime stories. What can we learn from people who write and tell them? How can we all be more intentional and magical about the last thing...

It’s a whole song and dance: The joy of marching bands

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Marching bands are now a staple at halftimes. But why? This hour, we discuss the art of the marching band. We’ll talk about all of the work that goe...

'The Golden Bachelor' and reality TV's real-life draw

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Don't turn your nose up at it! This hour, we'll hear a defense of reality TV from some of its most fiery fans. Plus: an exploration into the show taki...

First impressions are everything. Especially when you’re a headline

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Let’s be honest, sometimes we all just read the headline of a story, and nothing more. After all, who has time to read every article? Headlines help...

Cash is no longer king: How does that impact us personally and culturally?

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's becoming easier every day to pay for things without cash. You can pay with your credit card, your phone, an app, or even your palm. So how does t...

A look at buttons, couch potatoes, and the rise of the remote control

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Remote controls date all the way back to the 1800s, but they only entered most households in the 1950s or later. What impact did this have on how we w...

We take your calls

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have be...