The Colin McEnroe Show
Episodes
Those were the days: Nostalgia in our popular culture
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been noticing a sort of backwards-looking bent lately in TV shows like Ripley, with its 1960s setting and its black-and-white aesthetic and i...
Is print dead or is it making a comeback?
16 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is print dead? Or will it make a comeback? This hour, we talk about the benefits and drawbacks of getting your news in print form. We learn about the ...
Osculate me, you fool! A brief history of romantic kissing
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, a look at why humans touch others with their lips (and often their tongues!). Join us as we overthink the simple act of kissing. GUESTS: ...
Everyday Carry: Unpacking what we carry with us and why
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What’s in your pockets right now? Phone, wallet, keys … maybe some discarded receipts or old gum? This hour: what we carry with us every day, from...
How ’bout them apples?
13 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, a look at the cultural significance of the apple, from Adam and Eve to keeping the doctor away. Plus: growing apples and the future of appl...
The Nose looks at ‘Baby Reindeer’ and our (maybe) era of mid TV
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Baby Reindeer is a seven-episode half-hour limited series written and created by Richard Gadd and based on his autobiographical one-man play. Accordi...
The collective heartbreak in a dog’s death, from Kristi Noem to ‘Old Yeller’
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The internet is up in arms over the revelation that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem once shot and killed her dog. This hour, we’ll get into it. Fr...
Fumble! The state’s failed bid to bring the Patriots to Hartford, 25 years later
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It has been 25 years since the deal between the state of Connecticut and Robert Kraft’s New England Patriots — the deal that would’ve brought th...
Author A.J. Jacobs says he "will never take elastic or democracy for granted again"
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In A.J. Jacobs' new book, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning, he details hi...
How charisma shapes our world
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly is charisma? You know it when you see it, but is it possible to measure? Is it something you can learn, or just something you’re born w...
An hour with mystery writer Adrian McKinty
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of thrillers and mysteries probably best known for The Chain and the Sean Duffy series. On a dark and stormy...
From abortion to homelessness: A dive into the Supreme Court cases you may have missed
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's hard to stay on top of everything happening in the Supreme Court lately — a case about whether governments can criminalize sleeping outside whe...
The storied history of people sleeping through things
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been reported that Donald Trump has been sleeping during his Manhattan trial. This hour, a look at the storied history of people sleeping throu...
How the weight of family ‘truths’ can get heavier with each generation
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Lisa Belkin spent 10 years retracing the ancestry of three families, over four generations, to understand how a series of random encounters...
We take your calls
29 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 ‘Fallout’ and ‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fallout is a post-apocalyptic TV series developed for Amazon MGM Studios by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, who co-created Westworld for HBO. It is th...
‘Our president is not a king’: Examining the January 6 and presidential immunity cases in the Supreme Court
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Supreme Court recently started hearing oral arguments about whether the Jan. 6 attacks constitute obstruction of an official proceeding. Thursday,...
The late Daniel Dennett on consciousness, faith, and more
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel Dennett was one of the most famous philosophers in the world, one of the so-called “Four Horsemen of the New Atheism.” Dennett died April 1...
A look at juries, from '12 Angry Men' to the Trump trial
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It took almost a week to select the jurors and alternates for the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump. This hour is all about juries. We'...
An hour with Rupert Holmes
20 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Holmes won two Tony Awards for his musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His single “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” went to No. 1 on the Bil...
The Nose looks at ‘Civil War’ and ‘Manhunt’
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In January, we did a show that wondered both how much the American Civil War speaks to the present American moment and how likely a new American Civil...
A look at Trump’s hush money trial, the Golden Divorce, and slouching
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we've got one show with three topics. First, the Trump 'hush money' trial; next, the history of slouch-shaming; and finally, the Golden Bac...
Where does the idea of the tortured poet come from?
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Taylor Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department, comes out Friday. So this hour, we are taking a look at the idea of the actual tortured...
Unburying the truth about pirates with Rebecca Simon
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We imagine pirates to be the quintessential rule-breakers — but really, they had their own strictly-followed codes. How did 18th-century pirates ...
We take your calls
15 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 ‘Ripley’ and a new version of Scrabble
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ripley is an eight-episode limited series adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels. It is the first serialized screen version of those stor...
‘Riding the line between art and pulp’: A look at cult classic cinema
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If I say “cult classic,” what do you think of? Probably an underground movie that built up an intense following over time, like The Rocky Horror P...
From alief to phronesis, Tamar Gendler makes the case for why we should care about ancient philosophy
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, Yale Dean Tamar Gendler joins us to discuss her course “Public Plato: Ancient Wisdom in the Digital Age.” We'll talk about how to make ...
The luck of the draw: A deeper look at lotteries
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we’re talking about lotteries. How did this massive money redistribution game come to be? And we know that lotteries can randomly allocat...
Let us pray — A salute to our favorite mantis
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This legislative session, local students lobbied Connecticut lawmakers to change our state insect, which is currently the praying mantis. This hour we...
Cringe comedy, awkward moments and the legacy of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm has been on HBO for going on 24 years. As the show comes to a close, we take a Nose-ish look at it and its impa...
From logistical nightmares to ancient omens, a look at the dark side of the eclipse
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday, the contiguous U.S. will see a total solar eclipse for the last time until 2044. Online, the excitement is also giving way to fears — wil...
A conversation with Don Winslow about love, money, murder, and why free food tastes better
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bestselling author Don Winslow joins us to discuss his new novel, City in Ruins, which he says is the last of his career. GUEST: Don Winslow: Bes...
Radical or relevant? How the Luddites can help us relate to today’s technology
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today “Luddite” is used as a derogatory term for someone who doesn’t understand technology. But the original Luddites weren’t behind. They wer...
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...