The Colin McEnroe Show

The Nose on the ‘last’ Beatles song and the new Scorsese picture, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“Now and Then” is the first Beatles single of any kind in more than 27 years, and it may well be their last. It was released Thursday. “Now and ...

Every step you take: How walking and walkability shape our lives

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

"These boots are made for walking…" but instead, they sit by the door while you watch TV. This hour: Why is it often so hard to get walking? And wha...

The perks of being a wallflower: Unpacking House Speaker Mike Johnson

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we talk about the election of the new House Speaker: Representative Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana. We'll talk about Speaker Joh...

Shell we talk about eggs?

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What else besides an egg can give us human life, culinary delight, life-saving vaccines, jarping, the Clowns International Egg Registry, and a satisfy...

A 50-year retrospective on ‘The Exorcist,’ plus what’s a Skelly?

28 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve done a Halloween special each year for the past five years. And each year, and for no particular reason, we’ve spent a chunk of the show cov...

FOMO? Rage? Pleasure? How and why we hate-watch

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes, we just love to hate. From reality TV shows like The Bachelor and The Real Housewives franchise to movies like The Room and Twilight, somet...

The (so-called) dying art of dinner parties

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

News outlets and opinion writers have called it: The traditional dinner party is dead. But are dinner parties really so bad? Or are we just bad at hos...

Why the Roman Empire is worth thinking about

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We've recently discovered, thanks to TikTok, that many more people are thinking about the Roman Empire than you might expect... including the host of ...

The psychology of fandom: Why we care so much about fictional characters

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour is about the psychology of fandom. We look at how the mind of a fan operates. We talk with experts about the mental attachments and connecti...

We take your calls

23 Oct 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 Taylor Swift and ‘The Eras Tour’

20 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert film ever made, and it’s only been in theaters for five days. It took in more than $100 ...

URGENT: Please immediately listen to this show about scam emails

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A wealthy prince needs your help (via a wire transfer) to unfreeze his fortunes. He’ll reward you handsomely. While you’re sending him the money, ...

Take a seat and listen to our hour on chairs

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What can we learn about ourselves from what we sit on? This hour, the history of chairs, their impact on our lifestyle and health, and what’s in sto...

Emily St. John Mandel talks with us about how we treat one another, the simulation hypothesis, autofiction, and more

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour: a conversation with novelist Emily St. John Mandel about time travel, the simulation hypothesis, adapting her work to television, art and c...

Emily Wilson brings 'The Iliad' alive for a modern audience

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, Emily Wilson became internationally known for her translation of Homer’s The Odyssey, which was called “a revelation” and “a cultura...

‘It always means something’: Connecticut in the movies

13 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Illeana Douglas’ new book is Connecticut in the Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia. It isn’t just an encyclopedia of appearances by and re...

Life is hard. This philosopher wants to help us deal with that

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, a conversation about handling life’s hardships with philosopher Kieran Setiya, the author of Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Fin...

Unburying the truth about pirates with Rebecca Simon

11 Oct 2023

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 dic...

We take your calls

09 Oct 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 Hasan Minhaj controversy and Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl shorts

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s Nose has gotta be more like a rat than anything else in the world. Cleverer, even, than a rat, and that is not an easy thing to be, let ...

From alief to phronesis, Tamar Gendler makes the case for why we should care about ancient philosophy

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, Yale Dean Tamar Gendler joins us to discuss her new course “Public Plato: Ancient Wisdom in the Digital Age.” We'll talk about how to m...

Yascha Mounk discusses ‘The Identity Trap’ and the future of democracy

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Yascha Mounk’s new book, he “traces the origin of a set of ideas about identity and social justice that is rapidly transforming America — and...

I’ve Got Two Chickens to Paralyze: A celebration of mondegreens, malapropisms, and more

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we look at mis-speaks, mis-hearings, and mis-understandings, like malapropisms, mondegreens, eggcorns, and spoonerisms. We share our favorit...

Osculate me, you fool! A brief history of romantic kissing

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we look at why humans touch others with their lips (and often their tongues!). Join us as we overthink the simple act of kissing. GUESTS: ...

‘It’s OK with me’: The Nose rewatches ‘The Long Goodbye’ at 50

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s Nose got a couple other cans, ya know, and came back and switched the labels and the cans around. The Long Goodbye is a satirical neo-no...

Lost in my mind: What happens when we daydream

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do you daydream? What do you daydream about? This hour: the art of daydreaming. We reflect on the value of daydreaming and why it can be so difficult ...

Listen! Now!! Don’t miss!!! our show about the exclamation point.

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I’m so excited!!! The exclamation point is the only punctuation mark that can express (and evoke) strong emotion. You either love them or you hate t...

Why do AI voice assistants default to female voices?

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have you noticed that voice assistants like Alexa and Siri default to female voices? This hour, we talk about how artificial intelligence is reinforci...

Raising consciousness about lowering height

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, the full measure of short stature, from personal health, professional discrimination, and environmental impact to Humphrey Bogart’s strap...

Rocking the charts and reckoning with inequity: The dichotomy of country music

22 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Nose is off. In its stead: Country music dominated the charts for most of the summer. But the genre has also been the subject of controversy. This...

“I once had a dentist named Dr. Fillmore”: Stories of nominative determinism

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a theory that people are drawn to work that fits their name. This hour, an exploration of nominative determinism. Plus, a look at the differ...

‘Books can be mirrors or books can be windows’: How to decide what kids should read

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From book bans to comics and the strange origins of fairy tales, this hour we look at children's literature and talk about who decides what is appropr...

Everyday Carry: Unpacking what we carry with us and why

19 Sep 2023

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...

In politics, is age really just a number?

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we talk about age in politics, from why our politicians skew older to the impacts of that. And, we’ll learn about how animals pick leaders...

The art of political satire with Samantha Bee and Sophia McClennen

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Political satire is alive and well in America today. And it turns out it might have an important role in educating the public and the health of our de...

An hour with mystery writer Adrian McKinty

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of thrillers and mysteries probably best known for The Chainand the Sean Duffy series. On the dark and storm...

From Consumer Reports to Wirecutter, recommendation sites are ruling our shopping habits

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gone are the days when we’d browse a local store if we needed a new air purifier or oven mitt. Now, many people don’t dare make a purchase without...

What our monsters say about us

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, a look at misunderstood monsters, why humans create monsters in the first place, and the benefits of hearing a monster’s perspective. Plu...

We take your calls

11 Sep 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...

A look at ‘Strike Force Five’ and the value of physical media, plus endorsements

08 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Nose is off. In its place, a look at the No. 1 podcast in America, Strike Force Five, hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Set...

How ’bout them apples?

07 Sep 2023

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...

How charisma shapes our world

06 Sep 2023

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...

The fungus among us

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since we just spent a number of years thinking about viruses, here’s a question: Should we be pretty worried about funguses, too? This hour, a look ...

Not Necessarily The Nose: What’s happening to the Great American Songbook?

01 Sep 2023

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...

Why ticks are on the rise and how humans are fighting back

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You may have heard that tick borne diseases are on the rise. But don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. This hour, we’re taking you through thre...

What is public health?

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When we think of public health, we tend to think of things along the lines of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines, or even seatbelts and t...

Narcissists, we bet you think this show is about you. You’re right, it is

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There’s more to narcissism than meets the eye. This hour, we reflect on narcissism — our misunderstandings about it, its pervasiveness in our cult...

We take your calls

28 Aug 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...

Out of tune: The challenges of keeping a band together

25 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Nose is off this week. In its place: Everyone loves a good band breakup story. But it’s far more unusual to find bands that manage to stay toget...

How the weight of family ‘truths’ can get heavier with each generation

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist and author Lisa Belkin spent 10 years retracing the ancestry of three families, over four generations, to understand how a series of random...

The luck of the draw: A deeper look at lotteries

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this month, somebody in Florida won a $1.58 billion lottery jackpot. It was the largest Mega Millions jackpot to date, although four other Meg...

Exploring the myth and metaphor of Cassandra and the price of foresight

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You’ve likely heard the Greek myth of Cassandra, a woman given the gift of prophecy who was cursed never to be believed. This hour, a look at the Ca...

Radical or relevant? How the Luddites can help us relate to today’s technology

21 Aug 2023

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 were tech...

Reverence? Rejection? Reckoning with the actions of our ancestors

17 Aug 2023

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: ...

The hidden joys of searching

16 Aug 2023

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....

There are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. How do we make sense of a number like that?

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists estimate that there are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. But. How do we make sense of a number like that, like 20,000,000,000,000,000? This ho...

We take your calls

14 Aug 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 ‘Full Circle’ and ‘Justified: City Primeval’

11 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Timothy Olyphant has been a regular presence on various TV shows every single year dating back to Damages in 2009, before the original Justified. And ...

Examining the narrative takeover and its impacts

10 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like everything’s been turned into a story. You can see a company’s story on the packaging of juice, cereal, alternative milks. Politicia...

Spilling the beans about secrets

09 Aug 2023

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...

‘Rules rule’: How rules, both written and unwritten, shape our world

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rules are everywhere around us. This hour we talk about the history of rules and the power of unwritten rules. We wonder why some rules succeed while ...

Keeping it brief: A celebration of short stories

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When’s 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...

The Nose looks at movie monsters, ‘Hijack,’ and more

04 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s Nose has been traveling 22 years to get here, and now it’s here, and it’s either heads or tails, and you have to say. Hollywood cont...

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

03 Aug 2023

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...

Shiver me timbers! A show about sea chanteys

02 Aug 2023

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...

Beneath the surface: A deep dive into Connecticut shipwrecks

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Searching for sunken treasure? Long Island Sound is hardly the place to look. But what can be found in its murky waters are ample remains of Connectic...

We take your calls

31 Jul 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...

‘You can be anything’: A look at Barbie and ‘Barbie’

29 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

According to Mattel, more than a billion Barbie dolls have been sold since they launched the toy in 1959. Barbie and Ken are said to be the two most p...

The Barbenheimer Nose looks at ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It looks like this beach was a little too much beach for this week’s Nose. The Barbenheimer Apocalypse is upon us. Barbie is the fourth film writte...

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

27 Jul 2023

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...

‘There is no substitute’: Tom Cruise’s impossible missions

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been more than a decade since Tom Cruise made a movie that did NOT make $100 million. The newest Mission: Impossible just opened at $235 millio...

Our second hour with Joyce Maynard

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, novelist Joyce Maynard joins us again to talk about her latest novel, the blurring of life and fiction, and her new career running a hotel ...

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

24 Jul 2023

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...

The Nose looks at ‘Showing Up’ and ‘The Whale’

21 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s Nose wants its own water working. Showing Up is the eighth feature film directed by Kelly Reichardt, and it’s Reichardt’s fourth co...

Don’t hit snooze on this show: Breaking down the history and norms of sleep

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What if our ideas about how sleep should look are getting in the way of a good night's rest? This hour we talk about how we came to develop ideas of h...

We take your calls

19 Jul 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 art of the recipe: Gravestones, fictional worlds, and cookbooks (of course)

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour: recipes. We talk with someone who makes recipes found on gravestones, and we consider what makes an effective recipe, the history of the mo...

The new normal of UFOs, UAPs, and the search for extraterrestrial life

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour we get an update on the latest in the American conversation about the search for extraterrestrial life. This includes a conversation with jo...

The Nose looks at the SAG strike, the Emmy noms, and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

14 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has joined the Writers Guild of America on strike. It’s the first SAG st...

Finding humanity in humanism

13 Jul 2023

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 ...

What’s going on with loneliness?

12 Jul 2023

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...

Beauty and the Butt: A look ‘back’ at our complicated relationship with butts

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Whether we love or loathe our butt is deeply influenced by race, gender, and whether the shape and size of our butt is in or out of style. This hour, ...

Is Twitter toppling? Can Threads sew salvation?

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, a look at what’s going on with Twitter, and why it matters, even if you don’t use the platform. Plus, we discuss what this all means fo...

The Nose looks at ‘Asteroid City’ and continued OceanGate Titan fascination

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Asteroid City is Wes Anderson’s 11th feature film. It’s written and directed by Anderson from a story by Anderson and Roman Coppola. It’s a com...

What our tears can tell us

06 Jul 2023

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...

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

05 Jul 2023

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

03 Jul 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...

Read after watching: How episode recaps became part of our TV experience

30 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Nose is off this week. In its place: Why do we have so much trouble remembering all the TV we watch? This hour, a look at why episode recaps are s...

This show is so bad, it's good

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour, we’re celebrating things that are so bad, they’re good — the underdog ideas that fail so hard, they become successes. We’ll talk ab...

Has everything original been done?

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Has everything original been done? It’s a question that’s been asked about storytelling, music, fine art, movies, and so much more. This hour, we ...

Cross-examining the history and the future of the Supreme Court

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ethics and the Supreme Court are back (still?) in the news and in question. This hour, we are revisiting a show we did just over a year ago around the...

From The New York Times’ ‘Spelling Bee’ to orthography, a look at all things spelling

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This hour: spelling — what it is, why it matters, and why some of us actually find it fun. There will be a test. GUESTS: Deb Amlen: Crossword colum...

The Nose looks at Marvel’s takeover of Hollywood, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,’ and more

23 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is the second movie in the Spider-Verse film series and the 14th (not a typo) Spider-Man feature film. It has mad...

Humanity’s ongoing quest to end epidemics and escape contagion

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

We take your calls

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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

‘Everyone is involved’: Watergate in our popular culture

17 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The botched Watergate break-in happened 51 years ago today, on June 17, 1972. Over the decades since, the whole Watergate story has been processed thr...

The Nose looks at ‘The Binge Purge’ and ‘Turn Every Page’

16 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s Nose thinks that a semicolon is worth fighting a civil war about. Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb is...

Hippo ranching, a poop vault, and orcas sinking boats

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We have so much on our minds that we couldn’t pick one topic for today — we’re going with three! Strap in. First: a failed bill from the 1900s t...

Our (maybe) 13th (almost) annual song of the summer show

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve done this show every year (except 2012) since 2011. (We maybe even did it in 2010. We probably did. I just can’t prove it.) So it’...

A look at the philosophy, ethics, science, and emotion of time travel

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Countless books, movies, and TV shows explore time travel. This hour, a look at the hold that time travel has on pop culture and the philosophy, ethic...