The Colin McEnroe Show
Episodes
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...
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...