The Colin McEnroe Show
Episodes
Listen! Now!! Don’t miss!!! our show about the exclamation point.
09 Mar 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 hate them....
‘Betcha can’t eat just one’: The science and art of snacking
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Snacking on snacks, savory or sweet, has become a way of life. This hour, we sink our teeth into our snack-food obsessions. GUESTS: Andrea Hernández...
Why Jane Austen’s work endures, on the page and screen
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Austen completed six full-length novels. And today, more than two centuries later, those novels are all still present in our culture. This hour, ...
Why do AI voice assistants default to female voices?
06 Mar 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...
The Nose looks at ‘Women Talking’ and ‘The Consultant’
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose has never asked the men for anything. Not a single thing. Women Talking is an adaptation of Miriam Toews’s 2018 novel written and...
Raising consciousness about lowering height
02 Mar 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...
The state of COVID, three years into the pandemic
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re now three years into the COVID-19 pandemic. This hour we look back at the past few years, and how we attempt to make sense of them. We’ll ta...
From mall music to dead malls: The past, present, and future of American malls
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Malls are an important gathering place for people of all ages to shop, eat, be entertained, walk, and enjoy the controlled temperature. This hour, the...
We take your calls
27 Feb 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 Best Animated Feature Oscar nominees
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose has every right to be consulted about your schemes and machinations regarding its property. To this point, The Nose has covered exa...
There’s always a reason to celebrate: A look at the world of unusual holidays
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today is Curling is Cool Day, Digital Learning Day, Single-Tasking Day, National Chili Day, and Introduce a Girl To Engineering Day. And these are jus...
Our relationship to UFOs is changing
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
UFOs are in the news again. This hour we look at how a once fringe interest in UFOs became mainstream. We discuss why so many Americans believe in ext...
Anger, politics, death: Revisiting ‘The Iliad’ through a modern lens
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Homer’s The Iliad is a literary classic. This hour, we look at some of the many ways the epic applies to life today, in our understanding of plague,...
‘A very particular set of skills’: A look at late-career Liam Neeson movies
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If I say “Liam Neeson movie,” you picture, at this point, a pretty specific thing, right? It’s kind of an action-thriller. Neeson is avenging so...
“I once had a dentist named Dr. Fillmore”: Stories of nominative determinism
16 Feb 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...
We take your calls
15 Feb 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...
First dates and lockdown love stories: a look at romance during COVID
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, a look at how the pandemic shaped dating, long-term relationships, and love over its first two years. GUESTS: Philippa Found: An artist an...
Hey, Burt, these folks are in love with you
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Burt Bacharach was, simply put, one of the most important figures in popular music in the 20th century. He wrote 73 Top 40 hits, including songs like ...
The Nose looks at ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Triangle of Sadness’
10 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose needs food to live, so it begins to devour its host from within. The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic TV series adapted for HBO fro...
Out of tune: The challenges of keeping a band together
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone loves a good band breakup story. But it’s far more unusual to find bands that manage to stay together for the long haul. This hour we explo...
What our monsters say about us
08 Feb 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...
How robots, and our attitudes toward them, have evolved
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What counts as a robot? This hour, a look at what robots are and the latest in robot technology. Plus, how robots were used and thought about in medie...
The fungus among us
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The HBO television adaptation of the video game The Last of Us takes place after a global pandemic caused by a fungal infection. Which sparked the que...
The Nose looks at ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and ‘Poker Face’
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose thanks you for your underwear concern. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a sequel to 2018’s Black Panther. It is the seventh and ...
Pizza boxes, expiration dates, and donkeys
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we discuss the problem with pizza boxes and food expiration dates. Plus we look at the history of the donkey and what it can tell us about h...
We take your calls
01 Feb 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...
Redheads: From stereotypes to superpowers
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Redheads. They smell better. They’re better at sensing temperature changes. They can handle more pain. (Those things are apparently all true.) But. ...
Classified documents, font controversies, and the connection between exercise and spirituality
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This hour: are too many documents classified in the U.S.? Plus, why the State Department is changing its default font. And, we'll look at the connecti...
The Nose looks at the Oscar noms and ‘The Menu’
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose never burns anything unless by design — to make delicious. This year’s Academy Award nominations were announced Tuesday morning...
Narcissists, we bet you think this show is about you. You’re right, it is
26 Jan 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...
Exploring the myth and metaphor of Cassandra and the price of foresight
25 Jan 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...
‘Monuments aren’t history lessons’: A look at the present and future of monuments
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we look at the landscape of monuments across the United States and explore how new monuments are created and how old ones are decommissioned...
Now we’re cooking with gas! But should we be?
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Talk of regulating gas stoves in the United States recently ignited a firestorm. This hour we talk about what sparked the debate, the health impacts o...
The artful todger: The Nose looks at ‘Spare’ and the present Prince Harry moment
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose has no prince autopilot button that you can press and it just takes you away. The English-language edition of Prince Harry, The Duk...
It’s a flu! From COVID to pregnancy, a look at home testing
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks to rapid COVID-19 tests, most of us have gotten comfortable taking medical tests at home. But why aren't there home tests for more diseases? Th...
We take your calls
18 Jan 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 Achilles to Harry Potter: How the hero’s journey helps, and limits, our storytelling
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The concept of the hero’s journey was popularized by Joseph Campbell and outlined in his 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell based t...
The Nose looks at ‘Decision to Leave,’ bids adieu to Stoned Wheat Thins, and more
13 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Decision to Leave (헤어질 결심) is the eleventh feature film directed by Park Chan-wook. It deftly threads the police procedural, neo-noir, myste...
There are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. How do we make sense of a number like that?
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We recently heard that scientists are estimating that there are 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. Which made us wonder: how do we make sense of a number l...
Late night TV’s idea of diversity is a white guy not named Jimmy
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In just the last year, at least six different late night comedy shows have ended. Conan O’Brien left Conanon TBS, who also canceled Full Frontal wit...
Hey, ho, let’s go! 50 years of punk rock
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Punk rock’s been around for a good half a century now. This hour, a deep dive into punk’s past and present. GUESTS: Legs McNeil: Co-founder of P...
Never bring a cane to a knife fight and other lessons of Congress's chaotic week
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After 15 votes, Representative Kevin McCarthy is now speaker of the House of Representatives. This hour we talk about that election, its historical si...
The Nose looks at ‘White Noise’ and ‘The Recruit’
06 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is like a shapeless, growing thing, a dark, black, breathing thing of smoke. White Noise is a movie adaptation of the landmark 1985...
Read after watching: How episode recaps became part of our TV experience
05 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we discuss episode recaps and why we need them. We talk about why they're so popular, what makes them useful, and what their prevalence can ...
Lost in translation: Our ode to the art of translating
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Translators help open up our worlds by bringing us stories from around the globe. But often they’re not given very much credit for their work. This ...
We take your calls
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to 2023. For our first show of the new year, we figured we’d see what’s on your minds. This hour, it’s book editors and learning foreign...
Our favorite jazz of 2022
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To round out the year, we round up the best jazz of the year. We’ve done this every year for at least the last nine years. GUESTS: Jen Allen: A pia...
The nighttime Nose looks back at 2022
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a long, strange year. Again. So how is our popular culture dealing with it all? The Nose is thinking about a few things. Our shared monocu...
List making, listicles, lists of lists: An hour devoted to list culture
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lists feel especially suited to the digital age, but humans have been creating lists for a long time. So why are we drawn to lists? This hour, the art...
Examining the narrative takeover and its impacts
27 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It seems like everything’s been turned into a story lately. You can see a company’s story on the packaging of juice, cereal, and alternative milks...
The Nose looks at the state of prestige TV and movies, plus ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose wants you to stop runnin’ away like some fool of a moody school child. Could it be that the market for highbrow movies is drying ...
Our 2022 holiday spectacular with ‘Big Al’ Anderson, Jim Chapdelaine, and friends
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Toward the end of every year since 2014, we’ve done a holiday special with “Big Al” Anderson and Jim Chapdelaine. In the beforetimes, we’d get...
“Rules rule”: How rules, both written and unwritten, shape our world
21 Dec 2022
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 ...
Beauty and the Butt: A look ‘back’ at our complicated relationship with butts
20 Dec 2022
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, ...
The Nose looks at ‘The Fabelmans’ and ‘The White Lotus’
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The second season of Mike White’s The White Lotus concluded on HBO this week. Its first season won the most awards at the Emmys this year: 10, inclu...
The Nose’s holiday gift guide
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Almost every week, at the end of the show, The Nose spends a segment on endorsements, on recommendations of things from the world of pop culture. This...
"I have learned so much in the last ten years": The lasting impact of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Wednesday, December 14, 2022, marks 10 years since 20 children and six educators were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connectic...
Saying goodbye to the leap second, misinterpreting animism, and a look at verdicts
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour: why timekeepers are getting rid of the leap second, how animism is misinterpreted, and whether we should have a spectrum of verdicts beyond...
Brainwashing: From the Korean War to cults to today
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The term “brainwashing” has been used throughout history by scientists, politicians, and journalists, as well as in movies and literature. This ho...
The Nose investigates ‘She Said’ and ‘Bone Valley’
09 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
She Said is a feature film adaptation of the book by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and it follows their New York Times investigation of Harvey Weinste...
Has everything original been done?
08 Dec 2022
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 ...
The triple-demic is here
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
COVID is on the rise again. The flu is setting all-time records, and is especially bad in Connecticut. Oh, and there’s still a respiratory syncytial...
From The NY Times’ ‘Spelling Bee’ to orthography, a look at all things spelling
06 Dec 2022
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...
What our search for extraterrestrial life can tell us about ourselves
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have long been interested in the possibility of extraterrestrial life. This hour, a look at why that interest has persisted. Plus, we talk to a...
Long live the movie musical
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Nose is off this week. In its place: The movie musical died a long, slow death a long time ago. Right? Well, except that there’s Spielberg’s ...
Two thumbs up: A show all about fingers
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Touch, grip, read, dance, gesture — what can’t they do? Our fingers are so vital to our everyday life, sometimes it seems they have minds of their...
What our attitude toward the Middle Ages can teach us about ourselves today
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the one hand, calling something “medieval” carries with it negative connotations of outdated times. But lately there has almost been a nostalgi...
The zipper: An invention overlooked yet essential
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We use zippers all the time, whether on clothes, shoes, bags, tents … the list goes on. Zippers keep our belongings secure, they keep us warm, they ...
Shaking assumptions about the humble tambourine
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The humble tambourine is the underrated, understated, unsung hero of contemporary music. This hour we shake our assumptions about this surprisingly en...
The Pre-Thanksgiving Nose considers Bono and ‘Tár’
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose has enrolled itself as an ultrasonic epistemic dissident. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story is a new memoir by Bono. It’s largely il...
The art of the recipe: Gravestones, fictional worlds, and cookbooks (of course)
22 Nov 2022
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 fax machine is dead. Long live the fax machine
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On the long timeline of long-distance communication technology that starts with the telegraph and leads all the way to the iPhone and beyond, there’...
The Nose worries about Twitter and looks at ‘Amsterdam’
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose has been attending various dinners and functions and telling what it’s learned about banks and troop movements, so on and so fort...
A look at the philosophy, ethics, science, and emotion of time travel
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Countless books, movies, and TV shows explore time travel. This hour, we talk about the hold that time travel has on pop culture and the philosophy, e...
What’s in a word? A look at the ways words change
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour we investigate the ways words change when they enter our discourse and how they acquire new meanings, or sometimes even lose their meanings....
It's a vibe! A look at what makes a vibe a vibe
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You must have heard the term “vibe” by now, right? We’ve heard about the vibe of the election, the vibe of the economy, the vibe of a music play...
The art of the ringtone
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ringtones went from uniform to a million dollar industry to the unconscious soundtrack of our lives. They’re pieces of music that are designed to ge...
The Nose looks at the Taylor Sheridaniverse: ‘Yellowstone,’ ‘1883,’ and ‘Mayor of Kingstown’
11 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There’s no gentlemen where we are and none where we’re going. This week’s Nose is worried it’s not fair. Taylor Sheridan is an actor and film-...
Why we’re still mesmerized by the myth of Rasputin
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the century since Russia’s “Mad Monk” was poisoned, we’ve come to believe a lot of things: he was mystical, he was evil, he was the world’...
At long last, Election Day is behind us
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The one thing we knew for sure was that by the time we got to today, Election Day would be over. And it is. This hour, we regroup after a long night a...
‘Citizen Observers’ share their voting stories from around the state
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On Election Day we do a show where we ask people across Connecticut to do a simple thing: Go vote in your town before 1 p.m. Then call us between 1 an...
Some people are considering whether it’s time to leave the United States
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Some Americans are considering whether this country is a place where they want to live in the future. This hour is all about leaving the United States...
The Nose looks at Taylor Swift, ‘Don’t Worry Darling,’ and more
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is energy unfocused, innovation hindered, hope strangled, greatness disguised. Taylor Swift currently occupies the entire top 10 of...
What’s next for the Republican Party?
03 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour: Mark Leibovich on the past, present, and future of the Republican Party, and his new book, Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump’s W...
Three poets celebrate the freedom of poetry
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we celebrate poetry with three contemporary poets. GUESTS: Margaret Gibson: The seventh poet laureate of Connecticut; her most recent coll...
Why a show about fog? We haven’t the foggiest
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From San Francisco’s iconic fog and COVID-related brain fog to a location-tracking program called Fog Reveal, this hour, we lift the fog on all kind...
We take your calls
31 Oct 2022
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 ‘Bros’ and ‘The Watcher’
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose is, I don’t know, worrying about a volcano. The Watcher is a thriller/mystery miniseries on Netflix created by Ryan Murphy and Ia...
A bigger table: A look at third parties and our political system
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Why is the two-party system so entrenched here in the United States? This hour, we talk about third parties. We learn about a new third party, discuss...
The year in horror, 2022
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Note: This episode contains strong language. We realized four years ago now that The Nose doesn’t cover very much horror stuff. So we started doing...
How U.S. policy makers do and don’t factor in public opinion
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we investigate the relationship between public opinion and policy. We explore to what extent public opinion impacts policy in the United St...
Demystifying Thoreau
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Henry David Thoreau is a bit of a polarizing figure. He has been both celebrated and criticized for his writing. He’s considered an inspirational fi...
The Nose looks at ‘Confess, Fletch’ and ‘Athena’
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose wants to feel like it’s in the middle of a conversation … between inanimate objects. Confess, Fletch is the third movie in the ...
State politics are changing as we focus more on national politics
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
State politics are becoming increasingly nationalized as voters, and candidates, focus more on national issues, instead of local ones. This hour, we l...
It’s no mystery why we’re drawn to crime fiction
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mysteries have been popular for centuries. This hour we ask: why are we drawn to this genre? Plus, we look at the television detective and discuss tru...
We take your calls
17 Oct 2022
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...
Why you like the music you like
15 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Record producer and neuroscientist Susan Rogers has a new book out, This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You. In it, she wr...
The Nose looks at ‘Andor’ and ‘I Love You, You Hate Me’
14 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s Nose clearly harassed a human with dark features and chose the wrong person to annoy. Andor is the fourth live-action Star Wars series f...
Digging into the roots of our food with Mark Bittman
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We have a complicated relationship with our food. We need food to live, yet we’ve become removed from the food we eat and how it’s grown and proce...
Is centrism critical to maintaining democracy? A look at the middle
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This hour, we investigate what centrism means, and what the role of centrism is in U.S. politics and discourse today. GUESTS: Lee Drutman: Author of ...