The Colin McEnroe Show

Going into the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, many are comparing this year to 1968. After all, there are a number of similarities: both were Olympic years that featured student protest movements, an incumbent president deciding not to run for re-election, a Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and even a new Planet of the Apes movie. But there were important differences as well. This hour, we look back on 1968, and the events of that DNC, as well as the media’s coverage of it. Plus, a look at the music and movies of that year. GUESTS: Mark Kurlansky: Author of 1968: The Year That Rocked the World, among many other books Heather Hendershot: Cardiss Collins Professor of Communication Studies and Journalism at Northwestern University. She is author of When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America Dan Balz: Chief correspondent at The Washington Post Tammy Kernodle: University Distinguished Professor and Park Creative Arts Endowed Professor in the Department of Music at Miami University, and author of Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam Wren recently reported for Politico that Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, is a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings. This hour we talk to Wren about Vance's interest in the work, and the politics of the series. Plus, we'll discuss Tolkien's fantasy world building, and look back on the books, their film adaptations, and their enduring appeal. GUESTS: Adam Wren: National political correspondent for Politico John Garth: Author of The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth and Tolkien and the Great War, among other books Susana Polo: Senior entertainment writer for Polygon The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, Cat Pastor, and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show, portions of which originally aired August 12, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour is all about printers. We talk about printer problems and why, despite our struggles, we can’t seem to quit our printers. Plus: a rage room owner on the appeal of smashing printers. GUESTS: Cory Doctorow: Science fiction author, activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and journalist Cody Nicholas: Co-owner of the Lose It Rage Room in Woodbridge, Virginia Allen St. John: Multimedia content producer for Consumer Reports The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, Cat Pastor, and Katie Pellico contributed to this show, which originally aired February 15, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to the sandwichiness (or not) of hot dogs and the cube rule of food, crazy interest rates on credit cards, loud music in movies, Olympic basketball, winking … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is a seven-part Netflix docuseries. It is directed and executive produced by Greg Whiteley. It follows the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ 2023–2024 season. And: Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes is a documentary from HBO Documentary Films. It is directed by Nanette Burstein and produced by J. J. Abrams. Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes was nominated for the L’Œil d’or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. GUESTS: Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Irene Papoulis: Teaches writing at Trinity College, and she’s the author of The Essays Only You Can Write Lindsay Lee Wallace: Writes about culture, health care and health equity, and other stuff, too The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Going into November, we’ll be doing some shows where we talk with one guest, for the hour, who knows a lot about the election. This hour, The New York Times’ Astead Herndon joins us to talk about the run-up to 2024. We’ll talk about his unique approach to political reporting, and the state of the race. GUEST: Astead Herndon: National politics reporter for The New York Times and the host of the politics podcast “The Run-Up” Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 when they write. Do pseudonyms liberate us? Do they make us treat each other better? Or do they stop credit from going where it’s due? GUESTS: Carmela Ciuraru: Author of “Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms” and, most recently, “Lives of the Wives: Five Literary Marriages” Daniel A. Gross: Editor at the New Yorker and author of the Atlantic article, “The Mystery of the Hardy Boys and the Invisible Authors” Alfred Moore: Senior lecturer in Politics at the University of York Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe, Lily Tyson and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on February 14, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s kind of weird how much the word “weird” has been coming up all of a sudden in the election, isn’t it? This hour, a look at weirdness and the Democrats’ new wall-to-wall, paint-Trump-and-Vance-as-weird strategy. Plus, the history of the word “weird,” what it’s like being weird, and a few minutes on quantum weirdness. GUESTS: Olga Khazan: A staff writer for The Atlantic covering health, gender, and policy and the author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World Douglas Natelson: Associate dean for research at the Wiess School of Natural Sciences at Rice University, where he studies the emergent properties of materials Kase Wickman: A freelance journalist and frequent contributor to Vanity Fair Ben Zimmer: A linguist and lexicographer and the language columnist for The Wall Street Journal The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we took your calls about anything you wanted to talk about. This hour, the conversation winds around to the election, debates, vice presidential picks, the Olympics opening ceremony, Kevin Spacey, a book recommendation, and more. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Gene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s something kind of special about the experience of a really great, really bad movie. Think Red Dawn or Under Siege. Snakes on a Plane or Batman & Robin. Independence Day is nearly perfect and so rewatchable — and also terrible. This hour, a Nose-ish look at the joy of bad movies. GUESTS: Theresa Cramer: A freelance writer and editor and the co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications Alicia di Leo: A para-educator in the integrated preschool program in the Manchester school system David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Severn Sandt: Associate director of strategic partnerships and outreach at Trinity College in Hartford Howard Sherman: A theater administrator, writer, and advocate; he is the U.S. columnist for The Stage newspaper of London and the author of Another Day’s Begun: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we talk about where this election is taking place in this media environment. We'll discuss how Americans are getting their election news, investigate how misinformation spreads, take stock of the role of social media in this, and look at the state of political podcasts. GUESTS: Dannagal Young: Director of the Center for Political Communication and a Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware. Her newest book is Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive our Appetite for Misinformation Christian Paz: Senior Politics Reporter for Vox Derek Robertson: Writer, reporter, and producer at Politico, where he writes the “Digital Future Daily” newsletter Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever heard someone say that East Coasters are kind but not nice, and West Coasters are nice but not kind? This hour, a look at what “niceness” is, why it’s so important to us, and how it can sometimes mask not-so-nice things. GUESTS: Carrie Tirado Bramen: Professor at the University at Buffalo and the author of American Niceness: A Cultural History Jordan Green: Self-proclaimed “kind West Coaster” Amit Kumar: Assistant professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Texas at Austin Mia Mercado: Humor writer and author from the Midwest who wrote She’s Nice Though: Essays on Being Bad at Being Good The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired January 25, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we take a look at the legends of King Arthur. We discuss their evolution and why they endure. Plus, we talk with author Lev Grossman about his new retelling of the King Arthur legend, The Bright Sword. And, a conversation with an archeologist about excavating the history of Arthurian legends. GUESTS: Lev Grossman: Bestselling author of The Magicians Trilogy. His new book is The Bright Sword Leah Tether: Professor of Medieval Literature and Publishing at Bristol University, and Vice President of the International Courtly Literature Society Win Scutt: Archeologist and Senior Properties Curator for the West of England at English Heritage, a nonprofit that cares for over 400 historic monuments Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to the election, the Olympics opening ceremony, Project 2025, the stain (maybe) of Elon Musk on Teslas. Plus some wonderings: What would aliens make of the Olympics? What’s the most impactful way to get involved with the election? … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 democracy. This hour, a look at the state and the art of political satire with comedian Samantha Bee and Sophia McClennen, a political scientist who studies satire. GUESTS: Samantha Bee: Comedian, the host of Choice Words with Samantha Bee, and the former host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Sophia McClennen: Professor of international affairs and comparative literature at Penn State University and the author of numerous books, including Trump Was a Joke: How Satire Made Sense of a President Who Didn’t and Is Satire Saving Our Nation? The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired September 15, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Thurston Harris and Crash Test Dummies to that noise your refrigerator makes, humming sounds are all around us (especially if you’ve been to Windsor, Ontario). This hour, musical humming, mysterious humming, and how humming could be good for your health. GUESTS: Colin Novak: Associate professor at the University of Windsor Susan Rogers: Multi-platinum record producer, cognitive neuroscientist, professor at Berklee College of Music, and co-author of This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You Gunjan Trivedi: Co-founder of Wellness Space and an author of several studies exploring the benefits of humming on stress and health The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we look at the idea of the Western canon and those books that are considered “classics.” We talk about what’s in the canon, what isn’t and what should be, and how it evolves. Plus, we talk about The Atlantic’s recent list of “The Great American Novels.” And we learn about a publishing company that is experimenting with artificial intelligence to bring classic books alive for a new audience. GUESTS: Gal Beckerman: Senior editor for books at The Atlantic Laura Kipnis: Cultural critic, essayist, and the author of Love in the Time of Contagion: A Diagnosis, among other books Roosevelt Montás: Senior lecturer in American studies and English at Columbia University and the author of Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation James Mustich: Author of 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, we’ve had another weekend, haven’t we? So we figured you might want to talk again. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour on The Colin McEnroe Show, we discuss President Biden's decision not to run for reelection. We'll look at the historical precedent for this decision, talk about Vice President Kamala Harris, and hear about the role of the press in all of this. GUESTS: Bill Curry: Former White House advisor to the Clinton administration, Connecticut State Senator, and two-time Democratic nominee for the Governor of Connecticut Hunter Schwarz: Journalist and the founder and curator of the visual politics newsletter “Yello” Leah Wright Rigueur: Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins, author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power Manisha Sinha: James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and the President of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. She is author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920, among other books David Folkenflik: NPR’s media correspondent Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I saw someone on TikTok ask (rather vulgarly) that we just have, for once, a week that is … precedented. And I mean, yes. Could we? Well, not this week. The shooting. The convention. The running mate. The president with COVID. The ominous election. And then Bob Newhart died, too. So we decided we need — and that you might need, too — an hour to figure out where to find hope even in the face of all this. GUESTS: Noah Baerman: A pianist, composer, and educator; his new album, from the Noah Baerman Trio, is Live at the Side Door Susan Clinard: The owner of Clinard Sculpture Studio in Hamden, Connecticut Azar Nafisi: The author of six books, including Reading Lolita in Tehran; her newest is Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times Benjamin Perry: Minister of outreach and media strategy at Middle Church and the author of Cry, Baby: Why Our Tears Matter Gene Seymour: A “writer, professional spectator, pop-culture maven, and jazz geek The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we look at our cultural fascination with dead bodies. What do we owe the dead? What can the dead teach us? What does a body represent to you? We talk to a death investigator who observes what the dead can teach us about living, a poet / mortician, who laments our growing estrangement from our dead, and a reporter who has investigated the large — and legal — market for body parts. GUESTS: Barbara Butcher: A retired New York City death investigator and the author of What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator; she is featured in Dick Wolf’s Netflix docuseries Homicide: New York Thomas Lynch: The author of six collections of poems, six books of essays and a book of stories; a novel, No Prisoners, is forthcoming; he worked as a funeral director for over 50 years with Lynch & Sons Ally Jarmanning: A senior reporter for WBUR; she’s the host and reporter for Season 4 of the podcast Last Seen: Postmortem — The Stolen Bodies of Harvard The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we're taking stock of what the events of July 13 mean for our election and our polity. First, a conversation about the effects political violence can have on democracy. Then, a look at the rise of conspiracy thinking across the political spectrum in response to the attempted assassination of former President Trump and an analysis of the iconic photo of Trump with his fist raised. GUESTS: Arie Periliger: Professor at UMass Lowell studying political extremism and political violence for more than 20 years David Gilbert: A reporter at WIRED covering covering disinformation and online extremism Philip Kennicott: Senior art and architecture critic at The Washington Post Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give it to humans, and suffered an eternity of punishment for it. This hour, we revisit that myth, and talk about why it resonates so much today. Plus, a look at the Alien prequel Prometheus. GUESTS: Annie Dorsen: Theater director; her most recent production was Prometheus Firebringer Adrienne Mayor: Research scholar in the Classics Department and the History of Science Program at Stanford University and the author of Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines and Ancient Dreams of Technology, among other books Dom Nero: Writer, video editor, and co-host of the Eye of the Duck podcast A.O. Scott: Critic at large for The New York Times Book Review and the author of Better Living Through Criticism The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired January 17, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After this weekend, we thought you might want to talk. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We got to the end of this week and decided it’d be nice to have some stuff to think about besides the election. This hour, we present to you three such things. First, in advance of this weekend’s finals, we check in with arguably the grandest of the Grand Slams, the most major of the four tennis majors, The Championships, Wimbledon 2024. And then: The New York Times wondered, “Should you hug a sloth?” (Spoiler: Probably not.) And finally, a look at all the ways our mapping apps — Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, etc. — are (maybe) letting us down. GUESTS: Julia Angwin: A contributing opinion writer at The New York Times and the founder of Proof News Matthew Futterman: A senior writer covering tennis at The Athletic Melena Ryzik: A roving culture reporter at The New York Times The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, a look at refrigeration and how it’s shaped what we eat and how we live with Nicola Twilley, author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves. Plus, we’ll take a look at what we can learn about someone from the inside and outside of their refrigerator. GUESTS: Nicola Twilley: Co-host of the podcast “Gastropod,” and author of the new book, Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves Peyton Dix: Social media strategist, content creator, writer, and co-host of the podcast “Lemme Say This” Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legal gratuities for government officials, an overturning of the Chevron doctrine, and (perhaps most importantly) presidential immunity from prosecution for official acts — the Supreme Court just issued a batch of rulings that you may have noticed in the headlines, and we’re here to debrief them! Plus: a discussion on the state and future of the court. GUESTS: Akhil Reed Amar: Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University. He hosts the podcast “Amarica’s Constitution” and wrote the book “The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840” Cristina Rodríguez: Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Ian MacDougall: Writer and lawyer by training who’s clerked for federal judges in Brooklyn and Washington D.C. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Somewhere along the way, cars stopped being just a means of transportation — now, they’re also a dining room, an entertainment center, even an extension of our selves. And apparently, they’re sharing and selling data about you that you might not know they collected in the first place. This hour: everything you didn’t know about that thing you sit in for an hour every day. GUESTS: Jen Caltrider: Program director of Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included project Stefan Gössling: Professor at Linnaeus University Kashmir Hill: Technology reporter at The New York Times, specializing in privacy Ian Walker: Professor of environmental psychology at Swansea University The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired January 11, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Franz Kafka died 100 years ago last month, but his work is still very much alive today in literature classes and, surprisingly, on social media. This hour, we look at Kafka’s life and legacy, discuss the “Kafkaesque,” and investigate why the author resonates so much today. Plus, we revisit his most famous work, “The Metamorphosis,” and talk with a zoologist about the idea of turning into an insect. GUESTS: Benjamin Balint: Author of Kafka’s Last Trial; his new book is Bruno Schulz: An Artist, A Murder, and the Hijacking of History Tim Coulson: Professor of zoology at the University of Oxford; his new book is The Science of Why We Exist: A History of the Universe from the Big Bang to Consciousness Margarita Mouka: Content creator and creative executive; her TikTok handle is @aquariuscat444 Karolina Watroba: Post-doctoral research fellow in modern languages at Oxford’s All Souls College and the author of Metamorphoses: In Search of Franz Kafka The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Quiet Place: Day One is the third movie in the A Quiet Place film series. It is a prequel to the first film, A Quiet Place. It’s written and directed by Michael Sarnoski (who wrote and directed Pig), and it stars Lupita Nyong’o. Djimon Hounsou reprises his role from A Quiet Place Part II, which hasn’t happened yet, as of Day One. And: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the fifth movie in the Mad Max film series. It is a prequel to and spinoff from Mad Max: Fury Road, and it is written by George Miller and Nico Lathouris and directed by Miller. Furiosa is an origin story for Charlize Theron’s Fury Road character, Furiosa, here played by Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy. GUESTS: Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer, and she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour: we look at running mates. We'll talk about whether or not a presidential candidate's running mate matters, and their role on the campaign trail. Plus, we'll take a look at our favorite running mates from popular culture. GUESTS: Christopher Devine: Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Dayton. He is co-author of the books Do Running Mates Matter? The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections, and author of News Media Coverage of the Vice-Presidential Selection Process: What's Wrong with the ‘Veepstakes’? Karrin Vasby Anderson: Professor of Communications Studies at Colorado State University, and author of Women, Feminism, and Pop Politics, among other books Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Bradley O'Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, did our digestive systems become such pivotal parts of our identity? GUESTS: Diego Bohórquez: Gut-brain neuroscientist Elsa Richardson: Historian of health and medicine and the author of the book, “Rumbles: A Curious History of the Gut” Julie Balsamo: Gut health dietician Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe, Lateshia Peters, Lily Tyson, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on December 7, 2023. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we take your calls about anything you want to talk about. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook andTwitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O'Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose is off this week. In its place: What is a diva? And how has the term evolved? This hour, divas — from Tay-Tay to Beyoncé to Barbra to Dolly, from opera to the top of the pop charts. GUESTS: Spencer Kornhaber: Staff writer at The Atlantic and author of On Divas: Persona, Pleasure, Power Myrna Reynolds: Retired singer Zachary Woolfe: Classical music critic for The New York Times The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired December 6, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 goes into coordinating them, and the evolution of marching band music and competitions. Plus, a look at the history of halftime. GUESTS: Justin McManus: Director of Athletic Bands at the University of Connecticut Dylan Reyes: Occasional board operator for The Colin McEnroe Show who marched competitively through high school Mark Dyreson: Professor of Kinesiology and Affiliate Professor of History at Penn State, where he is also Co-Director of Research and Educational Programs for the Penn State Center for the Study of Sports in Society. He is the author of numerous books and articles about the history of sport Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on November 13, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back before radio stations (ours included) started re-airing daytime programs during the night as a default, nighttime airwaves were a place for experimentation, confessions, and wondering that wouldn't be welcome in the light of day. “Why don’t we try that?” said we! On June 20th, Colin McEnroe, a team of intrepid radio producers and engineers, and one very generous security guard stayed in the office from 11 p.m. - 1 a.m. The resulting radio program, which featured live music, poetry, and phone calls about UFOs, Boy Scout horror stories, and siphonophores, is available here (in an abridged format) for your listening pleasure. Click here to listen to the unabridged episode. GUESTS: Hugh Blumenfeld Folk musician and singer-songwriter from Connecticut Mike Penicello: State Director of the Connecticut Mutual UFO Network Keith Trosell: Truck driver and owner/operator of Boba Freight, which is based in Columbia, CT Zulynette: Performer, artist, author, and creator of the annual storytelling event, “A Little Bit of Death.” Her most recent book of poetry is “Seeing in the Dark” Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Jonathan McNicol, Lily Tyson, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the move away from cash change how we think about our money? This hour, we look at our changing attitudes towards money, and what we gain and lose as we use less cash. Plus, we'll look at the history and future of ATMs. GUESTS: Jay Zagorsky: Clinical Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law at the Boston University Questrom School of Business Ursula Dalinghaus: Cultural anthropologist who specializes in economic anthropology and the anthropology of money. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ripon College Bernardo Batiz-Lazo: Professor in the Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on November 8, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 watch television, and how we use other devices in our homes? This hour we look at the history and the impact of the remote control, and discuss what the remote control of the future will look like. And we'll take a look at buttons, and how they shape our interactions with the technology in our lives. GUESTS: Caetlin Benson-Allott: Professor of English, Director of Film and Media Studies at Georgetown University, and a member of the Program in American Studies. She is the author of Remote Control, among other books Rachel Plotnick: Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in The Media School at Indiana University Bloomington, and author of Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic and the Politics of Pushing Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on November 7, 2023. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back before radio stations (ours included) started re-airing daytime programs during the night as a default, nighttime airwaves were a place for experimentation, confessions, and wondering that wouldn't be welcome in the light of day. “Why don’t we try that?” said we! On June 20, Colin McEnroe, a team of intrepid radio producers and engineers, and one very generous security guard stayed in the office from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. The resulting radio program, which features live music, poetry, and phone calls about UFOs, Boy Scout horror stories, and siphonophores, is available here for your listening pleasure. GUESTS: Hugh Blumenfeld: Folk musician and singer-songwriter from Connecticut Major Jackson: Professor of English at Vanderbilt University and host of the podcast The Slowdown from American Public Media; his most recent book is Razzle Dazzle: New and Selected Poems Mike Penicello: State director of the Connecticut Mutual UFO Network Keith Trosell: Truck driver and owner/operator of Boba Freight, which is based in Columbia, Connecticut Zulynette: Performer, artist, author, and creator of the annual storytelling event A Little Bit of Death; her most recent book of poetry is Seeing in the Dark The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Jonathan McNicol, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose is off this week. In its place, a look at how we imagine extraterrestrial life. What do you picture when you picture aliens? Is it like E.T.? Or little green men? Or an alien from Star Trek? This hour: how we imagine extraterrestrial life and how those visions are shaped by our TV and movies and more. GUESTS: Jaime Green: Freelance writer, editor, writing teacher, and the author of The Possibility of Life: Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos Doug Jones: Actor known for his roles in Hellboy, The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, and more; he plays Saru in Star Trek: Discovery The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired December 1, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hosting them? This hour, the history of dinner parties and some advice from people who turn party-hosting into an art form. GUESTS: Rand Richards Cooper: Fiction writer, contributing editor at Commonweal, and the restaurant critic for the Hartford Courant Nandita Godbole: Author of several cookbooks including Masaleydaar: Classic Indian Spice Blends; she also writes the blog Curry Cravings Julia Skinner: Culinary historian and food writer whose work includes the book Our Fermented Lives The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired October 26, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to favorite TV theme songs; the Ham Primus House in Guilford, Connecticut; the upcoming Poor People’s March; the upcoming presidential debates; the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 explains why it will fail to accomplish its noble goals.” This hour, Mounk joins us to talk about the future of democracy and The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. GUEST: Yascha Mounk: Professor of the practice of international affairs at Johns Hopkins University; founder of Persuasion; host of The Good Fight; and the author, most recently, of The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired October 4, 2023. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shakespeare, it turns out, is not immune to the culture wars, the book banning, the cancel culture (despite his being dead for more than four centuries). So, fine. Cancel Shakespeare, then, one argument goes. Because here’s the thing: Shakespeare’s plays and poems ARE dirty and smutty and gory — and that’s a big part of what makes them so great. And: Earlier this year, the romantic comedy Anyone But You became the highest-grossing live-action Shakespeare adaptation ever made. So we look at Shakespeare as fertile rom-com IP, from 10 Things I Hate About You and beyond. And finally, Bardcore is a thing. The one and only Hildegard von Blingin’ joins us. GUESTS: Maureen Lee Lenker: A senior writer at Entertainment Weekly and the author of the novel It Happened One Fight Drew Lichtenberg: Associate director at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC Hildegard von Blingin’: A singer and illustrator The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Meg Dalton, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just in time for your summer vacation, an hour about beach reads. We look at how the term came to be, get some beach read recommendations, and even hear a case against reading on the beach. GUESTS: Meghan Hayden: Owner of River Bend Bookshop, which has locations in Glastonbury and West Hartford, Connecticut Andrew Limbong: Reporter for NPR’s Culture Desk and Host of NPR's Book of the Day podcast Donna Harrington-Lueker: Professor in the Department of English, Communications, and Media at Salve Regina University. She is author of Books for Idle Hours: Nineteenth-Century Publishing and the Rise of Summer Reading Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve done a version of this show every year since 2013. And we did it in 2011. We probably even did one in 2010. (We just can’t prove it.) So it’s a bit of a tradition. It’s a tradition that … makes some people angry, we realize. And that has a lot to do with how we define the term “song of the summer.” We use the Amanda Dobbins definition: Let’s be clear about how this works: There is no such thing as a “personal” song of summer. We do not anoint multiple songs of summer. There can only be one; the Song of Summer, by its very definition, is a consensus choice. It is the song that wrecks wedding dance floors. It is the song that you and your mother begrudgingly agree on (even though your mom has no idea what rhymes with “hug me” and won’t stop yelling it in public). It does not necessarily have to hit No. 1 on the charts, but it should probably be on the charts because it must be widely played. It must bring people together. It must be a shared enthusiasm. So it’s our job here to figure out what song from 2024 will get added to the long list of song of the summer classics like “Party Rock Anthem,” “Call Me Maybe,” “Despacito,” and “Blurred Lines.” And if we’re wrong, well, it really just won’t matter at all. GUESTS: Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn Brendan Jay Sullivan: A writer, producer, and DJ Cassie Willson: A comedian, musician, and content creator The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe contributed to this show. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the first presidential debate just two weeks away, an hour on the art and science of the presidential debate. We look at the evolution of debates through history, question whether or not they matter to the election, and even learn about the art of the political putdown. GUESTS: Kathryn Cramer Brownell: Associate Professor of History at Purdue University. She is author of Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life and 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News Aaron Kall: Director of Debate and a Lecturer in the Department of Communication at the University of Michigan. He is also author of Debating The Donald Chris Lamb: Professor of Journalism at Indiana University Indianapolis, and author of The Art of the Political Putdown: The Greatest Comebacks, Ripostes, and Retorts in History Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"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 what can our footsteps tell us about ourselves and the world? GUESTS: Jeff Speck: City planner and author of the book “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time” Liam Satchell: Senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of Winchester Dr. I-Min Lee: Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Join the conversation onFacebook andTwitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on November 2, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Godzilla Minus One (Gojira -1.0) is the 37th movie in the Godzilla franchise, the 33rd Godzilla movie from Toho Studios, and the fifth movie in the franchise’s Reiwa era. It has grossed more than $150 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing Japanese Godzilla movie. It is the first Godzilla movie ever nominated for an Academy Award, which it won, for Best Visual Effects. Godzilla Minus One is a prequel to the original movie, Godzilla (1954). And: Following the worst Memorial Day weekend at the domestic box office in nearly 30 years and the disappointing openings of the big-budget summer action movies The Fall Guy and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, industry watchers are, let’s say … in a bit of a panic. The Nose has thoughts and concerns. GUESTS: Raquel Benedict: Claims to be the most dangerous woman in speculative fiction, and she’s the host of the Rite Gud podcast James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last month, Florida and Alabama became the first U.S. states to ban the sale and manufacture of lab-grown meat. The plant-based meat company Impossible Foods announced a shift from green to red packaging, in an apparent rejection of the company’s “woke” reputation that angered some Cracker Barrel customers. This hour: how did meatless meat join the culture wars? GUESTS: Matt Reynolds: Senior writer at Wired magazine S. Marek Muller: Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Texas State University Yasmin Tayag: Staff writer at The Atlantic covering food and health Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.