The Colin McEnroe Show

The populist backlash that led to the election of President Trump was decades in the making.  Like other populist leaders around the world, Trump gave voice to the resentment directed toward “elites” who devalue the hard work and dignity of workers without college degrees. Ronald Reagan was the first president to tell every American they could "go just as far as their dreams and hard work will take them." He used those words to enact policies that led to economic inequality and a global economy that advantaged a professional class over those without college degrees.  These policies were continued by subsequent administrations, regardless of party.   Americans like to believe we live in a meritocracy but the odds are stacked in favor of the already lucky and fortunate. We congratulate the "winners" and humiliate the "losers," who are told to better themselves or carry the burden of their failure.  GUEST:  Michael Sandel teaches philosophy at Harvard University. His most recent book is The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? His BBC Radio 4 series “The Public Philosopher,” explores the philosophical ideas lying behind the headlines. You can join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For decades, we didn't take television seriously. We saw it as ephemeral, as "chewing gum for the eyes," as, literally, furniture. And then, around the turn of the century, things started to change. There was The Sopranos. The Wire. And, at the same time, shows like Big Brother and The Amazing Race. For Emily Nussbaum, it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer that forever changed her take on television. This hour: A serious appraisal of television with The New Yorker's television critic. GUEST: Emily Nussbaum - Television critic for The New Yorker and the author of I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired July 15, 2020.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump was quick to downplay the pandemic upon his return from Walter Reed in a tweeted video encouraging people not to let the virus dominate or scare them. He said they would beat the virus, just as he's convinced himself that he's got his licked. The president's attitude reflects a reality that denies the 209,000 (and counting) people who have already died from the virus and a stunning inability to admit weakness. Unfortunately, the nation has to pay for it. We still don't know when he was first infected or when he learned he was contagious. We do know that he is one of 25 (and counting) people in his orbit who have tested positive in recent days and that he traveled to a campaign rally in Minnesota and a fundraiser in New Jersey -- sans mask -- after learning he was infected. How much sympathy should we have for a president who has actively withheld or misconstrued information that could have prevented deaths from COVID? Yet, what does it say about who we are becoming as people and as a culture if we can't offer a morsel of sympathy? Also this hour: A group of data specialists developed a White House COVID Tracker to chart the impact of COVID on political leaders and those they come in contact with. Unfortunately, the White House refuses to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to trace exposures that could save lives. GUESTS: John F. Harris is the co-founder of Politico and the author of The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House; he writes "Altitude," a weekly column for Politico) (@harrispolitico) Peter Walker leads the White House COVID Tracker, a crowd-sourced database for the White House COVID outbreak, and is head of growth at Public Relay (@PeterJ_Walker) Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been over 100 years since the first cartoons were drawn by hand. Since then, the form has delved into everything from sex and drugs to racial inequality and war crimes. Even the tamest, G-rated cartoons have often found ways of slipping in adult humor past the eyes of younger viewers. Cartoons have been the vehicle for government propaganda, social change, and political satire. Some have been boycotted and even banned for their content while others have been deemed masterpieces and praised by critics for their bold message and style. Today, cartoons continue to find ways of subverting the status quo in surprising (sometimes shocking) new ways. This hour, we speak with animators, animation experts, and historians about what makes cartoons so well suited for the exploration of, well, everything. GUESTS: Maureen Furniss - Program director of experimental animation at California Institute of the Arts, founding editor of Animation Journal, and the author of A New History of Animation Paul Wells - Director of the Animation Academy at Loughborough University in England and the author of several books including Animation, Sport and Culture Ralph Bakshi - Animator, writer, and director of animated and live-action films and TV shows including Fritz The Cat, Coonskin, and Heavy Traffic Lisa Hanawalt - Producer and production designer of the Netflix animated series BoJack Horseman, which ended in January Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired April 18, 2017.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose had planned to discuss The Danish Girl star Eddie Redmayne standing up for J.K. Rowling and Rolling Stone updating their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. But then some news broke overnight. Perhaps fittingly, though, The Nose watched Showtime's new miniseries, The Comey Rule, this week. GUESTS: Lucy Gellman - Editor of The Arts Paper and host of WNHH radio's Kitchen Sync Mike Pesca - The host of Slate's daily podcast, The Gist Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A 2019 YouGov survey says that 20 percent of American adults "definitely" believe in ghosts; another twenty-five percent believe they "probably exist." And, while no data yet proves it, there's a good chance that quarantining at home during the pandemic has led more people to wonder where those nighttime creaks and groans are coming from.   Some skeptics say that seeing ghosts is part of the human experience and far too common an occurrence for everyone who thinks they see a ghost to be crazy. But there are a lot of reasons to explain why we sincerely believe we're seeing a ghost. Yet, it's hard to convince people otherwise - even when confronted with evidence to the contrary. In the end, psychologists can offer explanations but no one can definitively prove ghosts don't exist.  GUESTS:  “Danielle” is a lawyer in British Columbia. She chose not to have her full name used. Chris French is a professor of psychology and head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Department of Psychology, at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He’s a former editor of The Skeptic Magazine (@chriscfrench) Deborah Hyde is a cultural anthropologist, and a fellow of “The Committee of Skeptical Inquiry.” She recently retired as editor of The Skeptic Magazine. (@jourdemayne) Elizabeth Saint is an electrical engineer, paranormal researcher, and president of the streaming platform VidiSpace. She was a researcher on Discovery’s “Ghosts of Shepherdstown” (@ElizabethSaint) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nietzsche called Richard Wagner "a volcanic eruption of the total undivided artistic capacity of nature itself," and Thomas Mann said he was "probably the greatest talent in the entire history of art." More than a thousand movies have Wagner on their soundtracks, including classic scenes from Apocalypse Now, The Blues Brothers, Bugs Bunny cartoons, and Charlie Chaplin. But, there's a reason Woody Allen says too much of Wagner's music gives him "the urge to conquer Poland." Wagner is nothing if not a problematic figure. As the new book Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music puts it, "An artist who might have rivaled Shakespeare in universal reach is undone by an ideology of hate." This hour, a look at Wagnerism with New Yorker music critic Alex Ross. GUESTS: Steve Metcalf - Director emeritus of the University of Hartford's Presidents' College Alex Ross - Music critic at The New Yorker and the author of Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We tend to focus on the physical ailments that can arise from being fat more than how fat shaming can affect the mental health of people who are fat. Nor do we think of how our culture (and the media) perpetuate the notion that fat people aren't desirable enough for love and intimacy. That's flat-out wrong. Sex is a physical act that is deeply influenced by how our mind perceives desire. We first aired this show in 2014, so you'll hear some outdated references to Lena Dunham and Louis C.K. The references are dated; the message is not. GUESTS: Sarah Varney is the author of XL Love: How the Obesity Crisis is Complicating America's Love Life Laura Bogart is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in Salon, The Rumpus, and The Nervous Breakdown Dan Weiss is a music critic, he's the author of the blog Ask A Guy Who Likes Fat Chicks, and he plays in the band Dan Ex Machina Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired August 27, 2014. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At a news briefing last week, President Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition. Now, we're all talking about it. Atlantic writer Barton Gellman, gamed out worst case scenarios, the  military discussed how they would deal with his refusal, and Republican colleagues pushed back on his comments. Has anyone told the President that it's not his choice?  Today, we talk about presidential dysfunction, Amy Coney Barrett and the Supreme Court, and Tuesday's presidential debate. Also this hour: Matt Lieberman is running as a Democrat for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia. He's currently positioned to be the spoiler that could hand the race to the Republicans. This, in a state where Black Americans suffer higher levels of voter disenfranchisement, maternal death, and poverty. Did I mention he's the son of former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman? GUESTS: Molly Jong Fast is editor-at-large for The Daily Beast and co-host of the podcast “The New Abnormal.” She’s the author of two novels, Normal Girl and The Social Climber's Handbook, and a memoir, Girl [Maladjusted]. (@mollyjongfast) Anjali Enjeti is an award-winning Atlanta-based journalist. Her essay collection about activism and debut novel will be published in the spring of 2021. She is the co-founder of the Georgia chapter of They See Blue, an organization for South Asian Democrats. (@anjalienjeti) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen live Friday at 1 p.m. The Nose has been contemplating covering the controversy around the The Ellen DeGeneres Show literally for months now. The show returned with a new season of new episodes this week, and Ellen addressed allegations of a toxic work environment in her monologue. And: The CBC series Schitt's Creek has been endorsed on any number of Noses over the years, but we've never actually covered it. But then, after it won literally ever Emmy in the comedy category on Sunday (a feat no show has ever before achieved), we decided that this week had to be the week. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Randall Kenan, Southern Writer of Magical Realism, Dies at 57His upbringing in North Carolina helped him create a fictional hamlet, Tims Creek, where a 3-year-old clairvoyant scares the neighbors and a pig talks. Michael Lonsdale, 'Day of the Jackal' Star & James Bond Villain Hugo Drax, Dies at 89 Jackie Stallone Sylvester's Mom Dead At 98 Michael Chapman, 'Taxi Driver' and 'Raging Bull' Cinematographer, Dies at 84 Ron Cobb, Designer of the 'Alien' Ship and the 'Back to the Future' DeLorean, Dies at 83 Tommy DeVito, a founding member of The Four Seasons, dies from Covid-19 complications Winston Groom, Author of 'Forrest Gump,' Dies at 77He wrote the 1986 novel that inspired the Oscar-winning film starring Tom Hanks. Another book was a finalist for a Pulitzer. RBG and the empty triumph of liberal pop culture "This Is the Best Part I've Ever Had": Chris Rock Talks 'Fargo,' Aging and Why He's Spending 7 Hours a Week in Therapy Someday Our Kids Will Not Believe Us About Any of This Oklahoma woman tells cops 'I have to poop so bad' before high-speed chase MTA board to formally ban pooping in subways and buses The Most Underrated Movies of 2020 (So Far) Don't sleep on these overlooked gems.After 7 weeks on the lam, the latest on 'Buddy the Beefalo' CDC's Halloween Guidelines Warn Against Typical Trick-Or-Treating Too much candy: Man dies from eating bags of black licorice BTS Fans Are Donating to Public Radio StationsThe day after the K-pop group performed a Tiny Desk concert, its fans are sharing screenshots of their donations. 'Lord of the Rings' TV Crew Size Is So 'Mind-Blowing' It's Someone's Job to Study How Dust MovesMorfydd Clark takes on the role of young Galadriel and says of the show, "I don't think things could get much bigger than this." The Metropolitan Opera Won't Reopen for Another YearThe nation's largest performing arts organization, shut by the coronavirus pandemic, sends a chilling signal that American cultural life is still far from resuming. Nobody wants to bone Luigi The Problem With Calling Tenet a Flop I'm an On-Set 'COVID Person,' Whatever That MeansAs production resumes amid the pandemic, a new role is causing confusion and consternation. The Weirdest Thing About the Pandemic Emmys Was How Normal They FeltCOVID jokes and a few moments of protest aside, this was an awards show devoted to the idea that TV should make you feel good. We Talked to the Hot Firefighter About Debunking Conspiracy Theories, Viral Fame, and Thirsty DMs The Rise and Fall of the Quaker Rice Cake, America's One-Time Favorite Health SnackWhere did they come from and where did they go? Ranch NationHow one creamy, peppery salad dressing became America's favorite flavor. GUESTS: Carolyn Paine - An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Mercy Quaye - Founder and principal consultant for The Narrative Project and a columnist with Hearst Connecticut Media Group Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the few silver linings of the pandemic has been a resurgence of interest in motels and RV life from a diverse group of millennials who want safe and less expensive options to travel and work during a pandemic. And motels and RV companies are trying to meet the demand with upgrades and amenities like flat-screen TVs, memory-foam mattresses, and free Wi-Fi. Some are turning to RV life permanently to travel, live, and work from where they want instead of being tethered to a desk and real estate. The pandemic has shown us that millennials who have never known the security of stable jobs or home ownership feel more "at home" outside traditional places. The existential nature of the pandemic has made many of us think about what's important to each of us, how we spend our time, and who we want to spend it with. And the freedom of the open road sounds like a pretty good way to start figuring those questions out. GUESTS: Foram Mehta - A journalist, editor, and content developer; her personal essays, op-eds, and articles have appeared in HuffPost, The New York Times, and The Bold Italic, among others Alex Temblador - A novelist and freelance writer who focuses on diversity and inclusion in travel, arts, and culture; she's the author of Secrets of the Casa Rosada Arunan Arulampalam - The deputy commissioner at the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Liza Butler Arulampalam - Co-lead pastor of the Riverfront Community Church Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kurt Andersen's last book, Fantasyland, looks at America's "centuries-old weakness for the untrue and irrational, and its spontaneous and dangerous flowering since the 1960s" and how it got us where we are today. His new book, Evil Geniuses, is a kind of sequel, a companion. It's a parallel history, really, that looks more closely at "the quite deliberate reengineering of our economy and society since the 1960s." This hour, public radio great Kurt Andersen on "the unmaking of America." GUEST: Kurt Andersen - Co-founded Spy magazine and he was the host and co-creator of Studio 360; his newest book is Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America -- A Recent History Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Murray has starred in some of our favorite movies of the last few decades: Caddyshack, Stripes, Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, What About Bob?, Groundhog Day, Ed Wood, Space Jam, Lost in Translation, all the Wes Anderson films, and so many more. He doesn't like managers or agents, and, rumor has it, he once agreed to play Garfield because he thought it was a Coen brothers film. (It wasn't.) And now, Bill Murray is 70 (!) years old. This hour, we talk with Robert Schnakenberg, author of The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: A Critical Appreciation of the World's Finest Actor, to find out what makes the famed comedian unique. We also hear some favorite Bill Murray stories from local celebrities and members of Sea Tea Improv. GUEST: Robert Schnakenberg - Author of The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: A Critical Appreciation of the World's Finest Actor Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, Jonathan McNicol, Julia Pistell, Dan Schulz, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired December 14, 2015.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday evening, breaking the hearts of generations of women -- and men -- who have benefited from her work guaranteeing our rights to equal treatment under the law. That same evening, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that a Trump nominee to replace Ginsburg would receive a vote on the floor of the Senate. By Saturday, President Trump was claiming he had an "obligation" to replace her, "without delay." The loss is larger than either man could understand. We talk about the political ramifications of her death and what it might mean for the upcoming election. We also continue our weekly check-in with an epidemiologist to help us make sense of news on the pandemic. GUESTS: Richard Blumenthal is the senior U.S. senator from Connecticut Kate Grabowski is an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University; she leads researchers at the Novel Coronavirus Research Compendium Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kim Kardashian and other celebrities "froze" their Facebook and Instagram accounts for one day this week "to protest the spread of hate speech and misinformation on those platforms." Meanwhile, Kardashian's husband had the strange sort of week that we've maybe grown to expect from him, but seemingly with more public peeing in it than we're maybe used to. And: Cuties (Mignonnes in the original French) is the feature film debut of Senegalese-French writer and director Maïmouna Doucouré. The movie's release on Netflix has been controversial, to say the least. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: New promenade at West Hartford park to be named after Parks & Rec character Leslie Knope Life on Venus? Astronomers See a Signal in Its CloudsThe detection of a gas in the planet's atmosphere could turn scientists' gaze to a planet long overlooked in the search for extraterrestrial life. His Girl Friday redefined the screwball comedy at 240 words per minute John Boyega Drops Jo Malone Ambassador Title After Brand Removes 'Star Wars' Actor From China Ad 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' mansion is added to Airbnb -- for just $30 Jason Momoa Slams Warner Bros. Amid 'Justice League' Investigation: 'This S--- Has to Stop' Movie Theaters That Opened For Tenet Are Now Worse Off Than BeforeThings aren't looking too good for the movie theaters that are currently open, even with the release of Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Ethan Hawke Directing Documentary About Paul Newman And Joanne Woodward CBS All Access to Rebrand as Paramount Plus Early Next Year'Godfather'-inspired drama 'The Offer' and reboot of 'The Game' among new original series in works Stanley Crouch, combative writer, intellectual and authority on jazz, dies at 74 'Colourful, vibrant, sensual!' Stars on Jimi Hendrix, 50 years goneIn awe of everything from his raunchiness to his skill with sheer volume, members of Pixies, Yes, Parliament-Funkadelic, Thin Lizzy and more celebrate the guitar god, who died 50 years ago today 'I Don’t Want to Be an Oracle.' Baseball Writer Roger Angell at 100.Talking extra innings -- and a milestone birthday -- with the celebrated chronicler of the summer game 7 movies to celebrate Bill Murray's 70th birthday Bus passenger uses live snake as a face mask GUESTS: Theresa Cramer - A writer and the editor of E Content Magazine Rich Hollant - Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We produced our first show on masks in the spring of 2020. It was when most of us were isolated at home to sidestep the life-threatening illness we've come to call "COVID." The show was about how rapidly masks had become a statement of political identity. The intensity of the mask battles has begun to calm as we've acclimated to the pervasiveness of masks in our lives. Like them or not, they're here to stay, and they've begun to leave a lasting imprint on our culture. This hour, we take a longer view of how these objects that cover half of our faces have changed the way we perceive ourselves and interact with others -- and what they might look like in the future. GUESTS: Kim Adrian is the author of Sock, The 27th Letter of the Alphabet, and, most recently, Dear Knausgaard Henry Alford is a humorist, journalist, and author; his most recent book is And Then We Danced: A Voyage Into the Groove Mollie Ruben is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Maine Elizabeth Segran is a senior staff writer at Fast Company and the author of The Rocket Years: How Your Twenties Launch the Rest of Your Life Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob Woodward is 77 years old. He's in his 50th year at The Washington Post. And he just yesterday published his 20th book. Rage is Woodward's second book about the Trump presidency. Two years ago, on the day after the first one came out, we did a show about it. So we've gotten that band mostly back together again, and we've spent the last 30 or so hours cramming. This hour, a look at Rage as a chronicling of our current history and as a publishing phenomenon. GUESTS: David Adams - Reviews editor at Publishers Weekly Susan Campbell - A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author, most recently, of Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood Jacques Lamarre - A playwright and the director of client services at Buzz Engine Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Black Americans are more likely to be infected from COVID-19, be incarcerated, live in poverty, and/or be killed by the police than white Americans. It took a pandemic and the killing of George Floyd to crystallize those facts. Historian and New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb looks at race, policing, and the difficulty of holding police departments accountable in Frontline's "Policing the Police 2020," a documentary that will air on CPTV on Tuesday, Sept. 15. It follows Cobb's 2016 Frontline, "Policing the Police." On another front: Trump administration officials have been interfering since (at least) August with the data that are included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports." These reports are used to help doctors and researchers understand how COVID-19 is spreading and who is at risk. Up to now, scientists wrote the reports without political interference. This is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to censor information intended to protect us. GUESTS: Jennifer Nuzzo is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; she is the lead epidemiologist for the Johns Hopkins Testing Insights Initiative (@JenniferNuzzo) Jelani Cobb is a staff writer at The New Yorker and a professor of journalism in Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism; his most recent book is The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress (@jelani9) Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a week of ending things, really. Keeping Up with the Kardashians is ending after 20 seasons. Diana Rigg -- Emma Peel on The Avengers and Lady Olenna on Game of Thrones, among many other things -- died at 82. And, of course, people are trying to end the whole world with their gender reveal parties. And then there's I'm Thinking of Ending Things. It's Charlie Kaufman's first movie for Netflix, and it stars Jesse Plemons and Jessie Buckley. It's based on Iain Reid's novel of the same name, which makes it the first movie Kaufman's ever directed not from his own original screenplay. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Plymouth police closing in on Buddy, the beefalo who has been on the run since escaping from a local slaughter house ESPN Scraps Hank Williams Jr. From "MNF" Open 'Saturday Night Live' Promotes Ego Nwodim To Main Cast Member For Season 46 Ryan Reynolds Brings Rick Moranis Out of Retirement for Mint Mobile Commercial Fender has sold more guitars in 2020 than any other year in its historyGibson, Taylor, Martin and others also report pandemic sales booms, with new users turning to the guitar as "six-string therapy" Film Academy Sets Inclusion Requirements for Oscars, Will Take Full Effect in 2024 Kirstie Alley slams new Oscars inclusion rules: 'This is a disgrace to artists everywhere' 'Tenet' Will Play at a Southern California Drive-In Despite Indoor Theaters Being Closed, Ignoring WB's Previous Mandate Kate Winslet, Unfiltered: "Because Life Is F--king Short"The Oscar winner, whose powerful love story Ammonite debuts at the Toronto Film Festival this week, knows the industry can do better -- and that she can too: "What the f--k was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski?" Why Disney's new 'Mulan' is a scandal GUESTS: Rebecca Castellani - Handles social media marketing and event planning for Quiet Corner Communications David Edelstein - America's Greatest Living Film Critic Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show. TAGS: Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of resistance to Black Lives Matter protests against racial injustice in cities like Portland, Oregon; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and others, we decided to take a look at race relations in the small towns and suburbs of Connecticut. What we found was disturbing.  In some ways, the show feels inadequate. I wish we could have included more of the many people who have experienced racist behavior in our small towns of Connecticut. We won't get to talk to a woman from Farmington who received a threatening note at her home for hanging a Black Lives Matter banner, a student from Killingly who experienced racial bullying, a young BLM organizer in Durham, or a woman angry that Confederate flags are still sold at the Durham fair. I know about these. Most incidents never make the news. This hour, what’s it like to be black and living in a small town or suburb in Connecticut? How do we begin to change the structures that keep racism alive?  GUESTS:  Gary Greenberg is a psychotherapist, the author of The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmasking of Psychiatry, and the first selectman of Scotland, Connecticut Drew John Ladd is a blogger, activist, and the author of Wolfsong, Beloved Leah Ralls is the president of the Windham/Willimantic NAACP and a social worker for Connecticut’s Division of Public Defender Services Al Robinson is a blogger, activist, and the publisher of My Left Nutmeg Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracking, rewinding, ejecting, collecting -- VHS broke ground in home entertainment like never before. The culture of VHS and its enormous best friend, the VCR, were kings of consumer media for decades. Despite the last VCR and VHS being manufactured just four years ago, videotapes are still consumed, collected, and in some cases, sold(!) across the country. But why? With streaming service giants like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney, giving us on-demand content with the push of a button and with Blu-ray and 4K players displaying movies and TV shows at crystal clear resolutions, videotapes offer a simple, analog experience that will just not go away. This hour, a look inside the impact, history, and legacy of VHS. Plus: the video store! It was the place to get your VHS rental and consume the content you couldn't get anywhere else. A look at life owning and working at a video store. GUESTS: Caetlin Benson-Allott - Distinguished Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at Georgetown University and the author of Killer Tapes and Shattered Screens Video Spectatorship From VHS to File Sharing Sam Hatch - Co-host of The Culture Dogs on Sunday nights on WWUH Hank Paper - The former owner of Best Video in Hamden, Conn., and a professor of Film, Television, and Media Arts at Quinnipiac University Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired May 16, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In November, 2016, we did a show about all the problems presented by, well, a-holes. And so it seems only logical to expand our scope a bit and do a show about all the problems presented by, well, a hole. For instance: How many holes are there in a straw? Did you say one? Okay, cool. Then how many holes are there in a sock? (A relatively new sock, I mean.) You said one again, right? But how can both of those things be true at the same time? Or, put another way: What happens to the hole in the donut as you eat the donut around it? This gets into mereology, the theory of parthood relations -- for our purposes, the parts and wholes of holes and the wholes the holes are parts of. Your head hurts a little, right? And then there's trypophobia, an irrational fear of clusters of holes and cracks. And finally: We've just found a black hole right in our cosmic backyard. GUESTS: Chrissie Giles - A science writer and the global health editor at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism Marina Koren - Staff writer at The Atlantic Achille Varzi - Professor of philosophy at Columbia University and the coauthor of Holes and Other Superficialities Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired May 12, 2020.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carole Baskin is going to appear on Dancing with the Stars. And with that, I've typed the least surprising opening sentence in the history of Nose posts. And: When Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure came out in 1989, Alex Winter (Bill) was 23 and Keanu Reeves (Ted) was 24. Winter and Reeves are now 55 and 56, respectively, but that seems to be no reason not to put out a third Bill & Ted movie, 29 years after the second one. Bill & Ted Face the Music is now available on all your video-on-demand platforms. And speaking of sequels to classic 1980s teen movies, the first two seasons of Cobra Kai have moved from YouTube to Netflix (who will produce a third season) and they've found a new audience. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Do Your Bowels Suddenly Spring to Life in Bookstores? You're Not Alone -- and the Japanese Even Have a Term for It: Mariko Aoki Parents of young 'Black Panther' fans struggle with telling children of actor's death Twitter says Chadwick Boseman's final post is the most liked tweet everIt's a bittersweet achievement. Brad Pitt's girlfriend reportedly is married but in an 'open' relationship Andrew Lloyd Webber dropped a 'Phantom of the WAPera' Cardi B remix and we regret to inform you music is cancelled John Oliver throws sludge back at Danbury officials, demands sewage plant be named in his honor Mariah Carey Just Addressed Her "Uncomfortable" Resurfaced Interview On "The Ellen DeGeneres Show""I wasn't ready to tell anyone." How Pop Music's Teenage Dream EndedA decade ago, Katy Perry's sound was ubiquitous. Today, it's niche. How did a genre defined by popularity become unpopular? 'I Like to Move It' DJ, Erick Morillo, Dead at 49 WFSB Cleans House -- But At What Cost? Alarmed pilot tells LAX tower: 'We just passed a guy in a jet pack'; FBI now investigating Robert Pattinson Has COVID-19, Halting The Batman ProductionVanity Fair has learned the star came down with the virus just days after shooting resumed. How a Praying Mantis Says 'Boo!'A study of startle displays hints at why provoked creatures have such a wide range of reactions. GUESTS: Helder Mira - Multimedia producer at Trinity College and a Cinestudio board member Carolyn Paine - An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hillary Clinton has spent a lot of time in the spotlight. We know her as a First Lady, a U.S. Senator from New York, President Obama's Secretary of State, a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, and as the wife of former President Bill Clinton.  Yet most everything we know about Hillary as an individual separate from Bill has been filtered through the media, through President Trump's Twitter feed, and through the many conspiracy theories linked to her name.  But after all the years of Hillary at Bill's side and after her loss in the 2016 election, didn't you wonder how Hillary Clinton's life might have been different if she never married Bill? Would she have broken the "glass ceiling" if she hadn't been married to Bill? We talk to a writer who imagined Hillary's life without Bill.  GUEST:   Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of a collection of short stories, You Think It, I’ll Say It, as well as six novels, including Prep and Eligible. Her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and NPR’s This American Life, among others. Her new novel is Rodham. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2001: A Space Odyssey. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. A Clockwork Orange. The Shining. Full Metal Jacket. Spartacus. Eyes Wide Shut. This hour, a careful consideration of the filmmaker Steven Spielberg called "the best in history": Stanley Kubrick. GUESTS: James Hanley - Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College David Mikics - Author of Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker Lila Shapiro - Senior reporter at New York magazine and Vulture, where she published "What I Learned After Watching Eyes Wide Shut 100 Times" Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Officials in the Trump Administration last week videotaped both a naturalization ceremony held at the White House and an HUD official's interview with four New York City tenants on housing conditions. They then  played selected parts from each video at the Republican National Convention without the knowledge of the participants.  The CDC updated testing guidelines last week to say that people who have been exposed to the virus but who don’t have symptoms or underlying risk factors, don't necessarily need to be tested. After public health officials complained that asymptomatic carriers are more likely to spread the virus, we learned that the recommendations came from the White House Coronavirus Task Force.   Today, politics and Covid.  Guests: Saskia Popescu is an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Arizona (@SaskiaPopescu) Gail Collins is an op-ed columnist for the New York Times and the author of When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women From 1960 to the Present and most recently, No Stopping Us Now: The Adventures of Older Women in American History (@gailcollins) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Placebo treatments have been making people feel better for a long time. They've been working since long before Franz Mesmer was run out of 18th-century Vienna for "mesmerizing" a young pianist into regaining her eyesight, after all hope for a medical cure had been lost.   Doctors have long dismissed the placebo effect as inferior to conventional medical treatments that sometimes fail where placebo works well, including in surgical procedures like arthroscopy, a popular procedure that relieves the pain of arthritic knees.  The placebo effect is triggered not by a magic pill, but through a combination of expectation, hope, and the strength of the doctor-patient relationship. Placebo is real; it's on the rise in America, and technology is allowing researchers to link placebo with physiological and psychological changes and genetic predisposition that could change the way we treat illness. GUESTS: Gary Greenberg - Psychotherapist and the author of The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmasking of Psychiatry Ted Kaptchuk - Professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Director, Program of Placebo Studies and Therapeutic Encounter at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital   Bruce Moseley - Orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, former team physician to the Houston Rockets, first to perform placebo surgery Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, the NBA, the WBNA, MLB, MLS, tennis, and eventually the NHL all postponed games and matches in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. And: A Tweet listing the "Top 7 Warning Signs In a Man's Bookshelf" -- including "Too Much Hemingway," you see -- caused a bit of a fuss on the Twitter. And finally: Atlantics is the directorial debut of actress and writer Mati Diop. It premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it was the first movie directed by a Black woman ever to compete at the festival. It won the Grand Prix. It is available to stream on Netflix, and The Guardian wrote about it this week in their "My Streaming Gem" column. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Justin Townes Earle, Americana Singer-Songwriter, Dead at 38Nashville native, known for his mix of old-timey roots music and modern folk-rock, was the son of Steve Earle Riley Gale, Power Trip Vocalist, Dead At 34One of metal's true rising stars has left us too early Danbury Mayor Names Sewage Plant After John Oliver Following 'Last Week Tonight's Story On Jury Selection In Connecticut Jerry Seinfeld: So You Think New York Is 'Dead'(It's not.) The Batman: is Robert Pattinson set to play the superhero as an emo?In the latest film version of the vigilante's adventures, Batman/Bruce Wayne unexpectedly brings back the eyeliner and My Chemical Romance fringe of early 00s youth culture Fans Already Solved The Riddler's Cryptic Puzzle In 'The Batman' TeaserThe bigger question is why Batman doesn't just check the internet. How the Criterion Collection Crops Out African-American DirectorsThe prestigious line is coveted by cinephiles and taught in film schools. The company's president blames his "blind spots" for largely shutting out Black Americans. 'Tenet' May Not Be Playing at Your Local Drive-In Theater 'Drunk History' Canceled After Six Seasons at Comedy Central Bleacher Report Shuttering B/R Mag Long-form Storytelling Unit Chris Evans Responds To Backlash Over That Ted Cruz PhotoThe "Avengers" actor explained things on "The Daily Show." Live Comedy Is Back in New York! But Outdoors. Is This a Good Thing?The club Stand Up NY is staging 40 shows a week across the city. Performing in parks raises the stakes for comedians and audiences alike. Steven Soderbergh Reedited Three of His Movies in Quarantine While Producing 'Bill and Ted Face the Music'The filmmaker discussed how he's been spending quarantine, exploring safety guidelines for film productions, and why he helped get a long-dormant sequel finally get made. GUESTS: Jim Chapdelaine - An Emmy-winning musician, producer, composer, and recording engineer, and a patient advocate for people with rare cancers Taneisha Duggan - Producing associate at TheaterWorks Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America has long been attracted to charismatic demagogues who master the media of their time to tap into America’s insecurities. Long before Donald Trump descended a golden escalator in 2015 to announce he was running for president, anti-communist zealot Joseph McCarthy took America by storm. The parallels many writers see between President Trump and Senator Joe McCarthy are not coincidental. There's a flesh-and-blood throughline that connects the two. President Trump's former attorney Roy Cohn taught him everything he learned from McCarthy's playbook when the served as McCarthy's chief council during his second term as a Wisconsin senator.   Demagogues are often charasmatic men of limited ability who bully their way to the top and threaten reluctant enablers to go along. The good news is that they fall faster than they rise once people see that the emperor wears no clothes.   What can we learn from McCarthyism as we consider our upcoming election?  GUEST: Larry Tye is the author of eight books. His latest is Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy. He’s also a Nieman fellow at Harvard and a former award-winning reporter for The Boston Globe. His next book will be, The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Satchmo Armstrong and Count Basie Transformed America. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May, I discovered (along with the rest of the internet) a video on YouTube of a guy in his loft in Surrey, England... solving a Sudoku puzzle. It was intense, a rollercoaster ride, and, ultimately, sublime. Those are not words you might expect someone to use to describe watching a stranger solve a little number puzzle, but here we are. Since I found that video, I've watched that YouTube channel, Cracking the Cryptic, practically every day. Sometimes the videos are riveting. The rest of the time, they're soothing. The channel's 250,000 subscribers and 40 million cumulative views would seem to indicate that I'm not alone in using it as a way to both exercise and relax my mind during this pandemic period. This hour, a look at Sudoku, specifically, and logic puzzles more generally. GUESTS: Simon Anthony - A former U.K. team member in the World Sudoku and World Puzzle Championships and a host of Cracking the Cryptic Jason Rosenhouse - Professor of mathematics at James Madison University and the author of a number of books about math and related topics, including the forthcoming Games for Your Mind: The History and Future of Logic Puzzles Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Numbers are so fundamental to our understanding of the world around us that we maybe tend to think of them as an intrinsic part of the world around us. But they aren't. Humans invented numbers just as much as we invented all of language. This hour, we look at the anthropological, psychological, and linguistical ramifications of the concept of numbers. And we look at one philosophical question too: Are numbers even real in the first place? GUESTS: Brian Clegg - Author of Are Numbers Real? The Uncanny Relationship of Mathematics and the Physical World Caleb Everett - Professor and chair of anthropology at the University of Miami and the author of Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired October 12, 2017.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday authorized the emergency use of convalescent blood to treat people hospitalized with Covid-19. Sunday's decision comes on the heels of a presidential tweet that may have put pressure on the FDA to authorize it prematurely. We talk about this and more news on Covid.  Also this hour:  The Republican National Convention begins this week, a few days after former Vice-President Joe Biden accepted the nomination to represent Democrats in November's election. We talk about last week's convention, how this week's convention might play out, and other political news from the weekend.   GUESTS:  Angela Rasmussen is a virologist and associate research scientist at the Center of Infection and Immunity at Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. She is a contributing writer to Forbes magazine. (@angie_rasmussen) Annie Linskey is a national political reporter focused on the 2020 presidential campaign for The Washington Post. (@AnnieLinskey) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The No. 1 song in the country -- "WAP" by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion -- seems to make just one concession to commercial decorum: its acronym title, which I won't be spelling out for you here. It's being called the "gloriously filthy song of the summer" and subversive "in almost every way, even as it plays with the limits of explicit expression." Speaking of troublesome songs: Does The Band's classic "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" belong in the same category as bits of culture like Song of the South and Gone with the Wind? And finally: Has it turned out that Kevin Costner's 1997 box office bomb, The Postman, is "the most accurate dystopian movie?" Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: CAROLE BASKIN Debunks Facebook Group's Theory ... MISSING HUBBY'S NOT IN SEPTIC TANK!!! Second City Is Trying Not To Be Racist. Will It Work This Time?For more than 60 years, the premier home for improv was a bastion of whiteness where performers of color were consistently demeaned. Now it is trying to remake itself entirely. An Airline Employee On TikTok Is Calling Out All The Celebs Who Were Rude (And Nice) To Her, And It's Wild"She wouldn't get off the aircraft until everybody else got off." Two men charged with the 2002 killing of Run-DMC legend Jam Master Jay On Percival Everett's Almost Secret Experiment in a Novel in ThreesDavid Lerner Schwartz on the Tripartite Puzzle That is Telephone How the Criterion Collection Crops Out African-American DirectorsThe prestigious line is coveted by cinephiles and taught in film schools. The company's president blames his "blind spots" for largely shutting out Black Americans. GUESTS: Cara McDonough - A freelance writer; you can read her blog at caramcduna.com Brian Slattery - Arts editor for the New Haven Independent and a producer at WNHH radio Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pandemic has led to national shortages in testing supplies, PPE, and now, coins.  We've been predicting a cashless society and the demise of the penny for so long that we may be underestimating how much people still use coins in places like laundromats and coffeeshops, and the occasional parking meter.  And about eight million households are "unbanked," and rely on money orders, pawn shops, or payday loans, instead of banks. So, where are all the coins? Also this hour: The world's earliest coins date back to ancient Greek and Roman culture. And each coin contains information often not found anywhere else in surviving relics of the ancient world. Some numismatists consider ancient coins one of the most important discoveries to fuel the renaissance.  Lastly, how a North Carolina aquarium used coins from their waterfall to care for thousands of their animals during the pandemic.   GUESTS: Molly Olmstead is a staff writer at Slate Brian Wallace is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Coin Laundry Association  David Vagi is Director, Ancient Coins at the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and the author of Coinage and History of the Roman Empire   Liz Baird is the director of the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores Join the conversation on Facebook and TwitterSupport the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The FDA on Saturday authorized emergency use of a rapid and inexpensive saliva test that could increase testing capacity. It’s quick, less expensive, and doesn't need the chemical reagents that are in short supply. It's also less sensitive than PCR tests. But public health experts believe the tradeoff will save lives. We talk about that and more Covid-related news.   "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from their appointed rounds," remains the motto of the United States Postal Service, despite changes by  the new Postmaster General to slow down mail delivery, remove sorting machines, and make it more difficult for voters to receive and return mail-in ballots on time.  Free and fair elections are the bedrock of democratic principles. The postal service led our first communications revolution by forging transportation networks that spread national and international news - even to those living in the most remote areas - to encourage an informed citizenry. Isn't it worth protecting? GUESTS:  Vincent Racaniello is a professor of Microbiology & Immunology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. He’s the host of the podcast, “This Week in Virology.” (@profvrr) Margaret Sullivan is the media columnist at the Washington Post and the author of Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy. (@sulliview) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose is worried about movie theaters. The pandemic has done such damage to the industry that Hollywood has started treating the U.S. as a second-run market. And now the Paramount Consent Decrees have ended. (We're not exactly sure what that means, but it's not good.) Is the future of movie theaters... Walmart drive-ins? And: She Dies Tomorrow is a horror-comedy-thriller written and directed by Amy Seimetz. It was supposed to premiere at this year's South by Southwest, which was canceled. She Dies Tomorrow is out now on video on demand platforms. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: RZA unveils new ice cream truck jingle to replace problematic 'Turkey in the Straw' Trini Lopez, Singing Star Who Mixed Musical Styles, Dies at 83His blend of American folk, Latin and rockabilly music captivated listeners worldwide. His secret: arrangements that people could dance to. He died of COVID-19. Kurt Luedtke, Newspaperman Turned Screenwriter, Dies at 80He led The Detroit Free Press at 33, then gave up journalism for Hollywood. "Absence of Malice" was one result; an Oscar for "Out of Africa" was another. The Best Movies Eligible for the 2021 Oscars Right NowFrom "The Assistant" to "Never Rarely Sometimes Always," the first half of 2020 boasts more than a few titles worthy of Oscar buzz. Alan Dershowitz claims a fictional lawyer defamed him. The implications for novelists are very real. Kelly Ripa claps back after troll criticizes her 'lack of personal grooming' Martin Scorsese Makes Apple First-Look Film & Television Deal For His Sikelia Productions Banner Yale scientists restore cellular function in 32 dead pig brainsResearchers hope the technology will further our understanding of the brain, but lawmakers may not be ready for the ethical challenges. Can You Hack the Jeopardy! Buzzer?Different schools of thought have emerged. Oh, to be a cat in a plastic container sailing around a bathtub The Shark Week SuperlativesDiscovery Channel's much-hyped annual programming package has become increasingly ahistorical and fantastical over the years. Yet, it remains popular. So, our two resident shark experts dove in to discuss the best and worst that the week has to offer. "Weird and Strange Doesn't Even Begin to Describe It": What It’s Like to Be the Phillie Phanatic Right NowA brave mascot reveals what it's like to fill the crushing emptiness of an MLB stadium. A 'Socially Distanced' Venue Held Its First Concert, And It's An Introvert's Dream As it Celebrates the Centennial of the Negro Leagues, MLB May Undo a "Major" MistakeBecause of a prejudiced decision made more than 50 years ago, the segregation-era circuits that featured Black players have never been counted among the official major leagues. For the first time, MLB is considering righting that wrong. GUESTS: James Hanley - Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College Carolyn Paine - An actress, comedian, and dancer; founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As President Trump talks about draining the swamp in Washington D.C., we turn our attention to actual swamps. Associated with death and decay, while also celebrated for their beauty and biodiversity, few landscapes evoke such contradictory sentiments as swamps. This hour we speak with experts about the surprising history, culture, nature, and politics associated with America's wetlands. We'll also talk with a woman who spent eight years of her life living in these inhospitable environments on a makeshift houseboat. GUESTS: Michael Grunwald - Senior writer for Politico Magazine, and Editor-at-Large of POLITICO’s new public policy site, The Agenda; author of The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise (@MikeGrunwald) Dr. Anthony Wilson - Professor of English at LaGrange College, GA; author of  Swamp: Nature and Culture, and Shadow and Shelter: The Swamp in Southern Culture Gwen Roland - Writer, and former full-time resident of the Atchafalaya river basin swamp; author of Atchafalaya Houseboat: My Years in the Louisiana Swamp, and Postmark Bayou Chene Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"It is the rare person who doesn't own a pair of sweatpants." I am, it turns out, that rare person. Sweatpants are just too warm, is my take. But I do own a number of pairs of cotton pajama pants. They're my sweatpants proxy. Back before the pandemic became the central preoccupation of our existence, back when we made our radio show in, ya know, a radio studio, I would always get a little dressed up on my show days. I'd wear a jacket. Or a tie. Or a jacket and a tie. Now that we're all working from home all the time, I spend the great majority of my work hours in pajama pants and stocking feet and a bathrobe. But when it comes time for one of my shows -- like this one, for instance -- I change out of my PJ pants into jeans or chinos. That's what "a little dressed up" means these days: putting real pants on. (Or even "hard pants," as they're now known.) For we are living in the age of sweatpants. Question is: Are we ever going back? Or should we go back right now and start dressing like grownups again? What if we got, like, some fancy pants sweatpants? Would that be grown up enough? This hour, from The Bad Ideas Dept.: a show about sweatpants. GUESTS: Tim Chan - Lifestyle and market editor at Rolling Stone Rebecca Jennings - A reporter covering pop and internet culture at The Goods by Vox Rachel Tashjian - Style writer for GQ Adam Tschorn - Deputy fashion editor at the Los Angeles Times Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired May 6, 2020.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been 25 years since Bob Ross died and 26 years since his The Joy of Painting went off the air. But there are 52 episodes of the show available to stream on Netflix. Bob Ross and Chill is a thing. The 403 full episodes available on YouTube have accumulated something approaching 250 million views. And last summer, The New York Times did a big Bob Ross investigation. This hour: a look at the undying force for permed hair and puffy little clouds and happy little trees that is Bob Ross. Plus: Could we do a show about Bob Ross without also talking Thomas Kinkade? No we could not. And so no we do not. GUESTS: Nathan Badley - Cohost of the Nothing But a Bob Thang podcast Alexis Boylan - Associate professor of art history at UConn and the editor of Thomas Kinkade, The Artist in the Mall Justin Croft - Cohost of the Nothing But a Bob Thang podcast Emily Rhyne - Cinematographer at The New York Times Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired September 26, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As of this weekend, the number of people in the U.S. infected with SARS-CoV-2 topped five million, just sixteen days after passing the four million mark on July 23. This weekend's motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota portends that those numbers will continue to rise.  Three potential vaccines against the virus have entered phase III clinical trials, in which safety and effectiveness is tested on thousands of healthy people.  This stage can take months or years depending on how quickly researchers can detect a difference between the two groups, but some doctors believe that we'll have a vaccine sooner than later. Are we expecting too much from a vaccine? And, what about the expanding group of people afraid to trust any vaccine developed at "warp speed"?  Is it time for another lockdown to get things under control until a vaccine is ready? Also this hour: Sending troops into U.S. cities and the recent changes at the U.S. Postal Service are two recent examples of what writer Adam Gopnik sees as an emboldened and authoritarian right encroaching on democratic premises. Meanwhile, he says the rage of an out-of-power left makes liberalism look indifferent. Incremental reform is not enough.  GUESTS: Tim Schacker is an infectious disease physician and vice dean for research at the University of Minnesota Medical School   Adam Gopnik is an author and a staff writer for The New Yorker. The paperback edition of his most recent book, A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventures of Liberalism, was published in July. He is also a lyricist and libretto writer. With composer David Shire, he wrote the book and lyrics for the musical comedy TABLE, produced in 2016 at the Long Wharf Theater Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.  Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Federal Communications Commission requires that The Nose cover each and every new Taylor Swift release*. Folklore is Swift's seventh number-one album, and it's become, in just two weeks, the highest-selling album of 2020 so far. But rather than just spending a segment talking about the album... We came across a term that's new to us: cottagecore. Folklore is, apparently, cottagecore. We're not entirely convinced that cottagecore is a thing, but we're covering it anyway, and we'll get to Folklore that way. And: When You Finish Saving the World is an audiobook/podcast/radio play/thing written by and co-directed by and starring Jesse Eisenberg. It's a five-hour, three-act, three-monologue, audio-only Audible original that also stars Kaitlyn Dever and Finn Wolfhard as the wife and son of Eisenberg's character, respectively. *No, it doesn't. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Will White People Forget About George Floyd?A parable embedded in The Maltese Falcon offers a cautionary tale. The Reconciliation Must Be TelevisedWhat is the next step as America confronts its racism? A broadcast spectacle, our critic writes, that could look like court, a telethon, therapy, an Oprah show -- and more. Wilford Brimley, 'Cocoon' Star and Quaker Oats Pitchman, Is Dead at 85 The Mind Behind Japan's Legendary Batmanga, Jiro Kuwata, Has Passed Away The End of the Fictional CopTelevision and film helped naturalize police violence. Noir offers a way out. Brad Garrett, Lea Thompson declare Ellen staff mistreatment "common knowledge" Hollywood Is Finally Admitting That the U.S. Is a Lost CauseThe country's sluggish pandemic response has forced movie studios to release big movies, such as Christopher Nolan's Tenet, abroad first -- a highly unusual move for the industry. Netflix is rolling out video speed controls Zelda recipe appears in serious novel by serious author after rushed Google searchA bad day for literature, a great day for Polygon's SEO GUESTS: Lucy Gellman - Editor of The Arts Paper and host of WNHH radio's Kitchen Sync Bill Yousman - Professor of Media Studies at Sacred Heart University Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jimmy Webb was possibly the most successful songwriter of the 1960s and 1970s. Classics like "Galveston," "Wichita Lineman," "Up, Up, and Away," and "MacArthur Park" were recorded by hundreds of artists from Glen Campbell to Donna Summer. Webb wrote the songs that others made famous. Our team made the trek to Glen Cove, New York, in the summer of 2019 to meet Jimmy Webb and his wife, Laura Savini, at a recording studio near their home.  Our adventure was well worth the trip. What we took home from our day were the sweet remains of time spent with friends, great music, and a spectacular sunset.  For the first time in Colin McEnroe Show history, we decided to create two shows from our time with Jimmy Webb. Today, we bring you part two of our two-hour show with Jimmy Webb. Listen to Part One.  GUEST:  Jimmy Webb - Songwriter, pianist, composer, storyteller. He's won Grammy Awards for his music, lyrics and orchestration. His songs include "Galveston," "Wichita Lineman," and "MacArthur Park." He's the author of Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting and his 2017 memoir, The Cake and the Rain. His latest album is Slipcover.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laura Nyro's most famous compositions -- "Stoned Soul Picnic," "Stoney End," "When I Die," "Wedding Bell Blues," "Eli's Coming" -- are jewels of mainstream music, and her covers of songs like "Jimmy Mack" and "Gonna Take a Miracle" are legendary. But she was uncomfortable under the spotlight and withdrew from it to become the Belle of Danbury. This hour: a night of singing, reflecting, and celebrating recorded in front of a live audience on January 29, 2020, as part of Colin's Freshly Squeezed series at Watkinson School. GUESTS: Jim Chapdelaine - Guitar and vocals Latanya Farrell - Vocals and tambourine Steve Metcalf - Piano and vocals Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. This show originally aired February 21, 2020.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're reairing this show from September, 2019, when our team traveled to Glen Cove, New York, to interview legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb.  We waited a long time for this interview and it was worth every minute of the wait. It was a special day. We broke bread together, met kind people, and enjoyed a day of music and stories from Jimmy Webb's decades of making music.  The day was not without adversity. A flat tire forced us to miss our ferry back home to Connecticut (and our dinner). We were hungry and tired. But none of that mattered when the late ferry pulled into Bridgeport against a spectacular sunset of orange, red, and purple. We would never have seen it had the day gone as planned.   A lot has changed in America since that day last September. But not our human need for music and kinship.  We made two shows from our time with Jimmy Webb. There was too much music not to share all of it. This is part one. You can hear part two on Thursday, August 6.  GUEST: Jimmy Webb - Songwriter, pianist, composer, storyteller. He’s won Grammy Awards for his music, lyrics, and orchestration. His songs include “Galveston,” “Wichita Lineman,” and “MacArthur Park.” He’s the author of Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting and his 2017 memoir, The Cake and the Rain. His latest album is Slipcover. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sports! There are sports! Baseball's back. At least for now. With almost all of the teams playing games. And only, ya know, two of them having big COVID outbreaks. The NBA exists in a Disney World "bubble," and it hasn't had a single test come back positive yet. The NHL is doing two different kinds of tournaments at once in two different "bubbles" in Canada. The arenas and stadiums are empty and quiet, but for the cardboard cutout fans and the piped-in crowd sounds. And the whole thing may well be a bad idea anyway... But there are sports! At least for now. GUESTS: Ben Cohen - Sports reporter for The Wall Street Journal and the author of The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks Jeff Tracy - Sports reporter for Axios Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This New or Second or Third Golden Age of Television has been going on for 20 or 25 or 30 years now. Peak TV just won't stop peaking. For decades, there's just been no way to keep up. But then… suddenly we've all got a lot more time on our hands in our houses. And instead of finally watching The Wire and The Americans and Homeland and whatever else, we're all just rewatching Parks and Rec for the eleventeenth time. And, hey, whoa: The New York Times bought Serial productions. And finally: I May Destroy You is a BBC One and HBO show starring and written and created by Michaela Coel. Set in London, the series is a comedy-drama about consent and, ultimately, trauma. Some other stuff that happened in the last couple weeks, give or take: Alan Parker, British Director of 'Fame', 'Midnight Express' and 'Mississippi Burning,' Dies at 76 Malik B., Founding Member of the Roots, Dead at 47The rapper departed the group following the the release of Things Fall Apart in 1999 Regis Philbin, TV's Enduring Everyman, Dies at 88With patience, determination and folksy, spontaneous wit, Mr. Philbin climbed to pre-eminence relatively late in life on talk and game shows. David Letterman On Regis Philbin's Death: "Best Guest We Ever Had" As a Teenager, I Hated Johnny Carson. Then Came the Pandemic.As a teenager, I thought his 'Tonight Show' was a bland, uncool relic. Now I appreciate his deadpan humor and the loose weirdness of his interviews. 'Saturday Night Live' Wants to Resume Filming in Person Olivia de Havilland, a Star of 'Gone With the Wind,' Dies at 104She built an illustrious Hollywood career punctuated by a successful fight to loosen the studios' grip on actors. Billy Eichner To Play Paul Lynde In 'Man In The Box,' About Gifted Actor Stigmatized For Being Gay: Why Eichner Feels Things Haven't Changed, Gay Actors Still Excluded From Straight Roles & Even Playing Gay Icons The Force Is Still Strong with John Williams Washington NFL team to use 'Washington Football Team' for 2020 season Mulan falls off Disney's schedule, takes Avatar and Star Wars with it "The Far Side" Returns to a Weird World Best Cinematography Oscar Winners of the 21st Century, Ranked Tom Hanks lending voice as vendor at Oakland A's games 'Metal Gear Solid V' Players Achieve the Impossible: Nuclear Disarmament'Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain' players briefly got rid of all nuclear weapons and triggered a secret cutscene. Wild Star Wars Rumor Claims Disney Will Erase the Sequel Trilogy and Reset CanonAn unsubstantiated Star Wars rumor claims that Disney is ready to junk everything that happened in The Force Awakens and its sequels. Breonna Taylor Is On The Cover Of O Magazine -- The First One Ever Without Oprah"Breonna Taylor had dreams," Oprah Winfrey said. "They all died with her the night five bullets shattered her body and her future." GUESTS: Irene Papoulis - Teaches writing at Trinity College Mercy Quaye - Founder and principal consultant for The Narrative Project and a columnist with Hearst Connecticut Media Group Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Native Americans have been getting forced off their land for a long time. Although Thomas Jefferson promised they shall know the United States as only "friends and benefactors," he forced them from their ancestral home in 1804 after he signed the Louisiana Purchase.   Assured by the government that Kansas territory would be theirs forever, they were soon forced from their new home by white settlers (including the Wilder family of Little House fame) who plundered their burial sites and squatted on their land until they felt little choice but to sell to them. The Osage finally settled on territory in Oklahoma that most whites found "unfit for cultivation," at least until they found oil underneath those rocks. Then it became attractive to powerful white men who hatched a plot to kill the Osage obtain and obtain mineral rights to the land.  This is the chilling story of the systematic murder of one group of native people. It's the bigger story of how the United States government has betrayed and controlled the sovereignty of a nation of people who lived here first. This story never seems to end. In 2019,  Attorney General William Barr announced a plan to address the crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans. I wonder whether anything has changed.  GUESTS: David Grann - Staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of The Lost City of Z: Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon and Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI Denny McAuliffe - Editor at The Washington Post, adjunct professor in journalism at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and the author of The Deaths of Sybil Bolton: An American History Jim Gray - Former Principal Chief of the Osage Nation and current Tribal Administrator for the Sac and Fox Nation Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired August 10, 2017.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colin McEnroe Show alum Chion Wolf has a new show: Audacious. Hear this guest episode from her series! Last year, a 28-year-old guy in Mumbai tried to sue his parents -- who are both lawyers -- for having brought him into the world. He claims his parents didn’t get his consent to live. In addition to being a very bold person, he is an anti-natalist. That is, he believes that it is morally wrong to bring sentient life into this world -- no matter how charmed or how troubled that life is -- and that humanity should stop reproducing, full stop. Anti-natalism is not a novel concept. You can trace it as far back as some interpretations of the teachings of Buddah, and in ancient religious sects. Nowadays, the subreddit dedicated to anti-natalism has 70,000 members, and there are 15,000 people following the Facebook group the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. You'll hear from one of its leaders in this show. The screenwriter for the HBO series True Detective says that that the antinatalist beliefs of one of the main characters was inspired by the book Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence by the philosopher David Benatar. You'll meet him too and learn a lot more about the belief that this world would have been better had none us been here in the first place. GUESTS: David Benatar - A professor and the head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the author of Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence and The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions Les Knight - A volunteer with the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and email. Catie Talarski contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How we define what it means to be a hero depends a lot on the values shared by the group that's in power at any given time. We're seeing it today in the push and pull over the statues of men whose values no longer reflect the values of a changing community. And time tends to wash away the nuance and complexity of heroes that stand as a symbol of a prior generation. Yet, America loves its heroes, even if only for a time. But ​we have a way of using the language of "heroism" to sacrifice the very heroes we admire. Many of the essential workers we deemed heroes of the pandemic had to choose between their health and a paycheck. They didn't choose to be heroes. Some didn't want to be. Others were silenced or shamed for speaking out about unsafe conditions. This hour, we talk about what it means to be a hero, and we consider some Connecticut heroes you may not know about. ​ Also, a look at the unlikely hero driven to heroic acts to avoid being labeled a coward. GUESTS: Dahlia Lithwick - Writes about the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus Chris Walsh - Director of the college of arts and sciences writing program at Boston University and the author of Cowardice: A Brief History Walter Woodward - State historian of Connecticut, the author of Creating Connecticut, and the host of the Grating the Nutmeg podcast Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Race is a myth; racism is not. I'm stealing this line from Gene Seymour, one of our guests on our show today.  We're reairing a show with three people who discuss what it's like to be Black in America. The show was originally in 2017. We chose to reair it today to coincide with the memorials this week for Congressman John Lewis, who will be the first Black congressman to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, after fighting his entire life for social justice. And because the recent police brutality, along with a pandemic that disproportionately affected minority communities, exposed how little has changed for Black Americans since we first aired this show in 2017. Many of us hoped the election of Barack Obama in 2008 was a sign that we were finally entering a time when America was ready to recognize that racial inequality is the direct result of systemic discrimination going back to the founding of this country.  That did not happen.  Congressman Lewis fought for civil rights and dignity for all black Americans. We should all think about that as we honor his legacy this week.   This show originally aired on July 12, 2017 and was reaired on January 15, 2018.  GUESTS:  Gene Seymour - Cultural critic, writer, jazz aficionado, and contributor for CNN Opinion, The Baffler, Book Forum and The Nation Bruce Haynes - Professor of sociology at U.C. Davis and co-author of Down the Up Staircase  Kris Marsh - Demographer and associate professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and a 2017 Fulbright Scholar in South Africa Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.  Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.