The Colin McEnroe Show

23 Hours To Kill is Jerry Seinfeld's fourth-ever standup comedy special and his second for Netflix. It hit the streaming service on Tuesday, and The Nose thinks it's great. And also that it sucks. And then: Waco is a six-part miniseries that tells exactly the story you'd guess it tells. Taylor Kitsch plays David Koresh. Waco was the big, original launch title for the Paramount Network when it rebranded from SpikeTV in January, 2018. So why is it relevant now? One wonders, but it was recently added to Netflix, and it's been trending there for weeks. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: 'Murder Hornets' in the U.S.: The Rush to Stop the Asian Giant HornetSightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations. A 5-year-old boy was pulled over in Utah on his way to California to try to buy a Lamborghini What will Connecticut restaurants look like after coronavirus? Owners expect an entirely different dining experience from the past The Red Sox are exploring 'changes' to their uniform Was Donald Trump Good at Baseball?The president has long claimed he could have gone pro. We looked into it. TV Ratings: Remote 'Voice' Slips to Monday Season Lows Grimes & Elon Musk Have A Baby Boy Named X Æ A-12 Turns Out Elon Musk and Grimes Can't Actually Name Their Baby X Æ A-12 Due To California LawsWell, they tried. Risky Business? NASA and Tom Cruise Talk Movie Shoot in SpaceThe head of NASA said the agency is working with the "Mission: Impossible" star on a new film aboard the International Space Station. Drive-Thru Strip Club Serves Up Sexy (And Safe) Solution For Coronavirus BluesLucky Devil Lounge in Oregon has come up with yet another innovative, fun and sexy idea to keep income -- and customers -- coming during the pandemic. What Is Demon Time? Instagram's 'After Dark' Craze, Explained Twitter Asks Users to Reconsider Before Sending Vulgar Tweets Drive-in concerts could provide coronavirus workaround An Unhappy Ending For Movie Theater Chains AMC And Cineworld Adele's new birthday photo thanking frontline workers sparks debate on body image TV Writers Wrestle With How (and When) to Work COVID-19 Into Series What Happened to Val Kilmer? He’s Just Starting to Figure It Out. 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.

"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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joni Mitchell is a singer-songwriter from Alberta, Canada. In 1968, her debut album, Song to a Seagull, was released and since then, Mitchell has become one of the most influential and greatest recording artists. Mitchell has won nine Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and countless music awards, and her albums are considered among the best ever made. We're big fans. It turns out we're not alone. This hour, we talk to a few friends of the show to discuss Mitchell's influence on them while listening to their favorite Joni songs. Plus, we chat David Yaffe, the author of Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell. GUESTS: David Yaffe - Assistant professor of Humanities at Syracuse University and the author of Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell Taneisha Duggan - Producing associate at TheaterWorks Brendan J. Sullivan - Producer and author of Rivington Was Ours: Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side, and the Prime of Our Lives Lee Newton - Director of program promotion at Connecticut Public Jim Chapdelaine - Musician, producer, recording engineer, and Emmy-winning composer Steve Metcalf - Music critic, arts consultant, composer, director of the University of Hartford's Presidents' College Noah Baerman - Jazz pianist and composer Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, Carlos Mejia, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired April 4, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's hard to fathom the idea that more people have to die from COVID-19 before we come out on the other end of this pandemic. Is it time for political leaders of both parties to have an honest conversation about the moral trade-offs of this pandemic and how to balance them toward the public interest? The world is rushing to produce a vaccine against COVID-19. We talk about the trade-offs of shortening a process that typically takes 10-15 years to complete and the ethical challenges of manufacturing one or more vaccines and how we choose to distribute them. The Asian giant hornet has arrived in the U.S. for the first time -- and it doesn't bode well for honeybees. What are scientists doing to eradicate it? GUESTS: John Harris - Founding editor of Politico Carl Zimmer - The author of 13 books about science; his latest is She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Power, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity Mike Baker - Seattle bureau chief for The New York 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.

There are plenty of questions about what the future of live performance looks like right now, and, in certain ways, no form seems more displaced by social distancing and everything else than does standup comedy. As such, people are just going to have to try new things, right? New York club comedian Ted Alexandro's YouTube comedy special is one of the first such experiments. And: Do you feel like you're running out of movies to watch? Have you crossed just about everything off of your must-see list? The Nose has compiled its own list of semi-obscure, semi-forgotten, semi-overlooked movies to help get you through this time. Nothing too artsy-fartsy, nothing too oddball. Just some titles you might've missed that are worth your time. (Here's the full list in handy Twitter-thread form. It runs fully 43 titles.) Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: G.I. Joe Artist Hector Garrido Passes Away At Age 92 For Graduation, Cal Students Build 'Blockeley University' in Minecraft SNL Promotes Kate McKinnon's Cat to Featured Player Someone Edited Every Star Wars Movie To Play At Once, And I Can't Look Away Pentagon officially releases UFO videos Comedy Community Mourns The 'End Of An Era' As UCB Closes New York Locations Academy Alters Oscars Rules: Streaming Films Eligible, Sound Categories Combined, and More AMC Theatres Refuses to Play Universal Films in Wake of 'Trolls World Tour' Museums Challenge Each Other to Show their Creepiest Object Have Serena Williams And Roger Federer Won Their Last Grand Slams? FAA looking into a runway incident involving Harrison Ford Coffin Floats Are Real And You Can Bury Yourself In One This Summer The Erotic Chaos and Suspense of a Zoom Orgy Little League Cancels 2020 World Series and Region Tournaments GUESTS: Susan Bigelow - A librarian, a columnist for CT News Junkie, and a science fiction/fantasy novelist Shawn Murray - A standup comedian and writer 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.

Three years ago, we did a show where we asked which fictional dystopian future we were actually already living in. Now that we've arrived at, ya know, this present moment, that show has been on our minds. But we've realized we've got a new set of questions now too. After all the dystopian and apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction there's been over the past couple decades -- and there's been KIND OF A LOT, right? -- has any of it actually prepared us for our very present, very current, actual nonfiction dystopia? Well, mostly no. But some of it just may have. And then: What exactly is dystopian fiction going to look like after this is all over? GUESTS: Naomi Kritzer - A science fiction and fantasy writer; she wrote "So Much Cooking" in 2015, and her novel Catfishing on CatNet just won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel Laurie Penny - An author, columnist, journalist, and screenwriter Ben Winters - The author of ten novels; his new collection of short stories, Inside Jobs: Tales from a Time of Quarantine, is out tomorrow as an Audible original 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.

Humans typically make enough collective noise to keep the earth vibrating at a steady hum. But the pandemic has quieted that hum enough to let seismologists study the vibrations that can be hard to detect in the din of our noise. The world is eerily silent now, showing us how accustomed we have become to cacophony of loud sound in our lives. We're hardwired to focus on the sounds we need to hear and tune out those we don't. It's hard to notice what we miss when cars and horns and other noisemakers compete for our sonic attention. And we don't always notice how loud it is until it's quiet. Today, an ode to the sound we take for granted, including the soothing sound of another human voice on the telephone. Yep, that's what I said. The telephone.   GUESTS: David Owen is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of more than a dozen books. His newest book is Volume Control: Hearing in a Deafening World Chris Hoff is a sound engineer and co-creator with Sam Harnett, of the podcast, "The World According to Sound." (@chrisjameshoff) Sam Harnett is a reporter and co-creator with Chris Hoff, of the podcast, "The World According to Sound." (@samwharnett) Heather Radke is a writer and critic. Her work has appeared in The Believer, The Paris Review Daily, and RadioLab, among others. Her book, BUTTS, will be published in 2021. (@hradke) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This show originally aired on July 25, 2018. Two years ago, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security ran an intricate simulation of a rapidly spreading pandemic with government leaders to talk about the difficult ethical questions that arise in the event of a pandemic and the same questions we are confronting today.     They learned what had to be done in the event of a real "Clade X". We haven't done it.  The CDC said another pandemic was coming and that there was a good chance it President Trump would be confronted with it just as the two presidents before him. Yet, he cut funding for pandemic preparedness that has helped curb prior deadly global outbreaks and rid his administration of scientific advisors.  Just under 150 million died globallyby the end of the Johns Hopkins simulation. It doesn't have to end this way or when the next pandemic hits. But the threat won't go away simply because we choose to ignore it.  GUESTS: Ed Yong - Science writer for The Atlantic and is the author of I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. (@edyong209) Eric Toner - Senior Scholar with the John Hopkins Center for Health Security and Senior Scientist for John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Environmental Health and Engineering. (@JHSPH_CHS) Laura Spinney - Science journalist and the author of most recently, Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed The World. (@lfspinney) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in several states came together last weekend to protest against stay-at-home orders. Their actions followed President Trump tweets of support to "liberate" their states and start reopening the economy. Dr. David Grew makes the case that resuming "normal" business activity in the absence of testing and credible messaging will do more economic harm than good.  Also this hour: What would President Selina Meyer do in a pandemic? How about Logan Roy? We talk to Frank Rich, the Executive Producer of HBO's VEEP and Succession. Could even they do a better job?   Lastly, we talk trash with an essential worker.  GUESTS:  Dr. David Grew is a radiation oncologist, co-chair of the Cancer Committee at St. Francis Hospital, and a public health messenger. You can find him on Instagram @davidgrew. Frank Rich is Writer-at-Large for New York magazine and Executive Producer for the HBO series, VEEP and Succession. (@frankrichny) Mike Paine is the president of Paine's Incorporated.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fiona Apple's new album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, is currently the best-reviewed album, um, ever, according to Metacritic. Bon Iver has a new benefit single out that seems to have been written specifically for the present moment. Norah Jones has a new tune. Bob Dylan has kind of randomly put out two new songs, one of which charted in the U.K. despite being very nearly 17 minutes long. And then, here's a trivia question: There are five artists who have charted singles in the Top 40 in each of the last four decades, Michael Jackson, Madonna, U2, Kenny G... and who's the fifth? Would you believe it's this guy? Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Paul Schrader Does Not Have Much Hope for the Future of Movies Randall Beach: Small CT theaters in a new fight for survival MLB might not be back to normal until 2023So says one high-ranking executive. Plus, other thoughts about what might happen with baseball in 2020. A 2020 Minor League Baseball Season Grows More And More Unlikely The Wire Forever: David Simon on the Quarantine Favorite and His Equally Pissed-Off New Show, The Plot Against America Social-distancing detecting 'pandemic drones' dumped over privacy concerns Craving the Roar of a Crowd? Online Reruns of Concerts, Sports Provide Solace for SomeWith gatherings at theaters and arenas banned, videos of prepandemic events have become a source of humanity; 'That's what people are yearning for' Put on your sad clown face: The Gathering Of The Juggalos has been canceled A Seaside Irish Village Adopts Matt DamonBut don't you dare ask what it's like living under lockdown with Matt O'Damon. Ben Affleck won't let face mask stop him from smoking GUESTS: Rebecca Castellani - A music writer for the Red Hook Star Revue Eric Danton - A reporter and critic 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 Noah Baerman Resonance Ensemble's The Rock & the Redemption is a jazz concept album of sorts that recasts the Sisyphus myth around the heroism of perseverance and persistence. Keyboardist and composer Noah Baerman joins us for the hour. To purchase The Rock & the Redemption (including the full-length concert video), visit Noah Baerman's Bandcamp. All proceeds from the album go to Claire's Continuum, an initiative of Resonant Motion, Inc., to commission socially conscious musical and interdisciplinary work by first-time collaborators. GUEST: Noah Baerman - Jazz pianist and composer Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe contributed to this show, which originally aired August 31, 2018.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In March, President Trump blamed our global pandemic on China. When that didn't work, he blamed the World Health Organization (WHO) for not responding quickly enough to the virus. When that didn't work, he blamed governors for not getting their own supplies. Now, he says immigrants will take away American jobs. The Bible defines a scapegoat as one of two kid goats. One goat was sacrificed and the living “scapegoat” was supposed to absorb the sins of the community and carry them into the wilderness. Is that what's happening here? Are the president's scapegoats supposed to carry away the sins of Mr. Trump? Also this hour: Politics and our human need for a scapegoat has defined the way we name diseases almost as much as the goal of accurately describing a threat to public health.  And, the story of one of our earliest scapegoats, the sin-eater.  GUESTS: Graeme Wood is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of The Way of the Strangers: Encounters With the Islamic State (@gcaw) Lili Loofbourow writes about culture, gender, and politics for Slate (@Millicentsomer) Laura Spinney is a science journalist and author who has been published in National Geographic, Nature and The Economist, among others. Her latest book is Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World.  (@lfspinney)   Thomas Lynch is a poet and author of five collections of poems and four books of essays, including The Sin-Eater: A Breviary. His latest book of essays is The Deposition: New and Selected Essays On Being and Ceasing To Be. He has been a funeral director since 1974. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

That headline is just a direct quote from James Poniewozik's Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America. I was torn between that line from the book and this one: Donald Trump is not a person. Poniewozik's take is that "Donald Trump" is really a character that Donald Trump has been playing on television since at least the early 1980s. "Television has entertained America, television has ensorcelled America, and with the election of Donald J. Trump, television has conquered America," Poniewozik writes. Audience of One is a cultural history of television and a television history of Donald Trump. Poniewozik joins us for the hour. GUEST: James Poniewozik - Chief television critic for The New York Times and the author of Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired October 24, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One can't help but wonder if the President understands that getting through this pandemic will not be a quick sprint.  On Thursday, the Trump Administration announced guidelines for states to begin reopening the economy, with a goal to begin by May 1. On Friday, the President personally encouraged protesters in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia, to "liberate" their states from onerous social-distancing guidelines imposed by their Democratic governors.  On Saturday, protesters from other states joined the fray.  Social distancing seems to be flattening the curve but we haven’t yet turned a corner. The U.S. averaged 30,000 new cases of Covid-19 during the five days leading up to Friday, April 17.  Yet, there’s a good chance the Trump Administration will encourage a partial reopening before we’ve significantly increased testing or set up the infrastructure needed to trace the contacts of the infected.   How do we continue in the shadow of Coronavirus?  We want to hear from you. Call us at (888)-720-9677 or (888)-720-WNPR. What have you learned you can live without? How has your life changed?  What do you envision life will be like this time next year? GUEST: Ed Yong covers science for The Atlantic. He’s that author of I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander Way of Life (@edyong209) Martha Gulati is the Chief of Cardiology and Physician Executive Director, Banner Health Institute, at the University of Arizona-Phoenix. She is the Editor-in-Chief of CardioSmart, a patient education website by the American College of Cardiology. @DrMarthaGulati Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last weekend, Saturday Night Live aired a prerecorded special, "Saturday Night Live at Home." Tom Hanks hosted from his kitchen. Michael Che and Colin Jost did Weekend Update from their living rooms and by Zoom or something similar. Chris Martin covered a Bob Dylan song in front of handwritten "ENTRANCE TO TRAIN" signs. All of the late night shows are operating in some similar way right now. Jimmy Kimmel hosts from his living room and has people like Jason Bateman on by Skype or whatever. John Oliver sits at his desk in front of a mysterious white wall. Samantha Bee hosts from the woods. And: The original one-woman stage version of Fleabag just hit Amazon Prime. The Nose missed the TV show, and so now this gives us an excuse to finally get on the Fleabag bandwagon a little bit. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Brian Dennehy Dies; Tony Award-Winning Actor Was 81The versatile actor, whose career spanned more than 50 years in theater, movies and television, won two Tony Awards, including for his performance in "Death of a Salesman." Danny Goldman, voice of Brainy Smurf and 'Young Frankenstein' actor, dies at 80 Hank Steinbrenner, Yankees co-owner and eldest son of George Steinbrenner, dead at 63 Allen Garfield, character actor in 'Nashville' and 'The Conversation,' dies at 80 of coronavirus Online dating amid coronavirus: Longer conversations and a 'pivot' to video dates"She said, 'Do I have to change out of sweats?' and I said, 'Of course not, I haven't worn adult pants in weeks anyway.' " Sex Work Comes HomeMore of us are making and watching sexual performances online now. Fewer of us are paying. In 1918, as a pandemic ripped through Hartford, Babe Ruth drew big crowds at the worst possible time The Forgotten Art of AssemblyOr, Why Theatre Makers Should Stop Making How much TV should your children be watching right now? Burning Cell Towers, Out of Baseless Fear They Spread the VirusA conspiracy theory linking the spread of the coronavirus to 5G wireless technology has spurred more than 100 incidents this month, British officials said. Here's How Those Hot Jigsaw Puzzles Are MadeThe coronavirus has sent businesses racing as demand surges past levels seen at Christmas. 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' Wants to Be a Megahit AgainABC has rolled out a celebrity edition of what was once the most popular program on television, this time helmed by Jimmy Kimmel. Can the game show become a hit again? Trump Wanted a Radio Show, but He Didn't Want to Compete With Limbaugh MLB players, team employees participating in coronavirus study Coyotes, bobcats and bears: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park Living in Sim: We made a team of 26 Mike Trouts. It lost 50 straight games GUESTS: Carolyn Paine - An actress, comedian, and dancer; founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Bill Yousman - Professor of Media Studies at Sacred Heart University 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.

I haven't been grocery shopping in 21 days. The last time I went, March 26, was a harrowing experience. It was before this particular grocery store, at least, had started limiting the number of customers in the building at a time, before it had made aisles one-way, before it started wiping down carts after each use and providing sanitizing wipes for customers to use. Staff and customers alike didn't seem to understand just how far six feet is, and the aisles were too narrow to afford that sort of distancing anyway. Fresh meats were in short supply, cleaning products were nowhere to be found, and canned and frozen foods were few and far between. And so I haven't been back. This hour, a look at all the things that have upended our expectations of the grocery shopping experience in the time of COVID: Can you really go two or three weeks without getting groceries? Just how nervous should you be about that trip to the grocery store? And finally: Where did all the toilet paper really go, anyway? GUESTS: Joseph G. Allen - An assistant professor of exposure and assessment science and director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard Marc Fisher - Senior editor at The Washington Post Robert LaBonne Jr. - President and CEO of LaBonne's Markets Ann Maloney - Food reporter and editor at The Washington Post 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.

Before the pandemic, most of us craved of a little solitude away from the hustle of life. Now, we've been  been thrust into a form of solitude far from the idleness of the lazy summer afternoon we imagined. Our minds are restless with uncertainty and fear and without the usual distractions we turn toward when being alone with ourselves becomes too painful to confront.  Today, we learn there is more to solitude than being alone. It can provide the time and space needed to silence the voices in our head. Poet Marianne Moore said, "the cure for loneliness is solitude."  GUESTS:  Stephen Batchelor is a Buddhist teacher and writer. He’s the author of several books including Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide To Awakening and most recently, The Art of Solitude. He’s the co-founder of Bodhi College.  Dr. Lucinda Mosher is a faculty associate in Interfaith Studies at the Hartford Seminary Karen Karper Fredette lived as a hermit for six years in a cabin in West Virginia. She’s the author of several books including, Consider the Ravens: On Contemporary Hermit Life. She and her husband Paul run Raven's Bread Ministries.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health experts have released multiple plans that all call for some version of the same thing. We need to conduct widespread testing, trace contacts of the infected, and quarantine those contacts, BEFORE we can ease social distancing measures.  Despite the many task forces the President Trump has formed to deal with the crisis, it's governors, former government officials, disease specialists, nonprofits, and even Apple, Google, and Bill Gates have taken charge in the absence of federal leadership.  Lastly, what role can the humanities play in a crisis? GUESTS: Dr. Alison Buttenheim is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and an Associate Director of Penn's Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics.  Yasmeen Abutaleb reports on health policy for The Washington Post  Agnes Callard  is an associate professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago and a monthly columnist for The Point Magazine and a contributor to The New York Times. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've entered a moment where the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is a celebrity. You can buy donuts with his face on them. A petition to make him People's Sexiest Man Alive has more than 13,000 signatures. And, yes, sales of Dr. Anthony Fauci bobblehead dolls have raised more than $100,000. At the same time, how do we find community in this time of COVID and quarantine and social distance? And then: The Plot Against America is HBO's miniseries based on Philip Roth's novel. It's an alternative history written 16 years ago -- and set 80 years ago -- with undeniable echos of our present politics. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Al Kaline, Detroit Tigers legend, dies at age 85 John Prine, Hero Of 'New' Nashville, Dies After Developing COVID-19 Symptoms Mort Drucker, Master of the Mad Caricature, Is Dead at 91His illustrations of celebrities for Mad magazine's movie and television satires inspired countless cartoonists. Actors, politicians and others knew they had made it when he drew them. Lee Fierro, 'Jaws' Actor, Dies of Coronavirus at 91 David Driskell, 88, Pivotal Champion of African-American Art, DiesAn artist himself, Professor Driskell recognized the role of black artists in the broader story of American art. He died of the coronavirus. Hal Willner, 'SNL' Staple And Acclaimed Music Producer, Has Died Thank god for the internetWhat the hell would be happening now without it? When All the Zingers Were Fit To PrintIn 1978, a mischievous band of writers that included George Plimpton and Nora Ephron teamed up to create a spoof of The New York Times. Turns out, Times journalists were among them. Rules for Using the Sidewalk During the CoronavirusGoing outside is still a joy. But we all need to do more to walk and run while social distancing. What to Stream: Forty of the Best Movies on Netflix Right Now Why Animal Crossing Is the Game for the Coronavirus MomentWith the world in the grip of a pandemic, the wildly popular game is a conveniently timed piece of whimsy, particularly for millennials. Trump order encourages US to mine the moonExecutive order says US will oppose any international effort to bar it from removing chunks of moon, Mars or elsewhere in space Radiohead to Stream Classic Concert Films on YouTube During Quarantine GUESTS: Rich Hollant - Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Irene Papoulis - Teaches writing at Trinity College 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.

My son, Simon, is a year old. His mother and his grandmother are both librarians. His father is, well, me. Simon is, predictably, obsessed with books. Back before everything changed, we'd gotten into a pretty good reading routine. Every morning before Simon went to his grandparents', we'd read a big pile of books. Every evening when I got home from work, we'd read a big pile of books. We'd read Goodnight Moon. We'd read The Little Blue Truck. We'd read Peek-a Who? and Peek-a Moo! and Peek-a Zoo! We'd read Who Hoots? and Who Hops? We'd read Dear Zoo and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? and Each Peach Pear Plum and Spooky, Spooky, Little Bat and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? And then we'd probably read them all again. Now that our whole family stays home all day every day, we still do all the reading. What's lost is the routine. What's lost is any sort of limit at all. From Simon's point of view, there's nothing to stop us from reading all day every day, from when he jams me in the back with his copy of The Mixed-Up Chameleon too early in the morning until he falls asleep wearing one sock and with a clump of Cheerios somehow stuck in his diaper too late at night. If you've got smallish kids and you're staying home these days, children's literature has undoubtedly become a much larger part of your life than you'd ever bargained for. This hour, a look at what it's like reading kids' books as an adult. GUESTS: Bruce Handy - The author of Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult Julia Pistell - Managing director of Sea Tea Improv and cohost of the Literary Disco 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.

Your sex life doesn't have to suffer just because you're cooped up at home every day. Researchers say that sex is a healthy way to calm the anxiety of pandemic, even if you live alone. Virtual dating, masturbation, and coronavirus-related porn are more popular than ever. Some sex researchers think our desire for sex in the middle of a pandemic is one way we cope with the prospect of our own mortality. But not everyone reacts in the same way. Some lose their desire for sex, especially when you pile on added stressors like losing a job, having kids home from school, or working in a higher-risk job. Also this hour: How will coronavirus change the way we think about touching others? We take a look at sex, dating, and relationships in the shadow of coronavirus. GUESTS: Justin Lehmiller - A research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, the founder and editor of the Sex and Psychology blog, and the author of Tell Me What You Want: The Science of Sexual Desire and How It Can Help You Improve Your Sex Life Lisa Bonos- Writes about dating and relationships for the Washington Post Amy Weissfeld - A somatic sex educator and masturbation coach Cathrine Jansson-Boyd - A consumer psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, Catie Talarski, Gene Amatruda, TJ Coppola, and Joe Coss contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ocean Vuong emigrated to Hartford from Vietnam when he was two years old. His family brought with them the trauma of an American-led war that ravaged their people and their culture. How do they retain their culture and assimilate into one that doesn't want them? His family struggled in a Hartford very different from the city that many of us experience. It's a place that still exists in the shadows. Ocean’s family is a snapshot into a bigger and more pervasive picture of the problems in America that many choose to hide -- the toll of low-wage work, poverty, drugs, violence, and the erasure of histories and ways of living life that don't fit neatly into the American myth. Ocean's first novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, is an American story, albeit one about the failure of America. This is an excerpt. GUEST: Ocean Vuong - A poet and the author of the novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired July 17, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pandemic is making us reflect on what we value as people and a country. We don't yet know how much COVID-19 will change life as we knew it before the pandemic. We do know that it must change. We're learning to respect each other's space. The internet is becoming a kinder place. And we shouldn't accept political leaders who can't lead. GUESTS: Gia Kourlas - Dance critic for The New York Times Tanya Basu - Senior reporter for MIT Technology Review covering the intersection of technology and humans Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, Gene Amatruda, Joe Coss, and Catie Talarski contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The novel coronavirus has started to take its toll on figures from our popular culture. Adam Schlesinger, who founded Fountains of Wayne and wrote songs for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend among other things, died on Wednesday. The great playwright Terrence McNally died last week. The list goes on: songwriter Alan Merrill, country music star Joe Diffie, fashion designer Jenny Polanco, college basketball star Dave Edwards, actor Mark Blum, soccer star Lorenzo Sanz. And it seems like the jazz community has been especially vulnerable: guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, pianists Ellis Marsalis and Mike Longo, and trumpeter Wallace Roney have all died. And then: Dave is an FXX comedy series that tells a fictionalized version of the rise of rapper Lil Dicky, and John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch is a Netflix children's special that Mulaney made "on purpose." Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: 'Lean On Me,' 'Lovely Day' singer Bill Withers dies at 81 The Stupidest [...] Movies Guaranteed To Make You Laugh During This CatastropheWho needs a plot right now? Let’s just slap some jokes in our faces instead You Can Watch the First 8 Minutes of 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Online Now April fools' day is canceled, you monstersDon't you dare, brands Joe Buck: Stop Sending Me Your Sex Tapes ... I'm Not Gonna Narrate Them!!! Llandudno marauders: the herd of goats running riot through a Welsh townTaking advantage of the town’s deserted streets because of the coronavirus lockdown, the goats have been branded vandals for munching through gardens Companies Avoid Advertising Next to Coronavirus NewsThe name of the virus overtakes 'Trump' as the keyword blocked by the most brands, a problem for digital news publishers New York is one of the world's great cities for the arts -- but the damage from the pandemic is proving to be catastrophic Ina Garten Made A Giant Cocktail For Herself At 9:30 A.M. And Now She's My Quaranqueen Tom Perrotta's 'The Leftovers' imagined 2 percent of the population disappearing. That could be our reality. Shudder Subscriptions Are Surging During the Coronavirus Pandemic HBO's #StayHomeBoxOffice Campaign Is Offering Hundreds of Hours of Programming for Free Uranus blasted a gas bubble 22,000 times bigger than EarthIt happened back in 1986 -- but it could happen again. GUESTS: Stosh Mikita - A stand-up comedian and writer based in New Haven Mercy Quaye - Founder and principal consultant for The Narrative Project and a columnist with Hearst Connecticut Media Group 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.

You can find lots of advice about how to avoid feeling bored during this pandemic. There are virtual dance parties and home safaries, lists of what to read and watch, and yoga classes on Zoom. Boredom is a difficult emotion for most of us. Almost 3,500 people living under quarantine in Italy shared on a survey last week that boredom has been one of the hardest parts of staying inside. We go out of our way to avoid feeling it, like the students who chose electric shock over feeling bored. Why can't we allow ourselves to be bored? Too much boredom can lead to depression and risky behavior. But it can also deepen awareness and inspire creativity. And one person's boredom is another person's pleasure. Henrietta Swan-Leavitt was an astronomer at Harvard College Observatory who spent 20 years beginning in 1895 scanning photographic plates to catalogue the brightness of stars. GUESTS: Sandi Mann - Senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire and the author of The Upside of Downtime: Why Boredom Is Good Kate Green - A poet, essayist, and former laser physicist; her book, Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars: Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth, will be published in July Krystal Douglas - The owner of Music City Sewing, a company that sews custom costumes for entertainers and is currently sewing masks for health care workers 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.

From ancient mixtures of boiled goat fats and ashes to modern artisanal soaps with calendula and coffee grinds, humans have been inventing clever ways of cleaning themselves since the very beginning. This quest for cleanliness has wound its way through religion, sexuality, culture, and more. It has been the source of everything from comedies to conflicts to consumer crazes. This hour we talk to experts and historians about the history of hygiene. GUESTS: Katherine Ashenburg - Toronto-based author of several prize-winning books including The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History and All the Dirt: A History of Getting Clean Virginia Smith - Historian, honorary fellow of the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and author of Clean: A History of Personal Hygiene and Purity Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired February 15, 2018.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For those who put their trust in science, it's hard to understand why anyone wouldn't. But in recent decades, the voices of skeptics have grown louder by the day. From average citizens to media personalities to high-ranking government officials, it seems even the most irrefutable scientific findings are being challenged. Is it the scientists themselves, their research methods, or how their findings often challenge deeply held values that fuels this mistrust? On today's show we'll explore this phenomenon and discuss how, during the current pandemic, our ability to trust science is more important than ever. GUESTS: Naomi Oreskes - Professor of the history of science at Harvard University and the author of several books, including the recently-released Why Trust Science? Jane Lytvynenko - Senior reporter for Buzzfeed News reporting most recently on disinformation, scams, and conspiracies surrounding the coronavirus and COVID-19 Lise Saffran - Director of the Master of Public Health Program at University of Missouri and Co-chair of the Health Humanities Consortium; lead author of "Constructing and influencing perceived authenticity in science communication" Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, Catie Talarski, Gene Amatruda, Joe Coss, and T.J. Coppola contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William Wetmore Story sculpted The Angel of Grief for his wife's grave after her death in 1894. He wrote that it was the only way he could express his feelings of utter abandonment. It was his last work before his own death one year later. We may not readily identify grief in the gamut of emotions we're feeling during this pandemic. We haven't lost the kind of love expressed through William Story's sculpture, but loss is very much at the center of our new reality. We are collectively grieving the loss of a world that has changed forever. Also this hour: There's a growing movement of people who want to walked back his desire to reopen the economy by Easter on Sunday evening, there remains an unsettling push to prioritize the economy over certain groups of people. Lastly, we must resist blaming "others" for viruses we can't control. GUESTS: Gregg Gonsalves - Assistant professor of epidemiology and the co-director of the Global Health Justice Partnership at Yale School of Public Health David Kessler - The author of five books and the founder of grief.com; his latest book is Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief Ian Buruma - Professor of human rights and journalism at Bard College Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, Catie Talarski, Gene Amatruda, Joe Coss, and T.J. Coppola contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last Friday night, Disney released the #1 movie in the country -- Pixar's Onward -- for digital download on iTunes/Amazon/etc. It's safe to say, that's the first time that's ever happened. When you say "the #1 movie in the country," you're talking about what was #1 last weekend or maybe last week. Onward was also the #1 movie in the country specifically on last Thursday... when it made $33,296. There are times when movies make that per screen. There's a movie on that domestic chart that one person went to see. It made $6. That movie, though, wasn't at the bottom of that chart… because there are three movies on that chart that no one went to see. In the country. Also: Tiger King is the "shocking Netflix series that has captivated the internet" and "the most bonkers true-crime doc you'll ever see." The Nose has seen both. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Cowboy Museum Puts Their Head Of Security In Charge Of Their Twitter, And His Tweets Are Hilariously Wholesome Social Distancing Diaries: Cut the Crap and Embrace the BidetThe COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a countrywide toilet-paper-buying frenzy. But there's a better way to clean up that's good for your butt, your wallet, and the environment. Cats Allegedly Added Buttholes, Then Removed Them, And Now Fans Want The Butthole Cut AMC Theatres Has Furloughed Its Entire Corporate Staff and CEO in the Wake of Coronavirus Closures Movie Theaters Are Closed, but Their Value Isn't Lost to Us Yet These Famous Logos Have Been Remade for the Coronavirus Age McDonald's Separates Its Golden Arches in an Act of Coronavirus Solidarity This Pork-Hucking Pig Farmer Is the Only One Doing Quarantine RightLeft with a backlog of ham and sausages, one farmer has figured out a way to safely get his wares to his customers in the time of social distancing -- hucking ham. ATTENTION OLD PEOPLE: Millennials Aren't The Problem Right NowWe are way too old. McDonald's Separates Its Golden Arches in an Act of Coronavirus SolidarityIn Brazil, brand has altered iconic mark to encourage safety for all during coronavirus pandemic Eli Miller, a Sultan of Seltzer, Is Dead at 86He began delivering sparkling water in 1960, when hundreds of seltzer men plied the streets. He continued until 2017, when there were almost none. Terrence McNally, Tony-Winning Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 81Mr. McNally, who died of coronavirus complications, introduced audiences to characters and situations that most mainstream theater had previously shunted into comic asides. Florida Senate proclaims Florida State national champion Scott Boras pitches 162-game MLB season, including Christmas game, despite coronavirus delay GUESTS: Carolyn Paine - An actress, comedian, and dancer; founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Pedro Soto - President and CEO of Hygrade Precision Technologies Elle - Pedro's nine-year-old daughter Tracy Wu Fastenberg - Development officer at Connecticut Children's Claire - Tracy's six-year-old daughter 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.

Humans have been using soap for literally millennia -- nearly five of them... at least. And while there's a run on alcohol-based hand sanitizers, it turns out that good, old-fashioned soap is a simpler, more-reliable way to destroy all that coronavirus that might be all over your gross, dirty hands. In the end, though, "A little bit of soap / Will never never never ever begin / To take away the hurt that I feel..." GUESTS: Kieran Dahl - A freelance writer; his piece for Vox is "How a decades-old hippie soap brand became a touchstone of wellness culture" Brian Resnick - Senior science reporter for Vox Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Restaurants around the country have closed their doors to in-dining service to help slow the spread of Coronavirus and prevent unnecessary deaths. That's good news. The porch of Metro Bis Restaurant in Simsbury, Conn.CREDIT CHRIS PROSPERI But it's also bad news for an industry that employs 160,000 people in Connecticut alone, many laid off and waiting for their unemployment application to be processed by our overwhelmed state system. A lot of restaurants are offering creative ways to have some fun with takeout. But most restaurants can't live on takeout alone, even if their closure helps us live. GUESTS: Chris Prosperi - Co-owner and chef of Metro Bis restaurant in West Simsbury, Conn. Richard Rosenthal - Founder and president of Max Restaurant Group Scott Dolch - Executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association Kassia Borgio - A full-time server at Capital Grille who is currently laid off from work 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 Trump administration is pursuing policies they say are necessary to fight the spread of coronavirus -- even though Congress and the courts rejected these policies prior to the pandemic. Last week, the president gave his administration the power to shut the southwestern border, implement a rule allowing federal workers to withhold their union dues, and deliver food boxes to rural areas after Congress complained about poor food quality. Most recently, he asked Congress to let judges indefinitely hold people without trial during an emergency. How do we give President Trump the power to mobilize the resources of the federal government against coronavirus and protect against his abuse of that power? Also this hour: Governor Lamont is urging us to stay home and stay safe over the next month or more. How do we stay calm in the chaos of this moment? You could take the Quarantine Challenge or, maybe, just a really long walk. GUESTS: Dahlia Lithwick - Writes about the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus Catherine Price - A science journalist, the author of How to Break Up With Your Phone, and the creator of Screen/Life Balance Tamara Hew-Butler - Associate professor of exercise and sports science at Wayne State University Mariane Fahlman - Professor of kinesiology, health, and sport studies at Wayne State University 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 with all things, The Nose has never been a Nose quite like this week's Nose. First off, for almost every Nose ever, we've put four (sometimes more) people in a radio studio for an hour. This Nose is four people talking to each other from very separate places, and none of them is a radio studio. Meanwhile, we've said goodbye to movie theaters. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson and Idris Elba have all tested positive. People have been using Tinder as a news service. I mean, it's hard to imagine that we'll ever go back to normal. And so, we might as well watch some TV then, right? The Nose has tried out Hulu's new adaptation of High Fidelity with Zoë Kravitz in the lead role. Some other stuff that's happened in the last couple weeks, give or take: No, Daniel Radcliffe Doesn't Have Coronavirus Sketchy Coronavirus Survival Guides Are Booming on Amazon Pandemics: An Essential Reading List The Onion created lovable 'Diamond Joe' Biden. Then it destroyed him. Max von Sydow, Star of 'Seventh Seal' and 'Exorcist,' Dies at 90 There Is Truly No Need to Put "I Voted" Stickers on Your Pets McDonald's debuts new Big Macs "Who Can't Get on Board With That?": How 'House Party' Brought the Black Teenage Experience to the Mainstream Billie Eilish and Her Signature Baggy Clothes Open World Tour With Message to Body Shamers Jennifer Lopez And Alex Rodriguez Did The "Flip The Switch" TikTok Challenge And Eyes Emoji Louis C.K.'s sexual misconduct tanked his career. Now he's selling out theaters. In a Time of Crisis, a Panicked Nation Comes Together to Watch Nu-Metal Band Trapt Melt Down on Twitter GUESTS: Rebecca Castellani - A music writer for the Red Hook Star Revue Irene Papoulis - Teaches writing at Trinity College Bill Yousman - Professor of Media Studies at Sacred Heart University Join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter. Colin McEnroe, TJ Coppola, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The NBA, the NHL, and Major League Soccer have all suspended their seasons. Major League Baseball canceled spring training and postponed opening day until at least mid-May. The NCAA canceled March Madness (which would've started in earnest today) and, in fact, all of its winter and spring sports championships. Tennis's French Open is postponed until September, and soccer's Euro 2020 is postponed until 2021. There have been cancellations and postponements in archery, badminton, canoe-kayak, cricket, curling, handball, judo, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, skating, snooker, sumo, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, water polo, weightlifting… The list goes on. Put a bit more simply: Sports is canceled. Except... The NFL Draft is set to go on next month (but without the public in attendance). The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are, so far, going on as planned. And then there's... Scrabble. This hour: sports in the time of corona. GUESTS: Bryan Curtis - Editor-at-large at The Ringer Stefan Fatsis - A panelist on the Slate sports podcast Hang Up and Listen and the author of Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players 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.

Did you get enough sleep last night? If you're like most Americans, probably not. You might feel pretty good after six hours of sleep and a strong cup of coffee, but the physical and mental toll of sleep deprivation is high. We become more impulsive and less mentally agile, and we make more mistakes. Long term, lack of sleep (six hours or less per night) can mess with mood, hormones, and immune systems, and it can increase our risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. There are lots of things we can't control that keep us up too late, such as crying babies and shift work. But there are lots of things we can control, like how much caffeine we consume and whether we take our phone to bed. But somewhere along the way, our culture made less sleep a matter of personal virtue and moral judgement. Even naps are frowned upon for all but the youngest and the oldest among us. GUESTS: Maria Konnikova - A journalist, professional poker player, and the author of The Confidence Game and Mastermind: How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes Dan McNally - A doctor with the Sleep Disorders Center at UConn Health Todd Pitock - Journalist Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, and Catie Talarski contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reality TV shows like the Discovery Channel's Doomsday Bunkers and National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Preppers perpetuate a stereotype of "preppers" that omits the wide swath of people who engage in preparedness in a less extreme and more varied way. Talk of nuclear war, climate apocalypse, pandemic, economic instability, and the decline of democracy has led more people to think about how to survive a catastrophic -- if not apocalyptic -- event. Do you buy organic food? Will you drink only bottled water? Do you avoid antibiotics? You may not have an underground bunker but you might have a generator, short wave radio, extra batteries and a supply of canned foods. This hour, we dive into the real world of "preppers." GUESTS: Tea Krulos - A freelance journalist and the author of Apocalypse Any Day Now: Deep Underground with America’s Doomsday Preppers Mike Davidson - A metal fabricator and member of Zombie Squad Jon Stokes - Founder of Ars Technica and the deputy editor of The Prepared Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired May 8, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America got (more) serious last week about COVID-19. Schools and colleges closed, workers went remote, professional sports teams canceled their seasons, theaters and restaurants closed their doors, and Americans hunkered down at home to reckon with the fragility of life as we know it. We want to hear from you. Colin and an epidemiologist answer your questions. Also this hour: Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden debated one-on-one Sunday in Phoenix before Tuesday's primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio. Did they forget the last three weeks happened? GUESTS: Joseph Vinetz - Professor of infectious diseases at Yale University Edward-Isaac Dovere - Host of the The Ticket podcast; he's writing a book, You Are Right to Be Concerned: Democrats in Crisis in the Trump Years Daniel Pollack-Pelzner - The Ronni Lacroute Chair in Shakespeare studies at Linfield College 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.

John McPhee is a writer's writer. He's thought of as one of the progenitors of the New Journalism, of creative nonfiction or narrative nonfiction, along with people like Gay Talese and Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson. But his style is... quiter than those folks'. His writing is transparent. He tends to keep himself out of the narrative. He doesn't even, in fact, have an author photo. McPhee has written for The New Yorker since 1963, and he's taught writing at Princeton University since 1975. He is the author of 32 books, including Coming Into the Country, A Sense of Where You Are, Oranges, and Annals of the Former World, which won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. GUEST: John McPhee - Staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of 33 books; his latest are Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process and The Patch Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe contributed to this show, which originally aired September 28, 2017.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you think of taxidermy, you may imagine a trophy room in which mostly male hunters have mounted the heads of 12-point stags along wood-paneled walls. If so, your image would be incomplete. Taxidermy has gone through many iterations since gentleman scientists turned to taxidermy to understand anatomy during the Enlightenment. Victorians added a touch of whimsy, decorating their homes with birds under glass and falling in love with Walter Potter's anthropomorphized cats. Later still, Norman Bates shifted the cultural understanding of taxidermy from art to something more macabre after he (spoiler alert) taxidermied his mother in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Today, animal-loving millennial women are taking taxidermy to new levels of artistry and craftsmanship, from rogue taxidermists who mix and match animal parts to the mallard wing bridal veil of a couture taxidermist. In the end, isn't taxidermy about immortality and how we choose to remember? GUESTS: Kristen Arnett - The author of Mostly Dead Things Beth Beverly - A couture taxidermist and the owner of Diamond Tooth Taxidermy John Whitenight - The author of Under Glass: A Victorian Obsession Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired December 5, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it safe to say that we're not yet ready to kiss and make up with the banks whose reckless behavior led to the 2008 financial crisis? A little contrition would go a long way to helping us forgive and forget. That's not happening, at least not with Deutsche Bank, the preferred bank of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. Deutsche Bank lent money to rogue states that funded terrorist activities that hurt U.S. soldiers. They laundered money for Russian oligarchs, sold securities they knew were bad, gave out multimillion-dollar bonuses, and fired whistleblowers who tried to tell. They lent money to Donald Trump, despite his repeated defaults on his loans, and Jeffrey Epstein long after he was shunned for molesting young girls. You may wonder how this could happen. Basically, a massive lack of accountability on behalf of the Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, shareholders, board members, and the federal government. That's a lot of people. No wonder Elizabeth Warren threatened to take on the big banks. GUESTS: David Enrich - Business investigations editor at The New York Times and the author of Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and An Epic Trail of Destruction 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.

Take a few seconds to reminisce about your childhood "best friend." Maybe it was a boy, a girl, an imaginary friend, or perhaps a stuffed toy. This stuffed toy was your childhood confidant that you dragged everywhere, from the local supermarket to the preschool sandbox, a transitional object that temporarily stood between you and your relationship with your parents. If you still have your stuffed toy, has it managed to maintain its shape, color, and lovable button eyes, despite numerous indignities? Or has it endured frequent trips to the stuffed animal hospital, otherwise known as the washroom and the sewing machine? Why do you still hold onto this friend from your childhood? Our relationship with stuffed toys is a subject of curiosity. While they make act as a child's first companion by contributing to life's teachings, is there an age that children need to let go of their stuffed friends? Some adults continue to hold onto their stuffed animals, either for comfort or retention of their childhood memories, but is there an attached stigma with these comfort objects? This hour, we focus on the allure of these transitional objects, why we continue to hold onto them, and how they are helpful in overcoming trauma. We also speak with a "travel agent" who journeys around Japan to provide stuffed animals with a truly cultural experience. GUESTS: Mark Nixon - Author and photographer of Much Loved Catherine Pisacane - Founder and executive director of Project Smile Sonoe Azuma - Founder and CEO of Unagi Travel Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Katherine Peikes produced this show, and Colin McEnroe, Greg Hill, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired July 24, 2014.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Italians fled northern Italy Sunday after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte imposed a lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus Covid-19, which has killed 366 residents to date. The government banned all public gatherings including concerts, sporting events, religious services, and weddings until April 3. Scientists say one of their biggest concerns is preventing the virus from spreading faster than our health systems are prepared to handle. Dr. Anthony Fauci said regional lockdowns similar to the one in Italy could become necessary in America as the virus infects more people.  Are we prepared?  The Grand Princess cruise ship that has been sitting off the coast of California is scheduled to dock in Oakland, CA on Monday. There are at least twenty-one passengers and crew members infected with Covid-19 among the more than 3,500 passengers. The Trump Administration still doesn't have a plan on how to test and treat those on board. Some say the President's mismanagement is making things worse.  Also this hour: panic shopping.  GUESTS: Carolyn Canuscio is Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health, Section on Public Health, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (@carolyncannu) Dan Diamond reports on health care politics and policy for Politico and is the author of Politico Pulse (@ddiamond) Helen Rosner is a food correspondent for The New Yorker (@hels) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Katy Perry dropped a new single and video (which we apparently call a "visual" now) on Wednesday night. The video ends with what's being called "a stunning reveal." And: A pair of new comedy specials caught the Nose's eye. Pete Davidson's Alive in New York on Netflix and Whitmer Thomas's The Golden One on HBO are both kind of... sad-funny? Funny-sad? And maybe in a particularly millennial way. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Public Enemy Fire Flavor Flav After Bernie Sanders Rally Spat"Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav," group says. "We thank him for his years of service and wish him well" James Lipton, Creator and Host of 'Inside the Actors Studio,' Dies at 93 Long-rumored Woody Allen memoir is coming in April, despite #MeToo Knicks, Spike Lee in war of words following incident with Madison Square Garden security A Genesis Reunion Is in the Air Tonight Jeopardy! Host Alex Trebek Shares One-Year Update on His Pancreatic Cancer Diagnosis William Shatner gets horse semen in divorce settlement The Kids in the Hall to Return to Amazon With New Episodes Will Studios Delay Films Like 'F9', 'Wonder Woman 1984', and 'Black Widow' Due to the Coronavirus? Here Are Their Current Plans Pain Check: Ben Affleck’s Press Tour for 'The Way Back' Is an Exercise in BleaknessThe movie, which stars Affleck as a recovering alcoholic in a failing marriage, apparently hits a little too close to him BTS Is Peaking. What Comes Next?"Map of the Soul: 7" demonstrates how the superstar K-pop group has grown into a musical monolith -- and what it might have to leave behind. The Fashion World, Upended by CoronavirusThe growing coronavirus threat chased the luxury fashion world from Milan to Paris. A real crisis looms for designers, retailers and shoppers. 'Light Is My New Drug'The actually convincing science of light therapy. 'Candyman' Trailer: Say Farewell to the Flesh All Over Again GUESTS: Lucy Gellman - Editor of The Arts Paper and host of WNHH radio's Kitchen Sync Mark Oppenheimer - Editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and host of the podcast Unorthodox, among a bunch of other stuff 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 contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The movie musical died a long, slow death a long time ago. Right? Well, except that there's La La Land. And Moana. And The Greatest Showman and A Star Is Born and Mary Poppins Returns. Oh, and Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. And Frozen II and The Lion King and Aladdin. Those are just from the last five years. And I could keep going, but then I might forget to mention that Steven Spielberg's version of West Side Story comes out this year or that the Hamilton movie comes out next year. This hour, a long look at the long-dead movie musical. Long live the movie musical. (Oh! And In the Heights comes out this summer too. There are just a lot of musicals still right now at this point. Is what I'm saying. Ya know?) GUESTS: Jeanine Basinger - Founder of the Department of Film Studies at Wesleyan University and the author of twelve books on film; her latest is The Movie Musical! Steve Metcalf - Director of the University of Hartford's Presidents' College 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 nice to meet you! When did you move in? How do you like it here in Connecticut after leaving the beautiful weather in Hawaii? Small talk is both the bane of our existence and essential in our existential quest to understand our place in the world. Whether you like it or hate it may depend partly on how we value speech that establishes and maintains relationships, as opposed to speech that is task-oriented or provides information. That may depend on gender. We talk to a humorist, writing teacher, meteorologist, and philosopher about small talk. And we want to hear about your small talk stories.  GUESTS: Alexandra Petri - A columnist for The Washington Post, a punning champion, and the author of A Field Guide to Awkward Silences; her new book of essays, Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why, will be published in June, 2020 Irene Papoulis - Teaches writing at Trinity College Garett Argianas - A forensic meteorologist and Connecticut Public Radio's weather forecaster Agnes Callard - Associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago, monthly columnist for The Point magazine, and a contributor to The New York 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.

Sanders won big in Nevada. Biden won big in South Carolina. Steyer and Buttigieg are out, Bloomberg is in, and Warren and Klobuchar are pulling up the rear. There will be 1,357 delegates from 14 states up for grabs on Super Tuesday. We try to make sense of it. Also this hour: Iowa and New Hampshire no longer mirror the diversity of America and should let another state lead the way. How about Connecticut? James Surowiecki makes the case. Lastly, The Lifespan of a Fact, the Broadway play based on John D'Agata's book of the same name, relays the many disagreements between a writer and his factchecker over the nature of truth. The play is at TheaterWorks through March 8. John D'Agata joins us in our studio. GUESTS: James Surowiecki - A journalist who has written about business and finance for, among others, Slate and The New Yorker; the author of The Wisdom of Crowds John D'Agata - An essayist, professor of English and director of the nonfiction writing program at the University of Iowa, and the author of several books including The Lifespan of a Fact You can 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.

Quarantine culture is coming. Maybe. So we start with a look at the coronavirus in comedy, COVID in culture, etc. And then: Knives Out is Rian Johnson's fifth feature film as writer and director. It's mostly a howcatchem in the vein of Columbo and an all-star ensemble cast murder mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie adaptations like Murder on the Orient Express. It was nominated for three Golden Globes, including Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), and Johnson's screenplay was nominated for an Oscar. It's out on DVD/Blu-ray/4K and for rental on iTunes/Amazon/etc. this week. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Late-night hosts skewer Trump for coronavirus response Late Night Awaits Mike Pence's Cure for the Coronavirus Quarantine Cooking: Finding Relief From Coronavirus Anxiety In The Kitchen It's Okay to Leave Your Headphones at HomeHow one writer learned an accidental lesson in the joys of silence Jif really wants you to stop pronouncing GIF like its peanut butter Honda Dealer Offers Deal: $900 If You Watch All the Fast & Furious Movies The Most Upsetting McDonald's Candle Scents, From 'No' to 'Dear God'McDonald's is releasing six candles that, burned together, make your home smell like a Quarter Pounder Burger King breaks the mold with new advertising campaign Emergency Backup Goalie David Ayres Has Taken NHL By Storm After Win The Invisible Man, Godzilla, King Kong: A History of the Movie Monster How to Murder Harry PotterIn "deathfic," writers of fan fiction find unexpected comfort in killing off their favorite popular characters. How to Dress Like Larry David, Casual Fashion Icon Every Harrison Ford Movie Performance, Ranked Kobe Bryant's Memorial Brought Out a Side of Michael Jordan I'd Never Seen Before 50 Years Ago Today: Ernie Sings "Rubber Ducky" In the Bathtub Finneas O'Connell Tweeted About Success And Sparked A Ton Of Drama About Privilege And Nepotism"Spoken like someone born to two actors in LA." This Artist Shows Us What Historical Figures Would Look Like If They Were Alive Today, And I Am ObsessedMarie Antoinette as a millennial? Apple Won't Let Villains Use iPhones In Movies, According to Rian Johnson Earth Can Have a New Little Moon, as a TreatAstronomers have spotted a small asteroid that's been captured by Earth's orbit. Clive Cussler, best-selling author behind Dirk Pitt adventure novels, dead at 88 The best chase sequence ever is in Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong TrousersThe original Aardman shorts are available to stream on Amazon Steven Spielberg Won't Direct 'Indiana Jones 5,' James Mangold in Talks to Replace Hank Azaria wants to "make up" for his racist voicing of Apu on "The Simpsons"Hari Kondabolu first called attention to how the portrayal perpetuated negative Indian American stereotypes ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A RIP: Konami Code Creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto Dies The Dark, Chaotic, Utterly Mesmerizing Soul of Modern CelebrityIt was only a matter of time before grabbing a few seconds of a star's life got monetized. But the result is weirder than anyone expected. My Ex-Boyfriend's New Girlfriend Is Lady GagaHow do you compare yourself with one of the most famous women in the world? Taylor Swift, Man Wax. Perm. Tint. Microblade. Glue. How eyebrows became everything David Roback, Co-Founder Of Mazzy Star And Rain Parade, Dead At 61 Why some of the best-known tunes, like 'Happy Birthday,' are the hardest to sing Jungle Cruise Boat Sinks At Walt Disney World Lady Gaga's 'Stupid Love' Is Getting a Lot of Love From Her Little Monsters Should Robots Have a Face?As automation comes to retail industries, companies are giving machines more humanlike features in order to make them liked, not feared. GUESTS: Susan Bigelow - A librarian, a columnist for CT News Junkie, and a science fiction/fantasy novelist Rich Hollant - Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Helder Mira - Multimedia producer at Trinity College and a Cinestudio board member 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.

Secession is in the air. Britain withdrew from the European Union, Scotland wants out of the UK, Catalonia from Spain, and, wait for it,  California from the U.S. Yes, the days of our country's states being united may soon come to an end. In fact, not only is California home to active secessionist and separatist movements, but so is Texas, Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, Vermont and several other states. And with the degree to which our nation seems divided, one wonders if this isn't long overdue. On today's show we speak with legal experts and advocates about the growing calls for secession both here and abroad. Would nations be better off if they allowed their citizens to secede, forming smaller, more like-minded sovereign territories? Would the citizens be better off? And, to be quite frank, would any of this even be legal? GUESTS: Francis H. Buckley - Foundation Professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University as well as Senior Editor at The American Spectator,and a columnist for the New York Post; author of American Secession: The Looming Threat of a National Breakup Marcus Ruiz Evans - Co-Founder of the Yes California movement, the largest and most widely-known community of activists who believe that California should be an independent country; author of California’s Next Century Erica Frankenberg - Professor of Education and Demography in the College of Education at the Penn State University, focusing on racial desegregation and inequality in K-12 schools; co-author of several books including Educational Delusions?: Why Choice Can Deepen Inequality and How to Make Schools Fair Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of the characteristics we associate with hotels - the welcoming yet alienating effect they have on our psyches - we absorbed from the artists, musicians, and filmmakers who have long been fascinated with the relationship between our physical travels and our spiritual journeys. Hotels like Mariott and Hilton are jumping into the microhotel market that up to now, has been dominated ro by small operators like Arlo,  YOTEL, and Pod, for the past decade. But millennial demand for more communal spaces, smaller rooms, and lower cost is forcing the big chains to freshen up their brand and drop their costs.    Today, a look at hotels.  GUESTS:  Hannah Sampson is a staff writer at The Washington Post where she reports on travel news.  Suzanne Joinson is British author and a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Chichester in West Sussex, England. She’s the author of A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar and The Photographer’s Wife. She is a contributor to The New York Times.  Leo Mazow is the Cochrane curator of American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the author of Edward Hopper and the American Hotel Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recent Senate trial for President Trump's impeachment riveted the nation, but little consensus could be reached about the facts of the case or the outcome. Additionally, many in Congress knew how they would vote before the trial began.  The strong convictions that every member of the Senate brought to the trial - minus Senator Mitt Romney - didn't waver after the facts were presented.  You've probably noticed that we’re living in a know-it-all society. We tend to think we’re always right (meaning everyone else is wrong) at the expense of everyone else’s opinions. Is this part of the reason we’re not getting along so well as a society? Also this hour: one man’s quest to be the smartest man in the world. GUESTS: Michael Lynch - Professor of Philosophy and director of the Humanities Institute at UConn and director of the New England Humanities Consortium. He’s the author of several books, most recently, Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture A.J. Jacobs - Contributor to Esquire magazine and The New York Times. He’s the author of four NYT bestsellers, including The Know-It-All: One Man’s humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.