The Colin McEnroe Show

It's hard to believe, but The Matrix is 20 years old this year. And its influence is all over the culture with bullet time and red pills and the "woah" meme and so much more. We take the question of whether we're living in a simulation much more seriously than we did 20 years ago. We're much more attuned to the allegory for the trans experience that The Matrix might well have been. And with John Wick 3 released this spring, Toy Story 4 out this summer, Cyberpunk 2077 out next year, and Bill & Ted 3 just finalizing production, the Keanussance is upon us.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we've started our second decade on the air. Over the first ten years, we did some number north of 2,000 shows. And every one of those shows was intended, more or less, to be about some... thing. Towels or Trump or toast or television or whatever. This hour we do the opposite thing: a show not about a specific something -- tapirs. Note: Today's show features Chion Wolf's performance of "Let's Not Talk About Tapirs," with lyrics by Colin McEnroe and music by Chion Wolf. Also note: We're idiots. Don't let the fact that we're idiots prevent you from finding tapirs as fascinating as we actually do. If you're able, you might consider supporting the Tapir Specialist Group, which "strives to conserve biological diversity by stimulating, developing, and executing practical programs to study, save, restore, and manage the four species of tapir and their remaining habitats in Central and South America and Southeast Asia." GUESTS: Carmen Baskauf - A producer for Where We Live; occasional host of The Carmen Baskauf Show on WNPR Kimberly Hyde - A keeper at the San Diego Zoo; she handles the zoo's tapirs in its Elephant Odyssey habitat Betsy Kaplan - The Colin McEnroe Show's senior producer Jonathan McNicol - the producer of this very episode of The Colin McEnroe Show Carlos Mejia - WNPR's digital producer Mike Pesca - Host of The Gist Josh Nilaya - Producer, The Colin McEnroe Show Susan Piver - Meditation teacher, speaker, and long-time Buddhist practitioner Patrick Skahill - WNPR's science reporter; producer emeritus of The Colin McEnroe Show 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 American criminal justice system has become less 'just' over recent decades and prosecutors bear much of the responsibility. The tough-on-crime culture of the 1980's and 90's shifted power away from judges and juries and toward prosecutors who embraced their new power to wield mandatory sentencing laws to rack up the convictions demanded by the constituents who elected them.  The problem is they never let go of that power or the culture that rewards it, even as crime rates have plummeted to historic lows that are almost 50% below their peak in the 1990's. They continue use sentencing to extract plea bargains from almost 95% of the people who come before them, even without evidence of guilt. Some impose draconian bail and probation conditions monitored by for-profit companies that extract a premium.  Others run modern day debtors' prisons, jailing people for misdemeanor crimes like shoplifting because they can't afford bail.   Yet, there's cause for hope. A new breed of DA's are using prison as a last resort, focusing instead on "diversion" programs that offer a second chance instead of long prison sentences that research shows make worse criminals.   Is it time to rethink who belongs in prison? GUESTS:  Emily Bazelon - Staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate’s "Political Gabfest," lecturer at Yale Law School, and the author of two books, most recently, Charged: The New Movement To Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (@emilybazelon) Tony Messenger - Metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Commentary. (@tonymess) Samara Freemark - Reporter and senior producer of "In the Dark," an investigative podcast from APM Reports, a division of American Public Media. (@sfreemark) Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on May 22, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've got no guests today. It's you and Colin and whatever is on your mind. There's a lot we could talk about. There's the 2020 election, why President Trump isn't sure what a Category 5 hurricane is, whether gun control measures beyond the introduction of the death penalty will come from this weekend's shootings in Texas, both top seeds are out of the US Open, and why a Tennessee school wants to ban Harry Potter books.  But we're interested in what you want to talk about. It could be very different. To some degree, this is an experiment to see if we're focusing on what's really important to you. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sticks & Stones is Dave Chappelle's fifth standup comedy special for Netflix in three years. All four previous specials won the Grammy for Best Comedy Album, and one of them won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special. The critical response to this latest special, though, has been a bit more muted. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (out this week on DVD/Blu-ray/iTunes/Amazon/etc.) tells the semi-autobiographical story of Jimmie Fails, a man just trying to get his grandfather's house back. It's Joe Talbot's directorial debut, and it's been called the best film of the first half of 2019. Also this hour: an AccuFrankie dispatch live from Nedstock.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last year, there was a movie about Charles Manson. This year, there was another movie about Charles Manson. Charles Manson is a character in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and in the second season of David Fincher's Mindhunter. The Manson Family murders were fifty years ago this summer, and Manson still seems to fascinate us and our popular culture. This hour, we wonder why.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chuck Klosterman is a man for all seasons. He's a pop culture icon. He's a sports geek. He's interviewed Jimmy Page. He appears as himself in other people's movies. He was part of a rock band. He's an author of fiction, non-fiction, and fictional nonfiction. Top that! Today, an hour with someone at least one person would call, the smartest man on earth. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Barbie Millicent Roberts -- yes, that's her name -- turns 60 we, as a plastic loving nation, celebrate! For six decades the impossibly proportioned fashion doll has been delighting children and adults around the world. But the road to 60 hasn't always been easy. Critiqued by feminists, diversity advocates, and even child psychologists for her role in perpetuating harmful sterotypes, eating disorders, and body dysmorphic syndrome among young women, Barbie may be just as controversial as she is iconic. In recent years, however, Mattel has made some long overdue changes. The new Barbies are more diverse in their career choices, body shapes, and ethnicities than ever before, and her new ad campaigns focus heavily on issues of women's empowerment and equality. But the question remains: Is it too little, too late for Mattel or are these changes enough to see Barbie into her seventies? We speak with expert guests about the good, the bad and the ugly side of Barbie, as well as about the doll's creator, Ruth Handler. And in case you were wondering, we may even get to Ken along the way!Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You responded so enthusiastically to our all-call show last Monday, we decided to try it again this week. What's on your mind? The world is you oyster, at least from 1-2 pm this afternoon. Not sure what you want to talk about? Worried about the economy? Trump's 'loyalty' test for Jewish Democrats? Who's in and who's out of the next Democratic debate? No debate on climate change?  The president taking a toll on our national psyche? How about 29-year-old NFL star Andrew Luck retiring over health concerns?  These are suggestions. We're more interested in what you want to talk about. (We even had a proctologist call in last week to remind people to get their colonoscopy) And we're (still) excited about our new toll-free call-in number. So, give us a call at 888-720-WNPR. That's 888-720-9677.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose has this odd habit of covering basically every new Taylor Swift single/video. And so there's a new Taylor Swift single/video. And so The Nose is covering it. And: As this is the way the world works now, a Facebook post has started a backlash against Frank Pepe Pizzeria over... politics. Sigh. And finally: In the great tradition of A Bug's Life/Antz, Deep Impact/Armageddon, and The Prestige/The Illusionist, this year gives us Yesterday/Blinded by the Light. This week's Nose has seen Blinded by the Light, a coming-of-age story about the music of Bruce Springsteen and a British-Pakistani teenager whose life is forever changed by it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there's one thing we know about the public radio audience, it's that you love... sports. You crave sports coverage. You live for sportstalk radio. And so this hour, we talk sports... on the radio. And there's plenty to talk about: There's the fallout over Jay-Z's new partnership with the NFL (and impending ownership within the NFL?). There's the hot take question, "Do running backs even matter?" There're all the interesting players in baseball right now: a trio of the best young players ever to play at the same time playing at the same time as one of the best two-way players ever to play playing at the same time as one of the best players, period, ever to play. Oh, and then there're all the baseball players apparently hopped up on gas-station sexual-enhancement pills. Like I said: plenty to talk about. GUESTS: Des Bieler - Sports reporter for The Washington Post Ben Lindbergh - Staff writer at The Ringer; his most recent book is The MVP Machine: How Baseball's New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players Erin Tarver - Associate professor of philosophy at Oxford College of Emory University and the author of The I in Team: Sports Fandom and the Reproduction of Identity 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.

Today we speak with actor and human-rights activist George Takei, not about his role as Liutenant Sulu on the original Star Trek, but about a far more troubling chapter in his life. In his new graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, George writes in detail about his childhood spent in an internment camp for Japanese-American citizens. It's a vivid account of one of the darkest times in America’s history as well as a wake-up call to a country currently detaining tens of thousands of immigrants and their families.  Is there still time to learn from our past mistakes or have the politics of fear and division already caused us, as a nation, to repeat them?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 three 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 and (soon) 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 simpler, analog experience that will just not go away. Today, a look inside the impact, history, and legacy of VHS. Plus, video stores! 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. Betsy Kaplan and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on May 16, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We've got no guests today. So much of the burden of making today's show any good at all rests with, well: you. We can talk about pretty much whatever you want. The economy. Plastic bags. Greenland. The Little League Classic. 2020. Or 2020. Or 2020. Or 2020. Oh! And we've got a brand new (and toll-free) call-in line that we're pretty excited about: 888-720-WNPR. That's 888-720-9677. Call in, today at 1:00 pm.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everything's canceled, more or less. The movie The Hunt was canceled before anybody got to see it. People talked about canceling the movie Adam before anybody got to see it. Sarah Silverman was canceled, from a movie anyway, for something she did -- on television -- 12 years ago. The OA was canceled, but people maybe don't believe that it was canceled? And we're apparently on a path toward canceling... the Dewey decimal system? And: Amazon Prime's new superhero series, The Boys, imagines a world where something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe is real... and something like the Marvel corporation exists too. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: The 25 Most Important Characters of the Past 25 Years What Is the Greatest Movie Quote of All Time? Gwyneth Paltrow excited to find out Samuel L. Jackson was also in all those Marvel movies she did J.D. Salinger, E-Book Holdout, Joins the Digital Revolution Lemon, a 30 Rock Spinoff Was So Close to Happening A Novel Concept: Silent Book Clubs Offer Introverts A Space To Socialize Marvel source claims X-Men character Wolverine will join Avengers in new MCU film Eating At A Pizza Hut Restaurant May Be A Thing of the Past AP: Women accuse opera legend Domingo of sexual harassment Taylor & Kanye: How two superstars, four words, and 15 seconds of TV influenced a decade of pop culture GUESTS: Lucy Gellman - Editor of The Arts Paper and host of WNHH radio's Kitchen Sync 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 contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shakespeare in the Park starts tonight in New Haven. Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires has a new workshop production of Coriolanus opening next week. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens didn't think Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's works. The BBC has a multi-camera, filmed-in-front-of-a-live-studio-audience Shakespeare sitcom. This hour: lots of little looks at this summer's best Shakespeare stuff. GUESTS: Allyn Burrows - Artistic director of Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Mass. Benjamin Curns - Plays Dromio of Syracuse in Elm Shakespeare's production of The Comedy of Errors Tyler Foggatt - An editor of the Talk of the Town section of The New Yorker Rebecca Goodheart - Producing artistic director for Elm Shakespeare Company Tina Packer - Founding artistic director of Shakespeare and Company KP Powell - Plays Antipholus of Syracuse in Elm Shakespeare's production of The Comedy of Errors Rob Weinert-Kendt - An arts journalist and editor of American Theatre magazine 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.

The 18th century Parisian cafe was an incubator for the liberal tradition as it was before liberalism became a politically-loaded and dirty word. The cafe brought people together to exchange ideas, talk, connect, argue, debate, and learn about humanity, empathy, and humility outside the control of the state; a place where civil society trumped tribal impulse.  We are a far more humane people today compared to what we've been, despite the astounding level of cruelty in the headlines every day. Laws still rule the day.  Yet, many question whether liberalism can survive the rise of nationalist leaders from Hungary to the United States and the illiberal ideas they promote; some 2020 presidential candidates are calling for revolution. Can the long history of the liberal tradition teach us something about this current moment?  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Populism is on the rise from Europe to India to the United States. Americans elected Donald Trump on his promise to "Drain the swamp" of a political elite no longer responsive to their needs. Populists almost took control of Germany, France, and the Netherlands in 2017. Former prime minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi regained power seven short years after being ousted from office for corruption.  In America, tension between popular will and the ruling elite has existed since our founding. Yet, we've always believed democracy would persist in this nation that was founded on democratic ideals of individual rights and the rule of law.  Today, we're losing our allegiance to democracy - especially in the minds of young people increasingly open to forms of government outside of democracy.  Is it too late to regain our democratic footing and stem the current tide of populism? If not, how do we do it?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The FBI, the Justice Department's inspector general and the New York City medical examiner will investigate how billionaire and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell at Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan early Saturday morning.  Conspiracy theories have taken root in the vacuum of unanswered questions and missteps. Many are unsubstantiated, others are based on credible suspicion.  The bigger problem is that the conspiracy theories have gone mainstream. The belief that some kind of conspiracy might exist reflects a growing distrust in government that has been nurtured and encouraged by President Trump.  Also this hour: The president and first lady posed for a photo with Paul Anchando last week on their visit to El Paso, Texas to visit with survivors and families of victims killed in last week's mass shooting. Paul is the orphaned son of two parents who died protecting him. So, why are the president and first lady smiling in the photo?  Lastly, Connecticut's oldest continuously operating independent cinema is for sale. We'll talk about why. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two things arrived this week that the world probably didn't previously know it needed: The Impossible Whopper and "the definitive Nicolas Cage interview." The Nose taste tests one of them live on the air and discusses both. I'll leave it a mystery which is which. Plus, a look at two movies: the Charlize Theron-Seth Rogen rom-com Long Shot (now available on iTunes/Amazon/DVD/Blu-ray/etc.) and the Cambridge Analytica documentary The Great Hack (out now on Netflix).Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you ever drive across the country, you’ll notice there is a surprising amount of World’s Largest attractions. West Virginia has the world’s largest teapot, California has the world’s largest yo-yo and Arkansas, for whatever reason, has the world’s largest Spinach can. This hour we talk to the man who brought the world’s tallest Uncle Sam to Danbury, Connecticut.  We also speak with the only person in history who claims to have built two full-size replicas of Stonehenge, and a cartoonist that is very well-traveled. Lastly, we speak to someone who is the attraction. He's gone viral for knitting sweaters of roadside attractions, then taking selfies in front of them. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Constantin Mutu was four-months-old when he was separated from his father, Vasily. The elder Mutu was arrested while seeking asylum at the southern border. So far, Constantin is the youngest child to be separated from his family. What distinguishes Constantin and Vasily Mutu from the majority of asylum seekers at the southern border is that they are a family of Roma people, two of the roughly 12 million people who make up Europe’s largest, yet hidden minority and one of the world’s most persecuted people.  Caitlin Dickerson's story of the Mutu family is an introduction to a people suffering from centuries of persecution. In a broader sense, it's a story of the power of discriminatory immigration policy to destroy vibrant cultures and opportunities for them to contribute to society. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Joseph Cyr, a surgeon with the Royal Canadian Navy, had to think quick when his ship came upon a rickety boat with mangled and bloody bodies at the height of the Korean War in 1951. As the only doctor on board, he quickly moved to operate on 19 men, all of them his enemies in this war. All survived, making the young doctor a hero. Except he wasn't really a doctor.  His real name was Ferdinando Waldo Demara, and he never graduated high school, let alone medical school. At different times in his life, he was also a prison warden, a teacher for disabled children, and a civil engineer.  We're fascinated by the art of the con, yet few of us think it can happen to us. We imagine psychics, card sharks, and Nigerian princes effortlessly lifting hundreds of thousands of dollars from easy marks. We can spot the scam a mile away. Right? Think again.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marianne Williamson was Googled more than any other candidate after last week's Democratic debate. Voters liked her call for "some deep truth-telling" and a "politics that speaks to the heart." But to understand Williamson's words, we need to first understand A Course in Miracles, the almost 1,300 page spiritual text she has built a career on interpreting.  Williamson has become a self-appointed guru of a text that claims no hierarchy, organizational structure, or leader. Its authority comes directly from Jesus, channeled through a clinical psychologist who heard the words in her dreams. Course hit a cultural nerve in the counterculture of the 1960's, especially among intellectuals and celebrities looking to find more love and empathy in their lives. Williamson promotes love and kindness in a world that feels increasingly hostile. Can she ride it to the presidency? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood is Quentin Tarantino's ninth movie as writer and director. It had the biggest opening of his career last weekend, and its been called "his best movie in a decade" and "his most transgressive film." We'll discuss it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 3rd of 2019, Random House will release what is likely the very last Dr. Seuss book there'll ever be: Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum. The work, initially just a manuscript and pile of incomplete sketches, was found buried in a box in the late author's California home in 2013. Since then, artists intimately familiar with Seuss's style of drawing have managed to fill in the gaps and finish the book. In advance of the book's release we'll look back at the life and career of the bestselling children's author and take a deep dive into some of his most memorable stories to reveal profound messages you may may have missed as a kid. We'll speak with a New York Times bestselling biographer whose new book shows sides of Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) few new existed, a longtime artistic collaborator and friend of the children's author, and a university professor who reveals how Seuss's stories often reflect the thinking of some of history's greatest philosophers.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in America die more frequently from complications of childbirth than in any other industrialized nation in the world. In addition, women of color are three to four times more likely to die than white women. And over the last 25 years that the maternal mortality was rising in America, other countries were decreasing their rate.  There are lots of reasons why maternal mortality and morbidity is rising, including  lack of access, the high rate of caesarian sections, racial bias, bias against women's health issues, and a medical model that medicalizes a normal process.   While no one action can explain why maternal mortality rates are lower in European countries, we do know that they utilize one resource that we don't: midwives and doulas. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hartford native Sol LeWitt was one of the giants of conceptualist and minimalist art. As an artist, he abandoned the long histories of painting and drawing and sculpture in favor of his Wall Drawings and Structures. And as an art figure, he abandoned the conventions of celebrity and resisted ever even having his picture taken. This hour, a look at Connecticut's own Sol LeWitt.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Election systems in all 50 states were targeted by Russia in 2016. Those were the conclusions of a bipartisan Senate Intelligence report released on Thursday. This comes one day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller III warned that Russian efforts to interfere in the upcoming election are happening right now. How safe are Connecticut's voting systems?  Also this hour: Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank nudged the Overton Window with this opening line from his Friday op-ed:  "Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset." His post went viral on social media in response to the Senate Majority Leader's refusal to bring up for a vote multiple bipartisan bills intended to ensure the integrity of our elections.  Lastly, can bowling win over the 'Lebowski' generation?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last weekend, Marvel unveiled its plans for Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (along with a few hints and winks and nods about Phase Five -- which is mostly notable 'cause it means they're planning a Phase Five). And we're currently in the middle of a year when, when it's all said and done, the top eight highest-grossing movies may well have all come from Disney or Marvel or both. The top eight. That's not a typo. Here, look: Aladdin (2019) (Disney) Avengers: Endgame (Marvel/Disney) Captain Marvel (Marvel/Disney) Frozen II (Disney) The Lion King (2019) (Disney) Spider-Man: Far from Home (Marvel/Sony) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Lucasfilm/Disney) Toy Story 4 (Pixar/Disney) And so the question is: Is the future of movies Marvel and Disney? And then The Nose takes a look at the present of movies from the opposite end of the box office spectrum with three indie films: The Art of Self-Defense, Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, and Wild Rose.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summer is the time we look forward to reading -- or rereading -- our favorite books.   How do you choose from the stack of next-to-read books that pile up beside your bed? Do you relish the adventure of what a new book might bring or do you reread an old favorite that changed your life in some way, that one book that resembles a child's much beloved stuffed animal -- dog-eared and stained with food, sweat, and tears.  Today, writers explore the transformative nature of reading, writing, and a great novel.   GUESTS:   Steve Almond - writer and author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction, including Against Football and Candyfreak. His latest book is William Stoner and the Battle For the Inner Life. Julia Pistell - freelance writer, comedian, Managing Director at Sea Tea Improv, creator of Syllable Series, host of Literary Disco, a podcast about books and writing. Joseph Luzzi - writer and author of the memoir, In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love. He’s the author of two other books, most recently, My Two Italies. He’s a professor of Comparative Literature at Bard. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been called a "glorified game of toss" and "World of Warcraft for extroverts." But has Ultimate Frisbee quietly become a real sport? It is, apparently, a likely Olympic sport. Which would, apparently, maybe be bad for Ultimate. This hour: The world of the Frisbee disc, including Connecticut's integral part in its history. This episode originally aired on August 31, 2017.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller made crystal clear that he would not comment on the long-awaited Mueller Report beyond the carefully chosen words we could all find in his 448-page, plus appendices, report.  Now, I hope and expect this to be the only time that I will speak to you in this manner. I am making that decision myself. No one has told me whether I can or should testify or speak further about this matter. There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress. Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis and the reasons for the decisions we made. We chose those words carefully, and the work speaks for itself. And the report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress. Yet, here we are. Robert Mueller has agreed to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee for three hours this Wednesday, July 24, followed by two (or so) hours before the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  What does Congress hope to gain? That may depend on which side of the aisle you represent.  Colin, a political analyst, and a comedian will take your calls. We finish with a DC pub owner gearing up for a Mueller testimony party, of sorts.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's kind of a lot going on this week: There's rumored to be a new 007. The Emmy nominations are out. There's a new dating trend called 'Caspering.' Farhad Manjoo thinks we should all use the singular 'they.' 1.7 million people want to raid Area 51. Anthony Fantano (or an animated version of Anthony Fantano, really) is in the new "Old Town Road" video. During the New York City blackout, Star Wars fans helped direct traffic... with their lightsabers. And: The Cats trailer is out, and it's maybe kind of, uh, horrifying? Oh, and Episode 4 of Years and Years aired on HBO. The show "combines the grand sweep of a near-future dystopia with the warm intimacy of a family drama." Its vision of our next decade or so is "terrifyingly plausible."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We live in an Everything Should Take Twenty Minutes world. Movies are too long. SundanceTV has a show that airs in ten-minute episodes. Tierra Whack has a fifteen-minute album made of fifteen sixty-second songs. Todd Rundgren's memoir has 183 one-page, three-paragraph chapters. So today, we turn our hour over to five short, little shows about short, little things. Here's a Spotify playlist of the albums reviewed on today's short, little episode of The Sam Hadelman Show: Sam Hadelman's short albums. GUESTS: Carmen Baskauf - Produces Where We Live on WNPR Taneisha Duggan - Producing associate at TheaterWorks Sam Hadelman - Host of The Sam Hadelman Show on WNHH and a journalist for the New Haven Independent Brandy Jensen - An advice columnist and editor at The Outline Jacques Lamarre - A playwright, and director of client services at Buzz Engine Vince Mancini - Senior film and culture writer for Uproxx Chion Wolf - Our announcer and technical producer Bill Yousman is professor of Media Studies at Sacred Heart University Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, and Matt Farley contributed to today's 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sand is the most abundant material on Earth. And, other than water and air, sand is the natural resource we consume more than any other -- more, even, than oil. The pyramids are made of sand. Our roads and driveways and sidewalks are made of sand. Concrete buildings and their concrete foundations are made of sand. From computer chips to computer screens, window panes to light bulbs, breast implants to the Hubble telescope, sand is basically the essential building block of civilization. Humans are estimated to consume almost 50 billion tons of sand and gravel every year. Oh, and, by the way: We're running out of it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Staffing unrest at the Connecticut Lottery Corp. has been a longtanding source of intrigue. But an employee's whistleblower case before the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities sheds new light on the level of infighting that unfolded at the quasi-public agency under previous its leadership. It's a tale that includes secret recordings and the FBI. More encouraging is the degree of calm and cooperation exhibited by New Yorkers during Saturday's five-hour blackout in Manhattan. What changes have come in the 42 years since the city descended into darken chaos back in 1977? Finally, we can no longer ignore a sport that more and more Americans are choosing to tune out: Major League Baseball. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is the 23rd feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the final entry in its Infinity Saga. It is the 11th and final film in the MCU's Phase Three, even though everybody thought it'd probably be the first part of Phase Four, and now nobody really knows what Phase Four will start with. I haven't entirely understood anything I've written so far, but I do get this bit: There won't be another Marvel movie for ten whole months -- all the way until next May. Far From Home is the eighth Spider-Man movie across four different series, and it's at least the third one the Nose has covered (following Homecoming and Into the Spider-Verse).Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Belushi, John Candy, Rick Moranis. Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Beverly Hills Cop, Caddyshack, Ghost Busters, ¡Three Amigos!, Funny Farm, Spaceballs, Stripes. We maybe didn't properly appreciate it at the time, but the 1980s were one of the most fertile periods ever for screen comedies and screen comedians. This hour, a look at the mavericks who shaped a whole comedy aesthetic... and at some of the most popular movie comedies ever made. GUESTS: Nick de Semlyen - Features editor for Empire magazine and the author of Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever Daniel Kalwhite - A standup comedian based in New Haven Carolyn Paine - A standup comedian, an actress, and a dancer 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 Scottsboro Boys were arrested as freight train hoboes in Alabama in 1931 and quickly convicted by an all-white jury of raping two white women. After several retrials and appeals, the case led to two landmark Supreme Court rulings on the right to adequate counsel and prohibiting the exclusion of black people from juries. Yet, the problems in 1931 -- wrongful conviction, juvenile sentencing, police brutality, tampering with juries and evidence, and adequate counsel -- are still a problem in 2019.  Shows like Ava DuVernay's Netflix series "When They See Us," and the podcast, "In the Dark," are reigniting the injustice of the past within the context of current injustice and Black Lives Matter. Playhouse on Park is currently staging The Scottsboro Boys, a Kander and Ebb musical satire that stages the play within the frame of minstrelsy, a potent symbol of Jim Crow injustice. Does their use of minstrelsy expose the absurdity of racism or is it simply offensive? We continue the debate. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Searching for sunken treasure? The Long Island Sound is hardly the place to look. But what can be found in its murky waters are ample remains of Connecticut's once prominent shipping industry, and perhaps evidence of early Native American villages from around 20,000 years ago when the Sound was a glacial lake. Today, we survey shipwrecks and other bits of history resting off Connecticut's coast, as well as at the bottom of some lakes and rivers. From dugout canoes and mastodon molars to the more than two dozen ships set ablaze in Essex harbor during the War of 1812, it's an underwater adventure not to be missed.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The two biggest earthquakes to hit California since 1994 rocked an area about 120 miles northeast of Los Angeles on Thursday and Friday. Seismologists say a big earthquake happens every 100 years in California and the last big one hit 160 years ago. Is California prepared? If not, what does that mean for them and the rest of us? They are the fifth biggest economy in the world. Also this hour: Some worry that President Trump's foreign policy will leave lingering damage to America's reputation and role in the world long after this administration leaves the White House. If the leaked cables from the British ambassador to Washington or the global reception of the U.S. Women's National Team are an indication, we've got a lot of work to do to repair relations around the world. Lastly, the U.S. Women's National Team won their fourth World Cup, dominating their competitors and having a lot of confidence and spirit. Does America deserve this team?  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one is surprised to hear that Disney is planning a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Some people were surprised, though, at the announcement that Halle Bailey, who is African American, has been cast as the titular Ariel. And probably the least surprising part of the whole thing is that part of the internet (the racist part) is mad about it. And: Rapper Lil Nas X came out on the last day of Pride month. Is this news? And then: We're just about halfway through the second season of HBO's Big Little Lies. Meryl Streep has joined the cast. And this week's Nose brings together all three cohosts of The Big Little Podcast. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Mad Magazine to Effectively Shutter After 67 Years Cow Cuddling Is The New Wellness Trend Now And It Costs $300 For A 90-Minute Session THE WALKING DEAD to End With This Week's #193 John Sterling's amazing Yankees streak ending on Thursday Auto industry icon Lee Iacocca dies at 94. He helped launch the Ford Mustang and saved Chrysler from bankruptcy. Billy Drago, Actor in 'The Untouchables,' Dies at 73 'Avengers: Endgame' failed to beat 'Avatar' for the worldwide box-office record after being rereleased to theaters Megan Rapinoe Makes Resistance Look Effortless Arte Johnson, 'Laugh-In' Star, Dies at 90 Diarrhea Cases Caused By 'Poop Water' In CT Pools: Report George Lucas Approved Rare Pre-Special Edition Star Wars Screening Chuck Woolery's new game show is "Guess how many vasectomies I've had," and it sucks Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Sia, Halsey & More Weigh in On the Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun Situation GUESTS: Rebecca Castellani - Director of venue operations and tour marketing for We Save Music and cohost of The Big Little Podcast Theresa Cramer - A writer and the editor of E Content Magazine and cohost of The Big Little Podcast Carolyn Paine - An actress, comedian, and dancer; founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance; and cohost of The Big Little Podcast 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.

Fear of sharks spiked last summer after a great white fatally bit a 26-year-old surfer off the coast of Cape Cod. The fever still runs high as reports of great white sightings coincide with people heading to the beach this 4th of July.  Yet, we have a higher risk of getting hit by lightning than killed by a great white shark. The myth of the great white, exacerbated by the 1975 megahit Jaws, is false. Great whites are not the aggressive creatures still perpetuated in popular media. We're more likely to survive a shark bite simply because sharks don't like the way we taste. They spit us out if they accidentally mistake us for a seal.   The convergence of globally warming waters off our east coast and the repopulation of seals and great whites after a previous panic nearly wiped them out, means we'll have to learn to share the ocean.  Instead of pursuing shark repellents like sonar buoys, electric shark shields, and seal contraception, should we consider how we can co-exist with the creatures of the sea? Besides, whose ocean is it anyway?  The fish were there first. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women scientists and inventors have been making ground-breaking discoveries since Agnodike pretended to be a man in order to become the first female anatomist in ancient Greece. Yet, women's scientific contributions have historically been hidden in the footnotes of the work men claimed as their own. It's 2019. Things are better, right?  Not really. Men still hold the majority of patents, and systemic biases still lead to lower pay, less authorship for scientific papers, and overt and subtle forms of harassment. Women scientists of color and those in the LGBTQ community feel it the most. Yet, women scientists are banding together to call out bias and give credit where it's due -- one Wikipedia page at a time.  Today, we talk to four of them.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. Today, we dive into the real world of "preppers." Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The concept of the early 20th century sideshow evokes images of bearded ladies, sword swallowers and exotic "others" exhibited as "freaks" before audiences both lured and repelled by what they saw. Crowds flocked to Coney Island sideshows where, for 10 cents, they could find solace that someone was worse off than they were during times of low life expectancy, high infant mortality, world war, and financial instability. Few had the luxury of seeing the humanity behind the act. Cartoonist Bill Griffith based his legendary character Zippy the Pinhead on Schlitzie, a real life sideshow "pinhead" who appeared in the movie Freaks. Early audiences were appalled by director Tod Browning's use of real sideshow actors who banded together to seek revenge on those who treated them with cruelty. Griffith's new graphic novel is his way to dig a little deeper into who Schlitzie was and the sideshow family who cared for and loved him. Also this hour: we learn about a man who saved thousands of premature infants over almost 40 years by exhibiting them in incubators in a Coney Island sideshow. Behind the acts, sideshow performers were often people of great compassion, courage, and humanity. GUESTS: Bill Griffith - Creator of the syndicated daily comic strip Zippy and author of two graphic memoirs, Invisible Ink: My Mother's Secret Love Affair With a Cartoonist and Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead Wolf Krakowski - Yiddish singer whose CDs are on Tzadik Records; Wolf has videotaped testimonies of Holocaust survivors for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation Claire Prentice - Award-winning freelance journalist, editor, and writer; she's the author of two non-fiction books, The Lost Tribe of Coney Island: Headhunters, Luna Park, and the Man Who Pulled Off the Spectacle of the Century and Miracle at Coney Island: How a Sideshow Doctor Saved Thousands of Babies and Transformed American Medicine Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show, which originally aired May 2, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's SUMMER! And every year around this time, we gather up a few music mavens who help us analyze and celebrate the kind of music that gets us dancing and singing as soon as it comes on the radio. But how do you define "Song of the Summer"? Amanda Dobbins breaks it down:  "Let’s be clear about how this works: There is no such thing as a 'personal' song of summer. We do not anoint multiple songs of summer. There can only be one; the Song of Summer, by its very definition, is a consensus choice. It is the song that wrecks wedding dance floors. It is the song that you and your mother begrudgingly agree on (even though your mom has no idea what rhymes with 'hug me' and won't stop yelling it in public.) It does not necessarily have to hit No. 1 on the charts, but it should probably be on the charts because it must be widely played. It must bring people together. It must be a shared enthusiasm."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A photo of people inching their way up a snaking line to the peak of Mount Everest last month has drawn attention to a number of problems, one of which was the jostling at the top of the mountain to take social media-ready selfies and photos.  That got us wondering if other people were risking their lives for that perfect photo. It turns out that more than 250 people worldwide have died while taking selfies in just over the last decade, according to a study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. Drowning, transport, and falls are the top reasons for death. Today, we talk about how a social media-driven visual culture is shaping how we work, play, and experience life. Are we willing to die for that perfect photo? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.