The Colin McEnroe Show

It's not a stretch to say the best part of Sunday's Super Bowl LIII was SpongeBob's short, but sweet, appearance during the halftime show. Should it be a surprise that the game was boring, the halftime show was bland, and the ads were forgettable? The long shadow of Colin Kaepernick cast a cloud over this game and the NFL has yet to deal with the fallout.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The long list of luminaries who have played the Super Bowl Halftime Show includes Michael Jackson, Prince, Beyoncé, Madonna, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, U2, Tom Petty, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen... and as of Sunday: Maroon 5.Whatever artist finally agreed to perform, it was going to be seen as controversial. Maroon 5 is defending their decision, even in the face of petitions asking them to drop out.And: Alfonso Cuarón's Roma is nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including plenty of big ones -- Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay. Its 10 nominations tie it with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the most ever by a foreign-language film. And this hour Roma becomes the 12th Oscar-nominated movie The Nose has covered.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The significance of being confirmed as Connecticut's first African-American state Supreme Court chief justice last May didn't fully sink in for Richard A. Robinson until a class of mostly minority students recently showed up to the Hartford court building for a tour.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans are great at making a mess of things. So far, however, that mess has been confined to Earth. But as we develop into a spacefaring species, our capacity for destruction, pollution, and prejudice (towards aliens of earthly and unearthly origins) threatens to have cosmic consequences.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where We Live producer Carmen Baskauf had been badgering us to do a show about The Good Place for months on end. (It had gotten kind of weird, to be honest. We were a little worried about Carmen, to be honest.)Partly to get her off our back, partly because The Good Place really is "a sitcom that's also a profound work of philosophy," and partly because its Season Three season finale aired last Thursday night, last Friday afternoon we finally did a show about The Good Place....And then we got preempted by the president halfway through the forkin' show!So this hour, we try again.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a healthy debate going on about whether to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Trump.The Atlantic's Yoni Appelbaum and others say now is the time to begin the process. History tells us that the process of impeachment, not the outcome, is a vital protection against the dangers of a president who has not kept his promise to preserve and defend our Constitution. Others say Trump will need to be beaten at the polls in the absence of Mueller-stamped evidence.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where We Live producer Carmen Baskauf has been badgering us to do a show about The Good Place for months on end at this point. (It's gotten kind of weird, to be honest. We're a little worried about Carmen, to be honest.)Partly to get her off our back, partly because The Good Place really is "a sitcom that's also a profound work of philosophy," and partly because its Season Three season finale aired last night, this hour we're finally doing a show about The Good Place.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band had its 50th anniversary, we put together a show with famed Beatles lecturer Scott Freiman and famed Hartford music genius Steve Metcalf.And now that The White Album has had its 50th anniversary, we've gotten the band back together, and we're doing it again.This hour: a look at the best-selling album of the 1960s, The Beatles.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's show might get a bit dicey. In fact,  it's almost certainly headed for Trouble. And all we can say is Sorry, that's Life! Okay, fine, let's drop the Charades. Today's show is about board games. Is that a big enough Clue?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What we each saw in the short video (since deleted) that went viral this weekend of a Covington Catholic High School student staring at a Native American protestor on the National Mall is open to interpretation. Photos and videos carry the authority of truth, yet the 'truth' reflected in a video can vary, depending on what's included, what's left out and how it's framed.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently, I hopped into my car to go home after a long and grinding first day back to work. I had just returned the day before from a two-week vacation exploring the treasures of two foreign countries I had never seen before. The abrupt transition from play to work left me feeling quite blue, made worse by my receding memories of those weeks. Something in me needed music. So, I traded out my usual afternoon newscast for a "soul" song that caught my ear and brightened my heart. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I once took guitar lessons with a small group of people who met two nights a week in the basement of a local elementary school. We spent most of each lesson practicing in little nooks and crannies we each carved out in the old room. I enjoyed picking out tunes in my own little corner at my own pace. It was all going so smoothly until... the instructor mentioned the final "concert."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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dust is a fascinating substance. Our bodies are always shedding dust from our skin, hair, and nails, leaving little bits of DNA wherever we roam. Dust floats unseen through the air around us. It's light. It's hard to see unless it lands on a contrasting surface or crosses the path of a ray of sunshine. It can travel far and wide.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another weekend came, and another crop of revelations regarding President Donald Trump came with it.First out was The New York Times' report that the FBI grew so worried the president might be acting in Russia's interests that it secretly launched a counterintelligence investigation. That happened after Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, according to The Times. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday, Imagine Dragons played the Halftime Show at the College Football National Championship Game. The reviews were... not great. In fact, the performance has raised the question: Is Imagine Dragons the worst band ever?And: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style, science fiction, psychological thriller film. It's streaming on Netflix, on some devices, as a standalone movie in the Black Mirror television series. The Nose has seen... a number of different versions of it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Language is an untamable beast. You can decide that infinitives aren't to be split and that "whom" is the objective form of "who" and that "literally" literally means literally. But here's the thing: Language doesn't have to care one way or the other what nonsense you've decided.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us know what Kafkaesque means even if we've never read a word Kafka wrote. For example, it's Kafkaesque when your smart home turns on you. It's not Kafkaesque when you wait in line for two hours at DMV and they close the line when you get to the front. (Well, it's a little Kafkaesque.)Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Free will, individual responsibility, and the pursuit of happiness: Fundamental tenets of, wait for it... Satanism. While the word conjures up images of fire and brimstone, the truth is a bit more complicated. So why does a religion which celebrates so much what Americans profess to hold dear get such a bad rap?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The reactions to Representative Rashida Tlaib's profanity and her calls for impeachment against the president have been mixed.While most Republicans are in sync in their outrage over her comments, Democrats are further apart. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louis C.K. has done another thing. He did the thing a few weeks ago, it turns out. But this week the thing appeared on the internet, as things do. And so The Nose, as it does, must cover the thing.And we've gotten to that part of the year where all the awards-season movies all come out at once. (I guess it's called... "awards season"? Huh.) But then the rest of pop culture keeps keeping on at the same time. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Connecticut's 88th governor, Dannel P. Malloy, loves to make decisions. "That's who I am and what I am," he proclaimed during a wide-ranging exit interview with Colin McEnroe.He also, undoubtedly, loves to get the last word, no matter if it's on state employee pension reforms, his handling of an unspeakable tragedy, severe weather events, or the results of the 2018 election.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been easy to overlook Trump Administration environmental policies that are contributing to the destruction of wildlife and habitats.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don't miss -- for what might just be the sixth year we've done this -- a very badly planned New Year's Eve Eve Eve Eve special featuring chaos muppet and music legend "Big Al" Anderson and the great Jim Chapdelaine!Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As our culture continues to progress, one elephant in the room that seems to be growing harder to ignore is our views on human sexuality. The traditional model of two mutually exclusive gender identities, male and female, is becoming increasingly outdated as we hear about people in our communities and around the world who fall somewhere in between the two (or outside the boxes entirely). Despite the threat of social exclusion and sometimes deadly persecution, stories of those who dare to embrace their own identity continue to increase in number.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're doing a show on supermarkets today - from a supermarket!Most Americans still buy most of their food from a supermarket. While farmer's markets and specialty stores offer organic and local alternatives, large-scale supermarkets still offer more convenience, the lowest prices and a seemingly endless variety of choices. Their big wide aisles with neatly stacked and eye-catching packaged products are hard to resist. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump's election was the culmination of a venom-filled campaign that was nastier than almost any in recent memory. The mean-spirited comments tossed to voters eager to "lock her up" fell just shy of the malicious rhetoric coming from Thomas Jefferson's presidential campaign in 1796. Jefferson's hatchet-man called John Adams a "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As 2018 draws to a close, The Nose makes its final appearance on our schedule this year. And so we've brought in a nine-person Nose to do a special, live, nighttime broadcast of our best ofs (and maybe worst ofs?) of the year.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Athletes, therapists, comedians, and public radio producers: All jobs which require a human touch, right? Perhaps not. Even now, we're beginning to see some of these rolls being performed by robots. But while machines may be capable of doing such work, is there any demand for it among humans?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2018 has been a doozy of a year. And 2019, well, who knows? But you know what would make you feel a little bit better? Listening to our esteemed panelists and some of their favorite jazz tunes of 2018, a show tradition we've had since 2014.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When was the last time you saw someone with a disability? Do you have a loved one who is part of the community? Did you see a character on TV, or did you just pass someone on the street? For some it may take a while to answer that question. Why is that?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The most common image of white supremacy, nationalism, and other far-right movements is of angry men. Often overlooked are the women.On the surface, they may appear less menacing. But in many ways, they serve a more insidious role: lending their groups a more palatable, family-values cover under which to operate and spread messages of intolerance.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton: An American Musical is, simply, a phenomenon.The Broadway production was nominated for a record 16 Tony Awards, and it won 11. The Original Broadway Cast Recording is certified five-times Platinum and won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and The Hamilton Mixtape debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social structures, in almost all cases, are defined by some form of hierarchy. Whether in academics, sports, religion, business, or politics, there's usually someone at the top and others whose goal it is to get there. But while it's easy to think that we've designed our world to be this way, the truth may be that we had no choice.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jill Sobule is back in town! She joins us after her first of three consecutive evening performances at the Mark Twain House.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three guests, Peter Sagal of WWDTM, Maria Konnikova of The New Yorker, and Robert Evans of Cracked, take you on a tour of vice. They talk everything from casual sex to marijuana to greed and ostentation to coffee to beer to pornography. Peter and Colin also discuss what the next declared vice will be. Possibly sitting.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What did he know and when did he know it?Prosecutors from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team and the Southern District of New York on Friday afternoon came closer to answering these questions as they relate to President Trump and his campaign's interference in the 2016 election.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first episode of Doctor Who aired on November 23, 1963. Since then, there have been 37 seasons and 849 episodes of the show. The current Doctor, the thirteenth, is portrayed by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to take the role on.Is a show with this much history impenetrable, at this point, for new viewers? Is Doctor Who nerd culture for nerds who think nerd culture isn't nerdy enough? Are Jodie Whittaker's Doctor and her diverse group of companions a fresh, compelling way into the series for new audiences?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seriously: a show about towels.There's the history of towels, towels in Christianity, Terrible Towels, Towel Day.Oh, and there are actual towels too.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our relationship with our toothbrush is complicated. Most of us don't brush our teeth well enough. We don't brush long enough, or we brush too hard, or we keep our toothbrushes so long that tests would show it to be about as clean as our toilets.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the series "NewsRadio," the character played by Phil Hartman once said, "Experience once taught me that behind every toothy grin lies a second row of teeth."Smiling is a universal way to show happiness. But not all smiles are happy. In reality, we smile less for happiness than for social reasons that have nothing to do with happiness. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New York University researchers say they've found a link between appeal for President Trump and a certain, specific segment of the male population: those with "fragile masculinity."Their research is based on Google searches for "erectile dysfunction," "hair loss," "Viagra," and some other words we may refrain from mentioning.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bernardo Bertolucci directed The Last Emperor (which won nine Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director), Last Tango in Paris, The Dreamers, 1900, and Little Buddha, among other movies. Bertolucci died on Monday. He was 77.In the years since it was released with an X rating in 1972, the infamous Last Tango in Paris -- and its infamous "butter scene" -- have complicated Bertolucci's legacy. In the days since Bertolucci's death, our friend David Edelstein made a tasteless butter-scene joke on Facebook, retracted the joke and apologized, and was fired from NPR's Fresh Air.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In case you haven't heard, our planet is as flat as a pancake. Sound crazy? Perhaps. But around the globe (disc?) a flat Earth movement is steadily on the rise. More and more people, educated and not, from all walks of life, are posting videos, attending conferences, and publishing books embracing this seemingly radical notion. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To do a show about local stand-up comedy, we figured we should probably do a show of local stand-up comedy.So we went to a comedy club, put on a comedy show, and then did a talk show about the comedy show we'd just done.This hour: some of said comedy show plus most of said talk show -- and we're fairly confident it'll make more sense when you hear it than it probably just did reading about it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nicholson Baker once spent a portion of his retirement savings to rescue first edition newspapers from being destroyed. He also fought to save card catalogues and to prevent library managers from sending thousands of books to landfills in their rush to microfilm. He fought on behalf of all of us who think about what is lost when the specifics of a particular moment are worn away or forgotten or altered in the subsequent retellings of the original observations. It's kind of like a childhood game of telephone where the original message is passed from child to child until the last person relays a message with little resemblance to the original. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joseph Stalin's only daughter grew up the beloved pet of a man responsible for a decades-long campaign to arrest, torture, execute or forcibly imprison millions of Soviet citizens, including children and members of his own family. That's what we know now.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No Country for Old Men. Fargo. The Big Lebowski. Raising Arizona. O Brother, Where Art Thou? Miller's Crossing.Over the past 35 years, Joel and Ethan Coen have reliably been among the most recognizable voices in moviemaking.Their latest, the anthology western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, hit Netflix last weekend.This hour: a Noseish look at the work of the Coen brothers.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Argus Pheasant is a lifelong bachelor. He mates with multiple females but has no further contact with his mates or the baby pheasants he sires. By human terms, not much of a feminist.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The repeated incidents of mass shootings are shocking. Yet, they're sanitized and abstract for most of us who haven't been directly touched by gun violence.The response to mass shootings has become predictable: anguished adults, candlelight vigils, and photos and remembrances of the victims in happier times. It's never about the carnage or the lingering impact on survivors or their families, communities,  medical doctors, nurses and psychiatrists who care for them. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.