The Colin McEnroe Show

At President Trump's first full cabinet meeting in June 2017, we watched with some amusement while each member expressed over-the-top gratitude for the president's giving them the privilege to serve him and/or the American people. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Voodoo is more than just a misunderstood religion, its practice draws on age-old beliefs, cultural elements, and folk traditions from a multitude of nations and ethnic groups.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The bands Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Rush, Asia, and Styx have sold, literally, hundreds of millions of albums.And that's despite the fact that This Is Spinal Tap is a devastatingly accurate spoofing of, ya know... all those bands.This hour: a look at the rise and fall of progressive rock.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Scramble will be another all-call show. We won't have any guests -  just you and your calls to Colin. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mistrust of the government's version of the facts... Paranoid conspiracy theories... Allegations of treason... Distrust of American institutions... Controversial governmental investigations...You might say that America's modern era started 54 years ago today in Dallas.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Radiation is everywhere. It's emitted by our sun, by cat litter, by bananas and occasionally by nuclear bombs. It's even emitted by you, and by me, and by every living (and dead) person in the world. So why are we so scared of something so prevalent in our everyday lives?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The House of Representatives passed a 440-page tax bill Thursday that was introduced two short weeks ago. Among other things, the bill would remove deductions  important to people with big medical expenses and college tuitions and ultimately hit hardest those making $75,000 or less. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a crazy week. (Of course, they're all crazy weeks.) As such, this week's crazy Nose tries to rapid-fire its way through as many crazy topics as possible in its crazy 49 minutes.Some of the crazy possibilities:Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I have traveled to three foreign countries since President Trump was elected. While I have always been proud to be American, even as I criticize much in my country, I was humbled by what people thought of America in the countries I visited. They were puzzled by our health care system, and appalled by our guns and voter apathy. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are an estimated 10 quintillion insects living on the planet right now-- That's 1.4 billion insects for each human. If they decided to take over, there's nothing we could do to stop them. Fortunately, they seem relatively content to share their planet with us.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1959, Soviet geneticist Dmitri Belyaev started an ambitious experiment to study the origins of domestication -- he would attempt to breed domesticated wild foxes by selecting on their behavior alone, a process he imagined our ancestors carried out with dogs thousands of years before.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 'Weinstein Ripple Effect' can be seen in the dozens of powerful men brought down by accusations of sexual misconduct in recent weeks by women who feel they put up and shut up for too long. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thor: Ragnarok came out last weekend, and so this week The Nose celebrates with an old-fashioned, star-studded holiday special.There will be the singing of Ragnarök carols, there will be the imbibing of Ragnarök punch, there will be the exchanging of Ragnarök gifts....Or something.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're going to die. It's OK, so will I. In fact, everyone will. And so with that said the conversation turns to how we wish to go. For over a century the answer to that question has usually involved your loved ones paying large sums for a box and a plot.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The veggie burger is  enjoying a renaissance! They've been in America since the Kellogg Brothers first fed their soy-based burger to guests at their Battle Creek Sanitarium in the 19th century, but they've never been as popular as with the newest iteration: a genetically engineered plant-based burger that tastes, smells, and looks just like - meat. It even drips blood.   Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter series. "Criminal Minds" on CBS. Just in the last few months there've been "Mindhunter" on Netflix and "Manhunt: Unabomber" on Discovery.It seems we're fascinated by forensic psychology, by criminal profiling, by... mindhunting.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All cults are not created equal. From the wide array of beliefs they teach, to the variety of people who are involved, cults are as different from each other as are officially recognized religions.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Netflix announced this week that it has suspended production on the sixth and final season of its award-winning drama series "House of Cards." Its lead actor, Kevin Spacey, apologized for an act of sexual misconduct with a 14 year old while simultaneously coming out as gay, and things have only gotten more complicated since.And then, a University of Hartford freshman, Chennel "Jazzy" Rowe, has allegedly suffered some truly nightmarish -- and racist -- bullying, harassment, and, I guess, vandalism at the hands of her roommate, Brianna Brochu. Brochu has bragged on Instagram about putting moldy clam dip in Rowe's lotion, rubbing used tampons on Rowe's backpack, and putting Rowe's toothbrush places "where the sun doesn't shine," among other things.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump wants to "Make America Great Again," by turning back the clock to a time he believes was safer, purer, and removed from the dangers of modern society.He's not the first president to evoke nostalgia for the Rockwellian image of small town life where everyone knew one another, had a good job, and raised a family. The mental scene may vary but the nostalgia for something lost remains constant.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The International Space Station is the most expensive thing ever built. It's about the size of a football field, it weighs a million pounds, and it's up there flying around in the sky at 17,000 mph, but... we don't really ever hear much about it, do we?Well, so, this hour we hear about it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are few monsters more iconic or enduring than Frankenstein's. From Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, to the 1931 Hollywood film, to the countless plays, comics and other adaptations that have followed, Frankenstein continues to resonate with fans around the world.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates surrendered Monday morning to special counsel Robert Mueller after he asked them to do so. The New York Times reports the charges are for money laundering, tax and foreign lobbying. The indictments come after CNN reported Friday night that a federal grand jury had approved the first charges in the Russia investigation led by special counsel and former FBI director, Robert Mueller. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Netflix's new 10-episode series "Mindhunter" tells the story of the beginnings of criminal psychology and criminal profiling at the FBI. As such, at its heart, it's really just a police procedural. But, with David Fincher as one of its producers, the show rises above a well-worn genre with its look and feel reminiscent of movies like Se7en and Zodiac.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Dawkins is probably the best-known ethologist and evolutionary biologist in the world. And he's maybe the best-known atheist and secularist -- he would say "rationalist" -- in the world.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1955, Connecticut experienced catastrophic flooding that killed more than eighty people. Two back-to-back hurricanes  - Connie and Diane - dropped over two feet of rain across Connecticut. The rains overwhelmed the Naugatuck, Farmington, and Quinebaug Rivers and their tributaries too quickly for many to escape its wrath. After the flood, Connecticut enacted flood control measures that led to several new dams. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From his work on Wicked, to Pippin, to Godspell, to The Magic Show and more, few people have had such a hand in shaping the music of Broadway theater as Stephen Schwartz.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The devastation left by Hurricane Maria on September 20 is overwhelming the millions of Americans who are still without power and unable to meet basic needs.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I mean that verb a couple different ways. Some of The Nose suffered through Gerald's Game because they didn't like it. Some of The Nose suffered through it... because it's difficult to watch, like it or not. Regardless, following The Dark Tower and It, Netflix's small-screen, feature-length adaptation of the 1992 novel has been called "The best [Stephen] King adaptation of the year."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kurt Andersen's new book is Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire. It's a 500-year history "of America jumping the shark." The idea, largely, is that our present post-fact, fake-news moment is... nothing new.This hour, we look back at the history. We look at our present -- which is to say, we look at our present president: "To describe [Trump] is practically to summarize this book," Andersen says in Fantasyland. And we wonder if there's any way to regain and retain reality in America.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Novelists have been writing for decades about worlds in which the climate is in crisis. Those stories are becoming increasingly realistic -- in a sense, the future is already here.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everybody has this feeling that American Democracy isn't what we want it to be right now. It doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel like we're unified even about what the nature of our governance is. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump decertified the internationally-supported Iran nuclear deal Friday but didn't walk away from it. Instead, he kicked it to Congress to determine whether to reimpose sanctions even though the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified Iran was in compliance with the deal.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

That's not really true. LOTS of other people went to see Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner" sequel. It grossed almost $82 million in its opening weekend. But for a movie that cost going on $200 million to make -- and that's been anticipated on and off for 35 years -- those kinds of ticket sales mean it's probably headed toward box-office-flop status. Still, though: It's certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Numbers are so fundamental to our understanding of the world around us that we maybe tend to think of them as an intrinsic part of the world around us. But they aren't. Humans invented numbers just as much as we invented all of language.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Until about 150 years ago, most people  were born into a religion that carried them to adulthood. That's no longer the case. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is yodeling, anyway? Some consider it singing, some say it's an ululation, and still others consider it merely a means to herd animals. Whatever yodeling is, one's thing clear: Yodeling has been around for thousands of years and shows no signs of disappearing.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk to New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins about the Department of Health and Human Services decision Friday to give employers and corporations a reason to deny contraception coverage to their female employees. All they need is to hold a "sincerely held" religious or moral objection to birth control. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a good time to be a Star Trek fan... inasmuch as there's a bunch of new Star Trek-related content, anyway. CBS has a real-live, brand-new Star Trek TV series... that you can't actually watch on CBS. And Seth MacFarlane a has real-live Star Trek parody series that's maybe more of an homage? Or it's a real-live Star Trek homage series that's maybe more of a parody? One of those. Or maybe both?The Nose weighs in on both Star Trek: Discovery and The Orville.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The American League Division Series start today. This afternoon, the lowly Boston Red Sox play in Houston, and then tonight, the 27-time world champion New York Yankees play in Cleveland.Tomorrow, we get fully four postseason baseball games, with both National League series starting.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was 50 years ago that The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's been called the beginning of the album era. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it #1 on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time." It is the best-selling album of the 1960s.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mischief and mirth abound in the magical realm of fairies. Whether it's Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream or J.M Barrie's Tinkerbell, you never know quite what you'll get from these fictional creatures.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A gunman opened fire on a crowd assembled for an outdoor concert festival Sunday night, killing more than 50 people and wounding hundreds, from a high floor within the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m Chion Wolf and this is What’s Your Problem?!Since Colin McEnroe is away, I’m taking over with a radio version of my live advice show, What’s Your Problem? Here’s the idea: A lot of people love GIVING and GETTING advice. There’s a connection there, there’s a feeling that you’re LESS ALONE there.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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1800s, Connecticut peddlers would travel south to peddle goods made in small factories around the state. The best way to increase their profit margin was to slip a few pieces of prized nutmeg -- and a few fake wooden ones to match -- in their bag. It didn't take long to expose the fraud, earning us the nickname of the Nutmeg State, known by all as clever, if ethically challenged, people. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The movie "Split," by director M. Night Shyamalan, is the latest in a long line of movies that portray people with "split personalities" as either violent psychopaths or comic foils. They portray dramatic changes in identity that don't reflect the subtle transitions that usually take between six and twelve years to properly diagnose.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sam Waterston says he's been been lucky to have good fortune in his career and personal life. He's been nominated multiple times for Emmy, Academy, and Tony Awards and he won Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for performances playing men whose moral compass points north.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As our society moves further away from paper currency, we pause to look back at the once predominant form of payment. Its look, its feel and its smell all hold a place in the collective consciousness of our nation's history.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Of the many strange behaviors we humans have engaged in, few seem more abhorrent than cannibalism. But the act of feasting on another human's flesh cannot be so easily dismissed as simply disgusting or deviant. Freud, in fact, believed cannibalism played a role in the birth of religion itself.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colin McEnroe is taking a couple weeks off, so today Chion Wolf introduces you to three Connecticut residents who have careers in very different fields of expertise. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.