The Colin McEnroe Show

It is not so well known, as it should be, that this federal gem [John Adams], this apostle of the parsons of Connecticut, is not only a repulsive pedant, a gross hypocrite, and an unprincipled oppressor, but that he is, in private life, one of the most egregious fools upon the continent. It is not so well known, as it should be, that this federal gem [John Adams], this apostle of the parsons of Connecticut, is not only a repulsive pedant, a gross hypocrite, and an unprincipled oppressor, but that he is, in private life, one of the most egregious fools upon the continent. He went on to "enquire by what species of madness America submitted to accept, as her president, a person without abilities, and without virtues."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During Connecticut's 2014 gubernatorial election, Republican candidate Tom Foley chose a failing paper mill in Sprague as the "stage" upon which he'd blame the Malloy administration's economic policies on the mill's demise. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a kind of idiocy about the way the White House Correspondents Dinner is, conceptually, a Feast of Fools with a comedian as Lord of Misrule, a night when decorum is suspended, comedy rules, etc. And then D.C. never goes all-in. The crowd doesn’t laugh, and then there’s this post-mortem in which interested parties pull organs out of the comedy set and weigh them on political scales and try to make something out of them. The whole city should sign a disarmament pact or just stop doing this thing.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We plan to spend upwards of half of this hour unpacking Beyonce's new visual album, Lemonade. And we will barely have gotten the wrapper off by the time we're done.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tragedy of the Commons follows the theory that people can't be trusted to take care of common property without degrading it or taking more than their fair share of resources. This idea was popularized by William Forster Lloyd, who published a pamphlet in 1833 using cow herders to prove that people couldn't be trusted to share our common resources wisely. He believed property should be owned privately.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From scientists to fiction writers, conspiracy theorists to theologians, aliens have captured the imagination of us all. But as we ponder the possibilities, let us pause to ask ourselves why. Why do these yet-to-be-found creatures from space occupy such a central role in the musings of so many? And should their existence be confirmed, what will it mean for us on Earth? While none can say for sure, there's certainly no shortage of ideas. From a peaceful first contact to doomsday scenarios of all sorts, the possibilities are endless. This hour, we speak with a scientist, a science fiction writer and a professor of theology about their thoughts on "E.T." GUESTS: Paul Davies - Regent Professor of physics at Arizona State University, where he directs the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science; author of The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life Lee Billings - Editor at Scientific American and author of Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars Brian Trent - Award winning science fiction writer and lecturer from Waterbury, including for Analog, COSMOS, and Fantasy and Science Fiction; author of Rahotep Celia Deane-Drummond - Professor of Theology at Notre Dame University, and author of Wonder and Wisdom: Conversations in Science, Spirituality, and Theology MUSIC: “Two Little Men In A Flying Saucer”by Ella Fitzgerald “Starman” by David Bowie “Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft”by The Carpenters Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Primary Day in Connecticut and I'm excited about it.For the first time in a long time, Connecticut voters feel they have a say in which candidate moves on to the general election in November, most of whom spent time speaking to voters in Connecticut this weekend.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The effect of a declining middle class is everywhere -- the medically uninsured or underinsured, the heroin epidemic, declining life expectancy for middle-aged white men, flat wages, weakened unions -- the list goes on and on.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

His Royal Badness died yesterday. He was 57.This hour, an appreciation of Prince.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everybody loves a bulldozer. In fact, we all grew up loving bulldozers, didn't we? From "Benny the Bulldozer" to Katy and her big snow, from all the Tonka toys to all the die cast model Caterpillars, the bulldozer is more of an icon in American popular culture than we maybe realize.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petry wrote a column a few years ago asking if poetry was still vital enough to change anything. Poets and poetry lovers reacted strongly, sending recommendations to enlighten her and encourage her to "get out more." Petry says that column haunts her more than anything she’s ever written, enough to follow it up with a defense - and an olive branch.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most cities would be thrilled to have a major or minor-league sports franchise come to town. It will bring crowds and new business and prosperity, right? Colin talks with panelists about the benefits, history, and costs of professional sports in Hartford.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year's presidential race is exposing the vast disconnect between candidates and voters,  the inadequacy of the two-party system, and the overall breakdown of our political system.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last weekend, the new Starz series "The Girlfriend Experience" premiered on cable and dropped in its entirety online. The always grumpy Richard Brody called it "an artistic as well as an epistemological disaster," but he blamed all of that directly on "the rigid format of serial television."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you like spoilers? Hate them? Whether it involves sports, television, books or movies, has a spoiler ruined something for you? Enhanced it? Do you practice spoiler etiquette?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

History and literature are filled with their antics. From the Renaissance's Triboulet to Shakespeare's Feste from "Twelfth Night," jesters and fools have delighted us for centuries with their subversive humor and quick wit. But while comedy was their brand, there existed hardships for these characters as well.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump was considered untouchable on his way to winning the nomination to represent the Republican Party in the 2016 election -- until establishment forces let go an unrelenting assault on his candidacy.Now there's talk of revolution at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer, where the votes of superdelegates, or party loyalists, get the last word on who moves forward. The Trump campaign is warning against it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's hard to improve on the poet, Rilke, who wrote, "Love consists of this, that two solitudes meet, protect, and greet each other." But did Rilke have to deal with Angry Birds and Snap Chat? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

And after 15 seasons and 555 episodes and more than 345 Billboard chart toppers, "American Idol" is done with us. Love it or hate it, the show changed the American television business, the American reality television business, the American music business. It gave us Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson and Ryan Seacrest. And it gave us Taylor Hicks and William Hung. And Ryan Seacrest. We unpack the whole thing, the good and the bad.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Yale and New Haven Humanism Week in New Haven, and so we thought: Hey, wait. Just what the heck is a humanism exactly anyway?And so then we thought: And what about, uh, agnosticism? Unitarianism? Universalism? Unitarian Universalism? Maybe even atheism?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Placebo treatments have been making people feel better for a long time. They've been working since long before Franz Mesmer was run out of 18th-century Vienna for "mesmerizing" a young pianist into regaining her eyesight, after all hope for a medical cure had been lost.  Doctors have long dismissed the placebo effect as inferior to conventional medical treatments that sometimes fail where placebo works well, including in surgical procedures like arthroscopy, a popular procedure that relieves the pain of arthritic knees. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As golf season begins again there are some troubling signs for the sport's future. The game of presidents past and country-clubbers around the nation is in fast decline according to analysts.  With a decrease in participation,  television ratings,  equipment sales, rounds played and courses being built, are we seeing the end of golf?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The polling industry is in transition. Fewer people consider it their civic duty to participate -- less than ten percent today compared to 80 percent two decades ago -- and pollsters haven't yet figured out how to effectively capture public opinion using cell phones and online surveys. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I get that it's stupid April Fools' Day, and so you can't trust anything you see on the stupid Internet. Except for the Trump quotes. The Trump quotes are just as legitimate today as they are on all the other days.But so let me just make it clear right now that I'm totally serious when I say that on this edition of The Nose we talk about...Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Buckminster Fuller may not be a household name. Nevertheless, his contributions to society and to sustainable living through technology and design were both vast and transformative. By the time of his death in 1983, Fuller had patented 25 inventions, published over 30 books and had chronicled nearly his entire career through a series of papers knows as the "Dymaxion Chronofile."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jon Imber was at the peak of his career as an accomplished artist and teacher when he was diagnosed with ALS in the fall of 2012. "Imber's Left Hand," a documentary about Jon's life as ALS claimed the use of his dominant right hand, will air on April 5 at the Hartford Jewish Film Festival. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2013, over 1,000 gold coins were found by a couple walking their dog on their property in Sierra Nevada, California. A rainstorm exposed the rusted can holding the gold coins. They soon found additional rusted cans, all holding gold coins dating from 1847 to 1894. The face value of the coins was just under $28,000. Today's market value is about $10 million.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reporters describe Donald Trump events as frightening and unsettling for those in the media. Trump relegates the media  to rectangular pens they're not allowed to leave, singles out reporters with personal insults and refuses entry to those he doesn't like, and whips up his crowds against reporters he says are "very dishonest people." Will there be a free press under a President Trump?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chicago White Sox first baseman Adam LaRoche abruptly retired from baseball last week with a year and $13 million left on his contract because the team's front office told him he had to stop bringing his 14-year-old son Drake into the clubhouse so much. Then the actual team rallied behind both LaRoches. But it turns out it all happened 'cause Adam's teammates complained about Drake. But so anyway: Aren't people who bring their kids to work with them just the worst?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pre-prohibition research into alcohol use and consumption was wiped out when the country dried out in the 1920s. In response, American "alcohol science" was created in the post-prohibition era to bring alcohol abuse into the medical realm, triggering a cultural explosion between advocates on each side of the wet/dry divide. It was in this arena that Alcoholics Anonymous was born. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Batman story begins with a crime. I was in third grade. I went to the barber shop in West Hartford Center where there were comic books to read while you waited.I had never seen any superhero comic before and I started reading a Batman story. It was great but I didn't have enough time to finish it. So, when my haircut was done, I took it home with me. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is no doubt that Donald Trump has taken the country by storm, defying all expectations that his candidacy would implode after the initial infatuation wore off last summer. Why Trump now?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a normal show, on a normal day, in a normal time, we'd usually put two or three experts in a room with Colin and ask them to hash out whatever it is we're interested in for that hour.For this show, by the time it's over with, we'll have corresponded with dozens of people and recorded interviews with seven or eight experts from ten or eleven different disciplines: a philosopher, an ethicist, a futurist, a speechwriter, a comedy writer, an author of speculative fiction, a politician, an 'investigative humorist,' a Muslim, an expert in international affairs, and an expert in... manners.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the next phase of her and President Obama's Let Girls Learn campaign to educate the #62milliongirls globally who don't have access to education at this week's  SXSW festival. She combined her keynote address on female empowerment with a panel discussion including Queen Latifah, rapper Missy Elliott, actress Sophia Bush and songwriter Diane Warren, and the release of Warren's single "This is for My Girls," to raise money for her cause. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump is closer to locking up the Republican nomination for president after big wins in Tuesday's primaries. He has incredible support from a party that's grown increasingly disappointed in their established leaders, yet still seeks the traits we have traditionally sought in a leader. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A transcript of this show is available here.It's hard to think about language as being endangered or replaceable. But as our culture and means of communication evolve, certain languages find their utility in decline. Braille and sign language are in just such a predicament.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year at this time, as you may have heard, there's a big-old basketball tournament that goes on. And every year at this time, people in offices and in firehouses and in Rotary Clubs and in Atlantic City enter bracket pools, where they try to win a big-old pile of ducats by predicting just exactly how said big-old basketball tournament will go.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Monday. Remember last Monday when we had a somewhat long and somewhat anguished conversation about Donald Trump? Well, we're planning to have another one toward the end of today's show. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I once slipped on a banana peel in my crowded high school cafeteria when I was sixteen years old. I was navigating the busy lunch room in my almost six-inch platform shoes and my breezy spring dress, when the peel sent me flying -  before ungraciously landing me on my back with my dress over my face. I was never so embarrassed - or uncomfortable in a pair of shoes.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laura McKenna went looking for information on a medical condition that would help her care for her child. Unfortunately, she couldn't access most of the articles she located without paying as much as thirty-eight dollars for an eight-page report. She never read it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Starting next week, the nation will turn its eyes to basketball, to college basketball, and its annual March Madness tournament.But... not quite all of the nation.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Almond says he's rooting for Donald Trump to win the nomination, even though he doesn't want him to be our next president. He says the GOP has been riling up their base voters for so long, it's no surprise that Trump is now overtly channeling all the "racist and nativist rhetoric" that has been covertly promoted by the party for decades.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Thighmaster, the Chop-O-Matic, the George Foreman Grill and the Clapper: Products which are all part of American consumer culture and which were all introduced through infomercials. But as online shopping increases and traditional television watching decreases, are we beginning to see the end of these high-energy, late-night shows?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the first things I did with the money I made from my part-time job as a teenager was to buy the next album on my wish list of new music. All my friends did the same, knowing that our growing collection was as much about  who we were and what we wanted to be as it was about the music. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It goes by many names: the sharing economy, the collaborative economy, the peer economy, just to name a few. Whatever you want to call it, one thing's for sure: this new way of doing business -- where idle assets equal big profits, and the hard-earned currency of trust comes through user reviews -- is changing the economic landscape of our country.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vin Baker was an Olympic basketball player and four-time NBA All Star. The journey from University of Hartford to professional basketball got him rich quick, but it was a lifestyle he couldn't keep up with. Baker's struggle with alcoholism is well-documented, as is the fact he blew through $100 million. He lost his home and restaurant.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, a panel of experts and historians gives us an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Beatrice Fox Auerbach, owner and CEO of Connecticut's most beloved department store, G. Fox and Co. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When I hear the word "diorama," the first thing I think of is Mr. Mack’s fifth grade class and painting hills and grass and clouds and a fence into a shoebox and making little cardboard cut outs of Lassie and the boy she loved. God, I hated that stuff.The second thing I think of is a place like the Peabody Museum in New Haven and their incredibly, obsessively, over-the-toply detailed dioramas of the plant and wildlife of Connecticut.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Friday night and I want to go to the movies. But, I don't know how to choose from fifteen or so movies before me. I can quickly knock out a few I don't want to see, leaving me with the final gems. How to decide? I check the reviews of my favorite critics. Not everyone feels that way. Actor Samuel L. Jackson of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" once took issue with New York Times film critic A.O. Scott. Jackson encouraged his Twitter followers to help Scott find a new job after Scott wrote the following in his review of the movie:Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The show moves to the Elm City for its annual snort of/at The Oscars, this time from the lobby of The Study at Yale in front of a live audience numbering in the dozens!Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.