The Colin McEnroe Show

The participants are average citizens: school teachers, waiters, pharmacists, perhaps even your neighbor. By day they work and pay their bills, but when they return home, things change. These elite individuals go to work forecasting the outcomes of global events (sometimes years into the future), all at the direction of a little-known government intelligence agency called IARPA.While this all sounds ripped from the latest Hollywood thriller, the truth is that this is happening right now in America. The "superforecasters," as they are known, are all volunteers. They are Americans like you and me who signed up to take part in a long-running experiment put together by U.S. intelligence officials and several university professors.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Dante's Inferno" is the most famous section of Dante Aligheri's 14,000 line epic poem, The Divine Comedy. But it's only the first part of Dante's long pilgrimage through the afterlife. He first enters the circles of hell, filled with beasts and sinners doomed to the Inferno for crimes like gluttony, lust, and treason. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Volkswagen is having a moment. Not a good moment, but it's certainly a moment. VW owners are glaring at their vehicles with suspicion after it was revealed the automaker's diesel vehicles were designed to cheat on emissions tests.Hopefully, VW is not capturing its moment with a selfie because that could be deadly. Plus, selfies are so easy to take, a monkey can do it and maybe even make some money from it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I first met cartoonist Bill Griffith back in the 1980s. I arranged for us to tour a Boston-area Hostess Twinkie plant, which sounds like a weird first date but makes perfect sense if you're familiar with his creation "Zippy the Pinhead," an unwitting surrealist who swims happily through a sea of taco sauce, processed cheese and, well, Twinkies. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There was a time when hard work brought most Americans a decent wage, a secure life, and opportunities to aim for a better life. George Packer says that's no longer the case for too many Americans.Institutions that once anchored middle-class Americans are either collapsing or morphing into faceless institutions that benefit the wealthy, Packer says. Health and educational outcomes are significantly lower for the poor, who are also incarcerated at higher rates. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Between all we know to be true, and all we know to be false, lies a world of woo. Woo-Woo, to use the official term, refers to ideas considered irrational or based on extremely flimsy evidence, or that appeal to mysterious occult forces or powers.But who decides what's woo-woo, and what gets accepted into the hallowed halls of scientific truth?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a lot of great TV. We already knew that, but the Emmy Awards reiterated that we live in a golden age of television. "TV is where you meet people who are recognizably people, people with whom you are willing to spend your time — either once a week, or in intense hours-long bursts," said Alexandra Petri from the Washington Post. This hour, we recap the Emmys.We also preview Pope Francis' trip to the United States this week. His visit comes at a time of political divide and presidential politics.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ahmed Mohamed is a 14-year-old Texas student who likes to tinker. He was arrested for bringing a home-made clock to school, because school officials thought it was a bomb. What followed was an outpouring of support for Mohamed, who many said was targeted because of his Muslim faith. President Obama invited him to the White House, Mark Zuckerberg invited him to Facebook HQ, and he even got a scholarship to space camp.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Online guidebook Atlas Obscura considers itself a "friendly tour-guide to the world's most wondrous places" -- a number of which can be found right here in Connecticut. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Vereen was plucked from the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn to go to the prestigious Performing Arts High School because somebody thought he had talent. Influenced by song and dance men like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr., Ben Vereen garnered accolades for groundbreaking roles in "Pippin," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Roots," in which he challenged us to think about race, religion and who can make art.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we get updates from a few of our favorite former guests. UConn physicist Ron Mallett is looking to fund a feasibility study to pay for the first steps of his time machine. We’ll catch up with him.And New Haven-based filmmaker Gorman Bechard is working on two documentaries – one about animal cruelty, and the other on the New Haven pizza wars.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever since a photo of a Syrian boy dead on a beach made the rounds of the internet, there has been a new focus on the refugee crisis. The United Nations reports more than four million registered Syrian refugees and the country's neighbors are taking the brunt of the strain. Now Europe is struggling to handle a flood of migrants to that continent. Germany is among the countries imposing border controls in response to the flood of refugees who survived the long and dangerous journey away from war.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was a rocky start to Stephen Colbert's Late Show debut. He admitted he went way over time, and barely got it on the air. But days later, his emotional interview with Vice President Joe Biden reminded us why we just love him so. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joyce Carol Oates has been writing since before she could read, making "books" by drawing and coloring characters in her tablet. She preferred upright chickens and cats in confrontational poses and tried hard to make her books look like the ones read by adults.  She's wanted to be a writer since inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Those books changed her life and by extension, ours. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Caroline Jacobs is a grown woman with children of her own. But by all accounts, she's a wimp. She would prefer to suffer in silence than stand up for herself or anyone else -- until she couldn't stand it anymore.  One night, while at a public meeting and in a crowded room, she stood up, pointed her finger at the one she loathed, and shouted "F%$# You" to her nemesis. With that one phrase, she was ready to face her past. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Born in Hartford and raised in Wethersfield, playwright Christopher Shinn pays homage to Connecticut in a new play called "An Opening In Time."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we'll talk Evan Osnos' in-depth look at the nationalist movement behind presidential candidate Donald Trump. How much power lies with the fringe? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Einstein's general theory of relativity with author and scholar Marcia Bartusiak. Bartusiak's latest book is called  Black Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawking Became Loved.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hunter S. Thompson was one of those writers whose lives start to matter more than their art. From almost the beginning, life and art were intentionally interwoven. Thompson's outsized appetites for drugs and food and stimulation were set into his hyperbolic prose. The story of the wrier was the story of the story. He was hardly the first to do it, but he did it in a fashion that made both the lifestyle and prose of Norman Mailer seem comparatively restrained. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does it seem like there are a lot of bears in Connecticut? It's hard to have a conversation this summer without someone mentioning they spotted a bear. While most of us are in awe of the size and majesty of these animals, most of us don't know much about bears. In light of this weekend's closing of Sessions Woods, now might be a good time to talk about what's already on everyone's minds.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an era awash in the rollout of brand new gadgets, gizmos, fashions, and fads, it's easy to think of obsolescence as part of the natural order: Remember popped lapels, pay phones and laserdisc players? But the idea that an object should quickly fall from favor, lose functionality, and find itself in a landfill somewhere is quite new -- and it didn't come about by accident.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you know how to read, you're probably pretty good at recognizing words. But, new words like "egg corn," "crema" and "slendro" are challenging our concept of what makes a word.  Yet these very words were recently added to Merriam-Webster's unabridged online dictionary.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America and Iran have not had an easy relationship since 1979, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days by students supporting the Iranian Revolution. The resulting rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini further weakened the relationship.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The octopus has always been the stuff of spine-tingling legend, like that of the Kraken, the many-armed sea monster believed to drag ships to the bottom of the sea after dining on the crew. Or  Gertie the Pus, the giant Pacific octopus that lives under the Narrows Bridge connecting Tacoma, Washington to Gig Harbor.In reality, the octopus is more benign but equally fascinating.  Did you know the octopus has two-thirds of its brain neurons distributed throughout its eight arms? Or, that the severed arm of an octopus can walk independently toward a food source and move it to where its mouth should be? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music can be a powerful, transformative tool in the quest for social change. Protest songs are the songs associated with a particular movement. Earlier this month, Janelle Monáe and Wondaland produced the searing protest song "Hell You Talmbout." Nearly seven minutes long, it's a tribute to a long list of black men and women lost, and has been performed alongside protesters at Black Lives Matter rallies.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Officials in France and the United States are celebrating the actions of three brave passengers aboard a train who thwarted an attack. Did these passengers do what you're supposed to do in that situation? This hour, we hear from a retired FBI special agent who will tell us how bystanders should respond to violence.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people's vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.'' Those, of course, are the immortal opening words of Janet Malcolm’s book-length essay, “The Journalist and the Murderer.” Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She who controls the dragon controls the world.Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion are the most recent dragons to capture our attention, thanks to "Game of Thrones," the wildly popular HBO hit that's placed dragons front and center in our imagination.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In her graphic memoir Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, cartoonist Roz Chast brings humor to the difficult topic of aging parents. Last year, the book earned her the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Kirkus Prize for nonfiction. Now, it's being featured alongside some of her other work as part of the Distinguished Illustrator Exhibition Series at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colin spent the last few weeks speaking with each of the Bridgeport mayoral candidates likely to qualify for the September 16 primary. First, Joe Ganim. Last week, Mary Jane Foster. Today, we talk to incumbent Bill Finch.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earlier this summer, we spent a full hour listening to candidates for "song of the summer." Now that summer is winding down, we’re still trying to figure out the winner. Was there a song you just couldn’t get enough of recently? We talk to someone who says for the first time in a long time, there was no "Call Me Maybe," "Blurred Lines," or "California Gurls" (for better or worse).Also, one popular retailer for music (and everything else) is under harsh criticism. The New York Times reported on the working conditions at "The Everything Store."In the final segment, we address tall person guilt. Should they feel obligated to stand in back?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week's Republican debate created chaos on the internets:  Trump insulted Fox's Megyn Kelly, which naturally led to ladies live tweeting their periods at the wanna-be President. And a new slang was born: "Cuckservative."  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lefties have been scorned as evil, and celebrated as superior. But, like so many things in life, being a southpaw is not so easily defined. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, our show about poo.First, the 'no-poo' movement. Before the last century, people washed their hair a lot less often than we do today. A little Castille soap, an egg yoke for extra shine, and one hundred strokes with a boar bristle brush would do the trick. It wasn't until John Breck introduced his golden shampoo that everyone wanted to have the long lustrous locks of a Breck Girl. Today, 'no-poo' converts are going back to the basics and they say they're hair has never looked so good.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Candidate Mary-Jane Foster is hoping to qualify for the Bridgeport mayoral primary on September 16. She thinks she's got a pretty good chance.Foster is in a tight race with both incumbent Bill Finch and challenger Joe Ganim, the popular former mayor who spent seven years in prison for crimes he committed while in office.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Athletes have always used their elevated platform to advance products and ideas. After a game winning play, it's almost expected to hear the star thank either God, the Lord, and/or Jesus. But you won't hear that from Houston Texan running back Arian Foster. He just came out as an atheist playing football for a NFL team in the bible belt. How will that play out?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So we know that everyone in the world is covering the end of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show today. We know that you’ve probably already listened to an hour or two of radio about Jon Stewart on this very station today.But the thing is, we’re gonna miss Jon Stewart too.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's summer and 90 degrees -- so why am I freezing at the office?A recent New York Times article on air conditioning has sparked a debate on whether air conditioning is a necessity or an indulgence. Some say air conditioning has been a part of our lives for less than a century, yet we increasingly rely on it as soon as the weather makes us feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. We're not only losing our ability to adapt, the resulting green-house gas emissions are contributing to climate change. And public buildings are way colder than they need to be for comfort.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who doesn't love puppets?From the Muppets to Edgar Bergen to the Thunderbirds, they defined our childhoods. Today they're taking over the theater with "Hand to God," "Avenue Q" and "The Lion King." Many people don't know it, but Connecticut has long been a center of puppetry in the United States.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our show is all about "man's best friend." Dogs are, generally, cute and cuddly and many of us adore them. But what's the science behind our puppy love? We talk with researchers and reporters who study whether or not our dogs are as intuitive as we sometimes think they are or whether they are just "dumb as a dog."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Internally, NPR has debated when and where it is appropriate to swear. If the President of the United States says the N-word, should it be bleeped on the radio? Can a public radio host swear on a podcast? There are lots of questions about offensive language in 2015, with so many different mediums and changing social norms.We also discuss news that Vice President Joe Biden might be looking for a promotion to the Oval Office.Finally, is Yelp in a "death spiral"?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This past week, a Minnesota dentist and father of two shocked us out of our complacency. Desensitized by the weekly shootings this summer of African Americans by white policemen, moviegoers in theaters and African American churchgoers by a young white racist,  his ambush of Cecil the lion was a visceral blow to our collective gut.  Yes, we're still horrified by the way human beings treat each other. Our outrage over Cecil doesn't change that horror, but animals are somehow out-of-bounds of our cruelty to one another. In some ways, they're like civilians in a war - innocent victims in a world outnumbered by humans with the power to destroy all that is natural in this world.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one can argue the charisma of former Bridgeport mayor Joe Ganim. He served five terms as a beloved leader in a city long plagued by  crime, poverty, and corruption, much of the corruption under the Ganim administration.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two funny men. Two funny books. I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend follows the life of Martin Short, a funny man who spent his childhood staging elaborate one-man variety shows  in his attic bedroom before bringing us enduring and endearing characters like Ed Grimley, Irving Cohen and Jimmy Glick.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Across the United States, partners still hold the institution of marriage dear. Yet as time moves on, there are significant changes in the way Americans approach marriage. Many years ago, the idea of marrying for love was ludicrous. Now, the love match is the heart of a modern marriage.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The CDC recently announced that kissing or cuddling your chickens is a health hazard. Because… Well, because people kiss or cuddle their chickens, apparently. Some people probably kiss and cuddle their chickens. But you shouldn’t kiss or cuddle your chickens. Because your chickens are basically just waddling featherballs of salmonella, it turns out. So, ya know. Don’t kiss or cuddle your chickens.But before we get to that, two other stories:Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, the Nose will definitely NOT talk about Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!But they will cover Gawker's horrible week. After lots of backlash, the online site retracted a story in which they outed a married executive who solicited a male prostitute. They've now made the pledge to be "20%  nicer." Or maybe just 10%.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.

Flags have been in the news a lot lately. South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from its Statehouse this month and one Missouri county threatened to lower the flags at their courthouse for one full year to mourn the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes advice good or bad? When and why do we listen to what others have to say? It is human nature to turn to others for advice when the going gets tough; we seek the wisdom of loved ones, lawyers, doctors, therapists, and advice columnists. But even when presented with good advice, we don't always take it. This hour, we get down to business about advice.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.