The Colin McEnroe Show

When was the last time you read a short story? This hour, we talk about why short stories are so popular in the classroom, but why adults don’t seem to read them much once they’re done with school. And we make the case for why you should. Plus, a look at the art of the short story with some masters of the craft. You can read Rebecca Makkai’s Substack post that inspired this show here. Here is the story that is discussed in the final segment, “How I Became a Vet” by Rivka Galchen. As part of this show we asked each of our guests to recommend a short story, a collection, or an author. Here are those recommendations: Rebecca Makkai: “The Dinner Party” by Joshua Ferris George Saunders: “The Stone Boy” by Gina Berriault, “The Conventional Wisdom” by Stanley Elkin Deborah Treisman: Liberation Day by George Saunders, After the Funeral by Tessa Hadley, “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak” by Jamil Jan Kochai Amy Bloom: “The Dead” by James Joyce, stories by Edward P. Jones, essays by Samantha Irby Irene Papoulis: “Drinking…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to the Connecticut gubernatorial election, nostalgia, praying mantises, heavy metal, healthcare … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Music featured (in order): Sympathy – LUCA Oh Love – Kingfishr Skim a Stone – This Is the Kit Someone You Love – Tiny Habits How Come – Charlotte Dos Santos Season of the Witch – Alanis Morissette Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you know about silversmith Paul Revere besides that he borrowed a horse to warn American colonists that the British troops were coming? If Revere had help, why is he the only rider taught in History classes throughout America? We talk with Kostya Kennedy about his book, ‘The Ride,’ and learn the story behind a man—and an act on horseback—that was, “deeper and richer than previously assumed.” Plus, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow scholar Christoph Irmscher joins with an appreciation of Longfellow’s famous poem, ‘Paul Revere’s Ride.' And we learn what it's like to retrace Revere's route from journalist, Jenna Russell. GUESTS: Kostya Kennedy: Author of ‘The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night that Saved America’ Christoph Irmscher: Distinguished Professor of English at Indiana University. He is a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow and the author of The Poetics of Natural History and Longfellow Redux Jenna Russell: New England bureau chief for The New York Times. Jenna documented her drive of Paul Revere's route, which took…

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the last time the New York Mets won the World Series. The Mets came in last in the National League East this season, but Mets fandom seems to have taken on a bit of an uncharacteristic “Wait ’til next year!” sort of an attitude. With the hated Red Sox eliminated from the postseason and the New York Yankees on an off day between series, we take a look at that other local baseball team: the Mets. GUESTS: Philip Bump: Senior data editor and columnist for Hearst Connecticut Media Group A. M. Gittlitz: An organizer and writer; his new book is Metropolitans: New York Baseball, Class Struggle, and the People’s Team Frankie Graziano: Hosts The Wheelhouse on Connecticut Public Steve Metcalf: Founder and director of the Garmany concert series at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Mike Pesca: Editorial director for news and politics podcasts at CBS The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever…

George Orwell's novels 1984 and Animal Farm feel especially prescient in this moment, as surveillance technologies continue to expand, and history and language are weaponized. We take a look at the life and literature of George Orwell. And ask: what does the term "Orwellian" really mean? GUESTS: Laura Beers: Professor of History at American University, and the author of Orwell’s Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century D. J. Taylor: Writer, critic, and author of many books, including Orwell: The New Life and Who is Big Brother? A Reader's Guide to George Orwell Sandra Newman: Author of Julia: A Novel, among other books Music featured (in order): Welles Raises Kane (I. Overture) – Bernard Herrmann, as conducted by himself, leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) – Eurythmics One Brick – Aesop Rock Keep the Aspidistra Flying – Ivan Waters and the Citadel Piggies – The Beatles 1984 – Anais Mitchell The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple…

Do you have a place where everybody knows your coffee order? Your cat's name? How you like your eggs? Then congrats! You're a regular! This hour, we explore the value of becoming a regular (and how to do so) in our ever disconnected society. Plus, we hear about the regulars of Claire's Corner Copia in New Haven. GUESTS: Gillian Sandstrom: Associate Professor in the Psychology of Kindness at the University of Sussex. Mark Alan Burger: Social Media Editor at Esquire, and the author of “The Lost Art of Being a Regular”. Claire Criscuolo: Owner of Claire’s Corner Copia in New Haven. Music featured (in order): Feelin’ Good Again – Robert Earl Kleen Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Cheers Theme) – Gary Portnoy Here Comes a Regular – The Replacements Violetta’s – Dave’s True Story Bobo’s – Liza Minnelli Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac With Susan Michelson) – Tom Waits Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today “Luddite” is used as a derogatory term for someone who doesn’t understand technology. But the original Luddites weren’t behind. They were technical workers who were concerned about the impact that technology would have on people. This hour, we look at the history of Luddites, how their philosophy applies today, and ask what our present would look like if they had won. Could we all gain something from thinking more like a Luddite? GUESTS: Miriam A. Cherry: Professor of law at St. John’s University and the author of Work in the Digital Age: A Coursebook on Labor, Technology, and Regulation Brian Merchant: Author of Blood in the Machine: the Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech Gavin Mueller: Assistant professor of new media and digital culture at the University of Amsterdam and the author of Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to Lonesome Dove, the public intellectual, how to talk in more complex sentences, tragedy and tragic figures today, quilting, the music of 1976… Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Music featured (in order): Pizza – Eitan Kenner, Natalie Tenenbaum Bite Your Tongue – Duncan Sheik Hudson – Henry Jamison (feat. Lady Lamb) A car wash and a new pair of pants – Lizzy McAlpine I Will Be Blowing More Jazz in the Future – Dan Reeder Waters of March – Cassandra Wilson Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This special edition of The Nose — guest hosted and co-hosted (!) by comedian and writer Shawn Murray and journalist and noted bat expert Lindsay Lee Wallace — looks at: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is a satirical surrealist psychological romance slasher film with a film-within-a-film narrative. It’s the third feature film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun and their followup to I Saw the TV Glow. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. And: Lanterns is the third TV series and fifth entry overall in Chapter One: Gods and Monsters of the DC Universe. It is created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, and it’s meant to tell a Green Lantern story kind of in the style of TV shows like True Detective and Slow Horses. Lanterns stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe…

You’ve likely heard the Greek myth of Cassandra, a woman given the gift of prophecy who was cursed never to be believed. This hour, a look at the Cassandra story and its relevance today, including some real-life Cassandras, like the diplomat who tried to stop World War II and the public health official who tried to warn us about the COVID-19 pandemic. GUESTS: Joel Christensen: Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the CUNY Graduate Center; author of The Many-Minded Man: The Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic Charity Dean: CEO, founder, and chairman of the Public Health Company Steve Kemper: Author of Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor Amanda Rees: Historian of science at the University of York and the author of Human The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The…

People have been preoccupied with the end of the world for a very long time. And that preoccupation isn’t going anywhere. As AI experts warn about potential catastrophic scenarios and the Doomsday Clock continues to move closer to midnight, a look at how we imagine the world ending and what that says about us. GUESTS: Dorian Lynskey: Journalist and author of multiple books, most recently Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World. He is also co-host of the Origin Story podcast. Brian Slattery: Freelance writer and editor. He is the author of four novels. His latest short story is “Clouds” which appears in the anthology Shadow Lab Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and…

How has our national discourse and our perception of national identity shifted in the 25 years after 9/11? And how can we heal from those traumatizing events? This hour, we talk about what we can learn from our response to 9/11 with a local psychiatrist who helped shape New York City's mental health response for its children. Plus, we look at how journalists coped with covering that day. GUESTS: John Woodall: Psychiatrist whose clinic is in Newtown. He is a former Harvard Medical School faculty, and founder of Healing the Heart of America. Sam Martin: Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs at Boise State University. Dr. Anthony Feinstein: Professor of Psychiatry at University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He specializes in the psychological effects of covering war and violent conflict on journalists. Music featured (in order): Listen to the Heroes Cry – Christian McBride Loose Ends – Sergio Mendes, Justin Timberlake, Pharoahe Monch Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Nina…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation — helmed by our old pal Chion Wolf! — winds around to “Crossing Muddy Waters” by I’m With Her, Phoebe Bridgers, The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, follow ups, paper routes and summer jobs for kids, loss … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Official Movie Star of The Colin McEnroe Show Illeana Douglas’ brand new book is Jungle Red! The Making of MGM’s The Women. Early this week, Colin went down to The Kate in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, to help launch the book. This hour, a recorded version of that onstage conversation about the women of Hollywood’s golden age and about golden age Hollywood’s The Women. GUEST: Illeana Douglas: An actress and author; her new book is Jungle Red! The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Robin Andreoli, Jacob Kaufman, and Wes Swan contributed to this show. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next week marks 250 years since Connecticut's Nathan Hale was executed by British soldiers. This hour we look back at the life of Nathan Hale, and the local historian who kept his legacy alive. Plus, we'll learn about spying during the Revolutionary War, and discover another Connecticut spy who escaped Hale's fate. GUESTS: Alexander Rose: Author of books including Washington's Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring. His last two books have been on American secret intelligence. He is also a writer and producer on the television series Turn: Washington’s Spies Michael Morand: Director of Community Engagement at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. He is also the City Historian of the City of New Haven Claire Bellerjeau: Co-author of Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth and the founder of Remember Liss, a nonprofit sharing this story in schools and communities Music featured (in order): The Girl I Left Behind Me – The Norman Luboff Choir…

Laura Nyro’s most famous compositions — “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Stoney End,” “When I Die,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Eli’s Coming” — are jewels of mainstream music, and her covers of songs like “Jimmy Mack” and “Gonna Take a Miracle” are legendary. But she was uncomfortable under the spotlight and withdrew from it to become the Belle of Danbury, Connecticut. This hour: a night of singing, reflecting, and celebrating recorded in front of a live audience at Watkinson School in Hartford. GUESTS: Jim Chapdelaine: Guitar and vocals Latanya Farrell: Vocals and tambourine Steve Metcalf: Piano and vocals The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe contributed to this show, which originally…

What happens when the people reshaping our world don't believe in introspection? This hour, a look at looking inward. And, we explore the spectrum of mental imagery. GUESTS: Elizabeth Lopatto: Senior reporter for The Verge Maja Spener: Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. She is the author of Introspection: First-Person Access in Science and Agency Reshanne Reeder: Lecturer in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Liverpool Music featured (in order): Who Knows – Daniel Caesar What Kind of Fool Am I – Sammy Davis Jr. Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson There’s No Telling – Duncan Sheik I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry – Cassandra Wilson Pretty Little Picture – Zero Mostel (Original Broadway Cast) The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to oil prices, jetpacks, AI apocalypses, musicals, moving fast and breaking things … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Music featured (in order): Everything I’ve Got Belongs To You – Kate Kortum Act Like You Know (feat Muni Long) – Master Peace Vente – Solveig Slettahjell Quartet lamb (feat Kellin Quinn) – Julia Wolf Two Coats – Robert Plant one good thing – Lyn Lapid Let’em Know – Shaboozey Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does 9/11 mean, 25 years later? This hour, we are joined by Dan Taberski, host of the podcast "9/12", which explores how 9/11 went from a day to an idea, to talk about the failure of imagination, humor and tragedy, and how we remember well. GUEST: Dan Taberski Documentary podcaster, writer, director, and producer. His podcasts include “Manifesto”, “Hysterical”, “9/12”, “Running from Cops”, and “Missing Richard Simmons,” among others Music featured (in order): Where or When (Live) – Sonny Rollins Beautiful Day – U2 Safe As Houses – The Weepies I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore – Lucy Dacus The Rising – Bruce Springsteen American Tune – The Jellyman’s Daughter Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kurt Andersen co-created Spy magazine, which published its first issue 40 years ago next month. And he hosted and co-created Studio 360, which ran on public radio stations for nearly 20 years. His new novel, The Breakup, follows the unraveling of a marriage … in 2045 … in a version of America that is also splitting apart after a second civil war in the 2030s. Kurt Andersen joins us for the hour. GUEST: Kurt Andersen: The author of 12 books; his latest, The Breakup, is his fourth novel Music featured (in order): (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes – Elvis Costello I Get Along Without You Very Well – Nina Simone Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley Was That The Human Thing To Do – The Boswell Sisters Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Neil Sedaka Why Should We Try Anymore – Hank Williams Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ten years ago, we aired an episode commemorating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. Ten years later, the show has stuck around—and six more shows have come out in the franchise. So: 60 years after the first episode of Star Trek aired, we take a look back at its rocky start–and what the future of the series might be. Plus, a look at Star Trek’s fandom and some of the first ever fan conventions!–and what the future of the series might be. GUESTS: Stephen Dyson: professor of Political Science at University of Connecticut and is ½ of “The Pop Culture Professors” on YouTube. Baz Greenland: author and a podcaster based in Cardiff, UK. Francesca Coppa: professor of English at Muhlenberg College and one of the founders of the website Archive of our Own. Music featured (in order): The Nearness of You – Jonathan Frakes So Fragile, So Blue (Live Version) – William Shatner, Ben Folds, National Symphony Orchestra Status Report – Strange New Worlds OST Captain Picard (as time goes by) – Thornbird Star Trekkin’ – The Firm…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to new musicals, Connecticut trails, politics, June bugs, colonoscopies … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Music featured (in order): [1.20pm] Journey Beat (from the game “Big Walk”) – aksfx happiest day of my life – paris jackson Peace to Make – Ruth B. Just a Little Lovin’ – Laura Anglade Liminal Space – Zach Gill Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon) – Julia Jacklin Every Step of the Way – Keb’ Mo Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Nose — guest hosted by the writer and noted bat expert Lindsay Lee Wallace — looks at: Coyote vs. Acme is the fifth original, theatrically released feature film in the Looney Tunes franchise. It is based on the classic New Yorker humor piece by Ian Frazier about Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation over the continuing catastrophic failure of their products. The movie’s road to the big screen was, let’s say, a bit rocky, but it got there, and it’s now the No. 2 movie in the country. And: Widow’s Bay is a comedy-horror series on Apple TV about a quaint island town off the coast of New England that may or may not be cursed. (Spoiler: It’s cursed.) Widow’s Bay has 19 nominations in 16 categories at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series. And finally: The Pitt is an HBO Max medical drama. Each episode covers one hour, basically in a real time, of a shift in the emergency department at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. The Pitt currently has 25…

On September 26, 2025, last year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, One Battle After Another, a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, hit wide release in theaters. And then 11 days later, on October 7, Pynchon published what might be his final novel, Shadow Ticket. Not a bad year for an 89-year-old writer. This hour, a look at the (maybe) reclusive Pynchon and the novels and stories he’s published, from Gravity’s Rainbow to Mason & Dixon and more. Plus: a look at the two Paul Thomas Anderson movies that Pynchon’s work has inspired, Inherent Vice and One Battle After Another. GUESTS: David Cowart: Distinguished professor emeritus of English language and literature at the University of South Carolina and the author of a number of books, including Thomas Pynchon: The Art of Allusion and Thomas Pynchon and the Dark Passages of History Ana Gavrilovska: A writer; you can find her work in Current Affairs, Uncut Magazine, Maggot Brain, and her Substack, Sick Sad Motherslug Leonardo Goi: A journalist and…

South Carolina. The clinic offered MMR vaccinations as the South Carolina Department of Health reported 876 cases of measles earlier in the week, most centered in Spartanburg County. This hour, we look at the spread of measles in the United States. We also talk to health and science communicators who are working to tell the story of that disease in new ways. GUESTS: Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo: Director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown School of Public Health, and a Professor of Epidemiology Brinda Adhikari: Award-winning executive producer, showrunner and journalist, who is Co-Host of the "Why Should I Trust You?" podcast Teri Mills: Retired nurse educator, grandmother, and Board member and Vice President of Media for Grandparents for Vaccines Music featured (in order): Sickness – runo plum Contagious – Ani DiFranco Cat’s Got the Measles – The New Lost City Ramblers Catch My Disease – Ben Lee Soul Vaccination – Tower of Power Grandma’s Hands – Bill Withers Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See…

This hour we take a look at the state of immigration policy, after a week of ICE activity in Connecticut. We discuss what Americans actually want when it comes to immigration, the challenges of keeping track of immigration enforcement data, and a look at how the history of immigration policy in the United States is informing this present moment. GUESTS: Sister Mary Ellen Burns: Executive Director and Attorney at Apostle Immigrant Services in New Haven Sarah Pierce: Director of Social Policy at Third Way David Hausman: Assistant Professor at Berkeley Law who co-directs the Deportation Data Project Nancy Foner: Distinguished Emerita Professor in the Department of Sociology at the Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is author or editor of over 20 books, most recently Immigration: How the Past Shapes the Present Music featured (in order): One Body, One Blood – Tigran Hamasyan Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) – Dolly Parton Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) – K'Naan…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to the detestable Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park, Brandi Carlile, Declan the Dog, the pronunciation of Pupienus, frustration with the Hartford region … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Music featured (in order): The Tom And Jerry Show – Hiromi To Love Somebody – Robin McKelle and the Flytones, Lee Fields Peg – Nerina Pallot Obvious Child – I’m With Her Just the Two of Us – Stacey Ryan Until You Come Back to Me – Aretha Franklin Ain’t Nobody – Jen Allen The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient…

As the you sit contemplating the end of long summer days, you might find yourself wondering: what was the song of the summer? And what should have been? To help fill that void in your life, Colin sits down with technical producer Dylan Reyes to form the public radio supergroup CG/WLM (cranky guys who like music) and talk about what they’re listening to and what song they think should have won the season. GUEST: Dylan Reyes: Technical producer, assistant director of radio operations at Connecticut Public Music featured (in order): Bet on U – CHUNG HA, Anderson .Paa King James – Anderson .Paak Silk Sonic Intro – Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak) Miss Mango – Laila! Red Shoes – Maggie Rose It’s A Beautiful Life – Francis of Delirium Illusion – Leon Bridges Waiting – Beth Orton If I Let You – The Womack Sisters side slider – Isaia Huron Sirius – Katherine Priddy Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are now looking at our own faces more than ever before, thanks to mirrors, selfies, Zoom, and social media. This hour, we explore how our relationship with our faces has changed. Plus, a look at the rise of facial recognition technology, from your phone to security cameras. And we talk with an artist about what it means to paint faces. GUESTS: Cal Revely-Calder: Writer and Literary Editor of The Telegraph Kashmir Hill: Journalist at The New York Times and author of Your Face Belongs to Us Jessica Helfand: Artist and writer. She is the author of Face: A Visual Odyssey Music featured (in order): Put On A Happy Face – Dick Van Dyke (Bye Bye Birdie OBC) Look at That Face – Sammy Davis Jr. My Smile Is Just a Frown (Turned Upside Down) – Carolyn Crawford I’ve Just Seen A Face – The Beatles Smiling Faces Sometimes – The Undisputed Truth I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face – Andrew Bird, Alan Hampton Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you know your neighbors? This hour, we take a look at the role of our neighbors in our lives. We explore the psychological and social benefits of neighbors, hear listener stories, and discuss the role of neighbors in times of crisis. Plus, a look at "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and how he thought about neighbors and community building. GUESTS: Julie Beck: Staff writer at The Atlantic and the creator of “The Friendship Files” Tricia Wachtendorf: Director of the Disaster Research Center and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Delaware. She is also co-author of American Dunkirk: The Waterborne Evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11 Daniel Cueto-Villalobos: Sociologist and doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota Maxwell King: Author of The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. His new book is Fire in the Night Sky: The Steel Mill Paintings of Aaron Gorson The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to William Shatner's music career, scouting, Canadians, water snakes, technological materialism... Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Music featured (in order): Brixton Underground – Cory Wong, Joshua Redman Masks – William Shatner, Brad Paisley In the Still of the Night – Lauren Henderson Early One Mornin’ – Ekep Nkwelle As You Lie There – Paul McCartney THINK OF YOU – Tyreek McDole Stuff – Bella White Feel the Cold – Foy Vance Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lost Weekend is Phoebe Bridgers’ third solo studio album and fifth studio album overall. It dropped on August 14, and it’s expected to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart dated August 29, which would make it Bridgers’ highest-charting album to date. And: My Brilliant Career is a Netflix limited series and the second screen adaptation of the 1901 novel by Miles Franklin. It is an Australian production with a largely Australian cast, and it’s set in Australia around the turn of the 20th century. Philippa Northeast stars as Sybylla, a young woman desperate to become a writer as her family tries to find her a husband. GUESTS: Rebecca Castellani: Co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications and the director of marketing at Washington Montessori School Jim Chapdelaine: An Emmy-winning musician and a patient advocate for people with rare cancers Xandra Ellin: Produces The Global Story for the BBC Music featured (in order): The Outside – Phoebe Bridgers Lost Boys – Phoebe Bridgers Haunted – Phoebe Bridgers Still…

The Statue of Liberty gets the CMS treatment. First, Colin talks with Dennis Mulligan from the National Park Service. He’s been Lady Liberty’s caretaker for almost 30 years and walked to her crown approximately 5,000 times (he did the math). Colin also talks about the improbable logistics of her creation with the journalist Elizabeth Mitchell, author of Liberty's Torch: The Great Adventure to Build The Statue of Liberty. And, scholar and poet Esther Schor joins to shine a light on the Emma Lazarus poem that gave the statue meaning that has both endured and changed over time. You know the lines, “Give me your tired, your poor…” but what else do you know about the “Mother of Exiles?” GUESTS: Dennis Mulligan: Supervisory Park Ranger for the National Park Service, The Statue of Liberty's caretaker for almost 30 years Elizabeth "Biz" Mitchell: Jounalist and author of Liberty's Torch: The Great Adventure to Build The Statue of Liberty Esther Schor: Scholar, biographer, poet, essayist and Chair of the Humanities…

What's a dew point? Why is my weather app wrong all the time? Should I be worried about a Super El Niño? This hour, we explore the mysteries of the weather while checking in on the state of modern meteorology. Plus: How does literature teach us about the changing weather? GUESTS: Kristine Harper: Meteorologist, oceanographer, and science educator turned historian of science at the University of Copenhagen Matthew Cappucci: Senior Meteorologist at MyRadar and Meteorologist at CapitalWeather.com Amy Brady: Author of Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks – A Cool History of a Hot Commodity. She is also the former executive director and publisher of Orion magazine, a contributing editor for Scientific American, and coeditor of the anthology The World as We Knew It: Dispatches from a Changing Climate. Music featured (in order): Teen Town – Weather Report Storm Warning – Bonnie Raitt Pennies from Heaven – Emilie-Claire Barlow Isn’t This a Lovely Day? – Dana Lauren Heatwave – Martha Reeves and the Vandelas After…

There is perhaps no figure more emblematic of the paranormal than the psychic. Able to predict the future, see into the past, and even communicate with the dead, the psychic’s (supposed) awesome gifts are matched only by his or her ability to withstand skepticism and ridicule. But are our misgivings towards these intuitives justified? Is it merely smoke and mirrors which they’ve learned to master, or are they, in fact, possessed of powers beyond our comprehension? This hour, we speak with believers, skeptics, and self-proclaimed psychics to find out. GUESTS: Daryl Bem: Emeritus professor of psychology at Cornell University and the author of Feeling the Future: Experimental Evidence for Anomalous Retroactive Influences on Cognition and Affect Allison Dubois: A psychic medium and profiler and the author of several books, including Into the Dark: How the Dead Help Us Heal Benjamin Radford: Deputy editor for Skeptical Inquirer and co-host of Squaring the Strange Emily Stroia: An ituitive medium, the founder of…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to Connecticut lobster rolls, curating everything, Canadian blue lettuce, the movie version of Jurassic Park, the correct pronunciation of “New Haven” and other things, the problem with open primaries … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One Night Only is an R-rated dystopian sci-fi sex comedy rom-com. But then, what movie isn’t an R-rated dystopian sci-fi sex comedy rom-com, really? It is directed by Will Gluck (who also directed Anyone but You and Easy A and other things). It has grossed $7.4 million over its first six days in theaters, and it’s in danger of becoming a box office bomb. And: “Two People Exchanging Saliva (Deux personnes échangeant de la salive)” is a black-and-white French-language absurdist comedy-drama short film written and directed by Alexandre Singh and Natalia Mistreata. It won this year’s Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. And finally: The Atlantic says there’s an “eroticism shortage.” And that feels right. Right? And so what’s that all about? GUESTS: RS Benedict: A writer and bureaucrat whose fiction and non-fiction has been published in the New Haven Review, Fangoria, Current Affairs, and a bunch of other places Irene Papoulis: Taught writing for a long time at Trinity College Lindsay Lee Wallace: A…

If you ask an AI chatbot what its favorite color is, chances are it’ll say blue. What’s going on? This hour, we look at why so many people love the color blue, and what blue means in art and culture and our lexicon. Plus: Why are Democrats blue and Republicans red? And, the universe is getting less blue? GUESTS: Kory Stamper: Lexicographer, and author of True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color–from Azure to Zinc Pink Kushin Mukherjee: Postdoctoral scholar in the Cognitive Tools Lab at Stanford University Einav Rabinovitch-Fox: Historian, Visiting Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University, and Managing Editor at the Cleveland Museum of Art Ivan Baldry: Professor of Astrophysics at Liverpool John Moores University Music featured (in order): Blue (Da Ba Dee) – Eiffel 65 Am I Blue – Dinah Washington Blue – Joni Mitchell Blue Skies – Eva Cassidy Blue Money – Van Morrison I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues – Alessia Cara Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See…

In April, 2010, we did a segment on the concept of the mesofact, a certain kind of data point that feels fixed even though it’s actually always slowly changing. And we’ve gone back to the idea every now and again ever since. This hour, a look at three things about the world that changed pretty dramatically while you were thinking about other stuff. Hey, did you know there’s a fifth ocean now? Hey, did you know that you can put hot food right into your fridge now? Hey, did you know that goldfish are actually pretty smart? Those kinds of things. GUESTS: Andrea Barnes: A writer at Wirecutter covering large cleaning appliances and laundry Liam McCabe: A writer at Wirecutter covering home improvement Cait Newport: An associate professor at the University of Oxford, where she leads the Animal Perception and Cognition Group Alex Tait: The Geographer at the National Geographic Society Music featured (in order): Things Change – Venus It Ain’t Necessarily So – Jaimee Paul Rock the Boat – Hues Corporation Washing…

A study shows that AI chatbots often engage in sycophantic behavior. Just like some humans. This hour, we take a look at sycophants in literature and in politics. And we talk about sycophancy and artificial intelligence. GUESTS: Mark Parker: Professor Emeritus of English at James Madison University and co-author of Sucking Up: A Brief Consideration of Sycophancy Virginia Heffernan: Writes a regular column for The New Republic and the Substack “Magic + Loss.” She is co-host of the podcast “Omnishambles” Malihe Alikhani: Assistant Professor at Northeastern University’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences, and a resident Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution with a focus on AI policy Music featured (in order): Overture to Rigoletto – Giuseppi Verdi, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmoniker I Believe in You – Peggy Lee Don’t Cry – Seal You Fascinate Me So – Mabel Mercer What You Want To Hear – Sub-Radio Flattery – Rosemary Clooney, Jose Ferrer The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing — calls about grammar, gardening, long-distance dialing, autotune. Anything. Everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we’re doing another one. In other words: Give us a call during the 1 p.m. EDT hour about whatever you want to talk about. 888-720-9677.‌ Music featured (in order): Light the Way – Leon Bridges 47th Street – Lalah Hathaway, J. Ivy Twiggy – Remi Wolf Sweet Surrender – Halie Loren Inspira – Lauren Henderson, Sullivan Fortner Back in Love – Suki Waterhouse Reminder – Margaret Glaspy Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Furious is a Hulu Original crime drama-thriller series created by Elizabeth Meriwether, who also created New Girl and The Dropout and other things. It is inspired by the 1987 thriller Black Widow, which is also about a female serial killer and the female cop (a DOJ data analyst in 1987 and a new FBI agent here) who’s trying to catch her. Furious stars Emmy Rossum, Lola Petticrew, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, and more. And then: Last weekend was the highest-grossing weekend in the history of the domestic box office. That weekend was led by Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which had the biggest domestic opening ever, and by The Odyssey, which is a three-hour adaptation of Homer that gets closer to $1 billion every day. Also this year, two small horror movies, Obsession and Backrooms, have made more than $390 million each. And the new Toy Story and the new Mario movie and the Michael Jackson biopic have all made $1 billion each. Which is to say: People are going back to the movies! Which is great! Mostly. Right? GUESTS:…

What can you say about the sun? It sits at the center of our solar system and has, over time, been at the center of religions, scriptures, songs, art, and countless other aspects of our culture. We’ve relied on its light, heat, and gravity for as long as we’ve been around, and we continue to find ways to harness its energy for our daily needs. This hour, we look at the place our sun holds kind of literally at the center of all of human history and ask what the future holds for our nearest star. GUESTS: Christina Agapakis: Creative director at Ginko Bioworks Sarbani Basu: William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Astronomy at Yale University John Grim: Senior lecturer and research scholar teaching in the joint MA program in religion and ecology at Yale University School of the Environment and Yale Divinity School John Perlin: Physicist at UCLA Santa Barbara and the author of Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,…

What does it mean for a work to be incomplete? This hour, we look at a wide span of unfinished projects, from posthumous novels to highways to nowhere. Guests: Alex Belth is the editor of Esquire Classic and author of the substack “Dig This with Alex Belth” Jacob Proctor is the Gilbert and Ann Kinney New York Collector at the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art and the curator of “Best Laid Plans: Unrealized Projects from the Archives of American Art” Ian Coss is the host of “The Big Dig” podcast from GBH News Music featured (in order): Our Prayer – The Beach Boys Unfinished House – Cautious Clay I Want You (She’s So Heavy) – The Beatles Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell The End Has No End – The Strokes Tea for Two – Tea for Two (1950) OST Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Anthony Fauci recently invoked the Fifth Amendment in a Senate Hearing. This hour: we take a look at our Constitution's Fifth Amendment to learn why it exists and what it means for all of us. GUESTS: Akhil Reed Amar: Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University. His latest book is: Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920, which was a winner of the annual Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Prize James Duane: Teaches at Regent Law School. He is the author of You Have the Right to Remain Innocent: What Police Officers Tell Their Children about the Fifth Amendment. His YouTube video “Don't Talk to the Police” has over 21 million views Clay Risen: Reporter and editor at The New York Times, and the author of Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America Music featured (in order): A Fifth of Beethoven – Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band Take the Fifth – Spoon When You Say Nothing At All – Alison Krauss Take the Fifth Amendment – Joe Tex Lawyers, Guns and…

We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to Todd Blanche, Open AI’s Hugging Face hack, the Iran war, hopium, Connecticut’s highways at night, POSSLQs … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Music featured (in order): ÉPiPHANiE – DOMi & JD BECK Do You Want This – Cosmo’s Midnight, Vancouver Sleep Clinic Anything Could Happen – Laila! I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) – Meshell Ngegeocello, Cynthia Erivo Fire on the Water – Bonobo, Arooj Aftab I’m Just An Old Chunk of Coal – Paul Carrack The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom…

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the 38th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the 15th movie in the Multiverse Saga and the second movie in the MCU’s Phase Six. I didn’t really follow most of that, but this next bit will be a little clearer, I think: Brand New Day is the 11th theatrically-released feature-length Spider-Man movie, and it’s the eighth movie to feature Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. In any case, between this and The Odyssey, people are going back to the movies. So that’s good. And: A new study has found that people were speaking about 28% fewer words per day in 2019 than they were in 2005. And that was before COVID! So what are we losing if we aren’t using our speaking voices as much anymore? GUESTS: Sam Hadelman: Director of public relations at Dark Matter Media Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Fantasy Filmball podcast Carolyn Paine: An actress and comedian; she’s the founder and director of CONNetic Dance and the creative producer and choreographer…

Typos and misprints are as old as writing and printing. This hour, we take a look at them from the "Wicked Bible" to National Park signs and your email inbox. And: the changing status of human typos in the age of AI. GUESTS: Rachel Churner: Art critic, editor, and professor. She is a co-curator with Geoff Kaplan of the exhibit “Beauties of My Style: Errata and the Printed Mistake” at Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library. She is the co-founder of no place press and currently serves as the director of the Carolee Schneemann Foundation Jeff Deck: Writer, writing coach and co-author with Benjamin D. Herson of The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time Katie Notopoulos: Senior correspondent at Business Insider who writes about technology, business, and culture Music featured (in order): The Typewriter – Leroy Anderson and “His” Orchestra Typos – The Incredible Casuals Oops!... I Did It Again – Britney Spears Apostrophe – The Doubleclicks S-E-X-X-Y – They Might Be Giants To Make a…

Homer’s Odyssey, a 12,000-line, nearly 3,000-year-old epic poem, is one of the foundational texts of Western literature. (It’s also one of the oldest surviving sequels!) It has inspired a list of movies as varied as Stanley Kubrick‘s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. But there haven’t been very many straight screen adaptations of its full story. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is just the second full-length feature film adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey ever made. It is 173 minutes long. It reportedly cost $250 million to make. And it is currently the No. 1 movie in the world, having grossed $666.7 million in just 12 days in theaters. This hour, rock star classicist and translator Emily Wilson joins us to talk Homer, Nolan, and everything in between. Plus: We impanel a full Nose to parse and dissect the movie as only the Nose can. GUESTS: James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer,…

How do you make a 100-meter telescope that folds down to three meters so you can tuck it inside a space vehicle? How do you make a heart stent that folds out inside the human body? In each case, researchers have turned to masters of origami, the thousand-year-old art of paper folding. This hour, a look at how paper folding went from a quaint, simple hobby to an extensive form of art that can achieve hundreds of intricate folds. Plus: the ways origami is used beyond the art world, in mathematics, science, and technology. GUESTS: Erik Demaine: Professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Robert J. Lang: The author of co-author of more than 20 books on origami art and design The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe…