The Colin McEnroe Show

On the morning of May 24, 2019, Jennifer Dulos dropped her kids off at New Canaan Country School. And then minutes later, she vanished. Her presumed murder quickly became a national story. This hour, Wall Street Journal columnist Rich Cohen joins us to talk about his new book, Murder in the Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story. Plus: a look at our ongoing obsession with these true crime stories. GUESTS: Rich Cohen: Writer at large at Air Mail and a columnist at The Wall Street Journal; his new book is Murder in the Dollhouse Bethany Usher: A journalist and academic and the author of Journalism and Crime Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever wish you could have a conversation with your pet, or the bird outside your window? This hour, we learn about how animals communicate with one another, how we communicate with them, and what this can teach us about human language. Plus, some pet owners are turning to soundboards to communicate with their pets. We'll talk with a researcher who's exploring how effective that is, and what that can teach us about the future of animal and human communications. GUESTS: Arik Kershenbaum: Professor of Zoology at University of Cambridge, and author of Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication Federico Rossano: Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California San Diego 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, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on February 13, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earlier this year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight. The end of the world has been something humans have been preoccupied with for a very long time. This hour, we talk about how we imagine the world ending, and what it 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 never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on February 4, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Squid Game, the routinization of protests, the elusive Jeffrey Epstein report, 9/11 and the movies Fight Club and Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Harvey, Keurig coffee makers, too much plastic everywhere … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. You can now watch our calls shows on Connecticut Public’s YouTube. Subscribe and get notified when we go live. Or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We think of dinosaurs as figures from science, from history, from the fossil record. But if I say “Tyrannosaurus rex,” do you picture bones arranged in a museum — or do you picture that one scene in Jurassic Park? The more you think about it, the more you realize that your whole real concept of dinosaurs comes from movies and TV and kids’ books and comic books. So this hour, with the latest Jurassic World at No. 1 at the box office, a look at dinosaurs in our popular culture. GUESTS: Paul Brinkman: An associate professor in the Department of History at North Carolina State University and the author of multiple books, including The Second Jurassic Dinosaur Rush: Museums and Paleontology in America at the Turn of the Twentieth Century Hannah McGregor: An academic and podcaster and the author of Clever Girl: Jurassic Park Megan Schuster: A senior editor at The Ringer, where she hosts The Ringer F1 Show Tom Whyman: An academic philosopher, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Liverpool, and the author of Infinitely Full of Hope: Fatherhood and the Future in an Age of Crisis and Disaster Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, author and film critic Alissa Wilkinson joins us to talk about Joan Didion, Hollywood, and how we make sense of our politics. GUEST: Alissa Wilkinson: Movie critic at The New York Times. Her latest book is We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lately the ancient philosophy of Stoicism is having a bit of a resurgence. This hour we learn about the philosophy, why people are drawn to it, and how to live like a Stoic. Plus, we look at how Stoicism appears in music. GUESTS: Massimo Pigliucci: The K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. He is the author of books including Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers, How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life, and Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk. He also writes the Substack “Figs in Winter: Stoicism and Beyond.” Melinda Latour: Associate Professor of Musicology at Tufts University. She is author of The Voice of Virtue: Moral Song and the Practice of French Stoicism, 1574-1652. She is also editor of The Relentless Pursuit of Tone: Timbre in Popular Music. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’ve had some well-documented trouble with our neighborhood squirrels over the last few winters. It could be that most homeowners in the Northeast and beyond feel like they’ve had some sort of conflict with the local squirrels. But we maybe misunderstand squirrels. Their seemingly scattershot behaviors actually suggest a fascinating intelligence and intentionality. And while we see squirrels as a nemesis of birds and bird feeders, squirrels actually plant a lot of the trees birds live and nest in. At the same time, for some people, squirrels are nightmare fuel. And if you happen to suffer from that so-called sciurophobia, don’t read this next thing: It would seem that the normally essentially vegetarian California ground squirrel has recently developed carnivorous hunting skills at the expense of the local vole population. GUESTS: Nick Buckley: A freelance journalist and photographer Nancy Lawson: The author, most recently, of Wildscape: Trilling Chipmunks, Beckoning Blooms, Salty Butterflies, and other Sensory Wonders of Nature and the founder of The Humane Gardner Jennifer Smith: A behavioral ecologist and an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire, where she leads the Behavioral Ecology of Social Mammals Lab 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 aired February 12, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 aggressive grills on cars, wrong-way drivers on Connecticut highways, the composer Lili Boulanger, voting rights for permanent residents, the herbicide diquat in Connecticut, volunteering … Anything. Seemingly everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. You can now watch our calls shows on Connecticut Public’s YouTube. Subscribe and get notified when we go live. Or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe, Coco Cooley, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Isaac Moss, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ironheart is a new miniseries from Marvel Television. It is the 28th (not a typo) TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it concludes Phase Five of the MCU after six movies and eight series. Ironheart is set about six months after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which came out in 2022, but which is set in the spring of 2025 — which sets this show in our future, around the fall of 2025. It is the first Marvel product that The Nose has covered since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, more than two years ago. And: The New York Times has published its list of “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century” as selected by more than 500 influential figures in and around the film industry. And on July 2, the Times published a follow-up list of the top 500 movies of the century* as submitted by its readers. The Nose participated, and it has thoughts about the whole thing. *I feel like I have to mention here that the Times is calling these lists the best of the “21st century” and that movies were eligible if they were released in the U.S. on or after January 1, 2000. The 21st century started on January 1, 2001. I’m sorry to bring it up. I don’t make the rules or, ya know, decide how counting works. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan: Director of arts, culture, and entertainment for the city of Hartford Xandra Ellin: A podcast producer and she writes the How Can I Make This About Me Substack Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian and writer and host of the Fantasy Filmball podcast Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we take a look at the history and evolution of chapters, and discuss how they impact our reading experiences. GUESTS: Nicholas Dames: Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, where he studies the history and theory of the novel. His new book is The Chapter: A Segmented History from Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century. He is also co-editor in chief of Public Books Rebecca Makkai: Author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Finalist The Great Believers, among other books. Her latest book is I Have Some Questions For You. She is artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago 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, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on January 16, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. This week's topics include Trump's Policy Bill, video game soundtracks, mortality, the WNBA, and whether new cars look angry. You can now watch our calls shows on Connecticut Public’s YouTube. Subscribe and get notified when we go live. Or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, philosopher Agnes Callard joins us to talk about her latest book, Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life. GUEST: Agnes Callard: Associate Professor of Philosophy at The University of Chicago and author of Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 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, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on January 22, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Randy Newman has been nominated for 22 Academy Awards (he’s won twice), for 23 Grammy Awards (seven wins), and for three Primetime Emmy Awards (and he won all three). Bruce Springsteen has called him “our great master of American song and storytelling.” Jackson Browne says Randy Newman is “the foremost satirist of our times.” And the composer John Williams has called him “a kind of musical Will Rogers or Mark Twain.” Critic Robert Hilburn has published what may well be the definitive biography of Newman, A Few Words in Defense of Our Country. This hour, Hilburn joins us to talk Randy Newman. GUEST: Robert Hilburn: Author of A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman 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 and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired January 24, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you think of the Vikings, you probably picture a bearded man wearing a horned hat, pillaging on a Viking ship. But that's far from the whole story. This hour is all about the everyday lives of the Vikings with historian Eleanor Barraclough, from their homes and hair to their myths and music. GUEST: Eleanor Barraclough: Historian, writer, and broadcaster based at Bath Spa University; her new book is Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of The Viking Age 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, Isaac Moss, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on January 7, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour is all about the importance of rest, and how to rest well. Plus, we'll talk about the role of rest in religion, and look at the history of "the rest cure" in medicine. GUESTS: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang: Author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, and Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less—Here's How among other books Kristen Lucken: Program chair of religious studies, and lecturer in religion, sociology, and global studies at Brandeis University Alicia Puglionesi: Writer, historian, lecturer at Johns Hopkins, and author of In Whose Ruins: Power, Possession, and the Landscapes of American Empire, among other books 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, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, Isaac Moss, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on December 26, 2024. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour: the art of the epigraph. We talk with writers about how they pick the quotes that open their books, what epigraphs can do well, how the business of epigraphs works, and what epigraphs mean for readers. Plus, a look at how some movies use epigraphs. GUESTS: David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Tajja Isen: A contributing writer for The Walrus and the author of Some of My Best Friends Courtney Maum: The author of five books including Before and After the Book Deal and the memoir The Year of the Horses; she also writes the Before and After the Book Deal Substack 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired December 17, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 U.S. bombing Iran and Iran’s retaliation in Qatar, the Democratic primary in New York City, the possible decline of “you’re welcome,” a possible July 17 protest, the “great question” tic in interviews … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. You can now watch our calls shows on Connecticut Public’s YouTube. Subscribe and get notified when we go live. Or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, Megan Fitzgerald, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brian Wilson was a singer, songwriter, record producer, and a founding member of The Beach Boys. He’s thought of as one of the great geniuses of pop music, and he’s been called the poet laureate of summer. Wilson died June 11 at 82. On February 1, 2017, we went to Watkinson School in Hartford and put on a show, on stage in front of a live audience, on Brian Wilson’s music and legacy. We’ve never reaired that show. This hour, to celebrate and remember Wilson and his work, a brand new edit — from the original, full-length, 75-minute live show — of our hour on Brian Wilson. GUEST: Steve Metcalf: Founder and director of the Garmany concert series at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Jordan Quisno: A singer and actor Matt Sargent: A composer, guitarist, recording engineer, and assistant professor of music at Bard College Teri Schrader: Head of school at Watkinson School in Hartford, Connecticut 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, parts of which originally aired February 17, 2017, in a different form.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans have always been interested in the sky, and astrology has been used as a tool for people in power for a long time. During times of stress, interest in astrology increases. But why are we so interested in something that is not considered a science? This hour, a look at the history of astrology, its relationship with astronomy, and the reasons why people love it so much. GUESTS: Julie Beck: Senior editor at The Atlantic, where she wrote “The New Age of Astrology” Darin Hayton: Associate professor of the history of science at Haverford College and the author of The Crown and the Cosmos: Astrology and the Politics of Maximilian I Emily Levesque: Professor in the University of Washington’s Astronomy Department and the author of The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers 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. This episode was produced by Sara Gasparatto. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, Cat Pastor, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired April 21, 2022. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Okay, this show comes with a trigger warning. We talk about things people eat, and some of those things are not for the squeamish. This hour, a look at disgust — and, specifically, how our reflexive disgust response may get in the way of things we probably need to think about doing. During the next century, the human race probably needs to eat more insects. And we’ll almost definitely need to convert sewage water into drinking water. A lot of people are not going to want to do that. Around the world, there are people eating things like eggs cooked in the urine of virginal boys. One of our guests made cheese from bacteria taken from human toes, noses, and armpits. That may sicken you, but it won’t make you sick. GUESTS: Christina Agapakis: Microbiologist, writer, artist, founding editor of Method Quarterly, and creative director at Ginkgo Bioworks Bun Lai: James Beard Award-nominated chef Paul Rozin: Professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania 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, Jonathan McNicol, Chion Wolf, and Alan Yu contributed to this show, which originally aired January 7, 2016.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perfectionism is on the rise among young people. This hour, we look at the impact of perfectionism on mental health and how to deal with perfectionist tendencies. Plus: what the self-help industry can tell us about our interest in perfection. GUESTS: Thomas Curran: Assistant professor of psychological and behavioral science at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough Tamar Gendler: Professor of philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale University Kristen Meinzer: Co-host of the How to Be Fine and By the Book podcasts, among others, and author of How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired April 13, 2022. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pop music genius Brian Wilson, a founding member of The Beach Boys, died on June 11. The Nose says goodbye. And: Wes Anderson has written and directed 12 feature films. The Nose has covered at least four of them plus his set of Roald Dahl shorts. So this hour, a look at Wes Anderson’s latest, The Phoenician Scheme, in all its twee, symmetrical, pastel, typewriter- and hatbox*-filled glory. *I’d just like to point out that I wrote this sentence before I’d seen The Phoenician Scheme, in which a hatbox features prominently. And there’s evidence to support that claim. That said, there doesn’t appear to be a typewriter anywhere in the movie, which is kind of shocking. GUESTS: David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Ray Hardman: A WNPR legend Steve Metcalf: Founder and director of the Garmany concert series at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Fantasy Filmballpodcast Matt Sargent: A composer, guitarist, recording engineer, and assistant professor of music at Bard College Teri Schrader: Head of school at Watkinson School in Hartford, Connecticut Lindsay Lee Wallace: A writer and journalist covering culture, health, technology, bats, and anything else people will answer her questions about 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen live Thursday at 1 p.m. We’ve done a version of this show every single year since 2013. And we did it in 2011. We probably even did one in 2010. (We just can’t prove it.) So it’s a bit of a tradition. It’s a tradition that … makes some people angry, we realize. And that has a lot to do with how we define the term “song of the summer.” We use the Amanda Dobbins definition: Let’s be clear about how this works: There is no such thing as a “personal” song of summer. We do not anoint multiple songs of summer. There can only be one; the Song of Summer, by its very definition, is a consensus choice. It is the song that wrecks wedding dance floors. It is the song that you and your mother begrudgingly agree on (even though your mom has no idea what rhymes with “hug me” and won’t stop yelling it in public). It does not necessarily have to hit No. 1 on the charts, but it should probably be on the charts because it must be widely played. It must bring people together. It must be a shared enthusiasm. So it’s our job here to figure out what song from 2024 will get added to the long list of song of the summer classics like “Party Rock Anthem,” “Call Me Maybe,” “Despacito,” and “Blurred Lines.” And if we’re wrong, well, it really just won’t matter at all. GUESTS: Xandra Ellin: A producer at Pineapple Street Studios Frankie Graziano: Hosts The Wheelhouse on Connecticut Public Sam Hadelman: Director of public relations at Dark Matter Media Brendan Jay Sullivan: A writer, producer, and DJ best known for his work with Lady Gaga Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What would it mean if we treated rivers as alive? That's the question that nature writer Robert Macfarlane wrestles with in his new book. What would happen if we took that aliveness seriously? How would we know what a river would want? Who would speak for it? These are questions that communities around the world are dealing with as they work to figure out how to protect rivers and the ecosystems that rely on them. This hour, Macfarlane joins us to talk about his new book, Is a River Alive?, and the stories we tell about the natural world. GUEST: Robert Macfarlane: Writer whose books include Underland: A Deep Time Journey, The Lost Words: A Spell Book, and The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot. His new book is Is a River Alive? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we take stock of what it's like to read as an adult, and discuss why some Americans, including college students, are reading fewer books. We'll talk about how technology has impacted how we read. And we'll celebrate the practice of reading. GUESTS: Rose Horowitch: Assistant editor at The Atlantic Maryanne Wolf: Permanent member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of books including Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World Ben Winters: Novelist, television writer and producer, comic book writer, and creator of original audio content. His most recent novel is Big Time 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, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show, which originally aired on December 5, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the "dumbing down" of the arts, the way people pronounce "to," reading in the bathroom, the evolution of language, the Declaration of Independence, and more. 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/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dept. Q is a new Scottish detective mystery series on Netflix and created by Scott Frank and Chandi Lakhani based on the book series by Jussi Adler-Olsen. It stars Matthew Goode as DCI Carl Morck, a wounded and unpleasant, but fairly brilliant, detective. The supporting cast includes Chloe Pirrie, Jamie Sives, Mark Bonnar, and Kelly Macdonald. And: Pee-wee as Himself is a two-part HBO Original documentary directed by Matt Wolf. It is driven by more than 40 hours of interviews with Paul Reubens, the man behind Pee-wee, himself. GUESTS: David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Rich Hollant: The founder and principal of CO:LAB, a Hall-of-Fame designer, and a co-partner at CENTER Jacques Lamarre: A playwright and chief communications officer at Buzz Engine Carolyn Paine: An actress and comedian, founder and director of CONNetic Dance, and the creative producer and choreographer for The Bushnell’s Digital Institute Irene Papoulis: Wrote a short textbook called The Essays Only You Can Write Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever broken your phone or computer by dropping it in water or spilling a drink on it? This hour, we discuss the relationship between the ever-present technologies in our lives and the liquids that surround us. We'll learn about how waterproofing works, and what all of this can tell us about consumer responsibility and the role of technology in our world. Plus, a look at raincoats and weather-proof paper. GUESTS: Rachel Plotnick: Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in The Media School at Indiana University Bloomington. Her new book is License to Spill: Where Dry Devices Meet Liquid Lives Zoe Vanderweide: Senior Staff Writer covering style, apparel and accessories at Wirecutter, and co-author of the piece “The Best Men’s and Women’s Rain Jackets and Rain Coats" Sean Leacy: Network and System Administrator for Rite in the Rain Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For many of us, handbags are an essential part of our lives. They allow us to leave the house with everything we need, and they also can be another place to show off our status or style. This hour, we look at the evolution of the handbag. We'll talk about famous "It Bags", how handbags contributed to human development, and the impact of the Walmart "Birkin." GUESTS: Nancy MacDonell: Fashion journalist and fashion historian. She writes the Wall Street Journal column "Fashion with a Past.” Her new book is Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion Hannah Carlson: Senior Lecturer in the Apparel Department at the Rhode Island School of Design. She’s also the author of Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close Audrey Wollen: Book critic and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, The New York Review of Books and other outlets. Her article “A Unified Theory of the Handbag” recently appeared in The Yale Review Aarushi Bhandari: An Assistant Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. Her forthcoming book is Attention and Alienation Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Touch, grip, read, dance, gesture — what can’t they do? Our fingers are so vital to our everyday life, sometimes it seems they have minds of their own. This hour, a look at the hidden language of finger gestures, the future of Braille, and the joys and challenges of animating fingers for the movies. GUESTS: Kensy Cooperrider: Cognitive scientist, writer, and host of the Many Minds podcast Jonathan McNicol: Producer of The Colin McEnroe Show Sile O’Modhrain: Professor at the University of Michigan studying sound and touch and the ways in which they interact Carlos Fernandez Puertolas: Animator with DreamWorks 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, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired May 31, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 our tribute to Jill Sobule, spotted lanternflies, The Monkees, the provision in the tax bill that would weaken the courts, cardboard boxes, sea chanteys … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. You can now watch our calls shows on Connecticut Public’s YouTube. Subscribe and get notified when we go live. Or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Megan Fitzgerald, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Note: This episode contains strong language. Griffin Dunne is Jack Goodman in John Landis’ classic horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London and Paul Hackett in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours and Loudon Trout in the Madonna-starring screwball comedy Who’s That Girl. He’s Uncle Nicky on This Is Us and Professor Dudenoff on Only Murders in the Building and Dr. Alon Parfit on Succession and Sylvére on I Love Dick. He produced After Hours and Running on Empty and Once Around. He directed Practical Magic and Addicted to Love and the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. His father was the journalist and novelist and movie producer Dominick Dunne. His aunt and uncle were the journalists and novelists and screenwriters Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. His sister was the actress Dominique Dunne. His grandfather was a famous heart surgeon from West Hartford, Connecticut. In November, 2024, we recorded a conversation with Griffin Dunne on stage at The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford. It’s a lot about that complicated, sometimes tragic, often hilarious family. And it’s about movies and TV and writing. And Hartford. This hour: Griffin Dunne. GUEST: Griffin Dunne: An actor, producer, and director and the author of The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir 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 and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired November 15, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are thought to be about 17 million living flies for every human alive on Earth. They’re predators and parasites and pests, but they’re pollinators too. They help us solve crimes, heal wounds, and understand genetics and evolution. And they literally help at least one artist paint his paintings. Also this hour: A look at David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of, you guessed it: The Fly. GUESTS: Jonathan Balcombe: Author of Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World’s Most Successful Insects John Knuth: An artist Gale Ridge: Associate scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Jacob Trussell: Author of The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Twilight Zone; he published the piece “Only Jeff Goldblum Could Make Us Fall in Love with ‘The Fly’” at Film School Rejects 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 and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired August 19, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What counts as a robot? This hour, a look at what robots are and the latest in robot technology. Plus, how robots were used and thought about in medieval times and Ancient Greece and the role of robots in science fiction. GUESTS: Chris Atkeson: Professor at the Robotics Institute and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University Adrienne Mayor: Author of Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines and Ancient Dreams of Technology, among other books Elly Truitt: Author of Medieval Robots: Mechanism, Magic, Nature, and Art Daniel H. Wilson: Author of Robopocalypse and How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion, among other books 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired July 12, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over 500 years ago, Sir Thomas More wrote about utopia. Since then, countless communities around the world have worked to create their own versions of a perfect world. This hour, we look at examples of utopian communities from around the world. GUESTS: Avery Trufelman: Host of the podcast Nice Try! Akash Kapur: Author of Better to Have Gone: Love, Death, and the Quest for Utopia in Auroville Samir Patel: Former editor-in-chief of Atlas Obscura Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired August 18, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump has instructed his administration to work toward rebuilding and reopening the notorious maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. But why? One theory has it that it’s because the Clint Eastwood movie Escape from Alcatraz aired on South Florida’s PBS station, Mar-a-Lago’s PBS station, on the day the president announced the plan. As ridiculous as that is or would be, it kind of illustrates a larger point: When Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed in March, 1963, there were already more than a dozen movies about the prison. In the more than 60 years since it closed, Hollywood has made more than a dozen more. Alcatraz, for pretty much its entire history, has held an outsized place in the American imagination and culture. This hour: the past, present, and future (?) of Alcatraz. GUESTS: Shawna Chen: A reporter with Axios San Francisco Jeff Himmelman: Author of Yours in Truth: A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee, Legendary Editor of The Washington Post; he is currently working on a book about Alcatraz Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the status of expertise in our world? This hour we look at the so called "death of expertise." We talk about the role of experts throughout society. Plus, we learn how to master a skill, and the joy of trying. GUESTS: Tom Nichols: Staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters. He is also a professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, and a five-time undefeated Jeopardy champion Alan Dove: Science journalist and co-host of the podcast This Week in Virology Adam Gopnik: Staff writer for The New Yorker. He is the author of The Real Work: On The Mystery of Mastery, among other books Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Tolkien’s potential Lord of the Rings sequel, planned Flag Day protests, parasocial relationships, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, former Vice President Kamala Devi Harris, Annie Lennox* … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. *Annie Lennox, who doesn't have a middle name, which screws up my series there, is an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), but she's not a Dame Grand Cross or Dame Commander, so she can't use the title Dame. Which also screws up my series there. And I admit that I had to look up Kamala Harris's middle name. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s something almost romantic about airships. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feels both nostalgic and futuristic. In the early 20th century, airships were on the leading edge of aviation; today, they mostly live on in the domain of steampunk art and speculative fiction. But a number of companies are betting they can bring airships out of the history books and into modern real-world applications like cargo transport and military uses. This hour, the past and future of airships, both real and imagined. GUESTS: Nick Allman: Chief operating officer of Hybrid Air Vehicles Jeanne Marie Laskas: A journalist and the author of eight books; in 2016 she published “Helium Dreams” in The New Yorker Ken Liu: A futurist and author of speculative fiction, including The Dandelion Dynasty, an epic fantasy series featuring airships 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. 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. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired November 1, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may have heard that tick borne diseases are on the rise. But don’t worry — we’ve got you covered. This hour, we’re taking you through three ways to defeat ticks. From tick-immune blood, to a tick-destroying robot and tried-and-true tweezers, this show is not for arachnids who are faint of heart. GUESTS: Rick Ostfeld: Distinguished senior scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Holly Gaff: Professor of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University Jen Wegner: Associate curator of the Egyptian section at the Penn Museum Birnur Aral: Executive Director of the Beauty, Health and Sustainability Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show, which originally aired on August 31, 2023. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Writer and critic Spencer Kornhaber just published a similarly-titled piece in The Atlantic: “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?” According to Betteridge’s law of headlines, the answer to both versions of that question is just, plain, “No.” And maybe it is. Maybe even probably it is. But maybe it’s more complicated than that, too. This hour, we wonder just how bad things actually have gotten with our popular culture. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan: Director of arts, culture, and entertainment for the city of Hartford Xandra Ellin: A producer at Pineapple Street Studios Spencer Kornhaber: A staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of On Divas: Persona, Pleasure, Power Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University 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 and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.