

The Colin McEnroe Show
Connecticut Public Radio
The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 16, 2025 • 42min
A look at the women buried in the footnotes of scientific discovery
 Women scientists and inventors have been making ground-breaking discoveries since Agnodice pretended to be a man in order to become the first female anatomist in ancient Greece. Yet, women's scientific contributions have historically been hidden in the footnotes of the work men claimed as their own. Women scientists are banding together to call out bias and give credit where it’s due— one Wikipedia page at a time. This hour, we talk to four of them. GUESTS:  Ainissa Ramirez: Author, scientist, and science communicator. She gave a TED talk on the importance of STEM education and was a mechanical engineering professor at Yale for ten years. She is the author of The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another Kathryn Clancy: Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois Emily Temple-Wood - Family medicine resident and founder of WikiProject Women Scientists Jessica Wade: Royal Society University Research Fellow and Lecturer in Functional Materials at Imperial College London  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! Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today by visiting ctpublic.org/donate. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to the show, which originally aired April 9, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 15, 2025 • 42min
Rope has been knotting humanity together for centuries
 Rope has been foundational to so much of human civilization. It's made sailing, hunting, building, and so much more, possible. This hour, we look at the history and utility and future of rope. GUESTS:  Tim Queeney: Author of Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization, among other books Manuel Medrano: A PhD candidate in Harvard’s History Department, who studies quipus Tahira Reid Smith: Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Design and the Director of the REID Lab at Penn State. She is also the patented inventor of the Automatic Double Dutch Machine, and the founder of Jump Dreams, Inc.  MUSIC FEATURED (in order):  Flamingo – Kero Kero Bonito The Last Shanty – Derina Harvey Band Rope – Foo Fighters Tightrope – Janelle Monae Rope A Dope – Victor Oladipo, 2 Chainz Double Dutch – Charity Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 14, 2025 • 41min
Today: Did episode on notebooks & diaries, bought kiwi fruit, had teeth cleaning
 This hour is all about notebooks. We'll talk about the history and evolution of notebooks, favorite examples, and celebrate the joy of writing things down. Plus, a look at the Notes App. GUESTS:    Roland Allen: Book publisher and author of The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper   Charley Locke: Journalist, and contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, who wrote “Keep Your Notes App Under Lock and Key” for The Atlantic   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! Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today by visiting ctpublic.org/donate. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on October 10, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 13, 2025 • 41min
Chion Wolf takes your calls (again)!
 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 — with our old friend Chion Wolf at the helm this time! — winds around to family shorthand, tech bros, bunkers, bodies, adventures… 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):  La Puerta - Roy Hargrove Big Band You Only Get What You Give - New Radicals Go Gina - SZA Don’t Break Down On Me - Sarah Jarosz Bless the Telephone - Labi Siffre The Telephone Call - Kraftwerk Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 10, 2025 • 42min
From chorus lines to emus: A look at the stage musical
 This year is the 50th anniversary of A Chorus Line and Chicago and the 10th anniversary of Hamilton. Meanwhile, new Broadway shows are struggling to make their money back. This hour, we take stock of stage musicals today, learn how they’re developed, and ask about their status in our culture. GUESTS:  Alexander Gemignani: Actor, music director, orchestrator, conductor, composer/lyricist, educator, and artistic director of The National Music Theater Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Elysa Gardner: Theater critic for The New York Sun and a contributor to The New York Times. She is also author of Magic To Do: Pippin's Fantastic, Fraught Journey to Broadway and Beyond Paul Hodge: Award-winning writer-composer from Brisbane, Australia. His work has been produced Off-Broadway, in London, Edinburgh and Australia, including at the Sydney Opera House. His new musical, The Great Emu War, is currently at the Goodspeed Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 9, 2025 • 50min
A look at the next pandemic with Michael T. Osterholm
 COVID has caused more than 7 million confirmed deaths (and estimates of the actual total go well past 20 million). Here’s the even worse news: It wasn’t the truly devastating pandemic epidemiologists have feared for decades. But here’s the good news: We learned every possible lesson from COVID, and now we’re utterly prepared for the next big pandemic that’s inevitably barreling towards us. No. Wait. Maybe I’ve gotten that last bit wrong. This hour, Michael Osterholm, founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, joins us to talk about the dreaded potential “big one” and what we need to do to be ready. GUEST:  Michael T. Osterholm: Founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and the co-author of The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics  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. 

Oct 8, 2025 • 41min
Words, words, words: A look at style guides and Britishisms in American English
 This hour, a look at words and usage and grammar and language and all that fun stuff. Have you noticed how we Americans have become “so bloody keen on Britishisms?” Ben Yagoda joins us to talk about his book, Gobsmacked! The British Invasion of American English. Plus, there’s been an update to The Chicago Manual of Style. We take a look at the CMOS, in particular, and bang on (there it is again!) about dreaded style guides, in general. GUESTS:   Scott Huler: The author of seven non-fiction books; his most recent is A Delicious Country: Rediscovering the Carolinas along the Route of John Lawson’s 1700 Expedition   Ben Yagoda: The author, coauthor, or editor of 14 books and the host of the podcast The Lives They’re Living   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. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today by visiting ctpublic.org/donate. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on October 8, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 7, 2025 • 49min
A tribute to cereal: Kid tested, mother approved
 We once did a show about beer jingles, which is a great example of how a product becomes a culture. Cereal as a culture, is off the charts. There’s the box, there’s the prize, there’s the character, there’s the jingles, there’s the commercials. Most of us can probably sing some jingles and discuss favorite cereal personae from our childhoods, which makes it kind of weird when marketing experts tell us that cereal consumption is in decline. Who are we without cereal. It has been a staple of the American breakfast since Dr. John Kellogg first tried to purify the traditional American breakfast of veal, oysters, and wild pigeon with his first flakes. This hour, we talk about cereal, we eat cereal, and we try to rekindle our love of cereal. GUESTS:  Eddy Chavey: Founder and president of MrBreakfast.com Topher Ellis: Cereal historian, co-author of The Great American Cereal Book: How Cereal Got Its Crunch, and editor of Boxtops Linda Giuca: Freelance writer and former food columnist for The Hartford Courantand co-owner of Alforno restaurant in Old Saybrook, Connecticut Deena Shanker: Former food and consumer goods reporter for Quartz Michael Smulders: The late owner of Bakery on Main in East 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. Lydia Brown, Tucker Ives, Betsy Kaplan, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired January 28, 2016.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 6, 2025 • 49min
All calls: Be who you want to be. Not who the midges want you to
 We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls, calls about anything, everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. This hour, the conversation winds around to Bad Bunny, the Supreme Court, recycling, midges, nominative determinism, speed cameras, the government shutdown … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. MUSIC FEATURED (in order):  Notion – The Rare Occasions Mr. Eclectic – Laufey Itsumo – Mei Semones Anything But Now – Cecile McLorin Salvant J'ai Rencontré L'homme De Ma Vie – Emilie-Claire Barlow Little Claws – Genevieve Ardati, Real Bad Man Leaves That Are Green – Pete Philly Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Oct 3, 2025 • 49min
The Nose looks at ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘The Lowdown’
 One Battle After Another is the 11th feature film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is written and produced by Anderson and inspired by the novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, and more. It is the widest release, the widest opening, and the highest-grossing opening of Anderson’s career. One Battle After Another is currently the No. 1 movie in the world. And: The Lowdown is the second television series created by Sterlin Harjo. It is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the same fictional universe as the first Harjo-created TV series, Reservation Dogs. It stars Ethan Hawke and Keith David. GUESTS:  James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College Rich Hollant: Founder and principal of CO:LAB, a hall of fame designer, and a co-partner at CENTER Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Fantasy Filmball podcast Irene Papoulis: Wrote a short textbook called The Essays Only You Can Write Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 


