The Colin McEnroe Show

Most of the characteristics we associate with hotels - the welcoming yet alienating effect they have on our psyches - we absorbed from the artists, musicians, and filmmakers who have long been fascinated with the relationship between our physical travels and our spiritual journeys. Hotels like Mariott and Hilton are jumping into the microhotel market that up to now, has been dominated ro by small operators like Arlo,  YOTEL, and Pod, for the past decade. But millennial demand for more communal spaces, smaller rooms, and lower cost is forcing the big chains to freshen up their brand and drop their costs.    Today, a look at hotels.  GUESTS:  Hannah Sampson is a staff writer at The Washington Post where she reports on travel news.  Suzanne Joinson is British author and a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Chichester in West Sussex, England. She’s the author of A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar and The Photographer’s Wife. She is a contributor to The New York Times.  Leo Mazow is the Cochrane curator of American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the author of Edward Hopper and the American Hotel Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The recent Senate trial for President Trump's impeachment riveted the nation, but little consensus could be reached about the facts of the case or the outcome. Additionally, many in Congress knew how they would vote before the trial began.  The strong convictions that every member of the Senate brought to the trial - minus Senator Mitt Romney - didn't waver after the facts were presented.  You've probably noticed that we’re living in a know-it-all society. We tend to think we’re always right (meaning everyone else is wrong) at the expense of everyone else’s opinions. Is this part of the reason we’re not getting along so well as a society? Also this hour: one man’s quest to be the smartest man in the world. GUESTS: Michael Lynch - Professor of Philosophy and director of the Humanities Institute at UConn and director of the New England Humanities Consortium. He’s the author of several books, most recently, Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture A.J. Jacobs - Contributor to Esquire magazine and The New York Times. He’s the author of four NYT bestsellers, including The Know-It-All: One Man’s humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bernie Sanders won a decisive victory in last week's Nevada caucuses after effectively tying with Pete Buttigieg in the less diverse states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Is he the candidate that can beat President Trump? Or the one who will lead the Democratic Party down the road to ruin? It depends on who you talk to.  Also this hour: More than 70,000 people have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, a novel form of coronavirus, since the first cases were confirmed in Wuhan, China, at the end of December. Significant outbreaks in multiple countries in the recent days have led health officials to worry that the virus is on the brink of becoming a pandemic. Lastly, the brazen sign stealing scandal that tainted the Houston Astros' World Series win in 2017, and near-win in 2019, is part of a bigger pattern of cheating in sports that is a symptom of something we see throughout our culture: crime pays. The lack of accountability in sports and culture has led to brazen cheating at the expense of fair play and a collective moral compass.  GUESTS: Edward-Isaac Dovere - Staff writer at The Atlantic and host of The Ticket podcast Lena Sun - National health reporter for The Washington Post Michael Baumann - Covers sports, culture, and politics for The Ringer and hosts The Ringer MLB Show Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. This hour: a night of singing, reflecting, and celebrating recorded in front of a live audience on January 29, 2020, as part of Colin's Freshly Squeezed series at Watkinson School. GUESTS: Jim Chapdelaine - Guitar and vocals Latanya Farrell - Vocals and tambourine Steve Metcalf - Piano and vocals Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been over 40 years since former President Richard Nixon resigned the presidency over Watergate. But, the story of Watergate is almost impossible to tell. It's too big and too murky. It's full of files that were burned and a tape that was erased. It's full of characters named McCord and Magruder and Mitchell, who are hard to keep track of. With each passing year, it becomes more of an inert thing and less of a breathing, wriggling, writhing creature.  And yet, Watergate survives in what we call Memes, ideas that stay alive and spread. Take something like, "It's not the crime, it's the cover-up."  That one originated with Watergate, but it has been slapped on everybody from Martha Stewart to Chris Christie.    Today, over 40 years from the date of Richard Nixon's resignation, we'll talk about all the ways the story stayed alive in our collective memory and all the ways it died.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nyctophiliacs rejoice! The color you know and love (black) is now blacker than ever before.  And nevermind that black is not technically a color. The point is that as you were traipsing through graveyards and reveling under the night sky, scientists were busy inventing two new shades which are so dark they'd make Wednesday Adams reach for a flashlight. But while Vanta black and Black 3.2 are undoubtedly achievements to be celebrated, they did not come without controversy. Indeed, the feud over who could use the blackest substance on Earth soon had the tempers of some artists running red hot. Can a color even be owned? As it turns out, yes! On Today's show we speak with a historian of the color black as well as the creator of one of these remarkable new shades. We'll also speak with a scientist on the other end of the color-creating spectrum about a brand new ultra-white that'll soon be brightening our lives in strange new ways.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On December 13, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend two articles of impeachment against President Trump, and the full House of Representatives adopted them on December 18. On February 5, 2020, the Senate acquitted the president on both articles. Going by those dates, the full, official impeachment saga lasted 54 days. Our side-project, Saturday-show chronicling of the impeachment, Pardon Me (Another Damn Impeachment Show?), launched on December 6, 2019. 11 episodes and 12 hours of radio later, Pardon Me has come to its close. This hour, in lieu of a proper Colin McEnroe Show, and continuing the Presidents' Day weekend festivities, we present the final installment of Pardon Me. GUESTS: Frankie Graziano - Reporter at Connecticut Public Radio David Plotz - CEO of Atlas Obscura, co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest Jay Rosen - Media critic and professor of journalism at NYU Philip Rucker - White House Bureau Chief at The Washington Post, co-author of A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America Chion Wolf - Host, photographer, and announcer at Connecticut Public Radio Thanks to Catie Talarski and Tim Rasmussen. Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Outsider is a planned 10-episode HBO miniseries based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. It airs on Sundays nights, and we're six episodes in so far. The premise is actually pretty simple: What if a guy actually were in two places at once? Then what? The ramifications of that, though, are about as complicated as you'd expect from Stephen King. And: a look at the Gayle King/Snoop Dogg controversy, our latest edition of Carolyn Paine Explains a New Dating Term, and Netflix finally changes that one thing you've always hated... unless you didn't hate it. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Let's break down Eminem's Oscars performance, frame by frame These zoos will name a cockroach after your ex and feed it to an animal on Valentine's Day Will Disney's Theatrical Release of 'Hamilton' Be Censored? The broom challenge may be sweeping the nation, but it's not actually as cool as you think Trump tweets 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' clip that actually mocks his supporters Here's the 'Back to the Future' Cybertruck mashup you never knew you needed Well, 'The Hunt' Is Finally Going to See the Light of Day We Asked a Hedgehog Dentist to Explain Why Sonic's Human Teeth Are So Upsetting Extremely metal scientists name new species of tyrannosaur the "reaper of death" The world just learned of the Astros' cheating. Inside baseball, it was an open secret. Why C-SPAN's quirky call-in show has endured for 40 years Stop Giving Westminster Best in Show to the Dog With the Silliest Haircut You should watch everything with subtitles on Built on Selfies, Museum of Ice Cream Has New Mantra: No Phones GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan - Producing associate at TheaterWorks Carolyn Paine- An actress, comedian, and dancer; founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Irene Papoulis - Teaches writing at Trinity College 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.

What is real is no longer a question for philosophers alone. In today's world, it's a question we all contend with on a daily basis. Online, on television, in print and in public discourse, facts, feelings, and flat-out lies all share the same stage. So how are we to tell the difference? Experts in technology, media, education, science, and politics are debating this very question. And while possible solutions are in the works, the truth may be that we as people simply prefer a lie that feels good over a truth that doesn't. Is the real problem our own human nature? This hour we discuss not only the present and future of fake news, but its history as well. Turns out that efforts to undermine the truth are nearly as old as truth itself.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Democratic primary season is just getting started. How have the results from the New Hampshire primary affected how you might vote?  Bernie had a good night, Biden and Warren had bad nights, and Buttigieg, Klobuchar, and Bloomberg are vying to win the middle. Are you all in for Bernie? What if he doesn't get the nomination? Will you back someone else, sit out the race, or something else, like, er, start your own party? Is it over for Biden and Warren?    Will the party split between Bernie and Buttigieg? What about Bloomberg?  Are you one of the Yang Gang? If so, who's going to get your vote? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.