The Colin McEnroe Show

Women in America die more frequently from complications of childbirth than in any other industrialized nation in the world. In addition, women of color are three to four times more likely to die than white women. And over the last 25 years that the maternal mortality was rising in America, other countries were decreasing their rate.  There are lots of reasons why maternal mortality and morbidity is rising, including  lack of access, the high rate of caesarian sections, racial bias, bias against women's health issues, and a medical model that medicalizes a normal process.   While no one action can explain why maternal mortality rates are lower in European countries, we do know that they utilize one resource that we don't: midwives and doulas. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

House Democrats are moving closer to initiating impeachment proceedings against President Trump after he confirmed that he discussed 2020 presidential candidate and political rival Joe Biden, with the Ukrainian president. The possibility that the president may have subjugated the national interest for personal political gain is a "new chapter of lawlessness," according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Is this the tipping point for impeachment? What are the implications of seeking to impeach -- or not?  Also this hour: Have you ever noticed that President Trump has a habit of quietly stating his alleged offenses out loud?  Beulah, a 54-year-old Asian elephant that belonged to Connecticut-based R.W. Commerford & Sons Zoo, died at the Big E last week, sparking outrage from animal rights activists who have been trying to have elephants removed from traveling zoos for years. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Merriam-Webster has added 533 new words to its dictionary. Words like "deep state," "pickleball," "escape room," and "Bechdel test." My favorite is probably "fatberg." But there's a particular new dictionary entry that The Nose is specifically interested in: "dad joke." Also this week: The Nose tackles what we're pretty sure is its first certifiable bomb ever. The new movie adaptation of The Goldfinch opened last weekend on more than 2,500 screens at #8 at the domestic box office. It took in a little over $2.6 million. It is the sixth-worst opening for a release that wide in the history of movies. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: SNL Fires New Cast Member Shane Gillis James Corden Has No Time for Bill Maher's Fat Shaming Piers Morgan Supports Bill Maher's Call For Fat-shaming To Make A Comeback Sean Spicer Appearing on Dancing With the Stars Is a Sign of the End Times They're Coming! Area 51 Joke Spawns Dueling Alien-Themed PartiesThe organizers of one alien-themed party went their separate ways this week, leading to accusations of secrecy and poor planning. The US Navy just confirmed these UFO videos are the real deal I Was Caroline CallowaySeven years after I met the infamous Instagram star, I'm ready to tell my side of the story. Ric Ocasek's Eternal Cool Was Ric Ocasek Actually 75?Some sources said the Cars frontman, who died Sunday, was 70. Here's how The Times figured out the right age. NBCUniversal Announces 'Peacock' As The Name Of Its Streaming Service And Unveils Initial Content Lineup Someone Just Discovered John Milton's Copy of Shakespeare, Which Is Absolutely Bananas After 350 Years, Scholars Have Found Another Hidden Message in Milton's 'Paradise Lost' Whitney Houston Hologram Tour Announces First Dates Amber Heard Defends Herself Against Backlash After Posting Risque Photo on Instagram Friends Is a Gen X Show. Why Don't We Ever Call It That? Inconceivable! Rumour of The Princess Bride remake sends fans into pit of despair Cruel Food Brands Mangle Books For Meme Challenge. Readers Aren't Having It.Books are doused with milk and gummed up with Gushers. Publishers, readers, bookstores and libraries resist. 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 and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Though country music is considered the most popular genre of music in America, its influence is profoundly regional. The style is known for appealing to the white working class, and is largely sequestered in southern and midwestern pockets of the country. Meanwhile, coastal elites tend to regard the genre with disdain. "I like everything but country" is a popular refrain. This hour, we unpack one of the country's most polarizing genres.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if you just don't really enjoy food very much? What if you're totally fine eating the same thing every single day? What if you think food is an inefficient way to get what you need to survive? What if, rather than eating "food," you just mixed a white powder (that is definitely not made of people because it's made of soy protein isolate instead) with water and drank that in food's place? This hour: a look at what you might call the non-foodie movement and the "powdered food" meal replacement product that is Soylent.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ocean Vuong emigrated to Hartford from Vietnam when he was two years old. His family brought with them the trauma of an American-led war that ravaged their people and their culture. How do they retain their culture and assimilate into one that doesn't want them? His family struggled in a Hartford very different from the city that many of us experience. It's a place that still exists in the shadows. Ocean’s family is a snapshot into a bigger and more pervasive picture of the problems in America that many choose to hide -- the toll of low-wage work, poverty, drugs, violence, and the erasure of histories and ways of living life that don't fit neatly into the American myth. Ocean's first novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, is an American story, albeit one about the failure of America. This is an excerpt. GUEST: Ocean Vuong - A poet and the author of the novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired July 17, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fear of sharks spiked last summer after a great white fatally bit a 26-year-old surfer off the coast of Cape Cod. The fever still runs high as reports of great white sightings coincide with people heading to the beach. Yet, we have a higher risk of getting hit by lightning than killed by a great white shark. The myth of the great white, exacerbated by the 1975 megahit Jaws, is false. Great whites are not the aggressive creatures still perpetuated in popular media. We're more likely to survive a shark bite simply because sharks don't like the way we taste. They spit us out if they accidentally mistake us for a seal.   The convergence of globally warming waters off our east coast and the repopulation of seals and great whites after a previous panic nearly wiped them out, means we'll have to learn to share the ocean.  Instead of pursuing shark repellents like sonar buoys, electric shark shields, and seal contraception, should we consider how we can co-exist with the creatures of the sea? Besides, whose ocean is it anyway?  The fish were there first. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Belushi, John Candy, Rick Moranis. Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Beverly Hills Cop, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, ¡Three Amigos!, Funny Farm, Spaceballs, Stripes. We maybe didn't properly appreciate it at the time, but the 1980s were one of the most fertile periods ever for screen comedies and screen comedians. This hour, a look at the mavericks who shaped a whole comedy aesthetic and at some of the most popular movie comedies ever made.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A photo of people inching their way up a snaking line to the peak of Mount Everest last month has drawn attention to a number of problems, one of which was the jostling at the top of the mountain to take social media-ready selfies and photos. That got us wondering if other people were risking their lives for that perfect photo. It turns out that more than 250 people worldwide have died while taking selfies in just over the last decade, according to a study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. Drowning, transport, and falls are the top reasons for death. Today, we talk about how a social media-driven visual culture is shaping how we work, play, and experience life. Are we willing to die for that perfect photo? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're shopping for groceries. Out of the blue your heart starts to race, your knees feel week, you feel like you can't breathe, like you might be having a heart attack. You wonder if you're losing your mind -- but you're not. You're having a panic attack.  About 1 in 4 people have had at least one panic attack during their lives, yet few like to admit it. Because panic manifests through physical symptoms that can mimic a heart attack, a lot of people feel shame when they go to the ER and find there's nothing wrong with them. In the absence of a test that defines panic, a lot of people worry they might be losing their mind.   Also this hour: Panic ensued in Times Square in early August when a motorcycle backfired. Fear of being caught in the crossfire of gun shots has led to a collective panic of loud noises in public places. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.