The Colin McEnroe Show

Election systems in all 50 states were targeted by Russia in 2016. Those were the conclusions of a bipartisan Senate Intelligence report released on Thursday. This comes one day after Special Counsel Robert Mueller III warned that Russian efforts to interfere in the upcoming election are happening right now. How safe are Connecticut's voting systems?  Also this hour: Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank nudged the Overton Window with this opening line from his Friday op-ed:  "Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset." His post went viral on social media in response to the Senate Majority Leader's refusal to bring up for a vote multiple bipartisan bills intended to ensure the integrity of our elections.  Lastly, can bowling win over the 'Lebowski' generation?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last weekend, Marvel unveiled its plans for Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (along with a few hints and winks and nods about Phase Five -- which is mostly notable 'cause it means they're planning a Phase Five). And we're currently in the middle of a year when, when it's all said and done, the top eight highest-grossing movies may well have all come from Disney or Marvel or both. The top eight. That's not a typo. Here, look: Aladdin (2019) (Disney) Avengers: Endgame (Marvel/Disney) Captain Marvel (Marvel/Disney) Frozen II (Disney) The Lion King (2019) (Disney) Spider-Man: Far from Home (Marvel/Sony) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Lucasfilm/Disney) Toy Story 4 (Pixar/Disney) And so the question is: Is the future of movies Marvel and Disney? And then The Nose takes a look at the present of movies from the opposite end of the box office spectrum with three indie films: The Art of Self-Defense, Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, and Wild Rose.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summer is the time we look forward to reading -- or rereading -- our favorite books.   How do you choose from the stack of next-to-read books that pile up beside your bed? Do you relish the adventure of what a new book might bring or do you reread an old favorite that changed your life in some way, that one book that resembles a child's much beloved stuffed animal -- dog-eared and stained with food, sweat, and tears.  Today, writers explore the transformative nature of reading, writing, and a great novel.   GUESTS:   Steve Almond - writer and author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction, including Against Football and Candyfreak. His latest book is William Stoner and the Battle For the Inner Life. Julia Pistell - freelance writer, comedian, Managing Director at Sea Tea Improv, creator of Syllable Series, host of Literary Disco, a podcast about books and writing. Joseph Luzzi - writer and author of the memoir, In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, Healing, and the Mysteries of Love. He’s the author of two other books, most recently, My Two Italies. He’s a professor of Comparative Literature at Bard. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been called a "glorified game of toss" and "World of Warcraft for extroverts." But has Ultimate Frisbee quietly become a real sport? It is, apparently, a likely Olympic sport. Which would, apparently, maybe be bad for Ultimate. This hour: The world of the Frisbee disc, including Connecticut's integral part in its history. This episode originally aired on August 31, 2017.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller made crystal clear that he would not comment on the long-awaited Mueller Report beyond the carefully chosen words we could all find in his 448-page, plus appendices, report.  Now, I hope and expect this to be the only time that I will speak to you in this manner. I am making that decision myself. No one has told me whether I can or should testify or speak further about this matter. There has been discussion about an appearance before Congress. Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis and the reasons for the decisions we made. We chose those words carefully, and the work speaks for itself. And the report is my testimony. I would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before Congress. Yet, here we are. Robert Mueller has agreed to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee for three hours this Wednesday, July 24, followed by two (or so) hours before the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  What does Congress hope to gain? That may depend on which side of the aisle you represent.  Colin, a political analyst, and a comedian will take your calls. We finish with a DC pub owner gearing up for a Mueller testimony party, of sorts.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's kind of a lot going on this week: There's rumored to be a new 007. The Emmy nominations are out. There's a new dating trend called 'Caspering.' Farhad Manjoo thinks we should all use the singular 'they.' 1.7 million people want to raid Area 51. Anthony Fantano (or an animated version of Anthony Fantano, really) is in the new "Old Town Road" video. During the New York City blackout, Star Wars fans helped direct traffic... with their lightsabers. And: The Cats trailer is out, and it's maybe kind of, uh, horrifying? Oh, and Episode 4 of Years and Years aired on HBO. The show "combines the grand sweep of a near-future dystopia with the warm intimacy of a family drama." Its vision of our next decade or so is "terrifyingly plausible."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We live in an Everything Should Take Twenty Minutes world. Movies are too long. SundanceTV has a show that airs in ten-minute episodes. Tierra Whack has a fifteen-minute album made of fifteen sixty-second songs. Todd Rundgren's memoir has 183 one-page, three-paragraph chapters. So today, we turn our hour over to five short, little shows about short, little things. Here's a Spotify playlist of the albums reviewed on today's short, little episode of The Sam Hadelman Show: Sam Hadelman's short albums. GUESTS: Carmen Baskauf - Produces Where We Live on WNPR Taneisha Duggan - Producing associate at TheaterWorks Sam Hadelman - Host of The Sam Hadelman Show on WNHH and a journalist for the New Haven Independent Brandy Jensen - An advice columnist and editor at The Outline Jacques Lamarre - A playwright, and director of client services at Buzz Engine Vince Mancini - Senior film and culture writer for Uproxx Chion Wolf - Our announcer and technical producer Bill Yousman is professor of Media Studies at Sacred Heart University Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, and Matt Farley contributed to today's show.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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sand is the most abundant material on Earth. And, other than water and air, sand is the natural resource we consume more than any other -- more, even, than oil. The pyramids are made of sand. Our roads and driveways and sidewalks are made of sand. Concrete buildings and their concrete foundations are made of sand. From computer chips to computer screens, window panes to light bulbs, breast implants to the Hubble telescope, sand is basically the essential building block of civilization. Humans are estimated to consume almost 50 billion tons of sand and gravel every year. Oh, and, by the way: We're running out of it.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Staffing unrest at the Connecticut Lottery Corp. has been a longtanding source of intrigue. But an employee's whistleblower case before the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities sheds new light on the level of infighting that unfolded at the quasi-public agency under previous its leadership. It's a tale that includes secret recordings and the FBI. More encouraging is the degree of calm and cooperation exhibited by New Yorkers during Saturday's five-hour blackout in Manhattan. What changes have come in the 42 years since the city descended into darken chaos back in 1977? Finally, we can no longer ignore a sport that more and more Americans are choosing to tune out: Major League Baseball. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.