The Colin McEnroe Show

There are a group of Connecticut parents who feel they must relinquish custody of  their “high needs” children in order to get them into residential treatment programs when in-home services are inadequate to meet their needs. Many years ago, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families chose to move children out of residential treatment centers and back to their families or foster care. Most agree it was a good move; residential care is expensive and many kids do better at home. Some wonder if we've gone too far. The combined effect of the closing of residential centers, budget restrictions, and lack of available community resources to fill the void have led to a perfect storm.  Connecticut is not the only state to use the 'custody-for-care' loophole. It still happens in 44 states, even though 26 of those states have statutes or policies to prevent it. Connecticut has significantly decreased its use over the last decade, but not enough. No one is a bad actor in this story. Parents do the best they can under difficult and stressful circumstances. DCF does the best they can within the reality of political and budgetary pressures. And there are systemic problems with the way insurance, hospitals, and schools are set-up to deal with the expensive and complex needs of some children.   Today, we take a look. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's theme is about truth. Roger Cohen asks us to look inward at our complicity -- the media included -- when he laments our obsession to follow seductive, yet empty leaders down a primrose path. Truth no longer seems to have meaning in our social-media-driven democracy. Before assuming that Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists are to blame for our current condition, ask yourself whether leaders like our President Trump are the antithesis of our values or a reflection of them. The attorneys representing the Sandy Hook families who sued Alex Jones for repeatedly and falsely claiming the killings were staged, released the deposition to the public last week. It's funny how powerless and silly Jones looked when he could no longer control the narrative. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sophomore film from any new director is oftentimes held to a harsher critique than their debut movie. It’s unfair. But Jordan Peele’s directorial debut was such a profound moment in 2017 culture, that anything he created after couldn’t live to the success of Get Out. And then there was Us. Not only did Us gross a lot of money, but it’s (mostly) universally praised by critics and audiences just like Get Out. Is the film a commentary on race? A commentary on class? Was it just a giant bait-and-switch? Did you even notice all of the references? The Nose attempts to go underground with Us. But that’s not all. Since 2016, Amy Schumer has been one of the most successful comedians in entertainment. Last week, she released her second Netflix stand-up special, Growing, where she talks personally about her husband’s autism, her difficult pregnancy with hyperemesis, and, well about other things we just can’t say here. But is it funny? The Nose weighs in.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During his remarkable career with the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams earned many nicknames: The Kid, The Splendid Splinter, Teddy Ballgame... but the only nickname that he ever wanted was "the greatest hitter who ever lived." And maybe he really was? He's baseball's all-time leader in on-base percentage, and he's second behind only Babe Ruth in both slugging and on-base plus slugging percentages. He's the last guy to hit .400, and that was 77 years ago. And on top of all that, he lost close to five full seasons (and three of them in the prime of his career) to serve in two different wars. This hour, a look at the man, the hitter, and the pitchman (you see what I did there) that was Ted Williams.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The annual U.N. World Happiness Report was released last week on World Happiness Day. (I'm a little unhappy that we missed it.)  It may be no surprise that the happiest countries have a few traits in common: people in happy countries value social and cultural connections, trust their government to work for them, and like to help others more than people in less happy countries. They also vote in greater numbers and donate more time and money to causes important to them. America didn't make the top ten. Leo Canty took a 44,000-mile trip through 2018's ten happiest countries. We talk with Leo about what he discovered in his talks with people who live in those places.   Also this hour: The comic strip "Cathy" resonated with a generation of young women when it first appeared in the comic pages in 1976. It gave voice to women's confusion and grief that their newfound 'liberation' remained stubbornly tethered to the expectations of a still dominant patriarchy. The strip ran for 34 years and in almost 1,400 newspapers before ending its run in 2010.  For Cathy Guisewite, creator of the eponymous comic strip, happiness has always been a step out of reach for her and her namesake.  We talk with Cathy and Leo about the search for happiness. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is estimated that 12 million Americans live inside one of our nations roughly 45,000 mobile home communities. Despite these numbers, few people outside these parks truly know what life is like for their residents. Stereotypes of mobile home communities are still largely tolerated in America, and as of yet there's been little pushback against such depictions. In headlines, Hollywood movies and on television, images of addicts, alcoholics and other societal outcasts still abound in stories of trailer park living. This hour we speak with mobile home park operators, residents and researchers about the reality of life in these parks, about the struggle of park residents to achieve upward mobility, and about the need for mobile homes as a low-cost housing option. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump is declaring it to be a "complete and total exoneration," but Democrats in Congress vehemently disagree.  Still how much should they press to win the release of every bit of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Trump campaign contacts with Russian interlopers during the 2016 election?  On today's Scramble, we'll consider that and several other questions emerging Sunday from Attorney General Bill Barr's four-page summary of Mueller's findings.  Those questions include: What happened with the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump was secretly working on behalf of Russia? Did Mueller perform his duties admirably in an era of government leaks, or will he be remembered most for punting on the question of whether Trump should be charged with obstruction of justice? Was 48 hours adequate time for Barr to reach his conclusions about a 22-month investigation? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a period of about fifty years, many of America's top cartoonists and illustrators lived within a stone's throw of one another in the southwestern corner of Connecticut. Comic strips and gag cartoons read by hundreds of millions were created in this tight-knit group -- Prince Valiant, Superman, Beetle Bailey, Hägar the Horrible, Hi and Lois, Nancy, The Wizard of Id, Family Circus... I could keep going. This hour, a look at the funny pages, and at Connecticut's cartoon county.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, on Last Week Tonight, John Oliver tackled public shaming with perhaps the one person who has had the worst case of public shaming in recent memory, Monica Lewinsky. The interview focused on how Lewinsky survived the shaming, and she said if social media was around in the mid-90s, it could have been worse. That’s how James Gunn got his dose of public shaming. Eight months ago the director was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy 3 by Disney after decade old social media comments by Gunn surfaced. The tweets made light of pedophilia and rape. But now Gunn was rehired by Disney. So maybe there is a way back from public shame? Plus, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was released on Blu-ray and made available for rent this past Tuesday (you can also purchase it on Amazon, Google Play or wherever you buy digital movies). This week we get into the Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature because it’s one of the best animated and superhero films ever made, despite being the (and depending on how you want to count it) ninth film to feature a Spider-Man. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March Madness starts TODAY with some of the best games coming to Hartford! There's a lot of excitement over the match-up between No. 5 seed Marquette's Marcus Howard and No. 12 seed Murray State's Ja Morant. I'm just sayin' that a No. 5 seed has beat a No. 12 seed 67% of the time. Last year's winner, Villanova, also starts in Hartford. And Florida State will play the University of Vermont. Okay, Vermont may not win but they have a great mascot and they tell you why you should root for them.  As is our custom, a comedian and a political commentator join us to share their bracket strategy. Since there are 9.2 quintillion possible outcomes for a bracket -- that's 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 -- we think their chances are pretty good.  This hour, we talk mascots, vasectomy rates during March Madness, Wofford, the XL Center's deterioration and, hopefully, something about basketball. *It's probably our 10th one of these. Other options include its being our ninth one of these. Also our eighth one of these. But probably it's our 10th. GUESTS:  Julia Pistell - Writer, podcaster, and comedian.; she's the host of the podcast Literary Disco and Managing Director at Sea Tea Improv (@echochorus) Bill Curry - Political commentator, two-time Democratic nominee for Governor of Connecticut, and former White House advisor in the Clinton Administration (@BillCurryct) Nayef Samrat - President of Wofford College (@WoffordTerriers) Frankie Graziano - Reporter at Connecticut Public Radio (@FrankieGrazie6) 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.