Franz Kafka died 100 years ago, but his work is still very much alive today in literature classes and, surprisingly, on social media. This hour, we look at Kafka’s life and legacy, discuss the “Kafkaesque,” and investigate why the author resonates so much today. Plus, we revisit his most famous work, “The Metamorphosis,” and talk with a zoologist about the idea of turning into an insect. GUESTS: Benjamin Balint: Author of Kafka’s Last Trial; his latest book is Bruno Schulz: An Artist, A Murder, and the Hijacking of History Tim Coulson: Professor of zoology at the University of Oxford; his latest book is The Science of Why We Exist: A History of the Universe from the Big Bang to Consciousness Margarita Mouka: Content creator and creative executive; her TikTok handle is @aquariuscat444 Karolina Watroba: Post-doctoral research fellow in modern languages at Oxford’s All Souls College and the author of Metamorphoses: In Search of Franz Kafka 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show, which originally aired July 8, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 winds around to tables, Keri Russell, how much you should disengage from politics, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, stolen deliveries and mail theft … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 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. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hear about algorithms all the time, but what is an algorithm exactly? This hour, we learn about how algorithms work, a bit about their history, and how they're impacting our culture. GUESTS:  Ed Finn: Author of What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing, and founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University Bruce Gil: Reporter for Quartz Liz Pelly: Writer and editor, whose forthcoming book is Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist 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, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.  Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on May 22, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roommates: can't live with them, can't (afford to) live without them. They're the people who use your dishes and don't wash them. They're the people who apparently have a huge influence on your career choice and drinking habits. This hour, we're getting to know them better! GUESTS:  Ken Jennings: Colin’s college roommate Kelli María Korducki: Journalist who writes about work and the family Bruce Sacerdote: Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College Francesca Fontánez: Social Media Editor at CT Public and a former college RA Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, 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. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, Lily Tyson, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on May 23, 2024. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As I type this, four states remain uncalled, including two battlegrounds. It could take days or longer to determine the final popular vote tally. Control of the U.S. House of Representatives is still to be determined. But that’s nothing like the uncertainty we were expecting to reign over the day and days after Election Day. Put another way: Donald Trump is projected to have won the presidency. And pretty decisively. In some ways, we’ve been here before. In other ways, though, things seem pretty significantly different this time around. Just as an example, Connecticut seems to have swung toward Trump by 10 points or more as compared to 2020. This hour, we start to pick up the pieces after a long and consistently, persistently surprising election that has come to its inevitable end. GUESTS: Bill Curry: Playing the part of Bill Curry David Folkenflik: NPR’s media correspondent Azar Nafisi: The author of six books, including Reading Lolita in Tehran; her newest is Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times 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 and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Election Day we do a show where we ask people across Connecticut to do a simple thing: Go vote in your town before 1 p.m. Then call us between 1 and 2 p.m. and tell us how it felt, what you saw, whom you spoke to. Say whatever you want to say about the experience of voting. This hour we hear from Citizen Observers about their experiences at the polls. GUESTS:  Lara Herscovitch: Singer-songwriter-poet, performer, advocate, former CT State Troubadour, and children’s book author Logan Tomlinson: Student at the University of New Hampshire Kate Rushin: Poet, writer, and educator Francesca Fontanez: Associate Social Media Editor here at Connecticut Public Charles Barber: Nonfiction author and writer in residence at Wesleyan University Betsy Kaplan: Senior Producer emeritus of The Colin McEnroe Show Dr. Ulysses Wu: System director of infectious diseases and chief epidemiologist at Hartford HealthCare George Noujaim: Owner of Noujaim’s Bistro in Winsted Terry Cowgill: Was an op-columnist at CTNewsJunkie for 12 years who now has a Substack "Red Meat For Mushy Moderates" Susan Clinard: Owner of Clinard Sculpture Studio in West Haven Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we took your calls about anything you wanted to talk about.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four days left. Four (4!) days until Election Day. We’re feeling the stress, the anxiety. And we’re guessing you are too. In one of our show meetings, we got to talking about the benefits of, uh, smoothing out your brain a bit in times like these. So this hour, we gather a number of folks you know from The Nose and talk about ways to quiet your mind over these last few days, bits of culture you can consume — from The Great British Bake Off to Love Is Blind, from horror movies to Jane Austen to giving fantasy football a try — to get your brain a break over the weekend. For the full list of shows and movies and books and everything else recommended in this show and in the prep leading up to it — it’s a long list! — subscribe to The Noseletter before November 2. GUESTS: Jim Chapdelaine: An Emmy-winning musician and a patient advocate for people with rare cancers Taneisha Duggan: Associate producer at Octopus Theatricals Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian and writer and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Lindsay Lee Wallace: Writes about culture, health care and health equity, and other stuff, too Tracy Wu Fastenberg: Development officer at Connecticut Children’s Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, SpotifyAmazon 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 and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we talk with experts in ballot design about how to put together a ballot that's accessible to everyone, and all of the things to keep in mind, from font size to the length of candidate's names. Plus, a look at the evolution of ballots throughout history. GUESTS:  Whitney Quesenbery: Executive Director of the Center for Civic Design Alicia Cheng: Head of Design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and author of This is What Democracy Looked Like: A Visual History of the Printed Ballot Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we look at how political campaigns use music, from the history of political jingles to how Harris and Trump are using music in the 2024 election. GUESTS: Dana Gorzelany-Mostak: Associate professor of music at Georgia College; she is the founder of Trax on the Trail and the author of Tracks on the Trail: Popular Music, Race, and the US Presidency Charlie Harding: Music journalist, songwriter, producer, adjunct professor of music at New York University, and the co-creator and co-host of the Switched on Pop podcast Eric Kasper: Professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the author of Don’t Stop Thinking About the Music: The Politics of Songs and Musicians in Presidential Campaigns Justin Patch: Associate professor and chair of music at Vassar College and the author of The Art of Populism in US Politics: Pro-Trump DIY Popular Culture 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, Eugene Amatruda, and Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show, which originally aired August 22, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.