The Colin McEnroe Show

There’s something kind of special about the experience of a really great, really bad movie. Think Red Dawn or Under Siege. Snakes on a Plane or Batman & Robin. Independence Day is nearly perfect and so rewatchable — and also terrible. This hour, a Nose-ish look at the joy of bad movies. GUESTS: Theresa Cramer: A freelance writer and editor and the co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications Alicia di Leo: A para-educator in the integrated preschool program in the Manchester school system David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Severn Sandt: Associate director of strategic partnerships and outreach at Trinity College in Hartford Howard Sherman: A theater administrator, writer, and advocate; he is the U.S. columnist for The Stage newspaper of London and the author of Another Day’s Begun: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century 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 Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we talk about where this election is taking place in this media environment. We'll discuss how Americans are getting their election news, investigate how misinformation spreads, take stock of the role of social media in this, and look at the state of political podcasts. GUESTS:  Dannagal Young: Director of the Center for Political Communication and a Professor of Communication and Political Science at the University of Delaware. Her newest book is Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive our Appetite for Misinformation Christian Paz: Senior Politics Reporter for Vox Derek Robertson: Writer, reporter, and producer at Politico, where he writes the “Digital Future Daily” newsletter 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 Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever heard someone say that East Coasters are kind but not nice, and West Coasters are nice but not kind? This hour, a look at what “niceness” is, why it’s so important to us, and how it can sometimes mask not-so-nice things. GUESTS: Carrie Tirado Bramen: Professor at the University at Buffalo and the author of American Niceness: A Cultural History Jordan Green: Self-proclaimed “kind West Coaster” Amit Kumar: Assistant professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Texas at Austin Mia Mercado: Humor writer and author from the Midwest who wrote She’s Nice Though: Essays on Being Bad at Being Good 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, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired January 25, 2024.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we take a look at the legends of King Arthur. We discuss their evolution and why they endure. Plus, we talk with author Lev Grossman about his new retelling of the King Arthur legend, The Bright Sword. And, a conversation with an archeologist about excavating the history of Arthurian legends. GUESTS:  Lev Grossman: Bestselling author of The Magicians Trilogy. His new book is The Bright Sword Leah Tether: Professor of Medieval Literature and Publishing at Bristol University, and Vice President of the International Courtly Literature Society Win Scutt: Archeologist and Senior Properties Curator for the West of England at English Heritage, a nonprofit that cares for over 400 historic monuments 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 Cat Pastor contributed to this show.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 the election, the Olympics opening ceremony, Project 2025, the stain (maybe) of Elon Musk on Teslas. Plus some wonderings: What would aliens make of the Olympics? What’s the most impactful way to get involved with the election? … 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 Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political satire is alive and well in America today. And it turns out it might have an important role in educating the public and the health of our democracy. This hour, a look at the state and the art of political satire with comedian Samantha Bee and Sophia McClennen, a political scientist who studies satire. GUESTS: Samantha Bee: Comedian, the host of Choice Words with Samantha Bee, and the former host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Sophia McClennen: Professor of international affairs and comparative literature at Penn State University and the author of numerous books, including Trump Was a Joke: How Satire Made Sense of a President Who Didn’t and Is Satire Saving Our Nation? 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 Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired September 15, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Thurston Harris and Crash Test Dummies to that noise your refrigerator makes, humming sounds are all around us (especially if you’ve been to Windsor, Ontario). This hour, musical humming, mysterious humming, and how humming could be good for your health. GUESTS: Colin Novak: Associate professor at the University of Windsor Susan Rogers: Multi-platinum record producer, cognitive neuroscientist, professor at Berklee College of Music, and co-author of This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You Gunjan Trivedi: Co-founder of Wellness Space and an author of several studies exploring the benefits of humming on stress and health 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 Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we look at the idea of the Western canon and those books that are considered “classics.” We talk about what’s in the canon, what isn’t and what should be, and how it evolves. Plus, we talk about The Atlantic’s recent list of “The Great American Novels.” And we learn about a publishing company that is experimenting with artificial intelligence to bring classic books alive for a new audience. GUESTS: Gal Beckerman: Senior editor for books at The Atlantic Laura Kipnis: Cultural critic, essayist, and the author of Love in the Time of Contagion: A Diagnosis, among other books Roosevelt Montás: Senior lecturer in American studies and English at Columbia University and the author of Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation James Mustich: Author of 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die 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 Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Well, we’ve had another weekend, haven’t we? So we figured you might want to talk again. 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 Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour on The Colin McEnroe Show, we discuss President Biden's decision not to run for reelection. We'll look at the historical precedent for this decision, talk about Vice President Kamala Harris, and hear about the role of the press in all of this. GUESTS:  Bill Curry: Former White House advisor to the Clinton administration, Connecticut State Senator, and two-time Democratic nominee for the Governor of Connecticut Hunter Schwarz: Journalist and the founder and curator of the visual politics newsletter “Yello” Leah Wright Rigueur: Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins, author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power Manisha Sinha: James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and the President of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. She is author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920, among other books David Folkenflik: NPR’s media correspondent 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Bradley O’Connor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.