The Colin McEnroe Show

When was the last time you read a short story? This hour, we talk about why short stories are so popular in the classroom, but why adults don’t seem to read them much once they’re done with school. And we make the case for why you should. Plus, a look at the art of the short story with some masters of the craft.   You can read Rebecca Makkai’s Substack post that inspired this show here.    Here is the story that is discussed in the final segment, “How I Became a Vet” by Rivka Galchen.    As part of this show we asked each of our guests to recommend a short story, a collection, or an author. Here are those recommendations: Rebecca Makkai: “The Dinner Party” by Joshua Ferris George Saunders: “The Stone Boy” by Gina Berriault, “The Conventional Wisdom” by Stanley Elkin Deborah Treisman: Liberation Day by George Saunders, After the Funeral by Tessa Hadley, “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak” by Jamil Jan Kochai Amy Bloom: “The Dead” by James Joyce, stories by Edward P. Jones, essays by Samantha Irby Irene Papoulis: “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by ZZ Packer Brian Slattery: “Hell is the Absence of God” by Ted Chiang Colin McEnroe: “The Hole on the Corner” and “What’s the Name of That Town?” by R.A. Lafferty GUESTS:  Rebecca Makkai: Author of the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-finalist The Great Believers, among other books; her newest book is I Have Some Questions For You, and she is artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago George Saunders: Author of twelve books; his most recent is Liberation Day, a collection of short stories Deborah Triesman: Fiction editor for The New Yorker and the host of their Fiction Podcast Amy Bloom: Author of four novels and three collections of short stories; her most recent book is the memoir In Love Irene Papouli: Teaches writing at Trinity College Brian Slattery: Arts editor for the New Haven Independent 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, which originally aired on August 7, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour: lunch — from the hungry judge effect to the sad desk lunch. We’ll look at the history of our mid-day meal, talk about school lunches, and get tips for packing lunch. And we want to hear from you. Do you love lunch? Hate it? Eat the same lunch every day? Never eat lunch? Call us: 888-720-9677. GUESTS:  Megan Elias: Historian, Director of the Food Studies Program, Associate Professor at Boston University, and author of Lunch: A History Aviva Wittenberg: Author of Lunchbox: 75+ Easy and Delicious Recipes for Lunches on the Go Erin Feinauer Whiting: Professor of Multicultural Education at Brigham Young University Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poor Things is the eighth feature film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. It is written by Tony McNamara and based on the 1992 novel Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer by Alasdair Gray. Poor Things is a fantastical comedy that deals with some pretty dark ideas, and it’s nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Lanthimos), Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), and Best Adapted Screenplay. And: After a year without a permanent host, The Daily Show has finally filled its vacancy! Or one-quarter of its vacancy, at least. But anyway: Jon Stewart is back! But just on Mondays. But Jon Stewart has returned! At least through the election. And then Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays are hosted by a rotating group of correspondents. For now, anyway, it sounds like. GUESTS: Raquel Benedict: The most dangerous woman in speculative fiction … and she’s the host of the Rite Gud podcast Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn 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! 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everything's felt like, and been called, a "crisis" lately. This hour, we talk about the overuse of the term "crisis," and crisis fatigue. Plus, we'll talk with a crisis communicator about how to manage a crisis. And, finally, a look at the midlife crisis. GUESTS:  Eliah Bures: Historian of modern Europe and a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies  Christian Paz: Senior Politics Reporter for Vox Molly McPherson: An expert in crisis communications and emergency management. She is the author of the book Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis Barbara Bradley Hagerty: Contributing writer to The Atlantic, and author of Life Reimagined: The Science, Art, and Opportunity of Midlife Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The lesser of two evils" is a phrase we hear a lot during election cycles. Why is that? This hour, we look to philosophy, the polls, and forensic psychiatry to explore the meaning of this idiom. GUESTS:  Lakshya Jain: Partner at the election analysis website splitticket.org Julia Maskivker: Professor of Political Theory and Political Science at Rollins College in Florida. She wrote the book “The Duty to Vote.” Dr. Michael Welner: Forensic psychiatrist and chairman of The Forensic Panel 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 and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who am I? We’ve all wondered at some point. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a personality test based on Carl Jung’s psychological types, has offered many an answer. This hour, we delve into the history of the MBTI and contemporary applications of this test and explore its scientific validity. Plus, a look at a dating app that uses the 16 personality types to help people find love. GUESTS: Jessica Alderson: Founder of So Syncd, a 16 personalities-based dating app Alexander Swan: Associate professor of psychology at Eureka College and host of the CinemaPsych podcast Paul Tieger: A prolific author on the MBTI; his books include Do What You Are and Just Your Type This show was produced by Carol Chen. 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! 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 Catie Talarski contributed to this show, which originally aired August 3, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month 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 cold, Cheese & Stuff, fast crocodiles, how we choose music, when Colin eats lunch … 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, Google Podcasts, 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, Eugene Amatruda, Cat Pastor, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the Academy Awards just two weekends away, this year’s awards season is coming to a close. With that in mind, this hour we take a Nose-ish look at awards shows — awards shows as live events, as television, and as the actual doling out of artistic accolades. Plus: a brief history of the Academy Awards with Michael Schulman, the author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears. GUESTS: David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Alison Herman: TV critic at Variety Michael Schulman: A staff writer at The New Yorker and the author, most recently, of Oscar Wars 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! 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 Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barcodes are everywhere, and they helped to shape the world we live in. This hour, we'll look at the history and impact of barcodes. Plus, we'll look at the rise of QR code menus and tickets, and talk about what we might gain and lose as we move away from physical objects to digital ones. GUESTS:  Jordan Frith: Pearce Professor of Professional Communications at Clemson University, and author of the book Barcode Sean Willard: Menu Engineer with Menu Engineers Bailey Sincox: Perkins-Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow in the Princeton Society of Fellows, where she teaches and writes about early modern English literature 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.

This hour, partly cloudy spies with a 50% chance of certain rain. Have you ever wondered if you really exist? Consider that you might not exist at all. In other news, get ready to gyre and gimble in the wabe — our show today is about incoherence. GUESTS:  Alex Worsnip: Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He’s the author of “Fitting Things Together: Coherence and the Demands of Structural Rationality” Tom Nichols: Staff writer at The Atlantic and an author of the Atlantic Daily newsletter. Major Jackson: Professor of English at Vanderbilt University and host of the podcast the Slowdown from American Public Media. His most recent book is “Razzle Dazzle: New and Selected Poems” 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.