The Colin McEnroe Show

J. Edgar Hoover served as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under eight presidents and made the FBI into the organization it is today. This hour, Beverly Gage, Yale historian and author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Hoover, joins us to talk about his life and legacy. Plus, a look at the status of the FBI today and the lessons we can learn from Hoover’s example. GUESTS: Beverly Gage: Professor of 20th-century U.S. history at Yale University; her newest book, G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Biography 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 Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired July 27, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

American Fiction, the feature film directorial debut of Cord Jefferson, is a comedy based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett. It is nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jefferson, Best Actor for Jeffrey Wright, and Best Supporting Actor for Sterling K. Brown. And: Criminal Record is a British crime thriller series on Apple TV+. Here’s their synopsis: “In the heart of London, an anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives — a young woman in the early stages of her career and a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy — into a fight to correct an old miscarriage of justice.” Criminal Record stars Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo. GUESTS: Rich Hollant: Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast Irene Papoulis: Teaches writing at Trinity College, and she’s the author of The Essays Only You Can Write 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 Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour is all about printers. We’ll talk about printer problems and why, despite our struggles, we can’t seem to quit them. And, we’ll talk with a rage room owner about the appeal of smashing printers. GUESTS:  Cory Doctorow: Science fiction author, activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and journalist. His new book, The Bezzle, is out next week Allen St. John: Multimedia Content Producer for Consumer Reports Cody Nicholas: Co-owner of the Lose It Rage Room in Woodbridge, VA 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, Katie Pellico, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From pen names to online aliases, pseudonyms are all around us. This hour, we’re talking about what compels people to adopt an alternate identity when they write. Do pseudonyms liberate us? Do they make us treat each other better? Or do they stop credit from going where it’s due? GUESTS:  Carmela Ciuraru: Author of “Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms” and, most recently, “Lives of the Wives: Five Literary Marriages”  Daniel A. Gross: Editor at the New Yorker and author of the Atlantic article, “The Mystery of the Hardy Boys and the Invisible Authors” Alfred Moore: Senior lecturer in Politics at the University of York  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.

This hour, novelist Joyce Maynard joins us for a second time to talk about her latest novel, the blurring of life and fiction, and her new career running a hotel in Guatemala. GUEST: Joyce Maynard: Novelist; her latest is The Bird Hotel 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, which originally aired July 25, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour is all about commercials. We'll look at the Super Bowl ads, and how commercials have infiltrated streaming. Plus, a look at what’s going on with those "He Gets Us" ads for Jesus. GUESTS:  Patrick Dugan: Executive creative director at Adams and Knight in Avon Suzanne Vranica: Advertising Editor for The Wall Street Journal Bob Smietana: National reporter for Religion News Service, and author of Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why it Matters 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose is off this week. In its place, and with the week coming to an end, it’s time for an hour on endings. We look at the art of the ending, wonder what makes a satisfying ending in literature and TV and music, and ponder how we know it’s time to let a thing come to an end. GUESTS: Jen Chaney: TV critic at Vulture and New York magazine and the author of As If! The Oral History of Clueless Geoff Dyer: Author of The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings, among other books Rebecca Makkai: Artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago and the author, most recently, of I Have Some Questions for You 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 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, Cat Pastor, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, parts of which originally aired May 17, 2019, and May 17, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we look at the philosophy of humanism. We survey the history and evolution of the humanist tradition, and discuss what it means to practice humanism. Plus, how humanism can help us relate to technology. GUESTS:  Sarah Bakewell: Author of Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope, among other books Greg Epstein: Author and Humanist Chaplain at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is also Convener for Ethical Life at the MIT Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life 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 July 13, 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 coyote behavior, the asphalt on the highway, where bare feet are and are not acceptable (and, relatedly, “Barefootin’”), crosswalk signals … 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 and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terms that started out in the therapist’s office have moved into the public discourse. This hour we talk about therapy-speak, armchair psychology, and how greater awareness of mental health terminology and diagnoses impacts the broader conversation around mental health, for better and worse. Plus, a look at how therapists are depicted on TV and how that’s impacted their work outside the screen. GUESTS:  Lucy Foulkes: An academic psychologist at the University of Oxford and author of the book Losing Our Minds: The Challenge of Defining Mental Illness Jessica Gold: Assistant Professor and the Director of Wellness, Engagement, and Outreach in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine. She works clinically as an outpatient psychiatrist, and writes about mental health for a variety of general audience publications Inkoo Kang: The television critic at The New Yorker 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 July 24, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.