The Colin McEnroe Show

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.

This hour, we revisit the classic debate about whether or not we have free will. Plus: Is there anything that makes you feel like you have free will more than a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book? We revisit the series … if you choose to listen, that is. GUESTS:  Kevin J. Mitchell: Associate Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. His new book is Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will Shannon Gilligan: CEO and Publisher of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series, which has been in print for more than 40 years  SONGS:  “Can’t Help Myself” by Four Tops “You’re Made That Way” by Mavis Staples  “Metacognition” by High School for the Recording Arts Los Angeles “Make Your Own Kind of Music” by Cass Elliot  “Choose your own adventure (Kyle Watson Remix)” by GoldFish 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.

In the Know is a stop-motion, claymation, half-hour comedy series created by Zach Woods, Brandon Gardner, and Mike Judge. It follows a third-rate NPR host, Lauren Caspian (voiced by Woods), a “well-meaning, hypocritical nimrod puppet” and his third-rate NPR interview show, In the Know. And: Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative is a limited-series podcast from Radiotopia Presents. It is created and hosted by Jess Shane, and it attempts to expose and question “the nuts and bolts of documentary storytelling.” GUESTS: Theresa Cramer: A freelance writer and editor and the co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications 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, 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. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour: popular songs are getting shorter, tropical sand is made of fish poop, and Scramble the weather-predicting duck puts Punxsutawney Phil to shame. GUESTS:  Joe Bennett: Forensic musicologist and a professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston Joe Roman: Conservation biologist at the University of Vermont and author of book, “Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World”  Isaac Torcellini: One of Scramble the Duck’s handlers 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.

What is yodeling, anyway? Some consider it singing, some say it’s an ululation, and still others consider it merely a means to herd animals. Whatever yodeling is, one thing’s clear: Yodeling has been around for thousands of years and shows no signs of disappearing. This hour, we speak with a musicologist, a DJ, and a professional singer about this age-old vocal practice. We trace yodeling’s history from its humble, utilitarian roots to its place in modern day pop music and beyond. GUESTS: Bart Plantenga: The author of several books including Yodel in Hi-Fi: From Kitsch Folk to Contemporary Electronica Roger Tincknell: A cowboy yodeler, musician, and traveling performer Timothy Wise: Author of Yodeling and Meaning in American Music Chion Wolf: Host of Audacious on Connecticut Public 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 Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show, which originally aired October 10, 2017. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we take a look at the state of philanthropy with Amy Schiller, author of the new book, The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong and How to Fix It. We’ll look at the evolution of philanthropy through history, and potential reforms for its future. Plus, we’ll discuss the rise of effective altruism, the philanthropic philosophy of LeBron James, and what we can learn from the example of Notre Dame. GUEST:  Amy Schiller: Writer, political philosopher, and visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. She is author of The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong and How to Fix it 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. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Samuel and Olivia Clemens and their children moved into the house they’d had built at Nook Farm in Hartford — the house that we now call the Mark Twain House — in 1874, 150 years ago this year. Partly to celebrate that anniversary, we present this hour a new version of our 2015 interview with the late Hal Holbrook. Holbrook was probably best known for his one-man show, Mark Twain Tonight!, which he performed for 63 years — longer than Samuel Clemens used the Mark Twain moniker. Beyond Mark Twain Tonight!, you probably know Hal Holbrook as Deep Throat in All the President’s Men. He’s in a Dirty Harry movie. He’s in a Steven Spielberg movie. He’s in Wall Street and The Firm and John Carpenter’s The Fog. He appeared on Designing Women and The West Wing and The Sopranos and Sons of Anarchy and Grey’s Anatomy. Hal Holbrook won a Tony Award. He was nominated for 12 Emmys, and he won five. And he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Into the Wild. We talked to Holbrook on the evening of February 3, 2015. He was two weeks shy of his 90th birthday — which birthday he celebrated by performing Mark Twain Tonight! at The Bushnell in Hartford. Hal Holbrook died in 2021. He was 95. GUEST: Hal Holbrook: Was a film, television, and stage actor 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. This interview was originally produced by Betsy Kaplan. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, parts of which originally aired February 4, 2015, in a different form.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.