The Colin McEnroe Show

This hour, Yale Dean Tamar Gendler joins us to discuss her new course “Public Plato: Ancient Wisdom in the Digital Age.” We'll talk about how to make ancient philosophy relevant for a modern audience, questions of framing and form, and what we can all learn from concepts like alief, phronesis, and eudaimonia. GUEST:  Tamar Gendler: Professor of Philosophy, Psychology and Cognitive Science, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, at Yale University 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.

In Yascha Mounk’s new book, he “traces the origin of a set of ideas about identity and social justice that is rapidly transforming America — and explains why it will fail to accomplish its noble goals.” This hour, Mounk joins us to talk about the future of democracy and The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. GUEST: Yascha Mounk: Professor of the practice of international affairs at Johns Hopkins University; founder of Persuasion; host of The Good Fight; and the author, most recently, of The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time 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 we look at mis-speaks, mis-hearings, and mis-understandings, like malapropisms, mondegreens, eggcorns, and spoonerisms. We share our favorite examples and learn about what they can tell us about the English language and how our brains process language. And we celebrate the joy of playing with language. GUESTS:  Emily Brewster: Senior Editor and lexicographer at Merriam-Webster, and host of the Word Matters podcast Melissa Baese-Berk: Professor of language teaching studies and linguistics at the University of Oregon, where she is also director of the Speech Perception and Production Lab  Ben Zimmer: Linguist, lexicographer, and the Word on the Street columnist for The Wall Street Journal 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, Carolyn McCusker, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired March 29, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we look at why humans touch others with their lips (and often their tongues!). Join us as we overthink the simple act of kissing. GUESTS:  Marcel Danesi: Professor Emeritus of Linguistic Anthropology at The University of Toronto and author of The History of the Kiss! The Birth of Popular Culture Matthew Longcore: Director of Membership and Outreach for the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University and an Adjunct Faculty Member in Anthropology at the University of Connecticut Stamford Andréa Demirjian: Runs The Kissing Expertwebsite, Instagram feed, and Facebookpage. She’s the author of the book Kissing: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About One of Life’s Sweetest Pleasures 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, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Nose got a couple other cans, ya know, and came back and switched the labels and the cans around. The Long Goodbye is a satirical neo-noir mystery feature film adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s 1953 novel. It is the eighth feature directed by Robert Altman and the second-to-last screenplay by the science fiction writer Leigh Brackett (who also wrote The Empire Strikes Back and the 1946 version of The Big Sleep, among others). It stars Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe in 1970s Los Angeles. This year is The Long Goodbye’s 50th anniversary. Plus: A look at the value and the art of rewatching and rewatchability. Raquel Benedict’s endorsements: Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum Nocebo on Shudder Helder Mira’s endorsements: Hawkeye: L.A. Woman by Matt Fraction, Annie Wu, and Javier Pulido Jury Duty on Freevee Documentary Now! Season 4 on Netflix Gene Seymour’s endorsements: Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse by Ahmad Jamal Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story edited by Willard Jenkins Colin’s endorsement: The Battered Bastards of Baseball on Netflix Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Michael Gambon, Dumbledore in the ‘Harry Potter’ Films, Dies at 82 After he made his mark in London in the 1970s, he went on to play a wide range of roles, including Edward VII, Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill. Golden Globes Adds Two New Categories: Blockbuster Movies and Stand-Up Comics Enter the Race The Definitive Guide to All Things Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Whether you’re a football fan, a Swiftie, or both, this helpful glossary will tell you everything you need to know about the budding relationship between the Kansas City Chiefs tight end and the world’s biggest pop star Kelce-Swift Is a Dream Pairing for the N.F.L. The romance between the Chiefs tight end and the world’s biggest pop star represents an alliance with the only cultural force in America bigger than the league itself. MAGA Goes to War Against the Swifties! Now they’ve picked a fight with the wrong people. Lying in Comedy Isn’t Always Wrong, but Hasan Minhaj Crossed a Line The stand-up’s penchant for making up stories goes beyond embellishment. When real people and real stakes are involved, a different standard applies. Comedy Central Widens Search for ‘Daily Show’ Host Beyond Hasan Minhaj The Death of Netflix DVD Marks the Loss of Something Even Bigger It’s the end of an era—and not just for plastic discs. ‘Stop Making Sense’ Talks Up $800k Weekend, $1.4M Cume As 1984 Concert Film Draws Young Crowd The Office Reboot In The Works, Original US Showrunner Returning After years of speculation, a reboot of The Office is reportedly finally going to happen and the original US showrunner is attached to return. Inside Apple’s Plan to Change the Way We Watch Sports Longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue happens to be an enormous sports fan. And with Apple entering the wild west of broadcasting live sports, he’s ready to shake up the way we watch games on TV—with a little help from none other than Leo M GUESTS: Raquel Benedict: The most dangerous woman in speculative fiction and the host of the Rite Gud podcast Helder Mira: Multimedia producer at Trinity College and co-host of the So Pretentious podcast Gene Seymour: A “writer, professional spectator, pop-culture maven, and jazz geek” 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, Cat Pastor, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired May 19, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you daydream? What do you daydream about? This hour: the art of daydreaming. We reflect on the value of daydreaming and why it can be so difficult to talk about our daydreams. Plus, a look at what daydreaming does to our brains and at maladaptive daydreaming. GUESTS: Leslie Jamison: Novelist, essayist and professor at Columbia University’s MFA Program Jayne Rachel: An advocate for maladaptive daydreaming, who used to experience it Jonathan Schooler: Distinguished professor of psychological and brain sciences and director of The Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential at the University of California, Santa Barbara 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 March 15, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m so excited!!! The exclamation point is the only punctuation mark that can express (and evoke) strong emotion. You either love them or you hate them. Writers use the exclamation mark to express emotion that words can’t fully capture, politicians and advertisers can use it to manipulate and alarm, and authors and their editors often clash over its appropriate use. Our brains physically respond to the sight of it. This hour, a look at the history and culture of this most controversial mark. GUESTS: John Breunig: An editorial page editor with Hearst Connecticut Media Group Lan Samantha Chang: Director of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop Florence Hazrat: Author of An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark 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 Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired March 9, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you noticed that voice assistants like Alexa and Siri default to female voices? This hour, we talk about how artificial intelligence is reinforcing gender biases. Plus, a look at how representations of artificial intelligence in pop culture have contributed to this model. GUESTS: Kerry McInerney: Research fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and co-host of The Good Robot Podcast Deborah Tannen: Distinguished university professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and author of You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, among other books Lisa Yaszek: Regents professor of science fiction studies in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech 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 Lizzie Van Arnam contributed to this show, which originally aired March 6, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, the full measure of short stature, from personal health, professional discrimination, and environmental impact to Humphrey Bogart’s strap-on inch-adders. GUESTS: Arne Hendriks: Artist, researcher, and exhibition-maker based in Amsterdam who writes about height at The Incredible Shrinking Man William Mann: The author of Bogie & Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood’s Greatest Love Affair Tanya Osensky: A lawyer and the author of Shortchanged: Height Discrimination and Strategies for Social Change 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 Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired March 2, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose is off. In its stead: Country music dominated the charts for most of the summer. But the genre has also been the subject of controversy. This hour, we take stock of the state of country music. GUESTS:  Jason Lipshutz: Executive director of music at Billboard Amanda Marie Martinez: Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who is currently working on a book project titled The Industry Is Playing the People Cheap: Race and the Country Music Business from Nixon to 9/11 Chris Molanphy: Chart analyst and pop critic who writes about the intersection of culture and commerce in popular music; he is host of Slate’s Hit Parade podcast, writes Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, and he is author of the new book Old Town Road  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.