

The Colin McEnroe Show
Connecticut Public Radio
The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 26, 2023 • 50min
‘There is no substitute’: Tom Cruise’s impossible missions
It’s been more than a decade since Tom Cruise made a movie that did NOT make $100 million. The newest Mission: Impossible just opened at $235 million. And yet. Didn’t we all decide not to like Tom Cruise anymore a long time ago? This hour — in the fifth decade of his career, in the seventh (!) decade of his life, nearly two decades after Oprah’s couch — a look at the continued phenomenon that is Tom Cruise. GUESTS: Jim Chapdelaine: An Emmy-winning musician and a patient advocate for people with rare cancers Taneisha Duggan: Associate producer at Octopus Theatricals James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College Sam Hatch: Co-hosts The Culture Dogs on Sunday nights on WWUH Rich Hollant: Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Jacques Lamarre: A playwright and chief communications officer at Buzz Engine Ben Lindbergh: Senior editor at The Ringer Stephanie Merry: Book World editor for The Washington Post Bob Mondello: NPR’s senior arts critic Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Julia Rosenblatt: A playwright, director, actor, theater educator, and co-founder of HartBeat Ensemble Brian Slattery: Arts editor for the New Haven Independent Pedro Soto: President and CEO of Hygrade Precision Technologies 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, Eugene Amatruda, Cat Pastor, Catie Talarski, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, parts of which originally aired April 27, 2017; August 3, 2018; March 6, 2019; January 15, 2021; August 26, 2022; and September 30, 2022, in a different form.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 25, 2023 • 49min
Our second hour with Joyce Maynard
This hour, novelist Joyce Maynard joins us again 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 whose latest book is The Bird Hotel Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 24, 2023 • 49min
From therapy-speak to armchair psychology, conversations around mental health are changing
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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 21, 2023 • 49min
The Nose looks at ‘Showing Up’ and ‘The Whale’
This week’s Nose wants its own water working. Showing Up is the eighth feature film directed by Kelly Reichardt, and it’s Reichardt’s fourth collaboration with Michelle Williams. Williams plays a sculptor preparing to open a new show. Showing Up is a quintessential example of so-called “slow cinema.” And: The Whale is the eighth feature film directed by Darren Aronofsky. Brendan Fraser won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as “a reclusive English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.” GUESTS: Susan Clinard: Owner of Clinard Sculpture Studio in Hamden, Connecticut 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 20, 2023 • 49min
Don’t hit snooze on this show: Breaking down the history and norms of sleep
What if our ideas about how sleep should look are getting in the way of a good night's rest? This hour we talk about how we came to develop ideas of how, and how much, we should sleep. Plus, we'll compare how humans and animals sleep. And it turns out that some animals aren’t hibernating as well as they used to. GUESTS: Matthew Wolf-Meyer: Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. He is author of The Slumbering Masses: Sleep, Medicine, and Modern American Life, among other books Gandhi Yetish: Human evolutionary ecologist and anthropologist who studies sleep patterns among small-scale subsistence societies Cory Williams: Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Colorado State University Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 19, 2023 • 49min
We take your calls
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 spongy moths, white baseball caps, Hiram Bingham, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 … 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, 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 Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 18, 2023 • 50min
The art of the recipe: Gravestones, fictional worlds, and cookbooks (of course)
This hour: recipes. We talk with someone who makes recipes found on gravestones, and we consider what makes an effective recipe, the history of the modern recipe, and the art of the recipe introduction. Plus, a look at the phenomenon of pop culture cookbooks. GUESTS: Dinah Bucholz: Author of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook and The Unofficial Narnia Cookbook Rosie Grant: Posts gravestone recipes and cemetery stories on her TikTok and Instagram Francis Lam: Host of The Splendid Table and vice president and editor-in-chief at Clarkson Potter Chandra Ram: Cookbook author, food writer, and associate editorial director of food for Food & Wine Helen Zoe Veit: Associate professor of history at Michigan State 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, Eugene Amatruda, and Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show, which originally aired November 22, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 17, 2023 • 49min
The new normal of UFOs, UAPs, and the search for extraterrestrial life
This hour we get an update on the latest in the American conversation about the search for extraterrestrial life. This includes a conversation with journalist Leslie Kean, a check-in with the director of MUFON CT, and a discussion with astrophysicist Adam Frank about what we miss in space when we're focused on the objects we find here on earth.GUESTS: Leslie Kean: Investigative journalist and author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record Michael Panicello: State Director of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Connecticut Chapter Adam Frank: The Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Rochester. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Little Book of Aliens Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 14, 2023 • 49min
The Nose looks at the SAG strike, the Emmy noms, and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has joined the Writers Guild of America on strike. It’s the first SAG strike since 1980 (which strike was largely about the oncoming home video boom). And it’s the first dual actors-writers strike since 1960 (when Ronald Reagan was president of SAG and the strike was mostly about residuals for movies licensed to television). Also: The Emmy nominations are out. And: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the 32nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second movie (of an expected seven) in the MCU’s Phase Five. It is written and directed by James Gunn, who has written and directed all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and who was fired and rehired during preproduction of Vol. 3 in 2018. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the second-highest grossing movie of 2023 so far. Taneisha Duggan’s endorsement: Liturgy|Order|Bridge at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford Helder Mira’s endorsements: Secret Invasion on Disney+ Connecticut’s state parks Bill Yousman’s endorsements: The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy by Siva Vaidhyanathan Colin’s endorsements: The Town with Matthew Belloni The Watch the audiobook of Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane, as narrated by Robin Miles the audiobook of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, as narrated by Charlie Thurston Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: We Had Relationship Therapists React To The Alleged Jonah Hill Texts To His Ex-Girlfriend, Sarah Brady “[It’s] not simply like, ‘This is a thing that I feel,’ but ‘This is the thing that I feel plus therapy has condoned this way of feeling.’” The Twitter Watch Party Is Over Ten years after “Sharknado” spun Twitter and TV together, the online water cooler is running dry. Kristen Bell Shared A Photo Of Her Friends Eating Dinner, And It’s The Most Intense Guest List Ever Thanks for the invite. Ryan Murphy Muse David Corenswet Is Superman Wait, Was Napoleon Hot? Ridley Scott’s new biopic certainly makes it seem like he was. How to Write Music for Rolling Boulders Harrison Ford and the Ravages of Time Go Inside Stephen Sondheim’s $7M Manhattan Townhouse The East Midtown home features a music studio on the second floor with a “music library, wood-burning fireplace and baby grand piano.” How Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon Straightened Out ‘Full Circle’ Their new crime thriller for Max is loaded with twists and layers. But it is actually much simpler than what they originally conceived. Federal Reserve credits Taylor Swift with boosting hotel revenues through her blockbuster Eras Tour “Taylor Swift is a force to be reckoned with,” one local tourism official said, as the pop superstar draws legions of fans nationwide. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan: Associate producer at Octopus Theatricals Helder Mira: Multimedia producer at Trinity College and co-host of the So Pretentious podcast 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jul 13, 2023 • 49min
Finding humanity in humanism
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. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


