The Colin McEnroe Show

The humble tambourine is the underrated, understated, unsung hero of contemporary music. This hour we shake our assumptions about this surprisingly enduring and ubiquitous instrument. GUESTS: Erin Elstner: Percussionist and Professor of Percussion at Webster University Ira Elliot: Percussionist best known as the drummer for the band Nada Surf Tim Kubart: Musician, songwriter, and performer known world-wide as “The Tambourine Guy” for his performances with Postmodern Jukebox Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we investigate the ways in which words change when they enter our discourse and how they acquire new meanings, or sometimes even lose their meanings. We look at specific examples, discuss how the internet is influencing language, and learn about how dictionaries interact with the evolving nature of words. GUESTS: Sylvia Sierra: A linguist and the author of Millennials Talking Media: Creating Intertextual Identities in Everyday Conversation Peter Sokolowski: Editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster and co-host of the Word Matters podcast Kory Stamper: A lexicographer and the author of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries 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! 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.

It’s the end of an era. Apple announced this week that it has ended production of the last iPod-only device it was still making, the iPod Touch. Apple debuted the original iPod in October, 2001, and has sold an estimated 450 million iPods since. Existing stock of the iPod Touch is available while supplies last. And: The Staircase is an HBO Max miniseries based on the 2004 French docuseries of the same name and the true story it tells. Colin Firth plays Michael Peterson, a man accused of murdering his wife. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: George Pérez, Who Gave New Life to Wonder Woman, Dies at 67 Working for both Marvel and DC, he created comic book series that brought superheroes together, and was co-creator of The New Teen Titans. Ric Parnell, Real Drummer in a Famous Fake Band, Dies at 70 The central characters in the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” were comic actors, but Mr. Parnell was an actual professional musician. In Conversation: John C. Reilly The actor thinks audiences just want to be surprised. He’d do (almost) anything to oblige. Fred Savage is fired from ‘The Wonder Years’ over allegations of misconduct ‘Sex Education’ actor Ncuti Gatwa will be the first Black lead in ‘Doctor Who’ ‘A Strange Loop’ earns a leading 11 Tony Award nominations Warhol’s ‘Marilyn,’ at $195 Million, Shatters Auction Record for an American Artist At Christie’s sale for charity, the glamorous silk-screen beat out Basquiat’s skull painting that had set a record in 2017. Elizabeth Olsen: ‘Throwing Marvel under the bus takes away from the talented crew’ The reluctant star is returning as the witchy Wanda in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. She talks to Jacob Stolworthy about superhero film flak, her famous sisters’ advice, and why she rarely watches herself on screen Marty Friedman on why streaming listeners are skipping guitar solos: “Solos often have an obligatory existence – they must be there for a deeper reason” The former Megadeth man says guitar solos are often included to meet a quota, rather than because the song actually requires one FIFA and EA Sports End Decades-Long Video Game Partnership The demise of a relationship that produced one of the most popular games of all time will mean risks for soccer’s governing body but few changes for consumers. “Succession” actor James Cromwell super-glued himself to a Starbucks counter as part of PETA’s vegan milk protest The PG-13 Rating Has Become Meaningless Marcelo dropped from Lyon first team for “farting and laughing” in dressing room - sources I Toot, Therefore I Am A new philosophy paper attempts to answer a crucial question: What makes a fart a fart? Bad Special Effects Are A Choice Percy Jackson creator Rick Riordan rips complaints about casting the TV series The Strange Afterlife of George Carlin Nearly 14 years after his death, his provocative humor has been embraced by people across the political spectrum. What happens when comedy outlasts the era it was made for? New York Times Changes Today’s Wordle #324 Answer Amid Abortion Controversy What might reverse late-night TV’s decline? “If someone’s already watching something on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, why would they set their DVRs for 1:30 a.m.?” Traipsing Through the Vaster Wasteland On Netflix, HBO Max, and thirst in the desert. Christopher Walken To Play The Emperor In Dune 2 Disney Copyrights Targeted in Bill Proposed by Sen. Josh Hawley The company would lose its copyright to the original design of Mickey Mouse if the law is passed. This Is Spinal Tap sequel confirmed for 2024 with original cast Double ’Tap! Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls are set to return to cinema screens for one final show GUESTS: Raquel Benedict: Claims to be the most dangerous woman in speculative fiction, and she’s the host of the Rite Gud podcast Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer, and she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance 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, Stitcher, 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.

Phone ringtones went from uniform, to a million dollar industry, to the unconscious soundtrack of our lives. They’re pieces of music that are designed to get you to react. They’re sounds that often carry emotions and memories with them. But we don’t often give them much thought. This hour, the art of the ringtone. We look back at their history, investigate their rise and fall, discuss the appeal of a well-composed one, and talk to someone who designed his own. Warning: This show contains the default iPhone alarm tone. GUESTS: Sumanth Gopinath: Associate professor of music theory at the University of Minnesota and the author of The Ringtone Dialectic: Economy and Cultural Form Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn Paula Matthusen: Composer and a professor of music at Wesleyan University Steve Metcalf: Founder and director of the Garmany Concert Series at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School Ernie Smith: Editor of Tedium and a contributor to Vice’s Motherboard Brian Slattery: Arts editor for the New Haven Independent and a producer at WNHH radio 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! Colin McEnroe, Gene Amatruda, Cat Pastor, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Occam’s razor states that “entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.” This hour is all about Occam’s razor: where the principle came from, how it impacts science, its role in medicine, and how it shapes our daily lives. GUESTS: Kurt Andersen: Co-founder of Spy magazine, the host and co-creator of Studio 360, and the author of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire — A 500-Year History Johnjoe McFadden: Author of Life Is Simple: How Occam’s Razor Set Science Free and Shapes the Universe Lisa Sanders: Clinician educator in the Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Program at the Yale School of Medicine and the author of the Diagnosis column for The New York Times Magazine 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! Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired November 17, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour we look back at the history of the Supreme Court and the rules surrounding it. Plus, we discuss how the Supreme Court shares information with the public, and we talk about ideas for reforming the Court. GUESTS: Akhil Reed Amar: Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, and author of The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840, among other books. David Folkenflik: NPR’s media correspondent. Emily Bazelon: Lecturer in Law, Senior Research Scholar in Law, and a Truman Capote Fellow at Yale Law School, a staff writer at the New York Times Magazine, and a co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest.  Tara Leigh Grove: Professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, who was a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve been doing these shows a lot of weeks where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. We don’t even, anymore, start with the suggestion of a topic that your calls might, potentially, be about. We’ve had fun with these shows, and you seem to like them too. So we’re doing that again. In other words: Give us a call during the 1 p.m. EDT hour about anything at all. 888-720-9677.‌ Or 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!Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Nose is short. $6,950. But it is not, it’s not a problem. Our original plan for this week was to look at the final seasons of Better Call Saul and Ozark. But it turns out that, among our full stable of nostrils — this is a group of more than 20 people who are, by definition, dialed into the mass market popular culture, mind you — there’s not a single person who watches both shows. In discovering that, we got to thinking about how it just isn’t possible to keep up with all the TV there is anymore. How, in fact, it just isn’t possible to keep up with all of anything anymore. And how, even with the things that you specifically try to keep up with, by the time the new bits come out, you’ve forgotten all the details about the old bits. So The Nose gets into some or all of that. And then we do look at the final season, the final part of the final season, “Season Four, Part Two” of Ozark. This bit almost certainly, almost necessarily gets spoilery. If you’re worried about that sort of thing, you might want to duck out at the first break. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Neal Adams, Comic Book Artist Who Revitalized Batman and Fought for Creators’ Rights, Dies at 80 He influenced multiple generations with his style and co-created such characters as Ra’s al Ghul, the Man-Bat and one of DC’s first Black superheroes, Green Lantern John Stewart. Naomi Judd, country music matriarch of The Judds, is dead at 76 Ron Galella, Celebrity-Hounding Photographer, Dies at 91 He personified the paparazzi — brazen and relentless in chasing the famous, particularly Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. But his pictures also came to be admired. Dave Chappelle was physically attacked in the middle of his performance in LA Dave Chappelle Issues Statement On Attack, Refuses “To Allow Last Night’s Incident To Overshadow The Magic” Of The Moment Sneakers, elastic pants: People alter office wear amid COVID The Office Beckons. Time for Your Sharpest ‘Power Casual.’ Work wear reflects how people feel about their jobs and the economy as a whole. So it makes sense that dressing for the office is all over the place. A24’s ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Hits Impressive Box Office Milestone Fast 10 Reportedly Costs Over $300 Million, With The Largest Chunk Spent On Actor Salaries The Controversy Brewing on Elon Musk’s Wikipedia Page Amber Heard accuses Johnny Depp of physical abuse on her first day of testimony The Assassination of Amber Heard SPACE NUDES: NASA to launch naked pictures of humans to space in hope of ‘attracting aliens’ A New Wave of Shows Cares About a Group of Women the Rest of TV Has Ignored Sure, their characters are privileged, but they’re also dealing with unsteady marriages, ambition, and family. Golden-Con Threw a Party, Invited Every ‘Golden Girls’ Fan It Knew Thousands gathered in Chicago to celebrate the beloved sitcom, whose fan base has only expanded since its original run and made the Girls into L.G.B.T.Q. icons. The Pandemic Reminded Us That Most Women Still Don’t Have a Room of Their Own The past two years have shown us that we need to open our eyes to the biases built into our homes. A former Gap employee embarks on a quest to collect every in-store playlist It’s time for a non-white host of ‘The Late Late Show’. Here’s our critic’s shortlist The Biggest Challenge for ‘Jeopardy!’ Super Champions? Talking About Themselves. Mattea Roach is the latest ‘Jeopardy!’ champ to rattle off a long and impressive winning streak. But her success has an unintended side effect: She’s running out of personal fun facts to share after the first commercial break. Attention Girls, Gays, And Theys: Taylor Swift Is Dropping “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” Tonight!!!!! I guess 1989 is coming?!?!?!??! ‘Quantum Leap’ Reboot Picked Up To Series By NBC GUESTS: Rebecca Castellani: Co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications and a freelance writer Jacques Lamarre: A playwright and the director of client services at Buzz Engine Brian Slattery: Arts editor for the New Haven Independent and a producer at WNHH radio Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has hired an advisor to review the agency. This comes as the CDC faces scrutiny for its pandemic response and communications. This hour, we ask what the CDC should, and could, look like into the future. GUESTS: Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo: The inaugural Director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown School of Public Health, and a Professor of Epidemiology. Dr. Saad Omer: Professor of Medicine and the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale University, where he is also Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. Dr. Jennifer Bacani McKenney: A family physician, based in Kansas, who is also the Wilson County and Fredonia City Health Officer.  Lori Freeman: Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Note: This episode contains strong language and a number of things intended to be in bad taste. This hour, we shoot the, er, breeze with John Waters, the filmmaker, author, and artist whose œuvre of campy, raunchy films ranges from the cult classics Pink Flamingos and Polyester to the musicals Hairspray and Cry-Baby. On the occasion of his first novel, the “feel-bad romance” Liarmouth, we talk to Waters about everything from testicle tanning and teabagging to Baltimore and becoming a legend. Be there or be square. Note also: This show is about as spoilery as we get. We use audio of the very last lines of Waters’ Pink Flamingos. And the ending of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is just utterly revealed. (Colin will warn you when that one’s coming.) Now, neither of these movies is terribly recent — I mean, one of them is 50 years old — but it seems like we should mention it anyway. Please don’t send us angry emails. About the spoilers, at least. GUEST: John Waters: Writer, director, and actor; his first novel is Liarmouth … A Feel-Bad Romance 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! Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, Dylan Reyes, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.