The Colin McEnroe Show

Nobody ever died of a broken heart, right? Not true. A condition known as broken heart syndrome can be brought on by a sudden shock, such as grief from the death of a loved one or a divorce. You may not die of a broken heart, but it can alter your biology in ways that can increase your risk for disease. The good news is that it can be reversed if you can begin to mend your heart. Also this hour: We talk about how our language changes in the months leading up to a breakup — before either partner consciously realizes what’s happening — and why we’re so drawn to sad songs, particularly torch songs, when our hearts are breaking. GUESTS: Noah Baerman: A jazz pianist, composer, and educator Kate Blackburn: A data analyst at TikTok Sarah Seraj: Chief technology officer at A Better Force Florence Williams: A science writer and the author of Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey 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, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired February 24, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Nose is sittin’ here, moping, pigeon feeding. It’s the generational divide that’s been tearing the nation asunder for as long as we can remember: Should you use a top sheet or not? [Ed. note: You obviously should not. What is this, the 19th century?] And: The Sandman is a Netflix series adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic book written by Neil Gaiman. Ten episodes dropped on August 5 and racked up 127.5 million hours of viewing in their first week of release, making The Sandman the most-watched show on Netflix. A surprise 11th episode was released early this morning. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Wolfgang Petersen, ‘Air Force One,’ ‘Das Boot’ Director, Dies at 81 That’s It. You’re Dead to Me. Suddenly everyone is “toxic.” You Do Not Want to Be on Brad Pitt’s “Shit List” According to his Bullet Train costar Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the Oscar winner has a “shit list” of actors he won’t work with. The 15 Best Episodes Of NewsRadio, Ranked The 100 Best Movies of the ’90s ’90s Week: From “Close-Up” to “Clueless,” and from “The Thin Red Line” to “Perfect Blue,” these timeless movies prove that the ’90s never went away. The most-regretted baby names, and more! Seth Meyers Finally Got the Top Late-Night Emmy Nomination—Only After Breaking All the Rules of the Format The host of NBC’s Late Night looks back at how the pandemic changed his show, from turning the writing staff into recurring characters to ditching the suit forever. HBO/HBO Max Laying Off 70 Staffers as It Shuts Down Streamer’s Reality Unit and Restructures Other Departments Top 50 Ben Affleck Moments Congrats on the big 5–0, Benny! Academy Awards apologises to Sacheen Littlefeather for Oscars speech moment Nearly 50 years after speech on behalf of Marlon Brando about depiction of Native Americans, Academy apologises for ‘unwarranted’ abuse she endured An Essay About Watching Brad Pitt Eat That Is Really About My Own Shit The 15 Best Laura Dern Movies, Ranked Lee Pace’s Body of Work The Bodies Bodies Bodies star has become the object of the Internet’s affection. He’d rather be working on his house. Willie Nelson’s Long Encore As he approaches 90, even brushes with death can’t keep him off the road — or dim a late-life creative burst. Addison Rae’s Dad Wants To Box The 26-Year-Old Rapper Hitting On Her Mom, And Honestly, I Can’t “You’ve got one of the most successful daughters in the world and you decide to act half her age to try to get some attention.” The Door Opened by “Gangnam Style” The global hit primed Western audiences for films and shows about South Korea as a dystopia. Why Serena Williams Has the Greatest Career in Sports History The 37-time Grand Slam champion’s accomplishments dwarf those of Tom Brady and LeBron James because of what she had to overcome. The Psychology of Cringe Comedy: Why We Love to Watch What Hurts Us From ‘Da Ali G Show’ to viral TikTok videos, cringe comedy persists within pop culture. And oftentimes, the genre’s appeal is as much about the way we perceive ourselves as the comics we watch performing it. The Powerful, Unlikely Force Shaping Modern TV In a Hollywood-worthy plot twist, television writers are embracing fan theorists who try to “solve” their shows. Desus & Mero Brought the Block to Late-Night TV The show’s cancellation is a loss not only for the duo’s avid fans but for television as a whole. All 13 Marx Brothers Comedies in the Order You Should Watch Them N.B.A. Won’t Play on Election Day, in Hopes of Encouraging Voting Do spiders sleep? Study suggests they may snooze like humans GUESTS: Helder Mira: Multimedia producer at Trinity College and co-host of the So Pretentious podcast Cat Pastor: Assistant radio operations manager at Connecticut Public 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, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a recent Quinnipiac poll, people were asked the most urgent issue facing the country. COVID-19 came in dead last among 13 options. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just relaxed its guidelines. Again. But more than 400 Americans are dying each day, and the long Omicron surge continues. There’s still a pandemic going on. This hour, we look at what’s going on with the pandemic. GUESTS: Rachel Gutman-Wei: Senior associate editor at The Atlantic Jonathan McNicol: The producer of this very episode of this very show Saad Omer: Professor of medicine and the epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale and director of the Yale Institute for Global Health Julia Pistell: A freelance producer on The Colin McEnroe Show, among a number of other things Catie Talarski: Senior director of storytelling and radio programming at Connecticut Public Ulysses Wu: System director of infectious diseases and chief epidemiologist at Hartford HealthCare 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, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chances are you’ve used an index at the back of a book. But how much thought have you given to their creation, their function, their history? This hour: more than you ever thought to wonder about the role of indexes in our world. Plus, we get mixed up in the world of cookbook indexes. GUESTS: Paula Clarke Bain: Professional indexer Dennis Duncan: Author of Index, A History of The: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age Elizabeth Parson: Professional indexer 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, Eugene Amatruda, and Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show, which originally aired March 2, 2022.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 mountain lions, punctuation and pronunciation and grammar, the death of David McCullough, the big (“big”) digital vs. analog controversy swirling around Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, and Homo sapiens and their dogs. 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! Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes something tacky? This hour, a celebration of all things tacky. Plus, a look at why reality TV is sometimes tacky and at the tackiest home décor. GUESTS: Rax King: Author of Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer and co-host of the podcast Low Culture Boil Jacques Lamarre: A playwright and the director of client services at Buzz Engine Brian Moylan: A writer and reality TV show recapper and the author of The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives Cat Pastor: Assistant radio operations manager at Connecticut Public Peter York: A journalist and the author of Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World’s Most Colorful Despots 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, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired February 23, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Nose got the walls wet and on fire. We present here a podcast-only segment on I Am Groot, Marvel’s new Disney+ series of shorts (each episode is three minutes long plus credits and logos) following the adventures of Baby Groot during the period between Guardians of the Galaxy and a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 mid-credits sequence. (I’m not making this up, I swear.) I’d explain why we’re doing this special segment, but the reason is very, very dumb. Also, Colin explains it during the segment. Not that it’ll really make sense once he does. GUESTS: Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast Irene Papoulis: Teaches writing at Trinity College 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.

This week’s Nose got the walls wet and on fire. The producers of an upcoming biopic about Fidel Castro’s exiled daughter, Alina of Cuba, reportedly did extensive heraldry and skull-shape analysis and somehow came to the conclusion that … James Franco should play Castro. The internet doesn’t think that’s a good idea. (Also: It’s not.) And: The Rehearsal is Nathan Fielder’s new HBO docu-comedy series. The show “explores the lengths one man will go to reduce the uncertainties of everyday life. With a construction crew, a legion of actors, and seemingly unlimited resources, Fielder allows ordinary people to prepare for life’s biggest moments by ‘rehearsing’ them in carefully crafted simulations of his own design.” And finally, a podcast-only segment on I Am Groot, Marvel’s new Disney+ series of shorts (each episode is three minutes long plus credits and logos) following the adventures of Baby Groot during the period between Guardians of the Galaxy and a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 mid-credits sequence. (I’m not making this up, I swear.) I’d explain why we’re doing this special segment, but the reason is very, very dumb. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Olivia Newton-John, pop singer and ‘Grease’ star, dies at 73 The sugary-sweet performer with a string of No. 1 hits was also an advocate for cancer research Olivia Newton-John: That Headband Was a Crown When the singer smudged her classy image, she “unlocked something new that shot her to the top of pop’s Olympus,” our critic writes: “The vestal vamp.” David McCullough, Best-Selling Explorer of America’s Past, Dies at 89 His research — on Adams, Truman and so much more — was deep, his writing was lively, and his narrator’s voice in documentary films was familiar to millions. Gene LeBell Dies: Stuntman, Actor And Wrestling Legend Who Fought Bruce Lee & Chuck Norris Onscreen Was 89 Serena Williams Says Farewell to Tennis On Her Own Terms—And In Her Own Words Bill Russell’s No. 6 to be retired across NBA following legend’s death last month Why’d That Movie Disappear? Welcome to Streaming’s Memory Hole Era If ‘American Pickle’ doesn’t exist on HBO Max now, did it ever? Or: A new generation realizes that an endless stream of film titles can easily vanish into the online ether. The Great HBO Freak-out of 2022 Was Unwarranted, but Understandable In light of what happened at Warner Bros. Discovery’s earnings call, some of the rumors that flew ahead of the event look borderline histrionic—but consumers had good reason to fear for the worst Disney Now Has More Streaming Subscribers Than Netflix, But Makes Less Money From Them The End of Manual Transmission Stick shifts are dying. When they go, something bigger than driving will be lost. Taylor Swift files in Shake It Off copyright lawsuit: ‘The lyrics were written entirely by me’ Singer had been sued by writers of 3LW’s 2000 song Playas Gon’ Play for alleged plagiarism, and the case is due to return to court How Catholicism became a meme One of the world’s most powerful religions is now an alt status symbol. As Spider-Man turns 60, fans reflect on diverse appeal Tinder’s Fatphobia Problem Mike Judge’s Secret Art of Satire Judge has created some of the sharpest, most prophetic comedies of the past few decades. Now his first hit, “Beavis and Butt-Head,” is back on the air. Cat lovers can try cat-food inspired dishes at Fancy Feast’s Italian pop-up Reviews, reappraised — Simran Hans on the rise of the critic-influencers GUESTS: Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast Irene Papoulis: Teaches writing at Trinity College 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.

How do you like to relax? Do you read a book? Go for a hike, maybe? How about grabbing dinner with friends? The list goes on, and we consider these activities leisure. This hour, we learn what leisure is and how to master it. We take a look at the importance of leisure for health, how the concept differs around the world, and what it means to value your free time. Finally, we examine what the future holds for leisure. In case you find some inspiration in this hour, here’s a list of leisure activities from our guests and The Colin McEnroe Show staff: Gardening. Finishing that old show you’ve been meaning to finish. Drawing yourself. Counting clouds. Staring at the wall. Laying down. Playing the closest instrument. Going bug collecting. Trying your hand at claymation. Trying to get the hiccups. Buying clay pigeons (biodegradable) and smashing them. Exploring the forest behind your home. Throwing rocks into the mysterious well you find in the forest. Summoning (accidentally) an eons-old forest spirit. Visiting a national park. GUESTS: Tom Hodgkinson: Founder of Idler magazine and the author a number of books, including How to Be Idle: A Loafer’s Manifesto and An Idler’s Manual Selin Malkoc: Behavioral scientist at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University Ken Roberts: Professor of sociology, social policy, and criminology at The University of Liverpool Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In her book Sandy Hook, Elizabeth Williamson investigates the conspiracy theories that arose following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut. GUEST: Elizabeth Williamson: Author of Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth 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, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired April 18, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.