The Colin McEnroe Show

What counts as a robot? This hour, a look at what robots are and the latest in robot technology. Plus, how robots were used and thought about in medieval times and Ancient Greece and the role of robots in science fiction. GUESTS: Chris Atkeson: Professor at the Robotics Institute and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University Adrienne Mayor: Author of Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines and Ancient Dreams of Technology, among other books Elly Truitt: Author of Medieval Robots: Mechanism, Magic, Nature, and Art Daniel H. Wilson: Author of Robopocalypse, Robogenesis, and other novels; his latest is The Andromeda Evolution 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recent scientific discoveries have shown just how much we’ve previously underestimated Neanderthals. It turns out that their lives were very similar to those of our ancestors. This hour, a look at Neanderthals and at why humans have dismissed them for decades. GUESTS: Ella Al-Shamahi: A National Geographic Explorer, TV presenter, palaeo-anthropologist, evolutionary biologist, and standup comic Claire Cameron: Author of The Last Neanderthal, among other books Anna Goldfield: An archeologist and the host of the podcast The Dirt Bruce Hardy: Professor of anthropology at Kenyon 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired January 5, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Nose wants Sollozzo. If not, it’s all out war. James Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for playing Sonny in The Godfather. Early in his career, he worked with Billy Wilder and Howard Hawks and Olivia de Havilland, and he went on to star in movies like Brian’s Song, The Gambler, Freebie and the Bean, Funny Lady, Rollerball, Thief, Misery, and Elf. Caan died on Wednesday. He was 82. And: The Old Man is a spy thiller series on FX based on the 2017 novel by Thomas Perry. It stars Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Alia Shawkat, and Amy Brenneman. Five of its seven first season episodes have aired, and it has been renewed for a second season. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Joe Turkel, the Bartender in ‘The Shining,’ Dies at 94 Stanley Kubrick also employed him for ‘The Killing’ and ‘Paths of Glory,’ and he was unforgettable as the god-like Tyrell in ‘Blade Runner.’ Bette Midler Faces Backlash for Claiming Trans-Inclusive Language “Erases” Women The actor complained about women being “stripped of our name” due to the use of terms like “menstruators” and “people with vaginas.” Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter defends trans women and says to “focus on the real war on women” “I cannot think of anything that helps women’s rights less than pinning the blame on trans women,” tweeted the actor Happy Birthday Tom: A Tom Cruise Reading List Tom Cruise is about to turn 60 — time for a look back at the life of a master maverick. Brad Pitt Opens Up His Dream World We know him as a legendary leading man, a Hollywood power broker, maybe the greatest heartthrob of all time. But Brad Pitt isn’t attached to any of those old conceptions. And, as Ottessa Moshfegh discovers, his ambitions for the rest of his life are more mystical than we ever could have imagined. James Cameron Tells Off ‘Avatar’ Haters, Defends Three-Hour ‘Avatar 2’ Runtime: ‘Get Up and Go Pee’ What Is #Gentleminions? Why Teens Are Wearing Suits to Minions: The Rise of Gru Credit Tiktok for inspiring young men everywhere to go semi-formal at movie theaters last weekend. When Spider-Man Teamed Up With Planned Parenthood to Stop a Forced Pregnancy Alien The 1976 special issue, “The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Prodigy,” sought to teach teens about safe sex and contraception in order to curb the country’s teen-pregnancy problem. People bank blood. Why not faeces? Storing your stools when you are young may help you later in life Jessica Jones Has A New (Old) Title On Disney+ Nathan Fielder Is Out of His Mind (and Inside Yours) The comedian’s new show, The Rehearsal, is his grandest experiment yet. Wimbledon’s all-white clothing bothers some, delights others Rubber ducky watches that don’t tell time clock in TikTok views Outdoor Tennis Could Be Sports’ First Big Climate Change Casualty Fields Medals in Mathematics Won by Four Under Age 40 The prize has gone to a woman for the second time in its history. One recipient didn’t start working on complex math problems until he was 23. NBA 2K23 cover star Diana Taurasi on the legacy of 2K covers “How Would You Like a Lap Dance?”: The Oral History of ‘Magic Mike’ Ten years ago, Channing Tatum turned his past as a male stripper into movie gold with the help of Steven Soderbergh—and tapped into a thirst in a way Hollywood never had before No, Armie Hammer Isn’t Working as a Hotel Concierge in the Caymans Jeff Sagansky Says New Streaming Business Model “Has To Be Relegated To The Dust Bin” Now How Does a Hulk Smash? A close look at the sex lives of She-Hulks and He-Hulks. The Octopus Dreams of Crabs What do we know about how animals think, see, and feel? And should that change how we treat them? ‘I Don’t Know How My Show Is Doing’ Streamers run on data, but that doesn’t mean they’re sharing it with showrunners. We’ve Never Seen Mars Quite Like This The planet is looking extra sharp in photo dispatches from NASA’s newest rover. Light & Magic Trailer: This Disney+ Series Shows How Industrial Light & Magic Changed Movies Forever “Atari Was Very, Very Hard” Nolan Bushnell on Atari, 50 Years Later Goodbye to ‘Joe Pera Talks With You,’ the Sweetest Show on TV The Adult Swim series “Joe Pera Talks With You” was a salve for its devoted fans. Now that it’s been canceled after three seasons, one such fan remembers what made it so special. GUESTS: Rich Hollant: Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Irene Papoulis: Teaches writing at Trinity College Tracy Wu Fastenberg: Development officer at Connecticut Children’s 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 hour we look at the landscape of monuments across the United States and explore how new monuments are created and how old ones are decommissioned. Plus, we discuss what a COVID-19 memorial could look like and represent. GUESTS:  Sue Mobley: Director of research at Monument Lab Erin Thompson: Professor of art crime at John Jay College and the author of Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America’s Public Monuments  Kristin Urquiza: Co-founder and chief activist of Marked By COVID 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.

The hearings put on by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol have been produced and presented less like congressional hearings and more like an episodic HBO docuseries, with committee members — mostly Republican Rep. Liz Cheney — as the narrators, with witness testimony as the expert talking heads, with footage of depositions and speeches and the January 6 riot itself as the documentary actualities. The hearings have been compared to true-crime podcasts, the true-scandal limited series, and prime-time news specials. This hour, we look at the hearings as television. GUESTS: James Poniewozik: Chief television critic for The New York Times and the author of Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America Frank Rich: Writer-at-large for New York magazine and executive producer of HBO’s Succession 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.

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 the Jorō spider, the now-retired fartrepreneur, the last linotype newspaper, a poetry recitation. Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be 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.

This week’s Nose is more just like a regular, chill-archy. The Bear is a new half-hour foodie dramedy series from FX and Hulu. Here’s some of FX’s synopsis: “The Bear follows Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto, a young chef from the fine dining world, who comes home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop — The Original Beef of Chicagoland — after a heartbreaking death in his family. A world away from what he’s used to, Carmy must balance the soul-crushing realities of small business ownership, his strong-willed and recalcitrant kitchen staff and his strained familial relationships, all while grappling with the impact of his brother’s suicide. As Carmy fights to transform both The Original Beef of Chicagoland and himself, he works alongside a rough-around-the-edges kitchen crew that ultimately reveal themselves as his chosen family.” And: Kim’s Convenience is a half-hour sitcom that aired on the CBC for five seasons, from 2016 until last year. It depicts a Korean-Canadian family, the Kims, who run a convenience store in the Moss Park neighborhood of Toronto. Kim’s Convenience is based on Ins Choi’s 2011 stage play, which runs this month at Westport Country Playhouse. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: When Lil Nas X calls out BET, it means something The Golden Age of the Aging Actor Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ isn’t the exception—he’s the rule. There’s long been anecdotal evidence that top-line actors and actresses are getting older. Now, The Ringer has the data to back it up. Taco Bell’s newest food uses an oversized Cheez-It No, RadioShack’s Twitter wasn’t hacked. It sells cryptocurrency now. Internet marketer Tai Lopez bought RadioShack. This is the (edgelord) result. ‘No Aliens, No Spaceships, No Invasion of Earth’ An oral history of Contact, the sci-fi movie that defied Hollywood norms and made it big anyway. After DJ Layoffs, a Radio Station Has Been Playing Rage Against the Machine Over and Over and Over Vancouver’s KISS-FM has “Killing in the Name” on repeat after radio hosts were laid off on Tuesday ‘Mystery rocket’ that crashed into the Moon baffles NASA scientists So far, no space exploring nations have claimed responsibility for the rocket. The Confessions of a Conscious Rap Fan A personal essay that traces the complicated legacy of conscious rap, from the era’s turn-of-the-century heyday to new albums by Kendrick Lamar and Black Star. Why the new PBS Kids logo got rid of the kid An exciting new logo for PBS Kids expands the network’s take on inclusivity, but the channel mascot Dash disappears from the limelight. GUESTS: Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Pedro Soto: President and CEO of Hygrade Precision Technologies 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.

The concept of the hero’s journey was popularized by Joseph Campbell and outlined in his 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell based the hero’s journey framework off of myths from around the world. Since then, the idea of the hero’s journey has been used in popular books and movies from Star Wars through Harry Potter to The Hunger Games and beyond. But, despite its popularity, Campbell’s hero’s journey framework has faced a number of criticisms, including that he left women out of the story. Maria Tatar’s new book, The Heroine with 1,001 Faces, changes that. This hour, a look at the impact of the hero’s journey — and at its limitations. GUESTS: Jeff Garvin: Co-host of the The Hero’s Journey podcast Lev Grossman: Author of the Magicians trilogy; his newest book is The Golden Swift Maria Tatar: Author of The Heroine with 1,001 Faces 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Punk rock’s been around for a good half a century, but we’ve never devoted a show to it. This hour, a deep dive into punk’s past and present. GUESTS:  Legs McNeil: Co-founder of PUNK Magazine and co-author of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Kelefa Sanneh: Author of Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres and a staff writer at The New Yorker Amy Wappel and Ben Social: Formed the Connecticut-based punk band Sadplant in 2007 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 Lily Tyson contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should people use the Oxford comma? Is there a correct number of exclamation points per email? If someone ends a casual text with a period, does that mean they’re mad at you? This hour: punctuation and how we use it. We talk about the history of punctuation marks, timeless punctuation debates, and how writing for texts and emails has changed the way we use punctuation. GUESTS: Raquel Benedict: Claims to be the most dangerous woman in speculative fiction; she’s the host of the Rite Gud podcast Claire Cock-Starkey: Author of Hyphens and Hashtags: The Stories Behind The Symbols On Our Keyboard Julia Pistell: Founding member of Sea Tea Improv, one of the hosts of the Literary Disco podcast, and a producer freelancing with us 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 November 3, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.