1,804 episodes
The Colin McEnroe Show Connecticut Public
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- Society & Culture
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4.5 • 180 Ratings
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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.
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The Nose looks at ‘Baby Reindeer’ and our (maybe) era of mid TV
Baby Reindeer is a seven-episode half-hour limited series written and created by Richard Gadd and based on his autobiographical one-man play. According to Netflix, it “follows struggling comedian Donny Dunn’s warped relationship with his female stalker and the impact it has on him as he is ultimately forced to face a deeply buried trauma.” With its unique mix of black comedy, drama, and thriller, Baby Reindeer went to No. 1 on Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows in the U.S. Today list in its second week of release.
And: The New York Times’ chief TV critic, James Poniewozik, says we’ve entered an era of mid television. He cites shows like The Diplomat, Hijack, House of the Dragon, Manhunt, Ozark (Ozark?!), and Poker Face as prime examples of mid TV. The Nose has thoughts.
GUESTS:
Irene Papoulis: Teaches writing at Trinity College, and she’s the author of The Essays Only You Can Write
Lindsay Lee Wallace: Writes about culture, health care and health equity, and other stuff, too
Tracy Wu Fastenberg: Development officer at Connecticut Children’s
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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.
Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
The collective heartbreak in a dog’s death, from Kristi Noem to ‘Old Yeller’
The internet is up in arms over the revelation that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem once shot and killed her dog. This hour, we’ll get into it. From vice presidential contenders to “Old Yeller” and “Marley and Me” — what is it about dogs that brings us all together, and unites us in grief and uproar when they die?
GUESTS:
Li Zhou: Senior politics and society reporter at Vox.
David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic
Tommy Tomlinson: Author of the book “Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show.”
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/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
Fumble! The state’s failed bid to bring the Patriots to Hartford, 25 years later
It has been 25 years since the deal between the state of Connecticut and Robert Kraft’s New England Patriots — the deal that would’ve brought the Patriots to a brand new publicly funded stadium in Hartford — fell through.
Over the two-and-a-half decades since, the Patriots hired coach Bill Belichick and drafted quarterback Tom Brady, and they won 17 division titles, nine conference championships, and six Super Bowls.
Hartford, on the other hand, eventually built a 6,000-seat Double A ballpark as part of a much larger development plan that has since mostly been scrapped. And people continue to pine for the return of the Whalers.
This hour, a look back at what might have been, what could have been — what never was.
GUESTS:
Jeff Benedict: The author of 16 books, including The Dynasty
Michael Leeds: Professor of economics at Temple University and co-author of The Economics of Sports, now in its seventh edition
The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 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/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
Author A.J. Jacobs says he "will never take elastic or democracy for granted again"
In A.J. Jacobs' new book, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning, he details his experience living by the Constitution for a year. Jacobs joins us for the hour to tell us about the experiment and what he learned.
GUESTS:
A.J. Jacobs: Author of The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning. His previous books include Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically. He is also host of “The Puzzler” podcast
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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.
Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
How charisma shapes our world
What exactly is charisma? You know it when you see it, but is it possible to measure? Is it something you can learn, or just something you’re born with?
This hour we look at the impact of charisma, especially in politics.
Plus, in the world of wildlife conservation there’s a term for those animals everyone cares about: “charismatic megafauna.”
What are the impacts of decisions about conservation or leadership coming down to a nebulous trait like charisma?
GUESTS:
John Antonakis: Professor of organizational behavior at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Sophie Monsarrat: Rewilding manager with Rewilding Europe, who used to be a researcher who studied charismatic megafauna, among other topics
Russ Schriefer: Founding partner of Strategic Partners & Media, a public affairs political consulting firm; he is senior strategist for the Tell It Like It Is super PAC that supported Chris Christie for President
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, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired September 6, 2023.
Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. -
An hour with mystery writer Adrian McKinty
Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of thrillers and mysteries probably best known for The Chain and the Sean Duffy series.
On a dark and stormy night in September, McKinty talked to Colin on stage at The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford. It’s the first show we’ve done in front of a live audience since the before times.
This hour, a lightly edited version of that conversation.
GUEST:
Adrian McKinty: The author of 20 novels, including The Chain, the Michael Forsythe trilogy, and the Sean Duffy series; The Detective Up Late, the seventh Duffy novel, is out in paperback May 14
The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 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 September 14, 2023.
Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Customer Reviews
One of a Kind
Hyper verbose…but…host displays a vast intellectual curiosity…some excellent programs…some silly (pajamas?)…overall prefer Colin’s show to:
Fresh Air -which has come to rely way too much on streaming series that I DON’T HAVE AND CANT AFFORD. (Why does she feel compelled to go for the dirty laundry…or as Keith Richards said regarding intimate Mick Jagger details he wouldn’t reveal: “nice try, Terry”.)
Musical interludes and introductions from jokey sidekick (think Ed McMann’s nightly “here’s Johnny”…sometimes almost funny but more often lame…nevertheless give the show a certain flavor/identity I suppose.
He can be presumptuous…(what ya expect from a Yalie)…and opinionated but not afraid of the off beat or prosaic…well read, probing, questioning, blazing verbal gymnastics, and a solid grasp of too many aspects of western culture to be aired on any radio network outside an Ivy League university.
Bottom line: Tune in or miss out. You never know what’s coming next.
Great Fun
Any one who awarded less than five stars is a liar.
Episode 7?! Surprise!
I was just about to re-listen to series & #7 dropped. Serendipitous even if it is an interview with the cell-of-origin. While not a fan, always believed Newt to be highly intelligent & agreed with a few of his insights early in interview. But his arrogance & lack of humility bleed through & am reminded, imo, his perennial emergence from behind scenes to spotlight isn’t driven by altruistic compulsion to serve, but ambition for power, relevance, & control how history will be inaccurately recorded. Pretty rich for him to point at “elite media” (he’s apparently looking at you, Steve) for inciting rage in “fascist left” when he introduced this, literally “wrote the playbook” & handed out study guides. The OG of gaslighters, Gingrich disdainfully refers to “woke culture” like Hannity & Tucker do, as if they feel like they’re using the N-word & getting away with it. Kornacki is so respectful & diplomatic (& NG was gracious/egotistical enough to sit down post-production to give his perspective/“make corrections”) but I wished he had pushed back a little when Newt was trying to heat-up rhetoric & false narrative under “how liberals ruining education” & “teaching gender selection in grade school” pots. I can’t with the hypocrisy that democratIC party will ram their partisan agenda through and “destroy everyone in their way” to get there. Kinda cute, coming from the newt who, as Speaker, SAID he would torch the place, SET the bonfire, & even now can’t help gloating a little admitting he did it. PLEASE, Steve Kornacki, drop Episode 8, “Director’s Cut”, it can’t end like that…. Oh I know, you won’t see this TLDR rant…