The Colin McEnroe Show

Connecticut Public
Connecticut Public

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.

  1. 23h ago

    A show about psychics! (But they already knew that)

    There is perhaps no figure more emblematic of the paranormal than the psychic. Able to predict the future, see into the past, and even communicate with the dead, the psychic’s (supposed) awesome gifts are matched only by his or her ability to withstand skepticism and ridicule. But are our misgivings towards these intuitives justified? Is it merely smoke and mirrors which they’ve learned to master, or are they, in fact, possessed of powers beyond our comprehension? This hour, we speak with believers, skeptics, and self-proclaimed psychics to find out. GUESTS: Daryl Bem: Emeritus professor of psychology at Cornell University and the author of Feeling the Future: Experimental Evidence for Anomalous Retroactive Influences on Cognition and Affect Allison Dubois: A psychic medium and profiler and the author of several books, including Into the Dark: How the Dead Help Us Heal Benjamin Radford: Deputy editor for Skeptical Inquirer and co-host of Squaring the Strange Emily Stroia: An ituitive medium, the founder of the Intuitive Soul Academy, and the author of several books, including Psychic Development for Beginners Jenniffer Weigel: An Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and the author of Psychics, Healers and Mediums: A Journalist, a Road Trip, and Voices from the Other Side 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired June 28, 2017. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    A show about psychics! (But they already knew that)

  2. 1d ago

    All calls (and emails!): Maybe Graham Nash caused all of this

    We’ve been doing these shows 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 Connecticut lobster rolls, curating everything, Canadian blue lettuce, the movie version of Jurassic Park, the correct pronunciation of “New Haven” and other things, the problem with open primaries … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    All calls (and emails!): Maybe Graham Nash caused all of this

  3. 4d ago

    The Nose looks at ‘One Night Only’ and ‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’

    One Night Only is an R-rated dystopian sci-fi sex comedy rom-com. But then, what movie isn’t an R-rated dystopian sci-fi sex comedy rom-com, really? It is directed by Will Gluck (who also directed Anyone but You and Easy A and other things). It has grossed $7.4 million over its first six days in theaters, and it’s in danger of becoming a box office bomb. And: “Two People Exchanging Saliva (Deux personnes échangeant de la salive)” is a black-and-white French-language absurdist comedy-drama short film written and directed by Alexandre Singh and Natalia Mistreata. It won this year’s Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. And finally: The Atlantic says there’s an “eroticism shortage.” And that feels right. Right? And so what’s that all about? GUESTS: RS Benedict: A writer and bureaucrat whose fiction and non-fiction has been published in the New Haven Review, Fangoria, Current Affairs, and a bunch of other places Irene Papoulis: Taught writing for a long time at Trinity College Lindsay Lee Wallace: A writer and journalist whose latest work includes the cover stories for the four most recent issues of Bat Conservation International’s Bats magazine Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The Nose looks at ‘One Night Only’ and ‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’

  4. 5d ago

    The sky, a mood, a color, a political affiliation... This hour we've got the blues

    If you ask an AI chatbot what its favorite color is, chances are it’ll say blue. What’s going on? This hour, we look at why so many people love the color blue, and what blue means in art and culture and our lexicon. Plus: Why are Democrats blue and Republicans red? And, the universe is getting less blue? GUESTS: Kory Stamper: Lexicographer, and author of True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color–from Azure to Zinc Pink Kushin Mukherjee: Postdoctoral scholar in the Cognitive Tools Lab at Stanford University Einav Rabinovitch-Fox: Historian, Visiting Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University, and Managing Editor at the Cleveland Museum of Art Ivan Baldry: Professor of Astrophysics at Liverpool John Moores University Music featured (in order): Blue (Da Ba Dee) – Eiffel 65 Am I Blue – Dinah Washington Blue – Joni Mitchell Blue Skies – Eva Cassidy Blue Money – Van Morrison I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues – Alessia Cara Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The sky, a mood, a color, a political affiliation... This hour we've got the blues

  5. 6d ago

    Even a fact has a half-life

    In April, 2010, we did a segment on the concept of the mesofact, a certain kind of data point that feels fixed even though it’s actually always slowly changing. And we’ve gone back to the idea every now and again ever since. This hour, a look at three things about the world that changed pretty dramatically while you were thinking about other stuff. Hey, did you know there’s a fifth ocean now? Hey, did you know that you can put hot food right into your fridge now? Hey, did you know that goldfish are actually pretty smart? Those kinds of things. GUESTS: Andrea Barnes: A writer at Wirecutter covering large cleaning appliances and laundry Liam McCabe: A writer at Wirecutter covering home improvement Cait Newport: An associate professor at the University of Oxford, where she leads the Animal Perception and Cognition Group Alex Tait: The Geographer at the National Geographic Society Music featured (in order): Things Change – Venus It Ain’t Necessarily So – Jaimee Paul Rock the Boat – Hues Corporation Washing Dishes – G. Love and Special Sauce Money for Nothing – Dire Straits Goldfish – Fionn Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Even a fact has a half-life

  6. Aug 11

    Sycophancy: From Shakespeare to AI

    A study shows that AI chatbots often engage in sycophantic behavior. Just like some humans. This hour, we take a look at sycophants in literature and in politics. And we talk about sycophancy and artificial intelligence. GUESTS: Mark Parker: Professor Emeritus of English at James Madison University and co-author of Sucking Up: A Brief Consideration of Sycophancy Virginia Heffernan: Writes a regular column for The New Republic and the Substack “Magic + Loss.” She is co-host of the podcast “Omnishambles” Malihe Alikhani: Assistant Professor at Northeastern University’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences, and a resident Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution with a focus on AI policy Music featured (in order): Overture to Rigoletto – Giuseppi Verdi, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmoniker I Believe in You – Peggy Lee Don’t Cry – Seal You Fascinate Me So – Mabel Mercer What You Want To Hear – Sub-Radio Flattery – Rosemary Clooney, Jose Ferrer 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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on April 8, 2026. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Sycophancy: From Shakespeare to AI

  7. Aug 10

    All calls: Celebrate your stinkiness

    We’ve been doing these shows 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 — calls about grammar, gardening, long-distance dialing, autotune. Anything. Everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we’re doing another one. In other words: Give us a call during the 1 p.m. EDT hour about whatever you want to talk about. 888-720-9677.‌ Music featured (in order): Light the Way – Leon Bridges 47th Street – Lalah Hathaway, J. Ivy Twiggy – Remi Wolf Sweet Surrender – Halie Loren Inspira – Lauren Henderson, Sullivan Fortner Back in Love – Suki Waterhouse Reminder – Margaret Glaspy Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    All calls: Celebrate your stinkiness

  8. Aug 7

    The Nose looks at ‘Furious’ and the apparent moviegoing renaissance

    Furious is a Hulu Original crime drama-thriller series created by Elizabeth Meriwether, who also created New Girl and The Dropout and other things. It is inspired by the 1987 thriller Black Widow, which is also about a female serial killer and the female cop (a DOJ data analyst in 1987 and a new FBI agent here) who’s trying to catch her. Furious stars Emmy Rossum, Lola Petticrew, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, and more. And then: Last weekend was the highest-grossing weekend in the history of the domestic box office. That weekend was led by Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which had the biggest domestic opening ever, and by The Odyssey, which is a three-hour adaptation of Homer that gets closer to $1 billion every day. Also this year, two small horror movies, Obsession and Backrooms, have made more than $390 million each. And the new Toy Story and the new Mario movie and the Michael Jackson biopic have all made $1 billion each. Which is to say: People are going back to the movies! Which is great! Mostly. Right? GUESTS: Irene Papoulis: Taught writing for a long time at Trinity College Lindsay Lee Wallace: A writer and journalist whose latest work includes the cover stories for the four most recent issues of Bat Conservation International’s Bats magazine Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University Music featured (in order): Wonderful Illusions – Eartha Kitt Have You Seen Her – The Chi-Lites That's Why God Made the Movies – Paul Simon Dinner and a Movie – Phish See You On The Radio – Grayson Hugh Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    The Nose looks at ‘Furious’ and the apparent moviegoing renaissance
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4.4
out of 5
217 Ratings

About

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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