The Colin McEnroe Show

It's easy to think of borders as fixed, almost sacrosanct lines, so rooted in the natural order of things that it often doesn't occur to us to question them. But borders were not always thought of this way. In fact, the notion of well understood, and agreed upon boundaries between nations is somewhat new. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Earlier this year at the Golden Globes, the top TV honor, Best Television Series -- Drama, went to USA's hacker technothriller series "Mr. Robot." Last year, the trophy went to Showtime's "The Affair." Between those two new shows, there are three point-of-view characters , three narrators. And you can’t really trust, you can't fully believe a one of them. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/dona...

Donald Trump has had a really bad few weeks. His poll numbers are dropping to the lowest point for any general election candidate in the last three years. He's coming under fire for his response to last week's shootings in Orlando, and for saying U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel -- who is the judge overseeing the fraud case against Trump University -- may be biased against him because of h...

I swear we almost never pick the Nose panelists based on the topics we plan to discuss. (We barely ever even plan in the first place, to be honest.) I asked Mr. Dankosky -- former Vice President of News for WNPR, current Executive Editor of the New England News Collaborative -- weeks ago to make his Nose debut this Friday. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

When you "pull a Benedict Arnold," you sell out your side to join the stronger side of a situation out of fear, not honor.  Needless to say, that's not a compliment. More than 230 years after America secured independence from Britain, this skilled warrior and confidante of George Washington is remembered as a traitor and coward for defecting to the British side. But it's not that easy.  ...

Animal rights have come a long way over the last century, providing, of course, we're not talking about fish. While other vertebrates have slowly been recognized as social, feeling, even sentient beings, fish remain good for three things: owning, catching and eating. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America's Greatest Living Film Critic David Edelstein has called  "Weiner," the new documentary about former Congressman Anthony Weiner's ill-fated 2013 run for mayor of New York City, "one of the most provocative [docs] of its kind" that he's seen. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Orlando, Florida was the scene of a mass shooting Sunday that left 50 people dead and dozens more injured . We've heard the story before: a shooter walks into a crowded room with multiple weapons to kill large numbers of people in an astonishingly small amount of time. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New York magazine's Will Leitch has called ESPN's new documentary " O.J.: Made in America " a masterpiece, and he thinks it'll be " the only thing this country's going to be talking about " as it airs next week. The Nose has already seen it, and it's all we're going to be talking about this week. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

" Hamilton ," the wildly popular musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, will likely win several Tony Awards this weekend for changing the form of musical theater from what most of us perceive it to be. He uses rap lyrics that challenge what we think we know about the founding of our nation. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year, we do a Song of the Summer show. It always makes people angry. There is no evidence that it has ever made people happy. A lot of it has to do with the way we define the term. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Between orthodoxy and cultism exists a narrow divide; a proving ground of public opinion where spirited groups vie for entry into the hallowed halls of true religion. Few are more firmly planted in this place than the Jehovah's Witnesses. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There has never been a time in the last ten presidential cycles when voters have disliked two presidential front-runners as much as they dislike Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton . Yes, the country is becoming increasingly polarized, but that doesn't explain why the candidates aren't well-liked by their respective parties. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Paul Simon's 13th solo studio album, Stranger to Stranger , is out on Friday. It has apparently been gestating for going on four years, and it's full of Harry Partch's microtonal instruments like cloud chamber bowls and the chromelodeon . Dean Drummond's zoomoozophome even makes an appearance. At the same time, the album is pretty rockin' and fun. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See o...

How do we define intelligence? Where does it come from, and what roles do genetics and environment play in its development? We live in a world that values different types of intelligence subjectively -- and we watch as those values shift in accordance with changing cultural attitudes.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ron Darling won a World Series. He was a Major League All-Star and a Gold Glove winner. He pitched a record-setting eleven hitless innings in an NCAA playoff game at Yale Field. He threw 2,742 and one-third professional innings over 15 professional seasons, winning 157 professional games. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Krista Tippett must know something. After all, she's been hosting a show -- originally called Speaking of Faith and now called On Being -- for about 15 years. She talks to the wisest of the wise and the sagest of the sage, about matters of existence, transcendence, and, you know, what does it all mean? What kind of universe is this anyway? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudi...

Comedian Maria Bamford's new Netflix single-camera sitcom, "Lady Dynamite," premiered last Friday. And it's... odd. It's surreal. It's sad. It's a comedy that's very much about mental illness and loneliness and anxiety. And it's a comedy that's very much about itself too. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us have heard that our bodies need eight cups of water every day to stay healthy and hydrated. Some think that's the minimum we should drink to prevent the chronic dehydration that doesn't trigger the usual warnings of dryness, like thirst.   Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The man who once walked on the moon, and helped America define itself as a leader in space travel is now out with a new book. It reads half as a memoir, and  half as a motivational speech to the next generation of explorers who he hopes will carry on America's legacy. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the more than six years that it's been on the air, we've never taken The Colin McEnroe Show to the Peabody Museum before. (Crazy, right?) And: In the more than six years that it's been on the air, we've never done a Colin McEnroe Show about dinosaurs before. (Crazy! Right!?) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Governor Lowell Weicker says the Republican Party no longer embraces the ideals of prudent financial governance and social conscience that once defined them. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Rio 2016 Olympics are set to start in less than three months’ time. But Brazil’s Zika outbreak is worse than we thought . And there’s ongoing political unrest . And Rio’s water supply comes with an extra helping of “trash and contamination.” What to do? Postpone the games? Move them? Both? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flash fiction goes by many names: micro-fiction, nano-fiction, short-shorts, and with the emergence of Twitter-fiction; twiction and twisters have also entered the fray. Whatever you choose to call it one thing's for sure: these pint-sized tales often punch way above their weight. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Colin has a "pet" raccoon that visits his porch. The raccoon will press her tiny paw up against the outstretched palm of Colin's significant other, which rests on the indoor side of the glass. Eventually, the raccoon gets a bit of food because "she" is too cute to resist. The pleased raccoon now visits on a regular basis.  Colin fears this cannot end well. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.or...