The Colin McEnroe Show

It's hard to improve on the poet, Rilke, who wrote, "Love consists of this, that two solitudes meet, protect, and greet each other." But did Rilke have to deal with Angry Birds and Snap Chat? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump was considered untouchable on his way to winning the nomination to represent the Republican Party in the 2016 election -- until establishment forces let go an unrelenting assault on his candidacy. Now there's talk of revolution at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer, where the votes of superdelegates, or party loyalists, get the last word on who moves forward....

And after 15 seasons and 555 episodes and more than 345 Billboard chart toppers, "American Idol" is done with us. Love it or hate it, the show changed the American television business, the American reality television business, the American music business. It gave us Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson and Ryan Seacrest. And it gave us Taylor Hicks and William Hung. And Ryan Seacrest. We unpack the...

It's Yale and New Haven Humanism Week in New Haven, and so we thought: Hey, wait. Just what the heck is a humanism exactly anyway? And so then we thought: And what about, uh, agnosticism? Unitarianism? Universalism? Unitarian Universalism? Maybe even atheism? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Placebo treatments have been making people feel better for a long time. They've been working since long before Franz Mesmer was run out of 18th-century Vienna for "mesmerizing" a young pianist into regaining her eyesight, after all hope for a medical cure had been lost.   Doctors have long dismissed the placebo effect as inferior to conventional medical treatments that sometimes fail where pl...

As golf season begins again there are some troubling signs for the sport's future. The game of presidents past and country-clubbers around the nation is in fast decline according to analysts.  With a decrease in participation,  television ratings,  equipment sales, rounds played and courses being built, are we seeing the end of golf? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See...

The polling industry is in transition. Fewer people consider it their civic duty to participate -- less than ten percent today compared to 80 percent two decades ago -- and pollsters haven't yet figured out how to effectively capture public opinion using cell phones and online surveys.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I get that it's stupid April Fools' Day, and so you can't trust anything you see on the stupid Internet. Except for the Trump quotes. The Trump quotes are just as legitimate today as they are on all the other days. But so let me just make it clear right now that I'm totally serious when I say that on this edition of The Nose we talk about... Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystu...

Richard Buckminster Fuller may not be a household name. Nevertheless, his contributions to society and to sustainable living through technology and design were both vast and transformative. By the time of his death in 1983, Fuller had patented 25 inventions, published over 30 books and had chronicled nearly his entire career through a series of papers knows as the "Dymaxion Chronofi...

Jon Imber was at the peak of his career as an accomplished artist and teacher when he was diagnosed with ALS in the fall of 2012. "Imber's Left Hand," a documentary about Jon's life as ALS claimed the use of his dominant right hand, will air on April 5 at the Hartford Jewish Film Festival.   Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2013, over 1,000 gold coins were found by a couple walking their dog on their property in Sierra Nevada, California. A rainstorm exposed the rusted can holding the gold coins. They soon found additional rusted cans, all holding gold coins dating from 1847 to 1894. The face value of the coins was just under $28,000. Today's market value is about $10 million. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org...

Reporters describe Donald Trump events as frightening and unsettling for those in the media. Trump relegates the media  to rectangular pens they're not allowed to leave, singles out reporters with personal insults and refuses entry to those he doesn't like, and whips up his crowds against reporters he says are "very dishonest people." Will there be a free press under a President Trump? Suppor...

Chicago White Sox first baseman Adam LaRoche abruptly retired from baseball last week with a year and $13 million left on his contract because the team's front office told him he had to stop bringing his 14-year-old son Drake into the clubhouse so much . Then the actual team rallied behind both LaRoches . But it turns out it all happened 'cause Adam's teammates complained about Drake . But so anyw...

Pre-prohibition research into alcohol use and consumption was wiped out when the country dried out in the 1920s. In response, American "alcohol science" was created in the post-prohibition era to bring alcohol abuse into the medical realm, triggering a cultural explosion between advocates on each side of the wet/dry divide. It was in this arena that Alcoholics Anonymous was born.  Suppor...

My Batman story begins with a crime. I was in third grade. I went to the barber shop in West Hartford Center where there were comic books to read while you waited. I had never seen any superhero comic before and I started reading a Batman story. It was great but I didn't have enough time to finish it. So, when my haircut was done, I took it home with me.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org...

For a normal show, on a normal day, in a normal time, we'd usually put two or three experts in a room with Colin and ask them to hash out whatever it is we're interested in for that hour. For this show, by the time it's over with, we'll have corresponded with dozens of people and recorded interviews with seven or eight experts from ten or eleven different disciplines: a philosopher, an ethicist, a...

There is no doubt that Donald Trump has taken the country by storm, defying all expectations that his candidacy would implode after the initial infatuation wore off last summer. Why Trump now? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the next phase of her and President Obama's  Let Girls Learn  campaign to educate the #62milliongirls globally who don't have access to education at this week's   SXSW festival . She combined her keynote address on female empowerment with a panel discussion including Queen Latifah, rapper Missy Elliott, actress Sophia Bush and songwrite...

A transcript of this show is available here. It's hard to think about language as being endangered or replaceable. But as our culture and means of communication evolve, certain languages find their utility in decline. Braille and sign language are in just such a predicament. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump is closer to locking up the Republican nomination for president after big wins in Tuesday's primaries. He has incredible support from a party that's grown increasingly disappointed in their established leaders, yet still seeks the traits we have traditionally sought in a leader.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

Every year at this time, as you may have heard, there's a big-old basketball tournament that goes on. And every year at this time, people in offices and in firehouses and in Rotary Clubs and in Atlantic City enter bracket pools, where they try to win a big-old pile of ducats by predicting just exactly how said big-old basketball tournament will go. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See...

It's Monday. Remember last Monday when we had a somewhat long and somewhat anguished conversation about Donald Trump? Well, we're planning to have another one toward the end of today's show.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I once slipped on a banana peel in my crowded high school cafeteria when I was sixteen years old. I was navigating the busy lunch room in my almost six-inch platform shoes and my breezy spring dress, when the peel sent me flying -  before ungraciously landing me on my back with my dress over my face. I was never so embarrassed - or uncomfortable in a pair of shoes. Support the show: http://ww...

Starting next week, the nation will turn its eyes to basketball, to college basketball, and its annual March Madness tournament. But... not quite all of the nation. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laura McKenna went looking for information on a medical condition that would help her care for her child. Unfortunately, she couldn't access most of the articles she located without paying as much as thirty-eight dollars for an eight-page report. She never read it. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.