The Colin McEnroe Show

Grocery prices were a regular talking point in this past election cycle. This hour is all about the grocery store. We talk about how items get on the shelves, the unique business model of Trader Joe's, and the factors that impact grocery prices. Plus, a look at the appeal of Costco. GUESTS:  Benjamin Lorr: Author of The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket ;...

As we have every year for at least the last 11 years , to round out the year, we round up the best jazz of the year. GUESTS: Jen Allen : A pianist, composer, arranger, and educator; her most recent album is Sifting Grace Noah Baerman : A pianist, composer, and educator; his newest album, from the Noah Baerman Trio, is  Live at the Side Door Gene Seymour : A film, television, and music critic...

In the midst of this holiday week, we talk about the importance of rest, and how to rest well. Plus, we'll talk about the role of rest in religion, and look at the history of "the rest cure" in medicine. GUESTS:  Alex Soojung-Kim Pang:  Author of  Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less , and  Shorter: Work Better, Smarter, and Less—Here's How  among other boo...

This hour we took your calls about anything you wanted to talk about. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve put on a holiday special every year for the last decade. But this year, for the first time, we did it in front of a (pretty large!) audience. On the night of December 18, Colin got 10 performers together onstage, and they rocked their way through an 18-song setlist of holiday and holiday-adjacent classics. There were nine different vocalists, three different pianists. Some of these fol...

‘Tis the season for holiday movies. This hour, we look at this year's offerings from Netflix and Hallmark, discuss what makes a good holiday movie, and get some ideas for what to watch this holiday season. GUESTS:  Laura Bradley: Entertainment and features reporter Amanda Hess: Critic at large for The New York Times Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listene...

This hour, we take a look at the legends of King Arthur. We discuss their evolution and why they endure. Plus, we talk with author Lev Grossman about his new retelling of the King Arthur legend, The Bright Sword . And, a conversation with an archeologist about excavating the history of Arthurian legends. GUESTS:  Lev Grossman: Bestselling author of The Magicians Trilogy. His new book is The B...

Samuel and Olivia Clemens and their children moved into the house they’d had built at Nook Farm in Hartford — the house that we now call the Mark Twain House — in 1874, 150 years ago this year. To celebrate that anniversary, this hour we present a new version of our 2015 interview with the late Hal Holbrook. Holbrook was probably best known for his one-man show, Mark Twain Tonigh...

This hour: the art of the epigraph. We talk with writers about how they pick the quotes that open their books, what epigraphs can do well, how the business of epigraphs works, and what epigraphs mean for readers. Plus, a look at how some movies use epigraphs. GUESTS: David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Tajja Isen: A contributing writer for  The Walrus  and the au...

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 corniness and sappiness with age, needless words like “personally,” Irishness , the dangers possibly coming to the free press and public media, the Green Bay Packers,...

Say Nothing . Small Things Like These . Kneecap . Bad Sisters . All of Us Strangers . The Banshees of Inisherin and An Cailín Ciúin a couple years ago. Normal People and Derry Girls a few years before that. Paul Mescal and Colin Farrell and Saoirse Ronin and Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan and Hozier and Andrew Scott and Daryl McCormack and Kerry Condon. The list goes on. Something&...

Oxford University Press has named “brain rot” the word of the year for 2024. The term beat out five other finalists: “demure,” “dynamic pricing,” “lore,” “romantasy,” and “slop.” This hour, a look at brain rot, from Thoreau’s Walden through to social media. GUESTS:  Casper Grathwohl: President of Oxford Languages at...

Shakespeare, it turns out, is not immune to the culture wars, the book banning, the cancel culture (despite his being dead for more than four centuries). So, fine. Cancel Shakespeare , then, one argument goes. Because here’s the thing: Shakespeare’s plays and poems ARE dirty and smutty and gory — and that’s a big part of what makes them so great. And: Earlier this year, the romantic comedy Anyone...

What’s in your kitchen? With a plethora of kitchen tools available to us today, the contents of our kitchen drawers varies. But a recent survey has shed light on some trends in kitchen tool ownership. This hour, a look at that data and the history and evolution of kitchen tools and gadgets. Plus, examples of creative kitchen tools throughout history. GUESTS: Megan Elias: Historian and direct...

This hour we took your calls about anything you wanted to talk about. Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lioness is the seventh of eight TV series created by Taylor Sheridan . It’s a spy thriller starring Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Kelly, and Laysla De Olivera. Its second season concludes December 8. And: The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is a Norwegian documentary that tells the story of a terminally ill disabled young man and the surprising life he led in the massively multipla...

This hour, we're going to take stock of what it's like to read as an adult, and discuss why some Americans, including college students, are reading fewer books. We'll talk about how technology has impacted how we read. And we'll celebrate the practice of reading. GUESTS:  Rose Horowitch: Assistant editor at The Atlantic Maryanne Wolf: Permanent member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the...

Trump’s trial. AI. Online learning. Everything’s a “Pandora's Box." This hour, we discuss the myth and the metaphor of Pandora's Box. Plus, a look at human curiosity. GUESTS:  Natalie Haynes: Author of six books, including the nonfiction work Pandora’s Jar, and the novels A Thousand Ships and Stone Blind Maria Tatar: Professor of folklore and mythology at Harvard University. Her latest book is The...

From Thurston Harris and Crash Test Dummies to that noise your refrigerator makes, humming sounds are all around us (especially if you’ve been to Windsor, Ontario). This hour, musical humming, mysterious humming, and how humming could be good for your health. GUESTS: Colin Novak: Associate professor at the University of Windsor Susan Rogers: Multi-platinum record producer, cognitive neuroscientist...

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 the FX on Hulu series Say Nothing and parallels to the Israel-Hamas war, “ Whatever You Say, Say Nothing ,” A Charlie Brown Christmas on Apple TV+, the windshield phenomenon , the regionally...

This hour, we look at the idea of the Western canon and those books that are considered “classics.” We talk about what’s in the canon, what isn’t and what should be, and how it evolves. Plus, we talk about The Atlantic ’s recent list of “ The Great American Novels .” And we learn about a publishing company that is experimenting with artificial intelligence to bring classic books alive for a new au...

This hour, a look at refrigeration and how it’s shaped what we eat and how we live with Nicola Twilley, author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves . Plus, we’ll take a look at what we can learn about someone from the inside and outside of their refrigerator. GUESTS:  Nicola Twilley: Co-host of the podcast Gastropod and author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration...

President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed on November 22, 1963. It would be hard to argue that the modern American era, the era that we’re still living in more than 60 years later, didn’t begin on that Friday afternoon in Dallas. It would be hard to overstate the effect and influence of that event, that act on the American psyche. This hour, a look at the shadow that the JFK assassination stil...

This hour, a look at the myth of Sisyphus, and how we invoke it today. Plus, we'll hear from a musician who has found inspiration in the story, and we'll discuss when it's time to give up. GUESTS:  Joel Christensen: Professor of Classical Studies and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Brandeis University. His newest book is The Many-Minded Man: The Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of...

Zero is considered by many mathematicians to maybe be humanity’s greatest achievement. This hour, a look at the strange and essential concept of the number zero and how the human brain deals with it . Plus: the trend toward zero-sugar and zero-calorie sodas. And: 0 (and 00) as a uniform number in sports. GUESTS: Emily Contois: Associate professor of media studies at The University of Tulsa and the...