The Colin McEnroe Show

Some women in the United States are adopting the 4B Movement from South Korea: no marriage, no childbirth, no dating, and no sex. This hour we take stock of that movement globally, and the history of other similar movements, including one depicted in an ancient Greek play, Lysistrata . GUESTS:  Min Joo Lee: Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at Occidental College Cécile Simmons: Researcher at th...

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

Note:  This episode contains strong language. Griffin Dunne is Jack Goodman in John Landis’ classic horror-comedy An American Werewolf in London and Paul Hackett in Martin Scorsese’s After Hours and Loudon Trout in the Madonna-starring screwball comedy Who’s That Girl . He’s Uncle Nicky on This Is Us and Professor Dudenoff on Only Murders in the Building and Dr. Alon Parfit on Succession and Sylvé...

You probably know Brian Reed from his hit award-winning series "S-Town." Now, Brian has a new podcast, "Question Everything," where he is re-examining everything about journalism. Today Brian Reed joins us for the full show to talk about what he's discovered. GUEST:  Brian Reed: Host and producer of the new podcast “ Question Everything ” from KCRW and Placement Theory, which you can find wherever...

Franz Kafka died 100 years ago, but his work is still very much alive today in literature classes and, surprisingly, on social media. This hour, we look at Kafka’s life and legacy, discuss the “Kafkaesque,” and investigate why the author resonates so much today. Plus, we revisit his most famous work, “The Metamorphosis,” and talk with a zoologist about the idea of turning into an insect. GUESTS: B...

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 tables, Keri Russell, how much you should disengage from politics, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, stolen deliveries and mail theft … Anything. (Seemingly) everyt...

We hear about algorithms all the time, but what is an algorithm exactly? This hour, we learn about how algorithms work, a bit about their history, and how they're impacting our culture. GUESTS:  Ed Finn: Author of What Algorithms Want: Imagination in the Age of Computing , and founding director of the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University Bruce Gil: Reporter for Quartz...

Roommates: can't live with them, can't (afford to) live without them. They're the people who use your dishes and don't wash them. They're the people who apparently have a huge influence on your career choice and drinking habits. This hour, we're getting to know them better! GUESTS:  Ken Jennings: Colin’s college roommate Kelli María Korducki: Journalist who writes about work and the family Bruce S...

As I type this, four states remain uncalled, including two battlegrounds. It could take days or longer to determine the final popular vote tally. Control of the U.S. House of Representatives is still to be determined. But that’s nothing like the uncertainty we were expecting to reign over the day and days after Election Day. Put another way: Donald Trump is projected to have won the presidency. An...

On Election Day we do a show where we ask people across Connecticut to do a simple thing: Go vote in your town before 1 p.m. Then call us between 1 and 2 p.m. and tell us how it felt, what you saw, whom you spoke to. Say whatever you want to say about the experience of voting. This hour we hear from Citizen Observers about their experiences at the polls. GUESTS:  Lara Herscovitch: Singer-songwrite...

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.

Four days left. Four (4!) days until Election Day. We’re feeling the stress, the anxiety. And we’re guessing you are too. In one of our show meetings, we got to talking about the benefits of, uh, smoothing out your brain a bit in times like these. So this hour, we gather a number of folks you know from The Nose and talk about ways to quiet your mind over these last few days, bits of culture you ca...

This hour we talk with experts in ballot design about how to put together a ballot that's accessible to everyone, and all of the things to keep in mind, from font size to the length of candidate's names. Plus, a look at the evolution of ballots throughout history. GUESTS:  Whitney Quesenbery: Executive Director of the Center for Civic Design Alicia Cheng: Head of Design at The Metropolitan Museum...

This hour, we look at how political campaigns use music, from the history of political jingles to how Harris and Trump are using music in the 2024 election. GUESTS: Dana Gorzelany-Mostak: Associate professor of music at Georgia College; she is the founder of  Trax on the Trail  and the author of  Tracks on the Trail: Popular Music, Race, and the US Presidency Charlie Harding: Music journalist, son...

Food is an important part of the campaign trail, from tamales to McDonald's. This hour is all about how food is used in politics, including in the White House. Plus, the delicious return of the election cake. GUESTS:  Alex Prud'homme: Journalist and author of several books, including Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House . He also co-wrote My...

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 election stress, acclimating ourselves to the cold winter, the difference between comedy and journalism, Declan the Dog, Colin’s use of the phrase “and stuff like that” … Anything. (Seemingl...

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton follow-up is here, and it’s a concept album — a musical adaptation, written with Eisa Davis, of the 1979 film The Warriors and the novel that preceded it. This hour, a look at Warriors , the album, and The Warriors , the movie, and more. GUESTS: Walter Chaw: A writer, editor, and instructor and the author of  A Walter Hill Film Sam Hadelman: Works in music public rela...

It’s our annual Halloween special, a look at the year in horror! We delve into the economic- and artistic wherewithal of the genre surrounded by a larger Hollywood in flux, with particular looks at breakouts like Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs , Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow , Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 , and maybe the most divisive movie of the year, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance . Plus, for it...

Some Americans are considering whether this country is a place where they want to live in the future. This hour is all about leaving the United States. We talk to someone who made the move about what inspired her and her new life in Portugal. Plus, we learn more about the process of actually moving out of the country. And we talk to someone who has considered leaving, but ultimately decided to sta...

Going into November, we’ll be doing some shows where we talk with one guest, for the hour, who knows a lot about the election. This hour, we talk with Ruth Ben-Ghiat about authoritarianism and democracy. GUEST:  Ruth Ben-Ghiat: Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. Her latest book is Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present . She also writes the Substack newsletter “ Lucid .”...

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

Saturday Night Live started its 50th season in September. This hour, a look at the institution SNL has become over five decades on television. Plus: Jason Reitman’s new movie, Saturday Night , which tells (a version of) the story of SNL ’s inception in 1975. GUESTS: Dave Itzkoff: A journalist and writer and the author of four books; his most recent is Robin Maureen Lee Lenker: A senior writer at E...

From Saturday Night Live to the cover of The Atlantic , George Washington is having a bit of a moment. This hour is about our first president and his legacy. Plus, is he funny? GUESTS:  Joanne Freeman: The Class of 1954 Professor of History & American Studies at Yale University. Her most recent book is The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War Tom Nichols: Staff writer...

Is print dead? Or will it make a comeback? This hour, we talk about the benefits and drawbacks of getting your news in print form. We learn about the print age, or the “Gutenberg Parenthesis,” and we talk about the business of printing. GUESTS:  Kelsey Russell: A media literacy influencer and co-host of “ First Stop News ” Jeff Jarvis : Author of The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its...

Going into November, we’ll be doing some shows where we talk with one guest, for the hour, who knows a lot about the election. This hour, we talk with Brad Onishi about Christian nationalism and its impact on U.S. politics. GUEST:  Brad Onishi: Co-host of the “ Straight White American Jesus ” podcast and author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism -- And What...