The Colin McEnroe Show

This hour: a conversation with novelist Emily St. John Mandel about time travel, the simulation hypothesis, adapting her work to television, art and culture during times of crisis, autofiction, Wikipedia, and much more. GUEST:  Emily St. John Mandel: Novelist, whose books include Sea of Tranquility , The Glass Hotel , and Station Eleven The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Pod...

In 2018, Emily Wilson became internationally known for her translation of Homer’s  The Odyssey , which was called “a revelation” and “a cultural landmark.” This hour, Wilson joins us to talk about her new translation of Homer’s other great surviving work,  The Iliad . GUEST:  Emily Wilson:  Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her new translation of H...

Illeana Douglas’ new book is Connecticut in the Movies: From Dream Houses to Dark Suburbia . It isn’t just an encyclopedia of appearances by and references to Connecticut in movies. But rather, it’s a history and theory of ‘Connecticut movies,’ something close to a genre unto itself with its own set of signs and meanings. This hour, Illeana Douglas and David Edelstein join us to take a Not Necessa...

This hour, a conversation about handling life’s hardships with philosopher Kieran Setiya, the author of Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way . GUESTS: Kieran Setiya: Professor of philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author of Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts , Spotify...

We imagine pirates to be the quintessential rule-breakers — but really, they had their own strictly-followed codes. How did 18th-century pirates dictate their own community standards? How did they create social mobility in an age when changing one's social status was nearly impossible? This hour, we join pirate historian Rebecca Simon to find out! GUEST: Rebecca Simon : Pirate historian with a doc...

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month 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 Israel, fat bear week, former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, the Roman Empire, dark coffee mugs, pirates … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun...

This week’s Nose has gotta be more like a rat than anything else in the world. Cleverer, even, than a rat, and that is not an easy thing to be, let me tell ya. The Nose returns! On September 15, The New Yorker ran a story that reported out a number of embellishments / untruths / lies in Hasan Minhaj’s standup specials. Minhaj had reportedly been the frontrunner to become the new permanent host of...

This hour, Yale Dean Tamar Gendler joins us to discuss her new course “Public Plato: Ancient Wisdom in the Digital Age.” We'll talk about how to make ancient philosophy relevant for a modern audience, questions of framing and form, and what we can all learn from concepts like alief, phronesis, and eudaimonia. GUEST:  Tamar Gendler:  Professor of Philosophy, Psychology and Cognitive Science, and th...

In Yascha Mounk’s new book, he “traces the origin of a set of ideas about identity and social justice that is rapidly transforming America — and explains why it will fail to accomplish its noble goals.” This hour, Mounk joins us to talk about the future of democracy and The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time . GUEST: Yascha Mounk: Professor of the practice of international affai...

This hour we look at mis-speaks, mis-hearings, and mis-understandings, like malapropisms, mondegreens, eggcorns, and spoonerisms. We share our favorite examples and learn about what they can tell us about the English language and how our brains process language. And we celebrate the joy of playing with language. GUESTS:  Emily Brewster: Senior Editor and lexicographer at Merriam-Webster , and host...

This hour, we look at why humans touch others with their lips (and often their tongues!). Join us as we overthink the simple act of kissing. GUESTS:  Marcel Danesi: Professor Emeritus of Linguistic Anthropology at The University of Toronto and author of The History of the Kiss! The Birth of Popular Culture Matthew Longcore: Director of Membership and Outreach for the Human Relations Area Files at...

This week’s Nose got a couple other cans, ya know, and came back and switched the labels and the cans around. The Long Goodbye is a satirical neo-noir mystery feature film adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s 1953 novel. It is the eighth feature directed by Robert Altman and the second-to-last screenplay by the science fiction writer Leigh Brackett (who also wrote The Empire Strikes Back and the 1946...

Do you daydream? What do you daydream about? This hour: the art of daydreaming. We reflect on the value of daydreaming and why it can be so difficult to talk about our daydreams. Plus, a look at what daydreaming does to our brains and at maladaptive daydreaming. GUESTS: Leslie Jamison: Novelist, essayist and professor at Columbia University’s MFA Program Jayne Rachel: An advocate for maladaptive d...

I’m so excited!!! The exclamation point is the only punctuation mark that can express (and evoke) strong emotion. You either love them or you hate them. Writers use the exclamation mark to express emotion that words can’t fully capture, politicians and advertisers can use it to manipulate and alarm, and authors and their editors often clash over its appropriate use. Our brains physically respond t...

Have you noticed that voice assistants like Alexa and Siri default to female voices? This hour, we talk about how artificial intelligence is reinforcing gender biases. Plus, a look at how representations of artificial intelligence in pop culture have contributed to this model. GUESTS: Kerry McInerney: Research fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and co-host of  The Good...

This hour, the full measure of short stature, from personal health, professional discrimination, and environmental impact to Humphrey Bogart’s strap-on inch-adders. GUESTS: Arne Hendriks: Artist, researcher, and exhibition-maker based in Amsterdam who writes about height at  The Incredible Shrinking Man William Mann: The author of  Bogie & Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood’s Great...

The Nose is off. In its stead: Country music dominated the charts for most of the summer. But the genre has also been the subject of controversy. This hour, we take stock of the state of country music. GUESTS:  Jason Lipshutz: Executive director of music at Billboard Amanda Marie Martinez: Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,...

There’s a theory that people are drawn to work that fits their name. This hour, an exploration of nominative determinism. Plus, a look at the different ways your name impacts your life. GUESTS: David Bird: Emeritus professor of wildlife biology and director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University Brett Pelham: Professor of psychology at Montgomery College Tess Terrible: S...

From book bans to comics and the strange origins of fairy tales, this hour we look at children's literature and talk about who decides what is appropriate for children to read. GUESTS:  Carol St. George: Professor of teaching and curriculum and director of reading and literacy at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester Adam Gidwitz: Author of A Tale Dark and Grimm and its com...

What’s in your pockets right now? Phone, wallet, keys … maybe some discarded receipts or old gum? This hour: what we carry with us every day, from flashlights the size of a lip balm to a life-saving medicine. GUESTS: Bernard Capulong: Founder and editor-in-chief of  everydaycarry.com Peter Canning: A Hartford paramedic, an emergency medical services coordinator at John Dempsey Hospital, and the au...

This hour we talk about age in politics, from why our politicians skew older to the impacts of that. And, we’ll learn about how animals pick leaders, and the role age plays in those decisions. GUESTS:  Eugene Scott:  Senior Politics Reporter for Axios Lucy Schiller : Writer and professor of creative writing based in Texas Kevin Munger:  Assistant Professor of Political Science and Social Data Anal...

Political satire is alive and well in America today. And it turns out it might have an important role in educating the public and the health of our democracy. This hour, we look at the state and the art of political satire with comedian Samantha Bee and Sophia McClennen, a political scientist who studies satire. GUESTS:  Samantha Bee : Comedian, host of the podcast  Choice Words with Samantha Bee...

Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of thrillers and mysteries probably best known for The Chain and the Sean Duffy series. On the dark and stormy night of September 9, McKinty talked to Colin on stage at The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford. It’s the first show we’ve done in front of a live audience since the before times. This hour, a lightly edited version of that conversation. GUE...

Gone are the days when we’d browse a local store if we needed a new air purifier or oven mitt. Now, many people don’t dare make a purchase without first Googling “best kitchen mixer” and browsing lists of top-tens on recommendation sites. How did these sites come to dominate our shopping carts? And if you’re not a fan of that humidifier you got off a top-ten list, are there other ways to shop? GUE...

This hour, a look at misunderstood monsters, why humans create monsters in the first place, and the benefits of hearing a monster’s perspective. Plus, we learn more about Medusa and talk to a researcher who studied purported yeti samples to find the animal behind the myth. GUESTS: Natalie Haynes: A writer and broadcaster; her newest book is  Stone Blind Charlotte Lindqvist: Associate professor in...