The Colin McEnroe Show

This hour is all about historical reenactments. We look at the role reenactments play in helping us understand or experience history. We talk with reenactors about what draws them to this and what their experiences are like. Plus, reenactments aren’t just about the acting but the costumes and the props. We hear from a tailor who creates custom clothing using traditional materials and methods to cr...

Schadenfreude, the German idea for taking pleasure in others’ misfortune, seems like an ugly human emotion. But psychologists and philosophers argue that schadenfreude is baked into the human condition and actually is kind of good for us. This hour, we explore why it’s okay to laugh when someone slips on a banana peel. GUESTS: Scott Dikkers: Founding editor of  The Onion  and the author of  How to...

Welcome back from the long weekend and, in a way, from the summer! We figured you might have some things to say on a day like today, and 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 commercial creep on public rad...

This week’s Nose gets the Oprah shot. Britney is back. Over the last week, Britney Spears released a 22-minute ‘audio statement’ covering her conservatorship and its long-awaited ending, and she dropped her first new music since 2016, a single with Elton John . And: Nope is Jordan Peele’s third film as writer/director/producer, his followup to Get Out and Us . It’s a kind of mashup of horror, sci-...

Tuberculosis has been around for thousands of years and still infects millions per year. This hour, we look back at how tuberculosis has shaped history and how it is still impacting health today. Plus, a look at the history of tuberculosis treatment, how tuberculosis has shaped modern architecture, and the impact of tuberculosis on art and artists. GUESTS:  Heran Darwin: Professor in the Departmen...

In his book, Seven Games , Oliver Roeder says that games are a “slice of life.” This hour we look at three games: chess, Scrabble, and Monopoly. We investigate why these games have endured in popularity through history, and we discuss what each one of them can teach us about life. GUESTS: Jenny Adams: Author of  Power Play: The Literature and Politics of Chess in the Late Middle Ages Mary Pilon: A...

This hour, we wrap our heads around clapping — its history, its varied permutations, and the kinds of occasions on which people applaud. GUESTS:  Gavin Witt : Professor of theater history at  Towson University  and a long-time dramaturg Erin Elstner:  Percussionist and professor of percussion at  Webster University Frank Rizzo : Theater critic for  Variety  and other publications Support the show:...

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 the old Hartford music venue Lloyd’s; the village of Bentonsport, Iowa, current population 44; the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts, current population 3,644; our i...

This week’s Nose is one hell of a steep climb outta there. Top Gun: Maverick is a sequel 36 years in the making. It’s also the No. 1 movie of the year, both worldwide and domestically. It’s the highest-grossing film of Tom Cruise’s long career. And it’s the highest-grossing domestic release in the history of Paramount Pictures. Top Gun: Maverick starts its fourth month in theaters this weekend, an...

Chances are you have used online reviews to try new restaurants, dry cleaners, hotels or even movies. But what makes us trust the opinions of strangers on the internet? This hour, a look at the art and the etiquette of online reviews. GUESTS:  Camilla Vásquez: Author of The Discourse of Online Consumer Reviews Chef Tyler Anderson : Owner of Tanda Hospitality Lauren Dragan : Senior staff writer at...

In his new book, From Hollywood with Love , critic Scott Meslow lays out two ways to tell if a given movie is a rom-com. First, his own definition: “A romantic comedy is a movie where (1) the central plot is focused on at least one romantic love story; and (2) the goal is to make you laugh at least as much as the goal is to make you cry.” And then, The Donald Petrie Test, named for the director of...

Bears, bobcats, coyotes, and deer are repopulating Connecticut, despite being hunted to near extinction by early settlers. Is the mountain lion among those returning? The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection thinks it’s unlikely. They investigate hundreds of mountain lion sightings every year without finding physical evidence of their presence. The sightings increased in 2...

Nobody ever died of a broken heart, right? Not true. A condition known as broken heart syndrome can be brought on by a sudden shock, such as grief from the death of a loved one or a divorce. You may not die of a broken heart, but it can alter your biology in ways that can increase your risk for disease. The good news is that it can be reversed if you can begin to mend your heart. Also this hour: W...

This week’s Nose is sittin’ here, moping, pigeon feeding. It’s the generational divide that’s been tearing the nation asunder for as long as we can remember: Should you use a top sheet or not? [Ed. note: You obviously should not. What is this, the 19th century?] And: The Sandman is a Netflix series adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic book written by Neil Gaiman. Ten episodes dropped on August 5 and...

In a recent Quinnipiac poll, people were asked the most urgent issue facing the country. COVID-19 came in dead last among 13 options. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just relaxed its guidelines . Again. But more than 400 Americans are dying each day , and the long Omicron surge continues. There’s still a pandemic going on. This hour, we look at what’s going on with the pandemic....

Chances are you’ve used an index at the back of a book. But how much thought have you given to their creation, their function, their history? This hour: more than you ever thought to wonder about the role of indexes in our world. Plus, we get mixed up in the world of cookbook indexes. GUESTS: Paula Clarke Bain: Professional indexer Dennis Duncan: Author of  Index, A History of The: A Bookish Adven...

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 mountain lions, punctuation and pronunciation and grammar, the death of David McCullough , the big (“big”) digital vs. analog controversy swirling around Mobile Fideli...

What makes something tacky? This hour, a celebration of all things tacky. Plus, a look at why reality TV is sometimes tacky and at the tackiest home décor. GUESTS: Rax King : Author of Tacky: Love Letters to the Worst Culture We Have to Offer and co-host of the podcast  Low Culture Boil Jacques Lamarre: A playwright and the director of client services at Buzz Engine Brian Moylan: A writer and real...

This week’s Nose got the walls wet and on fire. We present here a podcast-only segment on I Am Groot , Marvel’s new Disney+ series of shorts (each episode is three minutes long plus credits and logos) following the adventures of Baby Groot during the period between Guardians of the Galaxy and a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 mid-credits sequence. (I’m not making this up, I swear .) I’d explain why...

This week’s Nose got the walls wet and on fire. The producers of an upcoming biopic about Fidel Castro’s exiled daughter, Alina of Cuba , reportedly did extensive heraldry and skull-shape analysis and somehow came to the conclusion that … James Franco should play Castro . The internet doesn’t think that’s a good idea. (Also: It’s not.) And: The Rehearsal is Nathan Fielder’s new HBO docu-comedy ser...

How do you like to relax? Do you read a book? Go for a hike, maybe? How about grabbing dinner with friends? The list goes on, and we consider these activities leisure. This hour, we learn what leisure is and how to master it. We take a look at the importance of leisure for health, how the concept differs around the world, and what it means to value your free time. Finally, we examine what the futu...

In her book Sandy Hook , Elizabeth Williamson investigates the conspiracy theories that arose following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut. GUEST: Elizabeth Williamson: Author of  Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Podcasts , Stitcher , or wherever you get...

Food isn’t just a way to cure hunger. In food, we find identity, history, politics, and more. This hour, a look at the evolution of food and how our perception of different diets and lifestyles is changing. GUESTS: Anthony Jung: Executive chef of retail dining at UMass Amherst Cathy Kaufman: Lecturer of food studies at The New School and chairwoman of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery Dr. U...

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 the R&B trio  AKNU , calling everybody “guys” indiscriminately,  force-field analysis , the writing of the U.S. Constitution, and  the Bloomfield aquifer project ....

The Nose is off this week. In its place this hour, a look at why, more than half a century after they first came walking down the street, we’re still bananas for The Monkees. GUESTS: Mark Rozzo: Contributing editor at Vanity Fair , where he published “ The Most Influential Pop-Rock Band Ever? The Monkees! ” Andrew Sandoval: Manager of The Monkees from 2011 to 2021 and host of the podcast  Come to...