The Colin McEnroe Show

Hello again! And by “Again,” we mean that this is the second in a possibly infinite chain of Colingrams, a new concept in which the host of The Colin McEnroe Show (whose name, confusingly, is Bart Murfreesboro) shares some small insight, while urging you to subscribe (if you haven’t) to our new stealth brand podcast Pardon Me (Another Damn Impeachment Show?) , which is available...

Behold the first-ever Colingram, in which host Colin McEnroe chats briefly and possibly even engagingly about something of interest (to him anyway). Colingrams will continue through the impeachment process and slightly beyond it. Until after the aftermath, one might say. And then life will resume its normal rhythms except that the United States will be ruled by Lindsey Graham and a large robot, th...

Sam Mendes's World War I drama,  1917 , is currently the #1 movie in America. It won Golden Globe Awards for Best Director and Best Picture -- Drama, and it's nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Cinematography. The cinematography nomination is probably the least surprising one, as the entire movie is shot to look as though it was one lon...

Over the years, our government has been involved in some pretty shady affairs. After eugenics and internment camps but before Watergate and Iran-Contra, came mind control. And just like the other ethically dubious projects mentioned, your tax dollars paid for it. Beginning in the 1940s, multiple U.S. intelligence agencies became interested in studying how they might control people's minds to the e...

Life after death, in one form or another,  has been examined by multiple disciplines for centuries: From theology, to physics, to philosophy, to medicine and more. But while the topic is taken seriously by some, it remains a focus of ridicule and skepticism by others. Recently however, tests have been designed to unequivocally either prove or disprove this phenomenon once thought to be contes...

This hour, we air an updated version of the most recent episode of our weekly impeachment show,   Pardon Me , which normally airs Saturdays at noon. Law professor Bruce Ackerman argues that President Trump's order to kill Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani  is a far graver offense  than his efforts to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden. Thin...

We like to open the phones and hear what's on your minds. We never know what you're going to say but we love that you call us to say it.  Colin would like to start with the Oscar nominations. You let us know where you want to go from there. Maybe you want to stay there.  Call us at (888) 720-9677, which is also (888) 720-WNPR. You can also tweet us @wnprcolin or leave us a message on Fac...

The Rise of Skywalker is the third and final movie in the third (and final?) trilogy -- the sequel trilogy in the trilogy of trilogies -- in the main, so-called "Skywalker Saga" of the Star Wars narrative. It's the eleventh Star Wars movie overall, the fifth since Disney bought Lucasfilm and took over the franchise, and the second directed by JJ Abrams (after The Force Awakens , the first of the D...

Ram Dass ' 1971 book, " Be Here Now ," was the gateway drug into spirituality for a lot of young people seeking answers in the era of Vietnam. Dass first tried being a psychology professor at Harvard, where he and colleague Timothy Leary sought God through experiments with  psychedelics . Then, he went to India and found his guru, who taught him how to feel high without the drugs.  Many...

America and Iran have not had an easy relationship since 1979, when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days by students supporting the Iranian Revolution . The resulting rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini further weakened the relationship. Decades later, Iran is still seen by much of the democratic world through the lens of political tension, war and mistrust of political leaders who for...

They're in the books we read, the shows we watch, and the art we hang on our walls. They conjure notions of might, magic, romance, and more. Castles, perhaps as much as any other architectural structure in history, define the landscape of our fantasy and imagination. But is our imagination an accurate lens through which to view these fortresses of ol'? And why, after hundreds of years, does our cu...

Last month, we launched a whole other show. It's a weekly show airing on Saturdays at noon and hitting your podcast feeds on Fridays most weeks hopefully. It's called  Pardon Me (Another Damn Impeachment Show?) . It's about all the latest trends and tech in the world of industrial welding. Wait, no. That's not right. It's about the impeachment, silly. And so this hour, in lieu of your regular...

President Obama's lists of his favorite books, movies, and TV shows of 2019  are out. They include a number of titles that are showing up on proper critics' lists --  The Irishman ,  The Last Black Man in San Francisco ,  Parasite ,  Unbelievable ,  Watchmen , etc. -- but there are some surprises too. At the same time,  here are all the books President Trump reco...

The stereotypes around homeschooling have existed for decades. Since the modern homeschooling movement began in the late 20th century, those who favored this educational approach have largely been perceived as white, anti-establishment, radically Christian, and ultra-conservative. But while this description does apply to some, the trend lines tell a different story. In recent years, homeschooling...

Since 2014, we've gathered some of our heaviest hitters in the jazz world to talk about the year in jazz. From concept albums to masked musicians to tunes unlike anything you've ever heard, enjoy some great songs from this last crazy trip around the sun! Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During this perineum week in-between Christmas and the New Year, we decided to take your calls.  We thought about a lot of asking you to weigh in on some disturbing and heavy topics. In the end, and by popular demand, we decided to keep it lighter. That doesn't mean you can't call with a concern that weighs heavy on your mind. We just thought you could use a break.  We'll get you started...

Cats  -- the new feature film based on the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and starring James Cordon, Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, and others -- opened last weekend and grossed $6.6 million in the U.S. It is  the 19th-worst opening for any movie in  very  wide release in history . The 18 movies that opened to less money on a similar number of screens are mostly a b...

We wake up to coffee from a pod, listen to music on our pod devices, drive to work in our Smart cars, Fiats, or other increasingly pod-shaped vehicles, sit all day in a cubicle (pod), relax after work in a hip, new float pod, wash our clothes using detergent pods, and while we wait for them to dry, we listen to our favorite podcast. Sound about right? What is it about pods that we're so drawn to?...

Don't miss -- for what might just be the seventh year we've done this (though it might also be some other number too) -- a very badly planned Christmas Eve special featuring chaos muppet and music legend "Big Al" Anderson, the great Jim Chapdelaine, and State Troubadour Nekita Waller! GUESTS: "Big Al" Anderson  - Award-winning guitarist, singer, and songwriter known for his work in the band N...

Christianity Today, an evangelical Christian publication founded by Billy Graham in 1956, published an editorial Thursday by editor-in-chief Mark Galli, calling for President Trump to be removed from office.  This might sound shocking to the  large number  of evangelicals who steadfastly support the president despite behavior that has been at odds with Christian morality.  The...

It's been over 100 years since the first cartoons were drawn by hand. Since then, the genre has delved into everything from sex and drugs to racial inequality and war crimes. Even the tamest, G-rated cartoons have often found ways of slipping in adult humor past the eyes of younger viewers. Cartoons have been the vehicle for government propaganda, social change, and political satire. Some have bee...

When this forum was originally scheduled , it was intended as a conversation about how our language is changing. Example, the idiom "woke" or "#woke" has a very keen set of meanings to one group and flies by another. I still want to do a little of that, but it’s also possibly more important to talk about the battle over basic meaning in the public square. I think it can be argued that: (a) s...

Fyre Festival , Theranos , Anna Delvey , the college admissions scandal ... the list goes on. And whether explored on the news or as a book, podcast, documentary or feature film, consumers can't seem to get enough of this 'scamtent.' This hour, we'll talk about scams and scammers, and discuss why we as a culture can't seem to look away. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.c...

Voters in favor of Brexit handed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson an electoral victory on Thursday in a landslide not seen since Margaret Thatcher’s win in 1987. Conservatives won seats in British working-class districts that have been Labour strongholds for generations, giving Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party its biggest defeat since 1935. What can 2020 Democratic presidential candida...

The Nose is off this week (because, on any given day, it's entirely possible that our whole show will be off with  all this impeachment nonsense  going on), so  David Edelstein  joins Colin for the hour to talk about some of the best (and some of the worst) movies of the year. The Irishman ,  Diane ,  Once Upon at Time... in Hollywood ,  Uncut Gems ,  The La...