The Colin McEnroe Show

That headline is just a direct quote from James Poniewozik's Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America . I was torn between that line from the book and this one: Donald Trump is not a person. Poniewozik's take is that "Donald Trump" is really a character that Donald Trump has been playing on television since at least the early 1980s. "Television has entertained Ameri...

Love it or hate it, ventriloquism is hot these days. From Jeff Dunham's superstardom to three recent America's Got Talent winners, 'vents' are seeing more exposure than they have in decades. And with this attention comes new fans and practicioners from around the world. But venting wasn't always so popular. For centuries it was regarded as dark and deceptive--a practice  often associated with...

A hard-boiled private eye, a glamorous blond, and a hapless drifter all sit at a bar on the seamy side of town. It's night, the streets are wet, the shadows are long. They each nurse a drink to the notes of a mournful saxophone and a lonely piano.  Smoke from the cigarettes swirls in the darkness.  We all know classic noir when we see it and hear it and read it; yet, we don't really know...

Today, a two-part show. The first part is with an impeachment expert on the House inquiry into whether President Trump abused his power for personal gain. How much trouble is the president in? In the last two weeks, diplomats and senior advisors have testified against White House orders. They've each told a similar narrative in which all paths lead to the president.  On Thursday, acting Chief...

Martin Scorsese is a grump. He doesn't like Marvel movies. He says they aren't "cinema." He says they aren't even narrative films, and " we shouldn't be invaded by it. " The internet, as you can imagine, has takes. And: The Eddie Murphy comeback is on. He appeared on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee this summer. He's hosting Saturday Night Live in December. He's got multiple standup comedy special...

"Hate" is the imprecise word we use to describe a group of ideas that have moved out of the shadows of American public life and into its center ring. At the core of these movements sits one common idea: that all people are not equal. This hour, we discuss the challenges this moment poses to educators, politicians, business leaders and journalists as recorded live at Watkinson School in Hartford as...

From the penny press, to yellow journalism, to supermarket tabloids and beyond, sensationalized news has been around for centuries. But while this style of reporting may have its critics, it may also serve as an important reflection of American culture and democracy. This hour we speak with journalists and historians about the evolution and influence of tabloid journalism. We'll also discuss the a...

In January of 2018, a seemingly racist incident occurred on the National Mall. Photos and videos were posted to social media showing a group of MAGA hat-wearing high school students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky. One of them, Nick Sandmann, seemed to be mocking and blocking the path of Native American activist, Nathan Phillips. People either jeered or cheered on social media, dep...

President Trump leaves chaos in his wake. There is  chaos in Syria . Turkish artillery fire is targeting the Kurdish-led militia that has been allied with U.S. Special Forces over the last five years in their war against ISIS. Syrians are fleeing their homes, ISIS prisoners are escaping from prisons no longer guarded by the Kurds, and the last U.S. troops pulled out on Sunday. The developing...

Joker is director Todd Phillips's modern take on movies like Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy . It stars Joaquin Phoenix in the title role in what happens also to be... a Batman movie. It's been called " a gloriously daring and explosive film " and " a movie that borders on genius " but also " bleak and juvenile " and " a movie of a cynicism so vast and pervasive as to render the viewing experie...

On January 31, 2018, Kristin and Mike Song's 15-year-old son Ethan Song, accidentally shot and killed himself at his friend's house. They were handling a gun they knew was kept in a bedroom closet. The gun was one of three guns owned by the friend's father. They were in a cardboard box inside a tupperware container that was hidden in a bedroom closet. The guns had locks but the keys and ammunition...

Listen Wednesday at 1:00 pm.  Jimmy Webb was possibly the most successful songwriter of the 1960's and 1970's. Classics like "Galveston," "Wichita Lineman," "Up, Up, and Away," and "MacArthur Park," were recorded by hundreds of artists from Glen Campbell to Donna Summer. Webb wrote the songs that others made famous. Colin has wanted to interview Mr. Webb for a very long time, and on September...

We’re exploring the world of Barbershop Harmony; from its roots in the African American community to its influence in other genres, Barbershop is an important piece of the puzzle in the American music scene. For many, Barbershop calls to mind old people, singing old songs - but ask any Barbershopper and they’ll tell you nothing can be further from the truth. For them, there is a youthf...

The Supreme Court begins a new session Monday. It will be the first full term since the more conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. It's shaping up to be one of the most significant sessions in a long time  with the potential to significantly limit reproductive and LGBTQ rights, put DACA recipients at risk for deportation, and expand gun rights.&nb...

The Netflix limited series Unbelievable stars Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever. It tells the true story of a serial rapist and the investigation that caught him, and it's based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Marshall Project and ProPublica article " An Unbelievable Story of Rape " and the This American Life episode based on that. Other possible topics include: McDreamy, McSteamy, and...

October is upon us. Pumpkin spice everything is here. Leaf peeping is just around the corner. Your one slightly odd neighbor has put out his 37 hand-carved jack-o'-lanterns. But more than any of that, what October brings with it is October sports. And this year, in Connecticut, that means two things: The Connecticut Sun is in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2005. The best-of-five series,...

Listen Tuesday at 1:00 pm. On September 5, our team traveled to Glen Cove, New York to interview legendary songwriter,  Jimmy Webb .  The interview has been on our "to do" list for four years, and it was worth every minute of the wait. For the first time in  CMS  history, we've decided to create two shows from Webb's stories and music. (Part two will be available next Wednesday...

Today's show might get a bit dicey. In fact,  it's almost certainly headed for Trouble . And all we can say is  Sorry , that's Life!  Okay, fine, let's drop the Charades. Today's show is about board games. Is that a big enough Clue ? From classics like Monopoly , Candyland , and Scrabble to current megahits like Magic , Gloomhaven , and Dungeons and Dragons , board games have been b...

A lot has happened since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initiated an impeachment inquiry against President Trump last week after learning that Trump asked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Velensky to interfere in the 2020 election. Public support for the inquiry is rising after an edited transcript of Trump's conversation was released to the public along with a transcipt of the whistleblower complaint at...

The Nose couldn't decide which of last weekend's two big new movies to go see, so it went to both. Downton Abbey , the feature film continuation of the incredibly popular PBS series, is the number one movie in the country. Its $31 million opening was the biggest ever for the studio that made it, Focus Features. Not bad for a PG-rated, special effects-free drama made for grownups. James Gray's Ad A...

It's been 25 years since Bob Ross's The Joy of Painting went off the air (and 24 years since Ross died). But there are 52 episodes of the show available to stream on Netflix. Bob Ross and Chill is a thing. The 403 full episodes available on YouTube have accumulated something approaching 250 million views. And this summer, The New York Times did a big Bob Ross investigation . This hour: a look at t...

An epoch of our own making is one way to describe it. And as the Anthropocene is set to be formally recognized as a chrono-stratigraphic unit in the next couple of years, scientists, philosophers, engineers and many more are exploring unconventional ways of adapting to this new era. From terraforming cities to preserve Holocenic conditions, to collaborating with non-human life forms to "re-wild" o...

Women in America die more frequently from complications of childbirth than in any other industrialized nation in the world. In addition, women of color are three to four times more likely to die than white women. And over the last 25 years that the maternal mortality was rising in America, other countries were decreasing their rate.  There are lots of reasons why maternal mortality and morbid...

House Democrats are moving closer to initiating impeachment proceedings against President Trump after he confirmed that he discussed 2020 presidential candidate and political rival Joe Biden, with the Ukrainian president. The possibility that the president may have subjugated the national interest for personal political gain is a "new chapter of lawlessness," according to House Speaker Nancy Pelos...

Merriam-Webster has added 533 new words to its dictionary. Words like " deep state ," " pickleball ," " escape room ," and " Bechdel test ." My favorite is probably " fatberg ." But there's a particular new dictionary entry that The Nose is specifically interested in: " dad joke ." Also this week: The Nose tackles what we're pretty sure is its first certifiable bomb ever. The new movie adaptation...