The Colin McEnroe Show

Language is an untamable beast. You can decide that infinitives aren't to be split and that "whom" is the objective form of "who" and that "literally" literally means literally. But here's the thing: Language doesn't have to care one way or the other what nonsense you've decided. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us know  what Kafkaesque means  even if we've never read a word Kafka wrote.  For example, it's Kafkaesque when your smart home  turns on you.  It's not Kafkaesque when you wait in line for two hours at DMV and they close the line when you get to the front. (Well, it's a little Kafkaesque.) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Free will, individual responsibility, and the pursuit of happiness: Fundamental tenets of, wait for it... Satanism. While the word conjures up images of fire and brimstone, the truth is a bit more complicated. So why does a religion which celebrates so much what Americans profess to hold dear get such a bad rap? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

The reactions to Representative Rashida Tlaib's profanity and her calls for impeachment against the president have been mixed. While most Republicans are in sync in their outrage over her comments, Democrats are further apart.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louis C.K. has done another thing . He did the thing a few weeks ago, it turns out. But this week the thing appeared on the internet , as things do. And so The Nose, as it does , must cover the thing. And we've gotten to that part of the year where all the awards-season movies all come out at once. (I guess it's called... "awards season"? Huh.) But then the rest of pop culture keeps keeping on at...

Connecticut's 88th governor, Dannel P. Malloy, loves to make decisions. "That's who I am and what I am," he proclaimed during a wide-ranging exit interview with Colin McEnroe. He also, undoubtedly, loves to get the last word, no matter if it's on state employee pension reforms, his handling of an unspeakable tragedy, severe weather events, or the results of the 2018 election. Support the show...

It's been easy to overlook Trump Administration environmental policies that are contributing to the destruction of wildlife and habitats. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don't miss -- for what might just be the sixth year we've done this -- a very badly planned New Year's Eve Eve Eve Eve special featuring chaos muppet and music legend "Big Al" Anderson and the great Jim Chapdelaine! Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As our culture continues to progress, one elephant in the room that seems to be growing harder to ignore is our views on human sexuality. The traditional model of two mutually exclusive gender identities, male and female, is becoming increasingly outdated as we hear about people in our communities and around the world who fall somewhere in between the two (or outside the boxes entirely). Despite t...

We're doing a show on supermarkets today - from a supermarket! Most Americans still buy most of their food from a supermarket. While farmer's markets and specialty stores offer organic and local alternatives, large-scale supermarkets still offer more convenience, the lowest prices and a seemingly endless variety of choices. Their big wide aisles with neatly stacked and eye-catching packaged produc...

Donald Trump's election was the culmination of a venom-filled campaign that was nastier than almost any in recent memory. The mean-spirited comments tossed to voters eager to "lock her up" fell just shy of the malicious rhetoric coming from Thomas Jefferson's presidential campaign in 1796. Jefferson's hatchet-man called John Adams a "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force...

As 2018 draws to a close, The Nose makes its final appearance on our schedule this year. And so we've brought in a nine-person Nose to do a special, live, nighttime broadcast of our best ofs (and maybe worst ofs?) of the year. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Athletes, therapists, comedians, and public radio producers: All jobs which require a human touch, right? Perhaps not. Even now, we're beginning to see some of these rolls being performed by robots. But while machines may be capable of doing such work, is there any demand for it among humans? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2018 has been a doozy of a year. And 2019, well, who knows? But you know what would make you feel a little bit better? Listening to our esteemed panelists and some of their favorite jazz tunes of 2018, a show tradition we've had since 2014. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When was the last time you saw someone with a disability? Do you have a loved one who is part of the community? Did you see a character on TV, or did you just pass someone on the street? For some it may take a while to answer that question. Why is that? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The most common image of white supremacy, nationalism, and other far-right movements is of angry men. Often overlooked are the women. On the surface, they may appear less menacing. But in many ways, they serve a more insidious role: lending their groups a more palatable, family-values cover under which to operate and spread messages of intolerance. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See...

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton: An American Musical is, simply, a phenomenon. The Broadway production was nominated for a record 16 Tony Awards, and it won 11. The Original Broadway Cast Recording is certified five-times Platinum and won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and The Hamilton Mixtape debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See om...

Social structures, in almost all cases, are defined by some form of hierarchy. Whether in academics, sports, religion, business, or politics, there's usually someone at the top and others whose goal it is to get there. But while it's easy to think that we've designed our world to be this way, the truth may be that we had no choice. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/li...

Jill Sobule is back in town! She joins us after her first of three consecutive evening performances at the Mark Twain House. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three guests, Peter Sagal of WWDTM, Maria Konnikova of The New Yorker , and Robert Evans of Cracked , take you on a tour of vice. They talk everything from casual sex to marijuana to greed and ostentation to coffee to beer to pornography. Peter and Colin also discuss what the next declared vice will be. Possibly sitting. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for...

What did he know and when did he know it? Prosecutors from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team and the Southern District of New York on Friday afternoon came closer to answering these questions as they relate to President Trump and his campaign's interference in the 2016 election. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first episode of Doctor Who aired on November 23, 1963. Since then, there have been 37 seasons and 849 episodes of the show. The current Doctor, the thirteenth, is portrayed by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to take the role on. Is a show with this much history impenetrable, at this point, for new viewers? Is Doctor Who nerd culture for nerds who think nerd culture isn't nerdy enough? Are Jo...

Seriously: a show about towels. There's the history of towels , towels in Christianity , Terrible Towels , Towel Day . Oh, and there are actual towels too. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our relationship with our toothbrush is complicated. Most of us don't brush our teeth well enough . We don't brush long enough, or we brush too hard, or we keep our toothbrushes so long that tests would show it to be about as clean as our toilets. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the series "NewsRadio, " the character played by Phil Hartman once said, "Experience once taught me that behind every toothy grin lies a second row of teeth." Smiling is a universal way to show happiness. But not all smiles are happy. In reality, we smile less for happiness than for social reasons that have nothing to do with happiness.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omn...