The Colin McEnroe Show

Predictions of a paperless future go back to the 1800's. And since then, as technology has advanced, such predictions  have only increased. Today, despite a dizzying array of technological alternatives to paper, those prediction have not come true. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From ancient scrolls to modern toner cartridges, ink (in one form or another) has been around for millennia. And while we may take it for granted now, it was for much of that time a precious and coveted substance. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They smell better, they're better at sensing temperature changes and they can handle more pain. These are just a few of the actual differences between redheads and the rest of us. But while having red hair does come with certain advantages, there are more than a few disadvantages as well. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Race is a myth; racism is not. I'm stealing this line from Gene Seymour, one of our guests on our show today.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dave Chappelle somewhat famously walked away from his Comedy Central series and went twelve years without releasing a comedy special. He broke that streak by putting out no less than four specials in 2017, and now he's maybe threatening to go back on another hiatus? Netflix released two new Chappelle specials -- "Equanimity" and "The Bird Revelations" -- on December 31, and The Nose has watched bo...

For a period of about fifty years, many of America's top cartoonists and illustrators lived within a stone's throw of one another in the southwestern corner of Connecticut. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some would say we're living in a golden age of awkwardness. We recognize it in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls , and Silicon Valley . It's in Buzzfeed gif-ticles , and those old reruns of Seinfeld.   Let's not forget Holden Caulfield, Owen Meany and Winnie the Pooh .  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The history of sugar is a complicated one. Once available to only the rich and powerful, sugar now shows up in everything from cereals and soups, to cigarettes and body scrubs. It is known to both have medicinal qualities and to contribute to a variety of health problems. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Goldwater Rule was put in place by the American Psychological Association in 1964. It says it's unethical for psychiatrists to give a professional opinion about public figures they have not examined. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Sherman-Palladino created "Gilmore Girls." Her new Amazon Prime show, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," is nominated for Golden Globes for Best Television Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy for Rachel Brosnahan in the title role. "Mrs. Maisel" sounds a lot like "Gilmore Girls" with the stylized, rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue. The biggest difference between the t...

It's cold, snowy winter times like this that make us question why we choose to live in a place where snow, sleet, and wind define one-third of the year.  It's a great excuse to complain, but does it also make us stronger and better people? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Because Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts and founded Connecticut so there could be jazz, we'll take it upon ourselves to look back at the best jazz of last year with people who eat, sleep, drink, and love jazz. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump is changing the office of the presidency . He spent his first year in office defying political conventions and norms followed by the forty-four presidents before him. Some would say that he is squandering the moral integrity of the presidency. Will these changes outlast his tenure? How durable is the office of the presidency? Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystu...

Have you ever woken in the middle of the night, looked at the clock, and noticed that it's the same time you woke up the night before - and the night before that? How does your body know what time it is?  You're not sure but the passage of minutes makes you worry that if you don't get back to sleep, you'll be too tired in the morning to get your work done on time. You can't get back to sleep....

Netflix's The Crown tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II, starting with her wedding in 1947. The second season, released this month and nominated for a 2018 Golden Globe for Best Television Series -- Drama, covers 1956 through 1963. The Nose has thoughts. ...And this Nose also has an expanded, year-end, best-of, New Year's Eve Eve Eve endorsements extravaganza covering all of our favorites from t...

Don't miss -- for the 5th year -- a very badly planned live New Year's 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.

Kurt Andersen's new book is Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire . It's a 500-year history "of America jumping the shark ." The idea, largely, is that our present post-fact, fake-news moment is... nothing new. This hour, we look back at the history. We look at our present -- which is to say, we look at our present president: "To describe [Trump] is practically to summarize this book," Andersen sa...

Donald Trump's election last November was the culmination of a venom-filled campaign that was nastier than almost any in recent memory. Mean-spirited comments 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 and firmness of a man, nor the...

Greta Gerwig's solo directorial debut, Lady Bird , is a coming-of-age comedy/drama that stars Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Lucas Hedges. Oh, and it's currently at 99% on the Tomatometer . So here's the question: Can a movie that's at 99% on the Tomatometer really ever be anything other than a letdown? And then: Is the English translation of the Lord's Prayer actually a mistranslation? The Po...

Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant, etc. These are just the beginning of what experts believe will be a future filled with verbally interactive, digital and robotic assistants. And as we become more accustomed to interacting with machines, the machines are becoming more life-like. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Argus Pheasant is a lifelong bachelor. He mates with multiple females but has no further contact with his mates or the baby pheasants he sires. By human terms, not much of a feminist. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We tend not to think much about that pat of butter we put on our morning toast, including how the store-bought sweet cream butter we're eating likely pales in comparison to the rich, nutty flavor of  the cultured butter not found in many stores. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Ashbrook . John Hockenberry . Michael Oreskes . David Sweeney . Garrison Keillor . Tavis Smiley . Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz . Charlie Rose . There's no way around it: The sexual misconduct reckoning that's happening in media and politics and elsewhere has hit public television and radio particularly hard. This hour we wonder why, and we take your calls. Support the show: http://www....

For once in our lives, it's actually kind of obvious what this week in pop culture has been all about. Star Wars 's Episode VIII -- the ninth live-action  Star Wars movie -- is out. The Last Jedi officially opens today, and it's projected to take in nearly half a billion dollars this weekend. The Nose stayed up late last night to catch a midnight showing. Or something like that. And this week...

When Alexis de Tocqueville toured America in the early 1830's to gather observations that he would later put on the pages of  Democracy in America , he was impressed with the efficiency of our American Postal Service. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.