The Colin McEnroe Show

Thornton Wilder's Our Town debuted more than 80 years ago. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and, over the decades since, it has continuously been one of the most produced of American plays. It is known for its spare set -- just some chairs and tables, perhaps some ladders -- and lack of props and sometimes even costumes. It's known for its metatheatricality and its Stage Manager character, who addresses the audience directly and rarely participates in the action of the play, as much as there really is any. It is known as old-fashioned, sentimental, nostalgic and, simultaneously, obviously and intentionally not old-fashioned, sentimental, and nostalgic. This hour, a look at perhaps the quintessential American play: Our Town. GUESTS: Howard Sherman - The author of Another Day's Begun: Thornton Wilder's Our Town in the 21st Century Kate Powers - A stage director and the founder of The Redeeming Time Project; in 2013, she directed a production of Our Town at Sing Sing Correctional Facility Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired February 24, 2021.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'Cancel culture' has become a phrase that means so much that it means nothing at all. It originated in Black culture as a way to hold the powerful accountable, but was eventually appropriated as a political weapon for (mostly White) conservatives and liberal progressives, each group using it in very different ways. Cancel culture has brought much-needed attention to societal inequities, but also toppled careers - some justifiably, others more questionably. In the end, the most powerful scalawags seem too big to cancel. We parse out the nuance of 'cancel culture' with three thoughtful people, including one who has been canceled and who now counsels the canceled.  GUESTS: Gene Seymour is a film and jazz critic and a cultural critic for CNN.com, the New Republic, and the Nation.  Clyde McGrady is a Style features writer for the Washington Post focusing on race and identity. Alice Dreger is a writer, historian, journalist, and local news publisher with Ph.D in History of Science. Her best known book is Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar’s Search for Justice, and her bylines include the New York Times, WIRED Magazine, and the Atlantic. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a long absence from Twitter, Donald Glover last week, in a series of since-deleted tweets, blamed boring culture on cancel culture. After a long absence from the popular culture, Sinéad O'Connor has a memoir coming out. And: The Underground Railroad is a 10-part limited series on Amazon Prime. It's Barry Jenkins's adaptation of Colson Whitehead's 2016 novel. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Paul Mooney Dies: Trailblazing Comedian, Writing Partner Of Richard Pryor Was 79 Charles Grodin, Star of 'Beethoven' and 'Heartbreak Kid,' Dies at 86A familiar face who was especially adept at deadpan comedy, he also appeared on Broadway in "Same Time, Next Year," wrote books and had his own talk show. Inside the All-hands Meeting That Led to a Third of Basecamp Employees QuittingThe company's senior leadership wanted to quell employees' concerns, and only made things much, much worse Jon Bon Jovi, Don Henley Called Antitrust "Co-Conspirators"An outfit representing some 10,000 radio stations wants to depose star musicians in a heavyweight legal battle. Oregon Trail Gets A Makeover With More Accurate Native American Representation Ellen DeGeneres' Farewell Tour Is Already a Whiny, Tone-Deaf DisasterWhile DeGeneres complains about the reports of her behavior and toxic workplace, it's even harder to remember what it was about the show that changed history -- and was so good. I'll Take 'White Supremacist Hand Gestures' for $1,000How hundreds of "Jeopardy!" contestants talked themselves into a baseless conspiracy theory -- and won't be talked out of it. Only Shooting Stars Break the Mold: The Massive Musical Footprint of 'Shrek'Thanks to 'All Star' to 'Hallelujah,' the animated blockbuster’s soundtrack has maintained a quietly rich legacy. The people behind the film -- and musicians behind its songs -- break down how it came together and why it still matters, even as the years started coming and didn’t stop coming. The New 'Right Stuff' Is Money and LuckRich people are heading to space, and they're changing what it means to be an astronaut. Goop Responds to "Frivolous" Lawsuit Claiming That Its Vagina Candles Explode After LightingThis class action filing comes after another customer claimed at the beginning of the year that the candle turned her living room into an "inferno." How a Review Changed Both Sarah Silverman and Our CriticA.O. Scott critiqued her approach to comedy in a 2005 movie. Now they sit down to talk about what he got right and wrong, and why owning up to mistakes is freeing. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan - Artistic producer at TheaterWorks Rich Hollant - Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob Dylan turns 80 years old on May 24. His first album, 1962's Bob Dylan, is in its 60th year on record store shelves. We're at a point where, for most of us, there has simply never been a popular culture in which Dylan wasn't a towering figure whose influence seems to touch, well, everything. This hour, a look at Bob Dylan at 80. GUESTS: Noah Baerman - A pianist, composer, and educator Fred Bals - Hosted the Dreamtime podcast, covering Theme Time Radio Hour with Your Host, Bob Dylan Sean Latham - Director of the Institute for Bob Dylan Studies, editor of The World of Bob Dylan, and the writer and narrator of It Ain't Me You're Looking For: Bob Dylan at 80 Gayle Wald - Professor of American studies at George Washington University; her most recent book is It's Been Beautiful: Soul! and Black Power Television Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Using our private bathrooms while working from home opened our eyes to how uncomfortable it can be to use public bathrooms at the office - especially when you have a digestive issue. Also this hour: "Familect" are the invented nicknames, references, and jokes shared by people who live together. For example, my husband calls me "diller," because I remind him of the hard-headed armadillo that kept crashing into our tent on our honeymoon.  Lastly, the semiotics of unmasking.  GUESTS:  Angela Lashbrook is a health, tech, and books writer. Her work has appeared in OneZero, Refinery29, The Atlantic, Vice, Vox, The Outline, and other places.   Dr. Neil Parikh is a gastroenterologist for Hartford Healthcare and Connecticut GI   Kathryn Hymes is a computational linguist and the co-founder of Thorny Games, a game studio out of Washington DC Mignon Fogarty is the founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips network and creator of the Grammar Girl website and podcast. She’s the author of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. Glynnis MacNicol is a writer and the author of No One Tells You This: A Memoir. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Cut, and the New York Daily News among others.  Emily Gardner Xu Hall is a musical theatre writer, composer and actor. Born in Tokyo and raised in London, she now lives in Harlem, New York City.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who's afraid of the Bix bad Beiderbecke? Hartford has an amazing jazz history, and Colin has a lot of jazz musician friends. This hour, a little onstage jazz party recorded in front of a live audience long before the pandemic put a pause on live audiences as a thing. Colin and the panel look to make jazz accessible to mere mortals. They talk about what makes jazz jazz, invite the audience to sing, and teach the audience to scat. GUESTS: Steve Davis - Trombone Atla DeChamplain - Vocals Matt DeChamplain - Piano Henry Lugo - Bass Jocelyn Pleasant - Drums Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. This show originally aired February 8, 2018.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. Artists like Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner, LL Cool J, Kraftwerk, and Gil Scott-Heron got in. Folks like Iron Maiden, Chaka Kahn, Rage Against the Machine, Devo, and Dionne Warwick did not. And: Mare of Easttown is a seven-episode HBO limited series starring Kate Winslet. The fifth episode airs Sunday. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Norman Lloyd, Associate of Welles, Hitchcock and Others, Dies at 106He was seen in movies and on TV shows like "St. Elsewhere" and worked with some of the biggest names in show business, even though his own name was little known. 1980s siren Tawny Kitaen of music videos and 'Bachelor Party' dies at 59 Ellen DeGeneres to End Talk Show: "I Need Something New to Challenge Me"DeGeneres gets candid about her decision to wrap up the show in 2022, the allegations that nearly sent her packing and the parts that she'll miss most -- and least -- about her daily platform. NBC Will Not Air Golden Globes in 2022 Due To Ongoing HFPA Controversy Ummm, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Were Spotted Hanging Out Together at a Resort in Montana Gen Z Is Bringing Emo Back, But This Time It's Not Just A Bunch Of White Dudes The Jean War between millennials and Gen Z cannot be won The Squandered Promise of Chet Hanks's White-Boy SummerPerhaps, in the end, we weren't nearly as ready for it as we might have wanted to be. Cinemark Signs Deals With 5 Major Hollywood Studios for Shorter Theatrical Windows STAR WARS Answers the Mystery of Luke's Missing Hand Reddit just realized that Jerry Seinfeld's TV apartment defies the laws of science Is rewatching old TV good for the soul? Andrew McCarthy Revisits the Brat PackIn a new memoir, the actor reflects on being typecast in his twenties, his struggles with addiction, and learning to like John Hughes movies. David Chase and The Sopranos writers break down 'Pine Barrens', 20 years onThe Sopranos creator and two of his closest collaborators, Terence Winter and Tim Van Patten, discuss the origin of 'Pine Barrens' -- the greatest TV episode of all time -- and why the glorious ambiguity that permeated the show keeps it relevant today The State of Baseball: Inside the biggest questions MLB is facing with the future of the sport at stake Gal Gadot Confirmed Reports That Joss Whedon "Threatened" Her While Shooting "Justice League""I handled it on the spot." Cut the intermission, please. Why I hope the pandemic ends a theatrical tradition Who Should John Mulaney Be Now? Just 12 People Are Behind Most Vaccine Hoaxes On Social Media, Research Shows GUESTS: Mercy Quaye - Founder and principal consultant for The Narrative Project and a columnist with Hearst Connecticut Media Group Brian Slattery - Arts editor for the New Haven Independent and a producer at WNHH radio Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Profanity used to be about someone swearing insincerely to God. Then the Reformation came along and made profanity about sex and the body.  Today, our most unspeakable words are slurs against other groups at a time when BLM, #MeToo, and cancel culture are driving our cultural narrative. We talk about the past, present, and future of profanity.  GUEST: John McWhorter teaches linguistics, American studies, and music history at Columbia University. He’s a contributing editor to The Atlantic and host of Slate’s Lexicon Valley podcast. His new book is Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2017, The New York Times uncovered a program at the Defense Department which investigated unidentified flying objects. This year, the former chair of Harvard's astronomy department published a book arguing that we may recently have been "visited by advanced alien technology from a distant star." This week, The New Yorker has a long piece on changing attitudes and fading taboos around UFOs. What does this all mean? Does it matter that these acknowledgements are coming from The New York Times, The New Yorker... the astronomy department at Harvard? Could it be that the concept of UFOs has finally escaped the crackpot fringe? GUESTS: Leslie Kean - An investigative journalist and the author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record Avi Loeb - Former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University and the author of Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond the Earth Mike Panicello - Mutual UFO Network CT state director Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired June 6, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Semiotics is the study of sign process, which is to say: it's the science of the search for meaning. And then, part of the underlying premise of semiotics -- which just happens to be part of the underlying premise of The Colin McEnroe Show, itself -- is that there's meaning... everywhere. Why do people smoke cigarettes even though everyone knows they're terribly harmful? Why do women wear terribly uncomfortable high-heeled shoes? Could it simply be because those things are... interesting? This hour: a crash course in the study of meaning-making, in the science of semiotics. GUEST: Marcel Danesi - The author of Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things: An Introduction to Semiotics Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired September 6, 2018.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.