The Colin McEnroe Show

The number of people testing positive for coronavirus continues to rise in many parts of the U.S., with sharp rises in places like Florida, Nevada, Alabama, Texas, and Puerto Rico. Yet, President Trump continues to attribute the rise to more testing -- despite the rise in hospitalizations and deaths -- and he wants to reduce federal aid for more testing, tracing, and for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also this hour: The ABC News/Washington Post poll released Sunday shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading President Trump by 15 points among registered voters, 55% to 40%. A majority of respondents are not happy with the president's handling of the coronavirus, among other things. On a happier note: It's National Moth Week! GUESTS: Maria Sundaram is an infectious disease epidemiologist. She’s a postdoc fellow at ICES in Toronto and a regular contributor to BBC OS (@mariasundaram) Steven Shepard is senior campaign and elections editor and chief polling analyst for Politico. (@politico_steve) Liti Haramaty is a founding member of the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission and vice-chair of the East Brunswick Commission. She's co-founder of National Moth Week and a researcher at the department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University. (@LeeTeeK) 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.

Four years ago, over the course of three days, film crews documented the musical Hamilton as performed by nearly its entire original Broadway cast. Eventually, Disney bought the distribution rights to the movie and planned to release it in theaters next fall. But then there was a pandemic, and people were stuck in their houses, and the film dropped on Disney+ earlier this month. And: Kanye West is running for president. Unless he isn't. But maybe he is. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Grant Imahara, Host of 'MythBusters' and 'White Rabbit Project,' Dies at 49 This Pickle Is a CakeWelcome to the viral world of hyper-realistic cake slicing videos. 26 Hilarious Tweets About All Those Cakes We're Seeing On The Internet"Are we human? Or are we cake?" TikTok users panic as Trump admin considers banning app Far Side creator Gary Larson publishes first new cartoons in 25 yearsAfter coming out of retirement, the cartoonist says digital technology has allowed him to rediscover the fun of drawing In Conversation: Thandie NewtonAfter decades onscreen, nothing surprises the Westworld actress, though what she’s ready to share will surprise you. This Profile of Charlie Kaufman Has ChangedHow do you write about Hollywood’s most self-referential screenwriter at a destabilizing moment in history? It takes more than one draft. How 'Inception' Redefined Christopher Nolan Could U.S. Theaters Stay Closed Until Mid-2021? Walt Disney World's Reopening Video Didn't Go Over So Well GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan - Producing associate at TheaterWorks Jacques Lamarre - A playwright and director of client services at Buzz Engine 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.

Our ancestors viewed sleep as a highly sensual and transcendent experience. Today, about a third of adults have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or feeling rested. We're becoming a nation of insomniacs. We live in what Rubin Naiman calls, a "wake-centric era,” where sleeping and dreaming are viewed as less important than being awake and on the go. It's hard to come down from the hyperaroused state we whip ourselves into by the end of a day.  It's not surprising that we can't sleep.  Insomnia can be miserable when all we want to do is sleep. But it's more a human condition than a medical condition to be solved by sleeping pills and tech gadgets.  Plus, insomnia can have its upside. Our minds can be more open to insights and new possibilities in the dark quiet of night when our thoughts can wander to unknown places that the conscious mind can’t see.  GUESTS:  Marina Benjamin is a writer and Senior Editor at Aeon magazine. She’s written five books. Her latest memoir is Insomnia. She’s also the author of The Middlepause and Garden Among Fires: A Lockdown Anthology. (@marinab52) Rubin Naiman is a psychologist, clinical assistant professor of medicine and the sleep and dream specialist at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (@drnaiman) Charlotte Jee is a writer and reporter for MIT Technology Review, where she also writes The Download newsletter (@charlottejee) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For decades, we didn't take television seriously. We saw it as ephemeral, as "chewing gum for the eyes," as, literally, furniture. And then, around the turn of the century, things started to change. There was The Sopranos. The Wire. And, at the same time, shows like Big Brother and The Amazing Race. For Emily Nussbaum, it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer that forever changed her take on television. And now... the president is a TV character. This hour: A serious appraisal of television with The New Yorker's television critic. GUEST: Emily Nussbaum - Television critic for The New Yorker and the author of I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution 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.

The number of people being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus is rising in 48 states. We're testing more, but the rate of positive tests, hospitalizations, and in some states, deaths, is also rising. On Sunday, Florida recorded 15,300 new cases, the highest single-day total to date. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 60,000 new cases in the U.S. on Monday. And we're seeing the same delays in test results and shortages of protective gear that we experienced in the spring. Should we be more focused on what's happening now instead of reopening bars and schools?  Also this hour: Election law scholar Richard Hasen says we need a 28th amendment to secure voting rights in this country. The U.S. Constitution contains no affirmative right to vote. Social policy and responsive representation should reflect everyone’s needs, not just those most likely to turn out with their votes and dollars. GUESTS: Saskia Popescu is an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Arizona (@SaskiaPopescu)   Richard Hasen is a professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. He is a founding co-editor of Election Law Journal and runs The Election Blog. His new book is Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat To American Democracy. (@rickhasen) 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.

"Dante's Inferno" is the most famous section of Dante Aligheri's 14,000 line epic poem, The Divine Comedy. But it's only the first part of Dante's long pilgrimage through the afterlife. He first enters the circles of hell, filled with beasts and sinners doomed to the Inferno for crimes like gluttony, lust, and treason.  Dante slowly recognizes a glimmer of each sinner's fault in his own character as he makes his way through hell. His recognition of his humanity led him up the steep mountain of purgatory and ultimately toward a paradise opened by his enlightenment.  The story of The Divine Comedy is an adventure story based on Dante's real life in 14th century Italy. He was deeply wrapped up in the politics of his time. He was a city official, diplomatic negotiator, poet, and a man who dared to cross the pope. He was exiled from his city, never to return under threat of death. He left all behind, except his unrequited love for Beatrice.  Nearly broken and in a "dark wood" of grief in midlife, Dante wrote a masterpiece that is remarkably relevant today for all of us who have ever been in the dark wood of loss. This hour, we talk to three people who walked with Dante through the dark wood. GUESTS:Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sand is the most abundant material on Earth. And, other than water and air, sand is the natural resource we consume more than any other -- more, even, than oil. The pyramids are made of sand. Our roads and driveways and sidewalks are made of sand. Concrete buildings and their concrete foundations are made of sand. From computer chips to computer screens, window panes to lightbulbs, breast implants to the Hubble telescope, sand is basically the essential building block of civilization. Humans are estimated to consume almost 50 billion tons of sand and gravel every year. Oh, and, by the way: We're running out of it. For a look at Sue McGrew's crazy impressive sand sculptures, check out her website. GUESTS: Vince Beiser - Author of The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization Sarah Page Kyrcz - A reporter who covers Guilford and Madison for the Shoreline Times Sue McGrew - Professional sand sculptor Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired August 9, 2018.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the past weeks, cities across the country have implemented curfews in response to George Floyd protests and to enforce stay-at-home orders during COVID-19. This hour, we discuss whether emergency curfews really keep people safer or become another way to intimidate and discriminate. Also, the history and wisdom of juvenile curfews and what it's like to protest after curfew. And we learn about early curfews across the pond during the British Empire. GUESTS: Roger Ekirch - The author of five books including At Day's Close: Night in Times Past Dennis Keeney - Former police officer and current professor in the John Jay Department of Criminal Justice at City University of New York Mike Males - An American sociologist and senior researcher at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco Kalfani Ture - Assistant professor of criminology at Quinnipiac University and a former police officer Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Betsy Kaplan, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it safe to say that we're not yet ready to kiss and make up with the banks whose reckless behavior led to the 2008 financial crisis? A little contrition would go a long way to helping us forgive and forget. That's not happening, at least not with Deutsche Bank, the preferred bank of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. Deutsche Bank lent money to rogue states that funded terrorist activities that hurt U.S. soldiers. They laundered money for Russian oligarchs, sold securities they knew were bad, gave out multimillion-dollar bonuses, and fired whistleblowers who tried to tell. They lent money to Donald Trump, despite his repeated defaults on his loans, and Jeffrey Epstein long after he was shunned for molesting young girls. You may wonder how this could happen. Basically, a massive lack of accountability on behalf of the Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, shareholders, board members, and the federal government. That's a lot of people. No wonder Elizabeth Warren threatened to take on the big banks. GUESTS: David Enrich - Business investigations editor at The New York Times and the author of Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and An Epic Trail of Destruction 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.

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. Yet, he stages a chivalrous courtship on moonlit nights on a forest stage he clears with meticulous care. He sings and dances and pecks. He encompasses his 'date' in a cape of intricately-colored four-foot-long feathers. He ends with a bow.   Evolutionarily, there's no purpose for the spectacular feathers on the Argus Pheasant - unless you consider they may have evolved to satisfy the sexual preferences of the female Argus. Darwin, while famous for his theory on evolution through battle for the fittest, also promoted a second, less popular theory of evolution through female sexual preference.  This theory may also shed light on evolved human traits and behaviors we don't need to survive - like female orgasm and same-sex preferences.  GUESTS: Richard Prum - Evolutionary Ornithologist, Professor of Ornithology at Yale and the curator of Ornithology at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. He’s the author of The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World - and Us.  Patricia Brennan - Evolutionary Biologist, Behavioral Ecologist and visiting lecturer at Mount Holyoke College. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.