The Colin McEnroe Show

We were going to produce a show today on loneliness with British writer Olivia Laing. We still want to do that show with Olivia - but not today.Instead, we decided to switch gears and talk with Olivia and other artists about the themes in Olivia's new novel because they mirror our own concerns: how to live life in this fast-moving world where the present is history in the blink of an eye and world leaders can end our world with one wrong tweet? How can we exist, create art, raise children, commit to a future in a world that could be ending?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a mostly forgotten story by the mostly forgotten sci-fi writer, R.A. Lafferty. It's called, "What's The Name of That Town." We meet a team of scientists and an amusing sentiant computer examining clues that suggested something existed once upon a time and has now been erased.It turns out to be the city of Chicago which has been obliterated in an accident so traumatic that the city's existence has been wiped from all records and from peoples actual memories. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we have no guests. We want to hear from you. We canceled our previously planned show so we could dedicate the entire hour to understanding how you are feeling about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the  Supreme Court.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Actress Cynthia Nixon lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in New York yesterday. Did she lose because of the kind of bagel she eats? Probably not. But from the Nose's point of view, what could really matter more than that?And Vulture, last week -- "as the discourse rages on about whether or not political correctness is destroying comedy (spoiler alert: it isn't)" -- ran a piece on the jokes comedians regret. But here's the real question: Do we want comedians regretting their jokes, tasteless or not?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Color doesn't exist on its own.A red rose will look different to me than it does to you. It will also look different to a pigeon, who can see way more shades and tints than most humans can see. Remember the 2015 debate over the dress? Gold & white,  blue & black or yes, some saw brown & light purple. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may have heard that Bob Woodward has a new book out.It was number one on Amazon... before it came out. It was into its seventh printing -- a million copies... before it came out. The president Twittered about it at least a dozen times... before it came out.Well, now it's out.This hour: a look at the phenomenon of Fear.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly ninety-percent of Americans own a smartphone.On average, we spend more than four hours a day on our phones, which adds up to about 56 full days a year. That's like sealing yourself in a room on the first day of summer and not emerging until the kids head back to school. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Naomi Osaka won the first set against Serena Williams during Saturday's U.S. Open Women's Final, chair umpire Carlos Ramos gave Williams a warning for receiving help from her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who was sitting in the stands. She asked Ramos to take it back. She told him she doesn't cheat. Ramos didn't take it back. After that, it got ugly.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's the money quote from a recent Washington Post story on entertainment in the Trump era: "People look at politics when deciding how they feel about a host or actor. Pop culture has now become one more thing that divides us, just like cable news and social media." The Nose couldn't pass that up, and this not-quite-The-Nose show can't pass it up either.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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.