The Colin McEnroe Show
Connecticut Public Radio
The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 7, 2016 • 50min
It's Our Secular(ish) Isms Bake Off!
It's Yale and New Haven Humanism Week in New Haven, and so we thought: Hey, wait. Just what the heck is a humanism exactly anyway?And so then we thought: And what about, uh, agnosticism? Unitarianism? Universalism? Unitarian Universalism? Maybe even atheism?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 6, 2016 • 49min
The Placebo Effect
Placebo treatments have been making people feel better for a long time. They've been working since long before Franz Mesmer was run out of 18th-century Vienna for "mesmerizing" a young pianist into regaining her eyesight, after all hope for a medical cure had been lost. Doctors have long dismissed the placebo effect as inferior to conventional medical treatments that sometimes fail where placebo works well, including in surgical procedures like arthroscopy, a popular procedure that relieves the pain of arthritic knees. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 5, 2016 • 49min
A Tough Course Ahead for the Game of Golf
As golf season begins again there are some troubling signs for the sport's future. The game of presidents past and country-clubbers around the nation is in fast decline according to analysts. With a decrease in participation, television ratings, equipment sales, rounds played and courses being built, are we seeing the end of golf?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 4, 2016 • 50min
Don't Believe Everything You Hear About Polls
The polling industry is in transition. Fewer people consider it their civic duty to participate -- less than ten percent today compared to 80 percent two decades ago -- and pollsters haven't yet figured out how to effectively capture public opinion using cell phones and online surveys. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 1, 2016 • 50min
The Nose Is Sad for Sad Ben Affleck
I get that it's stupid April Fools' Day, and so you can't trust anything you see on the stupid Internet. Except for the Trump quotes. The Trump quotes are just as legitimate today as they are on all the other days.But so let me just make it clear right now that I'm totally serious when I say that on this edition of The Nose we talk about...Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 30, 2016 • 50min
The Strange Brilliance of Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller may not be a household name. Nevertheless, his contributions to society and to sustainable living through technology and design were both vast and transformative. By the time of his death in 1983, Fuller had patented 25 inventions, published over 30 books and had chronicled nearly his entire career through a series of papers knows as the "Dymaxion Chronofile."Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 29, 2016 • 50min
Every Coin and Stamp Tells a Story
In 2013, over 1,000 gold coins were found by a couple walking their dog on their property in Sierra Nevada, California. A rainstorm exposed the rusted can holding the gold coins. They soon found additional rusted cans, all holding gold coins dating from 1847 to 1894. The face value of the coins was just under $28,000. Today's market value is about $10 million.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 29, 2016 • 50min
Living Life While Dying of ALS
Jon Imber was at the peak of his career as an accomplished artist and teacher when he was diagnosed with ALS in the fall of 2012. "Imber's Left Hand," a documentary about Jon's life as ALS claimed the use of his dominant right hand, will air on April 5 at the Hartford Jewish Film Festival. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 27, 2016 • 50min
The Scramble: Trump Likes the Idea of Torture More Than He Likes the Idea of Reporters
Reporters describe Donald Trump events as frightening and unsettling for those in the media. Trump relegates the media to rectangular pens they're not allowed to leave, singles out reporters with personal insults and refuses entry to those he doesn't like, and whips up his crowds against reporters he says are "very dishonest people." Will there be a free press under a President Trump?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 25, 2016 • 49min
The Nose Brings Its Kids to Work
Chicago White Sox first baseman Adam LaRoche abruptly retired from baseball last week with a year and $13 million left on his contract because the team's front office told him he had to stop bringing his 14-year-old son Drake into the clubhouse so much. Then the actual team rallied behind both LaRoches. But it turns out it all happened 'cause Adam's teammates complained about Drake. But so anyway: Aren't people who bring their kids to work with them just the worst?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
