The Colin McEnroe Show

Pre-prohibition research into alcohol use and consumption was wiped out when the country dried out in the 1920s. In response, American "alcohol science" was created in the post-prohibition era to bring alcohol abuse into the medical realm, triggering a cultural explosion between advocates on each side of the wet/dry divide. It was in this arena that Alcoholics Anonymous was born. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Batman story begins with a crime. I was in third grade. I went to the barber shop in West Hartford Center where there were comic books to read while you waited.I had never seen any superhero comic before and I started reading a Batman story. It was great but I didn't have enough time to finish it. So, when my haircut was done, I took it home with me. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is no doubt that Donald Trump has taken the country by storm, defying all expectations that his candidacy would implode after the initial infatuation wore off last summer. Why Trump now?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a normal show, on a normal day, in a normal time, we'd usually put two or three experts in a room with Colin and ask them to hash out whatever it is we're interested in for that hour.For this show, by the time it's over with, we'll have corresponded with dozens of people and recorded interviews with seven or eight experts from ten or eleven different disciplines: a philosopher, an ethicist, a futurist, a speechwriter, a comedy writer, an author of speculative fiction, a politician, an 'investigative humorist,' a Muslim, an expert in international affairs, and an expert in... manners.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the next phase of her and President Obama's Let Girls Learn campaign to educate the #62milliongirls globally who don't have access to education at this week's  SXSW festival. She combined her keynote address on female empowerment with a panel discussion including Queen Latifah, rapper Missy Elliott, actress Sophia Bush and songwriter Diane Warren, and the release of Warren's single "This is for My Girls," to raise money for her cause. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A transcript of this show is available here.It's hard to think about language as being endangered or replaceable. But as our culture and means of communication evolve, certain languages find their utility in decline. Braille and sign language are in just such a predicament.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump is closer to locking up the Republican nomination for president after big wins in Tuesday's primaries. He has incredible support from a party that's grown increasingly disappointed in their established leaders, yet still seeks the traits we have traditionally sought in a leader. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year at this time, as you may have heard, there's a big-old basketball tournament that goes on. And every year at this time, people in offices and in firehouses and in Rotary Clubs and in Atlantic City enter bracket pools, where they try to win a big-old pile of ducats by predicting just exactly how said big-old basketball tournament will go.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Monday. Remember last Monday when we had a somewhat long and somewhat anguished conversation about Donald Trump? Well, we're planning to have another one toward the end of today's show. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I once slipped on a banana peel in my crowded high school cafeteria when I was sixteen years old. I was navigating the busy lunch room in my almost six-inch platform shoes and my breezy spring dress, when the peel sent me flying -  before ungraciously landing me on my back with my dress over my face. I was never so embarrassed - or uncomfortable in a pair of shoes.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.