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
Jan 27, 2016 • 49min
Surviving Unbearable Heartache
Dr. Bill Petit spent Sunday, July 23, 2007 playing golf with his father. The day was sunny and hot and a great day to be outside. His wife and two daughters spent the day at the beach. Life was good - until it wasn't.Within 24 hours, his wife and daughters would be murdered, his home burned, his belongings gone. The trauma would render him unable to return to his medical practice. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 26, 2016 • 50min
The Unreliability of the Unreliable Narrator
At this year's Golden Globes, the top TV honor, Best Television Series -- Drama, went to USA's hacker technothriller series "Mr. Robot." Last year, the trophy went to Showtime's "The Affair."Between those two new shows, there are three point-of-view characters, three narrators. And you can’t really trust, you can't fully believe a one of them.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 25, 2016 • 50min
The Scramble: Trump, X-Files, We Love Phil Collins!
The Republican establishment is wringing its hands over the rise of Donald Trump. On Friday, National Review, one of the leading and oldest voices for conservatism, dedicated its latest issue to the war "Against Trump." But it didn't have the effect they were hoping for. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 22, 2016 • 50min
The Nose Ain't Right Wingin' and Bitter Clingin'
Warning to listeners: the audio contains some information about "The Revenant" that slipped out of one of the guests during the discussion. It could be considered "a spoiler." It seems only natural that Sarah Palin and Donald Trump would find one another. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 21, 2016 • 49min
Daniel Dennett on Free Will and Consciousness
Quick! Name a living philosopher. Chances are if you can do it at all, you're going to say Peter Singer, Martha Nussbaum, Shelly Kagan, or Daniel Dennett. Dennett is probably the best bet because he plays the game at several different levels. He was known until the death of Christopher Hitchins as one of the four horseman of the atheist apocalypse. But his work on free will and consciousness have conferred a kind of celebrity on him. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 20, 2016 • 49min
Barbra Streisand: The Last Great American Showwoman
One thing we can all agree on regarding Barbra Streisand; she provokes strong reactions. Or, she used to. I don't think Millennials or Generation X and Y completely understand what Streisand was like when she was a central part of the American cultural conversation. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 19, 2016 • 49min
Marching in Mississippi for Dr. King
This all started with a scratchy phone message from a guy named Bobby Duley. He had been making regular visits to his mother convalescing at a rehab facility in Old Saybrook. Down the hall in one of the public rooms, he discovered a woman who was intimately involved in the civil rights marches that began in 1966 in the south.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 15, 2016 • 50min
And The Nose Goes to... Sean Penn in Gringada
The Academy is supposed to nominate the best actors, directors and writers for Hollywood's most prestigious Oscar awards; instead, they see only whites worthy of these lofty levels of achievement this year.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 14, 2016 • 50min
Can a Con Artist Con You?
Dr. Joseph Cyr, a surgeon with the Royal Canadian Navy, had to think quick when his ship came upon a rickety boat with mangled and bloody bodies. at the height of the Korean War in 1951. As the only doctor on board, he quickly moved to operate on 19 men, all of them his enemies in this war. All survived, making the young doctor a hero.Except he wasn't really a doctor. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 13, 2016 • 49min
Gregg Easterbrook: In Defense of Football
How disgraceful was last weekend's Cincinnati Bengals/Pittsburgh Steelers game? Well, Boomer Esiason, a former Bengals quarterback, used that word - disgraceful - to describe his old team and its fans. Rush Limbaugh, not a noted opponent of violence, used the word "disgrace" twice to describe the flagrant thuggery on the field. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
