The Colin McEnroe Show

Lots of awards were handed out in New York this weekend. The annual Tony Awards were given to the best Broadway productions of the year. But no amount of theatrical showmanship could top what happened in the Belmont Stakes.American Pharoah completed horseracing's elusive Triple Crown.  Finishing a few lengths behind him in third place was Keen Ice, who is part-owned by two Connecticut residents. This hour, we speak with one of the local owners.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Way back -- I don't know -- a week ago, the story of Caitlyn Jenner was pretty amazing.The gender transition of one of America's most acclaimed male athletes was, all by itself, a watershed.And how much of a watershed?Is this like an Ellen DeGeneres moment, when a mass audience suddenly gets comfortable with a new idea?Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She who controls the dragon controls the world.Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion are the most recent dragons to capture our attention, thanks to "Game of Thrones," the wildly popular HBO hit that's placed dragons front and center in our imagination.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Patterns are everywhere: both in the wonders of nature and in the man-made world. They exist in the formations of crystals and clouds, in art and music, and in math and science. It is therefore no surprise that we, as inhabitants of this pattern filled world, are wired to find them.And it's not only humans that have this ability; pattern recognition is a skill shared by all mammals. Since the first primates learned that certain weather patterns meant a storm and others meant it was time to hunt, life on this planet has both created and responded to patterns for survival. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All of us know what it feels like to have a bad day - the pain, the regret, the sheer misery. We also know how one bad decision can spiral into a day(s) filled with misery.  Sometimes, misery stems from really bad events that are out of our control, like the loss of a loved one. But, too often, we're quick to blame misfortune on chance, the toss of the dice, bad luck. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, we went up to do our annual live show from Great Barrington, Massachusetts at the Berkshire International Film Festival. Our usual host, The Triplex, had technical problems, so we pulled the plug with a few minutes left to go, which is why you heard a re-run about movie trailers. Meanwhile, we recorded this show so you could hear it today. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we talk about movie trailers. Maybe you wonder what a movie critic thinks of them. Actually, critics don't see as many as you do because they often go to special screenings.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1954, Roger Bannister did the previously unthinkable. He ran a mile in under four minutes. Six weeks later, his chief rival John Landy, did the same thing, and bettered Bannister's performance. Thirteen months later, three other runners broke four minutes. Bear in mind that this had been considered impossible for as long as there had been time-keeping at track meets.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jews make up 2.2 percent of the population although it fluctuates depending on who gets counted. The U.S. Jewish population is roughly the same size, north of 6 million, as the Jewish population of Israel. And, since there are about 14 million Jews in the whole world, an astonishingly high percentage of them live in those two countries. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Connecticut has been incredibly lucky in the directors who have made its regional theaters their basis of operations. Don't miss this full-length conversation between Colin and Darko Tresnjak, Hartford Stage's Tony Award-winning Artistic Director, about Shakespeare, his acceptance speech at the Tony's, moodiness in the theater world, and of course, his current production of "Kiss Me Kate".Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.