

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

Feb 20, 2026 • 49min
Love, revenge, moors: why we’re haunted by ‘Wuthering Heights’
Is Wuthering Heights “the greatest love story of all time?” Or is it a tale of hate, violence, and vengeance? Or maybe a gothic satire? This hour we look at Emily Brontë’s novel and how it was received when it was published in 1847. Plus, a look at the highest-grossing movie of the year so far — Emerald Fennell’s loosely adapted “Wuthering Heights” — and how it stacks up against other retellings. GUESTS: Richard Brody: The movies editor for Goings On About Town at The New Yorker Claire O’Callaghan: Editor-in-chief of Brontë Studies and the author of Emily Brontë Reappraised Irene Papoulis: Taught writing for a long time at Trinity College MUSIC FEATURED (in order): Wuthering Heights – Cecile McLorin Salvant Wuthering Heights – Kate Bush I Am Stretched on Your Grave – Eithne Ni Uallachain Out of Myself – Charli xcx Chains of Love – Charli xcx As Time Goes By – Julie London The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 19, 2026 • 50min
The animating power of rivers with writer Robert Macfarlane
What would it mean if we treated rivers as alive? That's the question that nature writer Robert Macfarlane wrestles with in his latest book. What would happen if we took that aliveness seriously? How would we know what a river would want? Who would speak for it? These are questions that communities around the world are dealing with as they work to figure out how to protect rivers and the ecosystems that rely on them. This hour, Macfarlane joins us to talk about his book, Is a River Alive?, and the stories we tell about the natural world. GUEST: Robert Macfarlane: Writer whose books include Underland: A Deep Time Journey, The Lost Words: A Spell Book, and The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot. His new book is Is a River Alive? Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe, Dylan Reyes, and Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show, which originally aired on June 11, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 18, 2026 • 49min
Shedding light on the mystery of Mary
Biblical scholar James Tabor says that Mary – the mother of Jesus – is “the best known, least known woman in history.” This hour, we’ll get to know Mary a little better and talk about why some people are obsessed with preserving her purity at the expense of her humanity. And, we talk with (The Reverend) Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones from Emory University about Mary mythology, Black Madonnas and the myriad ways Mary is depicted in art and culture. GUESTS: James D. Tabor is a biblical scholar, and a retired professor of religious studies at the University Of North Carolina at Charlotte. He’s the author of The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus. (The Rev.) Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones is Assistant Professor of Theology and Africana Studies at Emory University. She’s a constructive theologian and scholar of Black religion specializing in Mariology, Black feminist and womanist thought, and theological anthropology. She’s the author of Immaculate Misconceptions: A Black Mariology. MUSIC FEATURED (in order): Mary On A Cross – Ghost Along Comes Mary – The Association The Wind Cries Mary – Jimi Hendrix Mary Rock the Baby – Jarell Smalls Like a Prayer – Madonna Lady Madonna (Theme from Grace Under Fire) – Aretha Franklin Mary, Did You Know? – The Braxtons Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Colin McEnroe, Robyn Doyoon-Aitken and Dylan Reyes contributed to this episode.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 17, 2026 • 49min
All calls: Name a musician who is not from Connecticut
We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls, calls about anything, everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. This hour, the conversation winds around to musicians, politics, jobs, journalism, planning for the future … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. MUSIC FEATURED (in order): The World Is A Ghetto – George Benson Desire – Kurt Elling, WDR Big Band Sambadouro – Ivan Lins Kindness Isn’t Common Sense – Katie Pruitt In the Still of the Night – Lauren Henderson, Sullivan Fortner Bags (Live at Electric Lady Studios) – Clairo CUT FOR TIME Blues Be Gone – Hayes Carll Next Spring – Lucy Yeghiazaryan Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 13, 2026 • 49min
The Nose looks at ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ and ‘Hamnet’
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the third series in the A Song of Ice and Fire television franchise. It is set about 90 years before Game of Thrones and almost 80 years after House of the Dragon. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is created by Ira Parker and George R. R. Martin and based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg series of novellas by Martin. And: Hamnet is the fifth feature film written and directed by Chloé Zhao. The screenplay is by Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell and based on O’Farrell’s 2020 novel. It stars Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Paul Mescal as her husband, Will Shakespeare. Hamnet is nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. GUESTS: Rebecca Castellani: Co-founder of Quiet Corner Communications and the director of marketing at Washington Montessori School Taneisha Duggan: Director of arts, culture, and entertainment for the city of Hartford Tracy Wu Fastenberg: Associate vice president for development at Connecticut Children’s MUSIC FEATURED (in order): Bonny Sweet Boy – Les Witches What Do the Simple Folk Do? – Camelot Main Title (from the HBO Series Game of Thrones) – Ramin Djawadi Ophelia – The Lumineers On the Nature of Daylight – Max Richter See You On The Radio – Grayson Hugh The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Eugene Amatruda, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 12, 2026 • 49min
Why whistles are becoming the symbol of the moment
Whistles have become a protest symbol, from the streets of Minnesota to the Grammys red carpet. This hour, we look at how whistles are being used by organizers across the country to alert communities about ICE presence. Plus, we discuss ancient whistles and talk about whistleblowers, why they step forward, and the costs of doing so. GUESTS: Trevor Mitchell: Senior Metro Reporter for "MinnPost" Sean Hollister: Senior editor at "The Verge" Jessica MacLellan: Anthropological archaeologist interested in ritual, household archaeology, ceramics, and the development of complex societies in Mesoamerica. She is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wake Forest University Carl Elliott: Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota. His most recent book is The Occasional Human Sacrifice: Medical Experimentation and the Price of Saying No MUSIC FEATURED (in order): The Foggy Dew – Dicky Deegan Right By Your Side – Eurythmics Lonesome Whistle – Little Feat Crossing Over Into the Spirit World – Xavier Quijas Yxayaotl The Whistle Song – Frankie Knuckles Whistleblower – maryjo Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 11, 2026 • 50min
The wonder of termites
Nobody likes termites. They get into the wood in our homes and can lead to infuriating and expensive repairs. What’s to like? It turns out, there’s a lot to like about termites. Scientists study how they build their mounds for clues to solving some of the world’s most pressing problems, like mitigating the effects of drought, building colonies on Mars, and creating biofuels. Plus, their ability to adapt to the harshest conditions over millions of years says a lot about them. Almost 90% of the microbes found in their guts are unique to the termite. Those same gut microbes are what make them so productive and, on the flip side, so destructive. Lastly, some believe termites work with joy and have a soul. You be the judge. GUESTS: Jennifer Dacey: An entomologist and a wildlife biologist and integrated pest management technician in the UConn Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture Lisa Margonelli: Author of Underbug: An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology Mick Pearce: An architect The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Lydia Brown, and Jonathan McNicol contributed to this show, which originally aired August 29, 2018.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 10, 2026 • 49min
A look at the Kennedy Center, the Melania luxury brand, and more
On February 1, President Trump announced that The Kennedy Center would close for two years for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding” (capitalization sic). Washington Post art and architecture critic Philip Kennicott sees this as an existential threat to the Center. And: New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman thinks everyone has been misunderstanding the Melania documentary from the get go. It’s less an actual movie, she says, and more the launch of the Melania luxury brand. And finally: Don Glickman was a design professor. He had retired in the late 1990s, and he died last year at 94. And then some people started getting postcards from him — charming, amusing, perfectly Glickmanian postcards. GUESTS: Vanessa Friedman: Fashion director and chief fashion critic of The New York Times Philip Kennicott: Senior art and architecture critic at The Washington Post Sydney Page: Staff reporter at The Washington Post, where she writes for The Optimist MUSIC FEATURED (in order): Take Care of This House – Cynthia Erivo, Leonard Bernstein ALT Take Care of This House – Frederica von Stade, Leonard Bernstein Regrets – Ben Folds Five Two Hearts on a Post Card – Vance Dolan I Really Like You – Carly Rae Jepsen I Got My Brand on You – Muddy Waters, Otis Spann The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 9, 2026 • 50min
All calls: The fleeting joy of waking up in the United States of Bunny
We’ve been doing these shows where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls, calls about anything, everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. This hour, the conversation winds around to the rule of law, the Epstein files, the economy, the Green Bay Packers, Gilmore Girls … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. MUSIC FEATURED (in order): CAFé CON RON – Bad Bunny, Los Pleneros de la Cresta The Obvious Child (Nashville) – I’m With Her No More Lies – Thundercat, Tame Impala Somethin’ Stupid – Norah Jones, Josh Homme Patchwork – Charlotte Day Wilson Cherry Tree – Lera Lynn Whiiiplash – Brik.Liam CUT FOR TIME Out Here – Gareth Donkin Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 6, 2026 • 49min
The Nose tries to figure out how to deal with … all this
Whatever your politics, the last month or so has been … a lot. This hour, The Nose looks at how we’re all using pop culture (or not) to deal with all the news — to cope, to escape, to process. Plus, a look at how well (or not) our pop culture has been meeting the moment lately. GUESTS: RS Benedict: A writer and bureaucrat whose fiction and non-fiction has been published in the New Haven Review, Fangoria, Current Affairs, and a bunch of other places Sam Hadelman: Director of public relations at Dark Matter Media Rich Hollant: The founder and principal of CO:LAB, a hall of fame designer, and a co-partner at CENTER Mercy Quaye: Founder and president of The Narrative Project Lindsay Lee Wallace: A writer and journalist covering culture, health, technology, bats, and anything else people will answer her questions about Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University MUSIC FEATURED (in order): Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down – Margo Price How Much Did You Get for Your Soul – Lucinda Williams Winter in America – Gil Scott-Heron Let the Mystery Be – Iris Dement The Olympics – Jesse Welles See You On The Radio – Grayson Hugh The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


