The Colin McEnroe Show

At the beginning of the year, the company behind the public effort to de-extinct the wooly mammoth announced it will also be de-extincting the dodo. The announcement stirred up a lot of excitement and questions about whether we can – or should – bring back species once they’re gone. So this hour we're talking about de-extinction! We’ll hear about what it takes to bring back extinct animals, efforts to build a safety net for plants that might go extinct in the future, and walk through some fun de-extinction thought experiments. GUESTS: Helen Pilcher: Science and comedy writer with a PhD in cell biology who wrote Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-extinction Ben Lamm: CEO of the de-extinction company Colossal, which he co-founded with George Church. Carlos de la Rosa: President and CEO of the Center for Plant Conservation Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, 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 and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on May 18, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As some stores announce they are getting rid of self-checkout machines, we take an hour to explore that technology and its impacts. We'll debate its pros and cons, look at the history of self-service at grocery stores, and talk about the future of technology in stores. Plus, we'll learn about the psychology of "weak ties," and the value of talking to strangers in places like the checkout aisle. GUESTS:  Christopher Andrews: Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology at Drew University, and author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy Stew Leonard Jr.: President and CEO of Stew Leonard’s, a regional supermarket chain headquartered in Connecticut Gillian Sandstrom: Senior Lecturer in the Psychology of Kindness at the University of Sussex  Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.  Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we look at the idea of sacredness — in both religious and secular spaces — and ask how we can identify and make places for the sacred in our everyday lives, through reading, music, and even baseball. GUESTS: Mark Miller: Lecturer in sacred music at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music and Divinity School, composer in residence at Drew University, and the minister of music of Christ Church Mary-Jane Rubenstein: Professor of religion and science in society at Wesleyan University and the author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race, among other books Vanessa Zoltan: An atheist chaplain; co-host of the podcasts Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, Hot & Bothered, and Should I Quit; and the author of Praying with Jane Eyre: Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, 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, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired May 15, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve been doing these shows a couple times a month where we don’t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to YouTube’s algorithm, The Misfits song “Hybrid Moments,” Costco, John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial, the perpetual state of existential dread that millennials experience, birdwatching … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, 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 and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cult documentaries and docuseries sure seem to be having a moment right now. (On the other hand.) This isn’t the sort of material The Nose usually gets into. But, and partly inspired by Cat’s Corner in the current edition of The Noseletter, we decided to give three popular new shows a look: Escaping Twin Flames is a three-part Netflix docuseries that looks at the controversial online community Twin Flames Universe. The Garden: Commune or Cult is a six-part Discovery Channel docuseries about the off-the-grid community The Garden. And Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God is a three-part HBO docuseries that looks at the life and death of Amy Carlson, also known as Mother God. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: André Braugher Dies: Star Of ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ & Other Series And Films Was 61 Golden Globe Nominations: ‘Barbie’, ‘Oppenheimer’ Top Movie List; ‘Succession’ Leads Way In TV The Year Twitter Died Nicolas Cage Says He’s Almost Finished: “Three or Four More Movies Left” The famously prolific 59-year-old actor says he’s eyeing a Hollywood endgame: “I’ve said what I’ve had to say with cinema.” ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Officially Ending With Season 12 at HBO “I will now have the opportunity to finally shed this ‘Larry David’ persona and become the person God intended me to be,” David says of ending his HBO comedy. The New Yorker Drops Andy Borowitz’s Satire Column Amid Cutbacks How ‘Mr. Brightside’ Became a Generation’s Anthem Overlooked at its release, the Killers’ signature hit has become one of the most inescapable rock songs of its time. A 25-Year-Old X-Files Mystery Was Solved on Twitter in Less Than 24 Hours 24 Things That Stuck With Us in 2023 Films, TV shows, albums, books, art and A.I.-generated SpongeBob performances that reporters, editors and visual journalists in Culture couldn’t stop thinking about this year. The Most Egregious Example of “We Didn’t Use CGI” Mythology (So Far) Strapped, stressed, axed: is it curtains for theatre’s artistic directors? Indhu Rubasingham has been named as the National’s new head. But elsewhere, theatres are ditching this once coveted role altogether. Can a theatre really manage without one? GUESTS: Sam Hatch: Co-hosts The Culture Dogs on Sunday nights on WWUH Jacques Lamarre: A playwright and chief communications officer at Buzz Engine Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Cat Pastor: Assistant radio operations manager at Connecticut Public The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, 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.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A listener told us we should do a call-in show dedicated to endorsements from listeners. What a great recommendation! So we’re doing just that. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, 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, Jonathan McNicol, Lily Tyson, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show. Thanks to Carmen Baskauf, David Borsvold, Mayor Luke Bronin, John Dankosky, Meg Fitzgerald, Francesca Fontánez, Sabrina Herrera, Iman James, Betsy Kaplan, Carlos Mejia, Jessica Severin de Martinez, Cat Shen, and Chion Wolf.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amanda Mull writes The Atlantic’s “Material World” column about American consumerism. This hour, we talk with Mull about the state of online shopping and returns, the changing quality of what we buy, and the experience of shopping in person. GUEST:  Amanda Mull: Staff writer at The Atlantic who writes the column “Material World” about American consumerism  Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.  Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you heard the music of Connie Converse? She was a singer-songwriter in New York City in the middle of the 20th century, who, in her lifetime, never received widespread recognition. Then, at 50, she drove off, and was never heard from again. This hour, a look at the life, music, and legacy of Connie Converse and what her example teaches us about how we think about the role of art and artists in our society. GUEST: Howard Fishman: Musician, frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and author of To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, 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 contributed to this show, which originally aired May 2, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s in your kitchen? With a plethora of kitchen tools available to us today, the contents of our kitchen drawers varies. But a recent survey has shed light on some trends in kitchen tool ownership. This hour, a look at that data and the history and evolution of kitchen tools and gadgets. Plus, examples of creative kitchen tools throughout history. GUESTS: Megan Elias: Historian and director of the Food Studies Program and associate professor at Boston University David Montgomery: Senior data journalist at YouGov and a history podcaster Corinne Mynatt: Author of Tools for Food: The Objects That Influence How and What We Eat 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 Cat Pastor contributed to this show. Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May December is the 10th film directed by Todd Haynes and his fifth collaboration with Julianne Moore. It stars Natalie Portman, Moore, and Charles Melton, and it’s loosely based on Mary Kay Letourneau. And: John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial is a three-part docuseries. It is directed by Rob Coldstream and Nick Holt and narrated by Kiefer Sutherland. John Lennon was murdered 43 years ago, on December 8, 1980. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan: Associate producer at Octopus Theatricals Lindsay Lee Wallace: Writes about culture, health care and health equity, and other stuff, too Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, 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 Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.