The Colin McEnroe Show

Remote controls date all the way back to the 1800s, but they only entered most households in the 1950s or later. What impact did this have on how we watch television, and how we use other devices in our homes? This hour we look at the history and the impact of the remote control, and discuss what the remote control of the future will look like. And we'll take a look at buttons, and how they shape our interactions with the technology in our lives. GUESTS:  Caetlin Benson-Allott: Professor of English, Director of Film and Media Studies at Georgetown University, and a member of the Program in American Studies. She is the author of Remote Control, among other books Rachel Plotnick: Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in The Media School at Indiana University Bloomington, and author of Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic and the Politics of Pushing 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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.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 Facebook scams, running, Multivac, local elections … 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.

“Now and Then” is the first Beatles single of any kind in more than 27 years, and it may well be their last. It was released Thursday. “Now and Then” was originally written and recorded by John Lennon circa 1977. Using machine learning technology developed for the Get Back documentary, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were able to isolate Lennon’s vocals, record new instrumentation and vocals, and combine all of that with vocals and guitar parts recorded by George Harrison in 1995. “Now and Then” is the lead single off new editions of the so-called Red and Blue Albums, which come out November 10. And: Killers of the Flower Moon is the 26th scripted feature film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is written by Eric Roth and Scorsese and based on the book by David Grann. It is Scorsese’s 10th feature film collaboration with Robert De Niro and his sixth with Leonardo DiCaprio. Killers of the Flower Moon is also the second-longest Scorsese movie at 206 minutes. He has now made two 200-minute pictures in a row. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: Hall of Fame basketball coach Bobby Knight has died at 83 ‘Sarcasm’: The Sort of Wit That Defined Matthew Perry’s Career Has Ancient Roots The actor’s trademark form of humor takes its name from Latin words for cutting into flesh Taylor Tomlinson Named Host of CBS’ ‘After Midnight,’ From Stephen Colbert Disney Says It Will Take Full Control of Hulu The company will pay at least $8.61 billion to Comcast, which owned a 33 percent stake of the popular streaming service. HBO Bosses Used ‘Secret’ Fake Accounts to Troll TV Critics Casey Bloys ordered staffers to create fake accounts to fire back at critics, according to text conversations reviewed by Rolling Stone as part of a new lawsuit Get shorty! Why everyone needs to stop complaining about long films It’s become voguish to sing the praises of 90-minute movies and bite-sized books and plays, writes Louis Chilton. With a run-time of almost four hours, Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ isn’t ‘too long’ — it’s part of an art form, from George Eliot to Bruce Springsteen, that demands patience and persistence It’s Time To Bring Back the Movie Intermission Bros Are Coming for BookTok. These TikTokers Aren’t Having It “If you’ve ever had a pea coat-wearing liberal arts student talk at you about the genius that is David Foster Wallace then you’d call Infinite Jest bro-lit too” Marvel Needs to Make ‘Less Films’ and Bad VFX Has ‘F—ed Up Everything,’ Says Matthew Vaughn: ‘Maybe We Need a Little Bit of Time Off’ From Superhero Films ‘The Right Stuff’ at 40: Director Philip Kaufman on chasing demons in the sky to make a true American classic The esteemed filmmaker recalls casting and shooting ‘The Right Stuff’ to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The Many Lives of Tomato Pie It may look a little different across cities in the Northeast, but this Italian American staple is always an exercise in restraint. Crisis at Marvel: Jonathan Majors Back-Up Plans, ‘The Marvels’ Reshoots, Reviving Original Avengers and More Issues Revealed GUESTS: Jim Chapdelaine: An Emmy-winning musician and a patient advocate for people with rare cancers James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College Irene Papoulis: Teaches writing at Trinity College, and she’s the author of The Essays Only You Can Write 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.

"These boots are made for walking…" but instead, they sit by the door while you watch TV. This hour: Why is it often so hard to get walking? And what can our footsteps tell us about ourselves and the world? GUESTS: Jeff Speck: City planner and author of the book “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time” Liam Satchell: Senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of Winchester Dr. I-Min Lee: Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Join the conversation onFacebook andTwitter. 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, Eugene Amatruda, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, we talk about the election of the new House Speaker: Representative Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana. We'll talk about Speaker Johnson, including the role of his faith in his politics, and what we can learn from how he dresses. Plus, we'll look at why we even have a House Speaker to begin with. GUESTS:  Vanessa Friedman: Fashion Director and Chief Fashion Critic of The New York Times Katherine Stewart: Investigative Reporter and author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism Lee Drutman: Senior Fellow in the Political Reform program at New America, and the author of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America. He is also co-host of the “Politics In Question” podcast, the co-founder of “Fix Our House,” a campaign for proportional representation, and author of the Substack “Undercurrent Events” 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.

What else besides an egg can give us human life, culinary delight, life-saving vaccines, jarping, the Clowns International Egg Registry, and a satisfying bit of schadenfreude, all wrapped in one small package? Making a great omelet is the tip of the eggshell for the versatility of the egg. This hour, a hard-boiled look at the ubiquitous, yet overlooked egg. GUESTS: John Portmann: Taught moral philosophy and ethics at the University of Virginia for several decades; he’s the author of When Bad Things Happen To Other People Chris Prosperi: Chef and co-owner of Metro Bis in Simsbury, Connecticut, and a former recipe columnist for the Hartford Courant Lizzie Stark: The author of Egg: A Dozen Ovatures 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, Cat Pastor, Dylan Reyes, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired April 27, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve done a Halloween special each year for the past five years. And each year, and for no particular reason, we’ve spent a chunk of the show covering a classic horror movie celebrating, specifically, its 40th anniversary. I’m a little sad to say that this year we’re breaking the tradition, partly because 1983 was a strikingly barren year for horror movies (notwithstanding, uh, Cujo, I guess? Psycho II?). And partly because, well, one of the greatest horror movies ever made happens to be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. So. This hour, our take on William Friedkin’s 1973 masterpiece, The Exorcist. And a look at filmmaker David Gordon Green’s turn away from indie dramas and Hollywood comedies and toward horror legacy requels. His latest is The Exorcist: Believer. Plus: There sure are a lot of those crazy 12-foot skeleton things showing up on people’s lawns, aren’t there? We investigate the Skelly sensation. GUESTS: Aislinn Clarke: A screenwriter and director and a lecturer in film studies at Queen’s University Belfast Bill Curry: Playing the part of Bill Curry playing the part of Standing Concerned Man Jesse Hassenger: Associate editor of Paste Movies and co-host of the New Flesh horror movie podcast Rachel Kurzius: A reporter for The Home You Own at The Washington Post 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.

Sometimes, we just love to hate. From reality TV shows like The Bachelor and The Real Housewives franchise to movies like The Room and Twilight, sometimes it’s so bad it’s good. The phenomenon of hate-watching has reached new audiences on social media platforms such as Twitter and YouTube. Haters are more vocal than ever. In this episode we ask why we want to watch and suffer through movies and TV shows we extremely dislike. Do we get enjoyment from objectively bad content? Or from hating on things? Join us on this episode as we discuss the psychology and impacts of hate-watching. GUESTS: Jonathan Gray: Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of Dislike-Minded: Media, Audiences, and the Dynamics of Taste Brian Moylan: Writer, reality tv show recapper, and author of The New York Times bestseller The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives Alex Meyers: A YouTuber who makes cartoons and video essays about movies and TV shows 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. Lizzie Van Arnam, Colin McEnroe, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on April 11, 2023. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

News outlets and opinion writers have called it: The traditional dinner party is dead. But are dinner parties really so bad? Or are we just bad at hosting them? This hour, the history of dinner parties and some advice from people who turn party-hosting into an art form. GUESTS: Rand Richards Cooper: Fiction writer, contributing editor at Commonweal, and the restaurant critic for the Hartford Courant Nandita Godbole: Author of several cookbooks including Masaleydaar: Classic Indian Spice Blends; she also writes the blog Curry Cravings Julia Skinner: Culinary historian and food writer whose work includes the book Our Fermented Lives 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.

We've recently discovered, thanks to TikTok, that many more people are thinking about the Roman Empire than you might expect... including the host of this radio show. This hour, we talk about why people think about the Roman Empire, and we talk with the preeminent scholar of the Roman Empire, Mary Beard, about all the things you could think about if you wanted to think about the Roman Empire. GUESTS:  Doug Boin: Professor of History at St. Louis University, and author of Alaric the Goth: An Outsider’s History of the Fall of Rome, among other books Mary Beard: Historian of Ancient Rome. She is the author of bestselling books, including SPQR, and her newest book is Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.