The Colin McEnroe Show

This hour, the full measure of short stature, from personal health, professional discrimination, and environmental impact to Humphrey Bogart’s strap-on inch-adders. GUESTS: Arne Hendriks: Artist, researcher, and exhibition-maker based in Amsterdam who writes about height at The Incredible Shrinking Man William Mann: The author of Bogie & Bacall: The Surprising True Story of Hollywood’s Greatest Love Affair Tanya Osensky: A lawyer and the author of Shortchanged: Height Discrimination and Strategies for Social Change 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, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired March 2, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Nose is off. In its stead: Country music dominated the charts for most of the summer. But the genre has also been the subject of controversy. This hour, we take stock of the state of country music. GUESTS:  Jason Lipshutz: Executive director of music at Billboard Amanda Marie Martinez: Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who is currently working on a book project titled The Industry Is Playing the People Cheap: Race and the Country Music Business from Nixon to 9/11 Chris Molanphy: Chart analyst and pop critic who writes about the intersection of culture and commerce in popular music; he is host of Slate’s Hit Parade podcast, writes Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, and he is author of the new book Old Town Road  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.

There’s a theory that people are drawn to work that fits their name. This hour, an exploration of nominative determinism. Plus, a look at the different ways your name impacts your life. GUESTS: David Bird: Emeritus professor of wildlife biology and director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University Brett Pelham: Professor of psychology at Montgomery College Tess Terrible: Senior producer of Where We Live on Connecticut Public Laura Wattenberg: Naming expert, author of The Baby Name Wizard, and the creator of Namerology 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 February 16, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From book bans to comics and the strange origins of fairy tales, this hour we look at children's literature and talk about who decides what is appropriate for children to read. GUESTS:  Carol St. George: Professor of teaching and curriculum and director of reading and literacy at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester Adam Gidwitz: Author of A Tale Dark and Grimm and its companions, as well as The Inquisitor’s Tale and The Unicorn Rescue Society; he is also the creator of the podcast Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest, and he produced the adaptation of A Tale Dark and Grimm for Netflix Maria Tatar: Research professor of folklore and mythology at Harvard University; her latest book is The Heroine with 1001 Faces Carol Tilley: Comics historian, librarian, educator, and youth advocate; she is a professor in the faculty of the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois This show was produced with Stacey Addo. 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.

What’s in your pockets right now? Phone, wallet, keys … maybe some discarded receipts or old gum? This hour: what we carry with us every day, from flashlights the size of a lip balm to a life-saving medicine. GUESTS: Bernard Capulong: Founder and editor-in-chief of everydaycarry.com Peter Canning: A Hartford paramedic, an emergency medical services coordinator at John Dempsey Hospital, and the author of Killing Season: A Paramedic’s Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Opioid Epidemic Hannah Carlson: Senior lecturer in the Apparel Department at the Rhode Island School of Design and the author of Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close Mona Gohara: Private practice dermatologist, associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, and an advocate around increasing inclusivity in dermatology Drew John Ladd: A writer 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.

This hour we talk about age in politics, from why our politicians skew older to the impacts of that. And, we’ll learn about how animals pick leaders, and the role age plays in those decisions. GUESTS:  Eugene Scott: Senior Politics Reporter for Axios Lucy Schiller: Writer and professor of creative writing based in Texas Kevin Munger: Assistant Professor of Political Science and Social Data Analytics at Penn State University, and author of Generation Gap: Why the Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture Jennifer Smith: Studies the evolutionary ecology of social mammals at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political satire is alive and well in America today. And it turns out it might have an important role in educating the public and the health of our democracy. This hour, we look at the state and the art of political satire with comedian Samantha Bee and Sophia McClennen, a political scientist who studies satire. GUESTS:  Samantha Bee: Comedian, host of the podcast Choice Words with Samantha Bee, and the former host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. She is performing at The Bushnell on Thursday, September 21 Sophia McClennen: Professor of International Affairs and Comparative Literature at Penn State University and author of numerous books, including Trump Was a Joke: How Satire Made Sense of a President Who Didn’t and Is Satire Saving Our Nation?  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.

Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of thrillers and mysteries probably best known for The Chainand the Sean Duffy series. On the dark and stormy night of September 9, McKinty talked to Colin on stage at The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford. It’s the first show we’ve done in front of a live audience since the before times. This hour, a lightly edited version of that conversation. GUEST: Adrian McKinty: The author of 20 novels, including The Chain, the Michael Forsythe trilogy, and the Sean Duffy series; The Detective Up Late, the seventh Duffy novel, is his latest 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.

Gone are the days when we’d browse a local store if we needed a new air purifier or oven mitt. Now, many people don’t dare make a purchase without first Googling “best kitchen mixer” and browsing lists of top-tens on recommendation sites. How did these sites come to dominate our shopping carts? And if you’re not a fan of that humidifier you got off a top-ten list, are there other ways to shop? GUESTS: Inger Stole is a professor emerita at the University of Illinois Michael Zhao was the first employee and a former deputy editor at Wirecutter Mark Frauenfelder is a co-editor of Recomendo Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, a look at misunderstood monsters, why humans create monsters in the first place, and the benefits of hearing a monster’s perspective. Plus, we learn more about Medusa and talk to a researcher who studied purported yeti samples to find the animal behind the myth. GUESTS: Natalie Haynes: A writer and broadcaster; her newest book is Stone Blind Charlotte Lindqvist: Associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University at Buffalo Asa Simon Mittman: Professor of art and art history at California State University, Chico 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, which originally aired February 8, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.