The Colin McEnroe Show

This hour we get an update on the latest in the American conversation about the search for extraterrestrial life. This includes a conversation with journalist Leslie Kean, a check-in with the director of MUFON CT, and a discussion with astrophysicist Adam Frank about what we miss in space when we're focused on the objects we find here on earth.GUESTS:  Leslie Kean: Investigative journalist and author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record Michael Panicello: State Director of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Connecticut Chapter Adam Frank: The Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Rochester. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Little Book of Aliens Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has joined the Writers Guild of America on strike. It’s the first SAG strike since 1980 (which strike was largely about the oncoming home video boom). And it’s the first dual actors-writers strike since 1960 (when Ronald Reagan was president of SAG and the strike was mostly about residuals for movies licensed to television). Also: The Emmy nominations are out. And: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the 32nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second movie (of an expected seven) in the MCU’s Phase Five. It is written and directed by James Gunn, who has written and directed all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and who was fired and rehired during preproduction of Vol. 3 in 2018. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the second-highest grossing movie of 2023 so far. Taneisha Duggan’s endorsement: Liturgy|Order|Bridge at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford Helder Mira’s endorsements: Secret Invasion on Disney+ Connecticut’s state parks Bill Yousman’s endorsements: The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy by Siva Vaidhyanathan Colin’s endorsements: The Town with Matthew Belloni The Watch the audiobook of Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane, as narrated by Robin Miles the audiobook of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, as narrated by Charlie Thurston Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: We Had Relationship Therapists React To The Alleged Jonah Hill Texts To His Ex-Girlfriend, Sarah Brady “[It’s] not simply like, ‘This is a thing that I feel,’ but ‘This is the thing that I feel plus therapy has condoned this way of feeling.’” The Twitter Watch Party Is Over Ten years after “Sharknado” spun Twitter and TV together, the online water cooler is running dry. Kristen Bell Shared A Photo Of Her Friends Eating Dinner, And It’s The Most Intense Guest List Ever Thanks for the invite. Ryan Murphy Muse David Corenswet Is Superman Wait, Was Napoleon Hot? Ridley Scott’s new biopic certainly makes it seem like he was. How to Write Music for Rolling Boulders Harrison Ford and the Ravages of Time Go Inside Stephen Sondheim’s $7M Manhattan Townhouse The East Midtown home features a music studio on the second floor with a “music library, wood-burning fireplace and baby grand piano.” How Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon Straightened Out ‘Full Circle’ Their new crime thriller for Max is loaded with twists and layers. But it is actually much simpler than what they originally conceived. Federal Reserve credits Taylor Swift with boosting hotel revenues through her blockbuster Eras Tour “Taylor Swift is a force to be reckoned with,” one local tourism official said, as the pop superstar draws legions of fans nationwide. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan: Associate producer at Octopus Theatricals Helder Mira: Multimedia producer at Trinity College and co-host of the So Pretentious podcast 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.

This hour we look at the philosophy of humanism. We survey the history and evolution of the humanist tradition, and discuss what it means to practice humanism. Plus, how humanism can help us relate to technology. GUESTS:  Sarah Bakewell: Author of Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope, among other books Greg Epstein: Author and Humanist Chaplain at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is also Convener for Ethical Life at the MIT Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life 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. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Loneliness: It’s often cited as an “epidemic” and can have a health impact comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This hour, we talk about what loneliness looks like in the brain and how public policy could affect our loneliness epidemic. Plus: a conversation with an expert on making friends as an adult! GUESTS: Elisa Baek: Assistant professor of psychology at USC Dornsife Chris Murphy: U.S. Senator from Connecticut Kat Vellos: A speaker, connection coach, and the author of We Should Get Together: The Secret to Cultivating Better Friendships 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.

Whether we love or loathe our butt is deeply influenced by race, gender, and whether the shape and size of our butt is in or out of style. This hour, a look “back” at the science, history, and culture of butts, including how they took on so much meaning beyond their basic function and why it’s so hard to find pants that fit. GUESTS: Alex Bartlett: Co-owner of Planet Pepper and a costume supervisor for television and theater Vincent Cuccia: Co-owner of Planet Pepper; he teaches public relations at the City University of New York Shomara Garcia: CEO and founder of Muneca Private Care Recovery Services and a licensed massage therapist Heather Radke: Contributing editor and reporter at Radiolab and the author of Butts: A Backstory 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 December 20, 2022.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, a look at what’s going on with Twitter, and why it matters, even if you don’t use the platform. Plus, we discuss what this all means for the future of social media and the human archive. GUESTS:  Shannon McGregor: Associate professor at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and a senior researcher with the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Ethan Zuckerman: Associate professor of public policy, communication and information at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, author, and founder of the Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure William Kilbride: Executive Director of the Digital Preservation Coalition Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Asteroid City is Wes Anderson’s 11th feature film. It’s written and directed by Anderson from a story by Anderson and Roman Coppola. It’s a comedy-drama, sort of sci-fi thing with a play-within-a-TV-show-within-a-movie structure. The ensemble cast is predictably ridiculous and includes the likes of Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, and Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, and Hope Davis. There are more. I didn’t even mention Willem Dafoe or Steve Carell or Margot Robbie. Or others. And: The OceanGate Titan disaster isn’t the sort of thing The Nose usually covers. But collective internet obsession is, and so The Nose is interested in the internet’s collective, dark, ongoing obsession with the OceanGate Titan disaster. Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take: America Is… What one piece of culture captures the true spirit of our country? We asked 17 columnists to find out. The Case Against Travel It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best. How Review-Bombing Can Tank a Book Before It’s Published The website Goodreads has become an essential avenue for building readership, but the same features that help generate excitement can also backfire. If you love film, you should be worried about what’s going on at Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies Is a National Treasure The channel has an astounding degree of control over a crucial part of American cinema. It should become a public resource available to all. Want to suffer Hollywood’s wrath? Mess with TCM, you dirty rats! Few things are sacrosanct in streaming TV’s chaotic revolution. But as Warner Bros. Discovery’s top exec recently learned, Turner Classic Movies is still zealously protected. This Broadcast TV Genre Continues to Thrive. (What Are Game Shows?) “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy!” and “Family Feud” continue to attract big audiences even as streaming upends viewing habits. Fifty Years of Hip-Hop in a World That Could Not Exist Without It The musical genre of sociopolitical change, cultural transformation, excess, and fabulousness enters its next half century. Virginia Woolf classic joins growing list with ‘ludicrous’ trigger warnings To the Lighthouse from 1927 now carries warning that the book ‘reflects the attitudes of its time’ It’s Getting Hard to Stage a School Play Without Political Drama At a time when lawmakers and parents are seeking to restrict what can and cannot be taught in classrooms, many teachers are seeing efforts to limit what can be staged in their auditoriums. A ‘Cage Match’ Between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg May Be No Joke Talks over a matchup between the two tech billionaires have progressed and the parameters of an event are taking shape. GQ Editor Who Pulled Critical David Zaslav Story Is Producing Movie for Warner Bros. GUESTS: David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic Sam Hadelman: Works in music public relations and hosts The Sam Hadelman Show at Radio Free Brooklyn Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do humans cry? This hour, we look at the science of crying and discuss what it does for us, emotionally and culturally. Plus: musician Dar Williams on why some songs make us cry. And: We investigate “crocodile tears” with a crocodile biologist. GUESTS: Benjamin Perry: Minister at Middle Church and the author of Cry, Baby: Why Our Tears Matter Kent Vliet: Recently retired from his position as coordinator of laboratories at the University of Florida; he is an expert in crocodilian biology Dar Williams: Singer-songwriter 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, Stacey Addo, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s an old Latin saying from the early Middle Ages: Verba volant, scripta manent — What is written remains, what is spoken flies away. Essentially, it means you should write down your contracts. But according to Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading, the phrase can be interpreted in a different way: What is written is stuck to the page. It’s only when you give it a voice that it acquires wings and can fly. This hour: reading out loud. We look at the history of the practice and talk to people who make reading expressive, communal, and loud. GUESTS: Taneisha Duggan: Director, producer, arts consultant, and an artist working at the crossroads of performance and creative leadership Dennis Duncan: Lecturer in English at University College London Drew John Ladd: Blogger, activist, and the author of Wolfsong Beloved Alberto Manguel: Director of Lisbon’s Center for Research into the History of Reading Robin Miles: An audiobook narrator and a producer, director, teacher, and actor for theater, television, films, and museums Brooke Steinhauser: Programs director at the Emily Dickinson Museum Chion Wolf: Host of Audacious on 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. 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 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 — calls about grammar, gardening, long-distance dialing, autotune. Anything. Everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we’re doing another one. In other words: Give us a call during the 1 p.m. EDT hour about whatever you want to talk about. 888–720–9677.‌ Or 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.