We’ve been doing these shows 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 daylight saving time ending, Weapons and horror movies in general, the first Millennial saint, A House of Dynamite, our towels episode … Anything. (Seemingly) everything.

These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one.

MUSIC FEATURED (in order):

• I Could Write a Book – The Supremes
• I Didn’t Know What Time It Was – Sarah Vaughan
• There’s a Small Hotel – Dana Lauren
• I Wish I Were in Love Again – Joni Mitchell
• With a Song in My Heart – John Pizzarelli
• Sing for Your Supper – Mel Torme
• This Can’t Be Love – Dinah Washington

You can now watch our calls shows on Connecticut Public’s YouTube. Subscribe and get notified when we go live. Or 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, Eugene Amatruda, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A House of Dynamite is an apocalyptic political thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow. It is Bigelow’s first movie in eight years, since Detroit in 2017. It stars an ensemble cast led by Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, and many more.

And: Task is a seven-part HBO limited series created by Brad Ingelsby. It is the second TV series created by Ingelsby, after Mare of Easttown. It stars Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, Martha Plimpton, and more.

GUESTS:

• Jim Chapdelaine: An Emmy-winning musician and a patient advocate for people with rare cancers
• Irene Papoulis: Wrote a short textbook called The Essays Only You Can Write
• Brian Slattery: A journalist and musician
• Bill Yousman: Professor of media studies at Sacred Heart University

MUSIC FEATURED (in order):

• Detachable Penis – King Missile
• Atom Bomb Baby – The Five Stars
• The Wake-Up Bomb – R.E.M.
• On the Radio – Robert Homes, James Homes
• Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thrones – Mother Love Bone
• 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/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are few monsters more iconic or enduring than Frankenstein’s.

From Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel to the 1931 Universal monster movie to Guillermo del Toro’s current adaptation to next year’s Bride of Frankenstein remake, Frankenstein continues to resonate with fans around the world.

This hour, a look at what exactly it is that makes Frankenstein such a lasting, terrifying work of fiction.

Plus: a look at the so-called “re-animator of Bridgeport.”

GUESTS:

• Michael Bielawa: A historian and poet and the author of several books, including Wicked New Haven and Wicked Bridgeport
• Sidney Perkowitz: Co-editor of Frankenstein: How a Monster Became an Icon — The Science and Enduring Allure of Mary Shelley’s Creation
• Eddy Von Mueller: Co-editor of Frankenstein: How a Monster Became an Icon — The Science and Enduring Allure of Mary Shelley’s Creation

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, Greg Hill, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired October 31, 2017.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the most mysterious texts in the world lives here in Connecticut. The Medieval Voynich Manuscript is at the Beinecke Library at Yale University. Scholars have been trying for over a century to decipher it. This hour, we look at the Voynich and at other examples of mysterious manuscripts from around the world.

GUESTS:

• Lisa Fagin Davis: Professor of Practice in Manuscript Studies at the Simmons University School of Library and Information Science and Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America
• Garry J. Shaw: Author and journalist covering archaeology, history, and world heritage. His newest book is Cryptic: From Voynich to the Angel Diaries, the Story of the World's Mysterious Manuscripts
• David Weinberg: Podcast producer and writer. He is lead instructor for the Transom Traveling Workshops. He formerly worked at Marketplace and KCRW. He produced an episode about "Louie Louie" for the podcast Lost Notes

MUSIC FEATURED (in order):

• Lost in Translation – The Neighbourhood
• Columba aspexit, BN 54 – Christopher Page, Emma Kirkby, Gothic Voices
• Secret Messages – Juliana Hatfield
• The Book of Love – Mike Doughty
• The Philosopher’s Stone – Van Morrison
• Louie, Louie – The Kingsmen
• Louie, Louie – The Sandpipers

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour, a look at the path to sainthood and how it’s changed over time.

Plus: the local example of the Rev. Michael McGivney.

GUESTS:

• Teresa Berger: Professor of Liturgical Studies and Catholic Theology at Yale Divinity School

• Joseph Laycock: Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Texas State University and author of The Seer of Bayside: Veronica Lueken and the Struggle to Define Catholicism

• Rachel McCleary: Lecturer in the Economics Department at Harvard University and a nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

• James Sullivan: Rector of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury

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, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Colin McEnroe, Sara Gasparotto, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired March 31, 2022.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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’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.

Plus, now you can watch our calls shows YouTube! Come say (nice) things to us in the comments! Just search for Connecticut Public.

MUSIC FEATURED (in order):

• Lester Leaps In – Live from Emmet’s Place (Finale)
• Depressed – Ann-Marie, Lauren Spencer Swift
• Um Brinde – Djavan
• When The Lights Go Out – Sarah Jarosz
• Crutch – Yazmin Lacey
• On Your Side (Starman) – Lindsay Lou
• American Tune – Shawn Colvin

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest host comedian Shawn Murray returns! This week’s Nose looks at:

Mr. Scorsese is a five-part, more-than-four-hour documentary series about the life and work of the director of Goodfellas and Taxi Driver and The Departed (and many more). It’s directed by Rebecca Miller and streaming on Apple TV.

And: No Other Land won this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It covers the destruction of a Palestinian community in the West Bank, and it’s directed by a collective of four Palestinian-Israeli activists. No Other Land premiered at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, more than 20 months ago, and it has just become widely available to see in this part of the world basically for the first time this week.

GUESTS:

• James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College
• 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

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.

Eugene Amatruda contributed to this show.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

B. F. Skinner thought pigeons were so smart they could be used to guide missiles during World War II. He proposed a system in which pigeons would essentially pilot a missile. Skinner said pigeons could be trained to peck at a screen to adjust the trajectory of the missile toward its target. Project Pigeon was funded but never used.

In 2013, New York conceptual artist Duke Reilly trained half his flock of pigeons to carry contraband cigars from Cuba to Florida and the other half to carry tiny video cameras documenting the smuggling flight of their comrades.

Another group of researchers trained pigeons to reliably distinguish between the paintings of Picasso and Monet, even if they had never seen a particular painting before.

This hour, everything you ever wanted to know about pigeons but were afraid to ask.

GUESTS:

• Yoni Applebaum: A social and cultural historian
• Andrew Blechman: Author of Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird
• Wanda Corn: The Robert and Ruth Halperin Professor Emerita in the department of art and art history at Stanford University
• Patrick Skahill: Connecticut Public’s assistant director of news and talk shows

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, Tess Aaronson, Jonathan McNicol, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired November 12, 2013.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greek writer Herodotus "invented" history by turning away from myth to a new kind of writing. And although he wrote his Histories nearly 2,500 years ago, local author and classicist Emily Katz Anhalt argues that his example and prose are more relevant than ever. This hour, we look at what we can learn from Herodotus and the ancient Greek myths.

GUEST:

• Emily Katz Anhalt: Professor of Classics at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of Enraged: Why Violent Times Need Ancient Greek Myths and Embattled: How Ancient Greek Myths Empower Us to Resist Tyranny. Her new book is Ancient Wisdom for Polarized Times: Why Humanity Needs Herodotus, the Man Who Invented History

MUSIC FEATURED (in order):

• Thracian Gaia – Daemonia Nymphe
• Road to Hell (live) – Original Cast of Hadestown
• Dance of the Satyrs – Daemonia Nymphe
• Greek to Me – Dugger Band
• Hymn to Bacchus – Daemonia Nymphe
• History Has Its Eyes On You – Hamilton

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The microphone makes everything we do on the radio possible. This hour we celebrate the invention and look at the role of microphones in music. Plus hot mics, mic drops, and more.

GUESTS: 

• Susan Rogers: Multi-platinum record producer, cognitive neuroscientist, professor at Berklee College of Music and co-author of the book This is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You

• Azi Paybarah: Politics Reporter for The Washington Post

• Forrest Wickman: Slate's culture editor

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, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Colin McEnroe, Angelica Gajewski, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on March 25, 2025.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.