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: 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, which originally aired July 6, 2023. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What our tears can tell us

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

We’ve been noticing a sort of backwards-looking bent lately in TV shows like Ripley, with its 1960s setting and its black-and-white aesthetic and its lush 1950s Italian pop soundtrack. Or Fallout, with its particular brand of retro-futurism and its Jazz Age-to-Space Age music. Or Sugar, with it classic movie-obsessed protagonist and its neo-noir tone.
There’s a theory that there’s more of an emphasis on nostalgia right now than normal because no one wants to live in 2024. There’s even a whole new Taylor Swift song about it.
This hour, a Nose-ish look at the heightened role of nostalgia in our popular culture right now. Plus: the dark side of nostalgia culture.
GUESTS:

Jessica Andrews: A novelist and a contributing editor at Elle UK; her most recent novel is Milk Teeth
Spencer Kornhaber: A staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of On Divas: Persona, Pleasure, Power

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. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Those were the days: Nostalgia in our popular culture

Is print dead? Or will it make a comeback? This hour, we talk about the benefits and drawbacks of getting your news in print form. We learn about the print age, or the “Gutenberg Parenthesis,” and we talk about the business of printing.
GUESTS: 

Kelsey Russell: A media literacy influencer and co-host of “First Stop News”
Jeff Jarvis: Author of The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet. His new book, The Web We Weave will be out this fall. He co-hosts the “This Week in Google” and “AI Inside” podcasts
John Garrett: Founder and CEO of “Community Impact,” a privately owned chain of 40 community newspapers in Texas, which also includes its own printing facilities

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/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is print dead or is it making a comeback?

This hour, Colin and his guests look at why humans touch others with their lips (and often their tongues!). Join us as we overthink the simple act of kissing.
 
GUESTS: 


Marcel Danesi: Professor Emeritus of Linguistic Anthropology at The University of Toronto and author of The History of the Kiss! The Birth of Popular Culture


Matthew Longcore: Director of Membership and Outreach for the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University and an Adjunct Faculty Member in Anthropology at the University of Connecticut Stamford


Andréa Demirjian: Runs The Kissing Expert website, Instagram feed, and Facebook page. She’s the author of the book Kissing: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About One of Life’s Sweetest Pleasures


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, Lily Tyson, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on October 10, 2023.  Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Osculate me, you fool! A brief history of romantic kissing

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, 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 September 19, 2023. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyday Carry: Unpacking what we carry with us and why

This hour, a look at the cultural significance of the apple, from Adam and Eve to keeping the doctor away.
Plus: growing apples and the future of apples, and we compare apples and oranges.
GUESTS:

Martha Bayless: Director of folklore and public culture and a professor of English and folklore at the University of Oregon; she is also the founder of the Early English Bread Project, which studies the role of bread in early medieval English culture
David Bedford: Senior research fellow in the Department of Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota; his team is responsible for creating the Honeycrisp, SweeTango, Zestar, and Rave apple varieties, among others
Dan Pashman: Creator and host of the The Sporkful podcast

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, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired September 7, 2023. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What our tears can tell us

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