Rope has been foundational to so much of human civilization. It's made sailing, hunting, building, and so much more, possible. This hour, we look at the history and utility and future of rope. GUESTS: Tim Queeney: Author of Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization, among other books Manuel Medrano: A PhD candidate in Harvard’s History Department, who studies quipus Tahira Reid Smith: Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Design and the Director of the REID Lab at Penn State. She is also the patented inventor of the Automatic Double Dutch Machine, and the founder of Jump Dreams, Inc. MUSIC FEATURED (in order): Flamingo – Kero Kero Bonito The Last Shanty – Derina Harvey Band Rope – Foo Fighters Tightrope – Janelle Monae Rope A Dope – Victor Oladipo, 2 Chainz Double Dutch – Charity Join the conversation on Facebook. 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! Our programming is made possible thanks to listeners like you. Please consider supporting this show and Connecticut Public with a donation today by visiting ctpublic.org/donate. Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on October 15, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Westend61/Getty Images What happens when the people reshaping our world don't believe in introspection? This hour, a look at looking inward. And, we explore the spectrum of mental imagery. GUESTS: Elizabeth Lopatto: Senior reporter for The Verge Maja Spener: Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. She is the author of Introspection: First-Person Access in Science and Agency Reshanne Reeder: Lecturer in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Liverpool Music featured (in order): Who Knows – Daniel Caesar What Kind of Fool Am I – Sammy Davis Jr. Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson There’s No Telling – Duncan Sheik I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry – Cassandra Wilson Pretty Little Picture – Zero Mostel (Original Broadway Cast) Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee 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. So we’re doing another one. In other words: Give us a call during the 1 p.m. EDT hour. 888-720-9677. Music featured (in order): Any Old Fool – Thee Sacred Souls What You Get – They Might Be Giants TSOD – Blu & Exile Dumbest Girl in the World – LØLØ Blue Money – Van Morrison CUT FOR TIME I Am Here – Tracy Wong, London Voices Playground – flipturn Till Your Mind is Shining (Bright-Side Mix) – Peter Gabriel Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a new movie starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson called 'The Drama' that is sparking a lot of discourse around spoilers, movie marketing, and what should be revealed in advance. This hour, we offer a few spoilers about the movie in order to talk about all of that. Plus, a look at plot twists. GUESTS: Olivia Montminy: A student at College of the Holy Cross Aisha Harris: Critic and host of Pop Culture Happy Hour at NPR. She is author of Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture that Shapes Me James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College. Vera Tobin: Associate professor of Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University. She is author of Elements of Surprise: Our Mental Limits and the Satisfactions of Plot Music featured (in order): Don Giovanni, K. 527: Overture – W.A. Mozart as performed by Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe Unexpected – Jonah Platt Everybody Knows – Leonard Cohen Brilliant Disguise – Melissa Black Always the Last to Know – Del Amitri If I Knew Then – Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Headache symptoms can strike sufferers without warning, disabling them for even days at a time. There have been nearly 4,000 years of documented headache disorders — and virtually everyone has had headaches — yet their underlying neurological cause is still unknown. This hour, a look at the long history of headaches and the current science around and treatments for headaches. Plus: headaches in our literature and popular culture. GUESTS: Kathleen O’Shea: The editor of So Much More Than a Headache: Understanding Migraine Through Literature Tom Zeller Jr.: The author of The Headache: The Science of a Most Confounding Condition and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Undark 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, which originally aired July 30, 2025.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On September 26, 2025, last year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, One Battle After Another, a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, hit wide release in theaters. And then 11 days later, on October 7, Pynchon published what might be his final novel, Shadow Ticket. Not a bad year for an 88-year-old writer. This hour, a look at the (maybe) reclusive Pynchon and the novels and stories he’s published, from Gravity’s Rainbow to Mason & Dixon and more. Plus: a look at the two Paul Thomas Anderson movies that Pynchon’s work has inspired, Inherent Vice and One Battle After Another. GUESTS: David Cowart: Distinguished professor emeritus of English language and literature at the University of South Carolina and the author of a number of books, including Thomas Pynchon: The Art of Allusion and Thomas Pynchon and the Dark Passages of History Ana Gavrilovska: A writer; you can find her work in Current Affairs, Uncut Magazine, Maggot Brain, and her Substack, Sick Sad Motherslug Leonardo Goi: A journalist and film critic Brian Slattery: A writer and musician Music featured (in order): Don Giovanni, K. 527: Overture – W.A. Mozart as performed by Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of EuropeThe most referenced piece of music in Pynchon’s catalogue. Gravity’s Angel – Laurie Anderson The Royal Scam – Steely DanMentioned in Bleeding Edge. Run Straight Down – Warren ZevonZevon attributed this song to overdosing on Pynchon — the opening words are just carcinogenic chemicals. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) – Bonzo Dog BandPynchon put out his own playlist for Inherent Vice. This was on it. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised – Gil Scott-Heron 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/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the relationship between consciousness and the divine? How are poetry and faith connected? Why write poetry? We present an hour with Colin and poet Christian Wiman live from Yale Divinity School, where they discuss poetry, consciousness, faith, awe, and whatever else is on their minds. GUEST: Christian Wiman: Author, editor, and translator of many books including, most recently, Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian. He is Clement-Muehl Professor of Communication Arts at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School 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, Maegn Boone, Jonathan McNicol, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Katrice Kemble, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show. Special thanks to Yale Divinity School and Dean Gregory Sterling, Tom Krattenmaker, Sachin Ramabhadran, Kit Heeley, and Campbell Harmon.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee 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. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. This hour, the conversation winds around to meditation and the sounds of flowing water, people who listen to NPR but don’t donate, the rough weekend the president and vice president both had altering old movies, the gender fluidity (or not) of the Statue of Liberty, the Trump-as-Jesus image the Stop & Shop voice robots (and the return of Marty), unhoused veterans, the CT Lottery voice robots … 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’m Not Sorry – Joe Jackson Summer – Tasha Bed Stuy – Destin Conrad St. Vincent’s Hospital (Room 813) – Gabriel Kahane, Roomful of Teeth, Steven Bradshaw Vines Will Thrive – Bucko I Must Have That Man – Abbey Lincoln (Remastered 2026 / Mono) 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, Meg Fitzgerald, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We did our usual all-calls show earlier this week. Except that our phones didn’t work. And our computers were messed up. And there probably wasn’t any running water. But the point is, we couldn’t actually take your calls during our all-calls call-in show this week. So we decided to try again. This hour, the conversation winds around to Trump signs around the neighborhood, cheeses, grilled cheeses, Viktor Orbán’s re-election hopes, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat on Prime Video, Tucker Carlson … anything. Seemingly everything.‌ Music featured (in order): Father Time – John Martyn Traffic Lights – Flea, Thom Yorke Steady – Victory Laugh You Out of the House – Everything But the Girl (2012 remaster) The Old Law – Father John Misty Alchemy – Cam 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, Eugene Amatruda, Robyn-Doyon Aitken, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new study shows that AI chatbots often engage in sycophantic behavior. Just like some humans. This hour, we take a look at sycophants in literature and in politics. And we talk about sycophancy and artificial intelligence. GUESTS: Mark Parker: Professor Emeritus of English at James Madison University and co-author of Sucking Up: A Brief Consideration of Sycophancy Virginia Heffernan: Writes a regular column for The New Republic and the Substack “Magic + Loss.” She is co-host of the podcast “Omnishambles” Malihe Alikhani: Assistant Professor at Northeastern University’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences, and a resident Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution with a focus on AI policy Music featured (in order): Overture to Rigoletto – Giuseppi Verdi, Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmoniker I Believe in You – Peggy Lee Don’t Cry – Seal You Fascinate Me So – Mabel Mercer What You Want To Hear – Sub-Radio Flattery – Rosemary Clooney, Jose Ferrer Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee 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. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. Except the phones didn't work. Topics included dogs, Neanderthals, candy, and more. Music featured (in order): That Moon Song – Gregory Alan Isakov In the Sea – Alyssa Allgood Doctrine of Love – Jalen Ngonda Mutual – PJ Morton Happier Times Ahead. – RAYE Flying Things – Tyler Ramsey, Carl Broemel (ft. the Secret Sisters) When the Flowers Started – Caity Gyorgy Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rust is all around us. It’s in our cars, our homes, our infrastructure. It’s also the subject of Jonathan Waldman’s book Rust: The Longest War, which introduces us to the people who fight it. This hour, Waldman joins us. Plus: a visual artist who has found a way to incorporate rust into her work. GUESTS: Esther Solondz: A Rhode Island-based visual artist Jonathan Waldman: Author of Rust 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 March 25, 2015.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.