It has been 25 years since the deal between the state of Connecticut and Robert Kraft’s New England Patriots — the deal that would’ve brought the Patriots to a brand new publicly funded stadium in Hartford — fell through. Over the two-and-a-half decades since, the Patriots hired coach Bill Belichick and drafted quarterback Tom Brady, and they won 17 division titles, nine conference championships, and six Super Bowls. Hartford, on the other hand, eventually built a 6,000-seat Double A ballpark as part of a much larger development plan that has since mostly been scrapped. And people continue to pine for the return of the Whalers. This hour, a look back at what might have been, what could have been — what never was. GUESTS: Jeff Benedict: The author of 16 books, including The Dynasty Michael Leeds: Professor of economics at Temple University and co-author of The Economics of Sports, now in its seventh edition 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/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In A.J. Jacobs' new book, The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning, he details his experience living by the Constitution for a year. Jacobs joins us for the hour to tell us about the experiment and what he learned. GUESTS: A.J. Jacobs: Author of The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution’s Original Meaning. His previous books include Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically. He is also host of “The Puzzler” podcast 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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What exactly is charisma? You know it when you see it, but is it possible to measure? Is it something you can learn, or just something you’re born with? This hour we look at the impact of charisma, especially in politics. Plus, in the world of wildlife conservation there’s a term for those animals everyone cares about: “charismatic megafauna.” What are the impacts of decisions about conservation or leadership coming down to a nebulous trait like charisma? GUESTS: John Antonakis: Professor of organizational behavior at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland Sophie Monsarrat: Rewilding manager with Rewilding Europe, who used to be a researcher who studied charismatic megafauna, among other topics Russ Schriefer: Founding partner of Strategic Partners & Media, a public affairs political consulting firm; he is senior strategist for the Tell It Like It Is super PAC that supported Chris Christie for President 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 September 6, 2023.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 Chain and the Sean Duffy series. On a dark and stormy night in September, 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 out in paperback May 14 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, which originally aired September 14, 2023.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's hard to stay on top of everything happening in the Supreme Court lately — a case about whether governments can criminalize sleeping outside when you're homeless, a different decision that headlines tell us "effectively abolishes the right to mass protest in three US states." Today, we're getting caught up with three of the most important cases you might have missed! GUESTS: Mark Joseph Stern: Senior writer at Slate covering courts and the law Vera Eidelman: Staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project Nisha Kashyap: Attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, 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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been reported that Donald Trump has been sleeping during his Manhattan trial. This hour, a look at the storied history of people sleeping through things. We talk with a sleep doctor. Plus: an actor on what it’s like when an audience member nods off during your stage performance. GUESTS: Maura Judkis: Features Reporter for The Washington Post Michael Greaney: Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University Dr. Rafael Pelayo: Clinical professor at Stanford University’s Sleep Medicine division and the author of How to Sleep Derek Garza: Actor, director, voice-over actor and creative artist, who works in theater, television and film 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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Journalist Lisa Belkin spent 10 years retracing the ancestry of three families, over four generations, to understand how a series of random encounters between three men led to the 1960 murder of a Stamford, Connecticut, police officer. Genealogy of a Murder looks at how family “truths” passed down through the generations can influence the choices of the descendants that follow. How do family stories, happenstance, and the cultural ethos of the moment shape the people we become? GUESTS: Lisa Belkin: A journalist and the author of Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night Doreen Troy Dolan: Daughter of David Troy Kelsey Rose Dolan: Granddaughter of David Troy 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 August 24, 2023.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. This hour, the conversation winds around to people backing into parking spaces, incorrect (maybe) pronunciations, spoon theory, the movie Civil War, Gov. Kristi Noem’s puppy … Anything. (Seemingly) everything. These shows are fun for us, and they seem to be fun for you, too. So we did another one. 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 and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fallout is a post-apocalyptic TV series developed for Amazon MGM Studios by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, who co-created Westworld for HBO. It is the first screen adaptation of the game franchise, which comprises four main series video games, seven spinoff video games, and six tabletop games. It stars Ella Purnell (from Yellowjackets), Aaron Morten, Kyle MacLachlan, and Walton Goggins. And: Conan O’Brien Must Go is a Max Original travel series. It is a spinoff from the podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and a successor to the Conan Without Borders travel specials that aired as part of the TBS late night show Conan. Four episodes are out so far, in which O’Brien travels to Norway, Argentina, Thailand, and Ireland. GUESTS: Rich Hollant: Principal at CO:LAB, founder of Free Center, and commissioner on cultural affairs for the city of Hartford Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer; she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance 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/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Supreme Court recently started hearing oral arguments about whether the Jan. 6 attacks constitute obstruction of an official proceeding. Thursday, they’ll hear arguments on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity. This hour, a status update on the confusing, monumental, and democracy-defining goings-on in the Supreme Court. GUESTS: Melissa Murray: Professor of law at New York University, a host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, and co-author of The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary Holly Brewer: Burke Chair of American Cultural and Intellectual History and associate professor of history at the University of Maryland 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.

Daniel Dennett was one of the most famous philosophers in the world, one of the so-called “Four Horsemen of the New Atheism.” Dennett died April 19 at age 82. This hour, our 2015 conversation with Daniel Dennett, as recorded onstage at the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford. GUEST: Daniel Dennett: Was a philosopher, writer and and the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts 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. Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, Dylan Reyes, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired January 21, 2016, in a different form.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It took almost a week to select the jurors and alternates for the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump. This hour is all about juries. We'll talk about jury selection, how to root out potential bias, and the process of choosing an impartial jury in this day and age. Plus, we'll look at depictions of juries in popular culture. And, some of the jury selection questions have to do with what media a person consumes, so we'll look at what the media we consume can say about us, and discuss media bias. GUESTS: Renato Mariotti: Trial attorney and partner at the law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. He is a former federal prosecutor, and host of the “It’s Complicated” podcast Nancy Marder: Professor of Law, Director of the Justice John Paul Stevens Jury Center and Co-Director of the Institute for Law and the Humanities at the Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Tech. She is author of The Power of the Jury: Transforming Citizens Into Jurors Vanessa Otero: Creator of the Media Bias Chart and the Founder and CEO of Ad Fontes Media 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 Dylan Reyes contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.