If I say “cult classic,” what do you think of? Probably an underground movie that built up an intense following over time, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show or The Room, right? Or maybe even something a bit more mainstream like The Big Lebowski?

But where’s the limit here, if there is one? Is Blade Runner a cult movie? Or Pulp Fiction? Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Office Space? Slap Shot? (I mean: Slap Shot?!?)

This hour, a look at a genre, a cross section of cinema history that seems to include everything from all-time classics like A Clockwork Orange to all-time terribles like Plan 9 from Outer Space and many, many weird and not-even-so-weird things in between: the cult classic.

GUESTS:

• Millie De Chirico: Co-author of TCM Underground: 50 Must-See Films from the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema and co-host of the I Saw What You Did podcast
• David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic
• Sam Hatch: Co-hosts The Culture Dogs on WWUH
• Kevin O’Toole: Co-hosts The Culture Dogs on WWUH

This show was produced with Sajina Shrestha.

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 April 11, 2024, in a different form.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How did taxes, this quintessentially frustrating thing, come to be so frustrating? And must it be so?

This hour, we’re learning about why taxes are so complicated to file in the U.S. Then, we’ll talk about how some of the richest people in America end up paying next to no taxes on the wealth they grow every year. Finally: a conversation with someone who doesn’t pay a chunk of his taxes — on purpose — as a form of protest.

GUESTS:

• Monica Prasad: Professor of Economic and Political Sociology at Johns Hopkins University

• Paul Kiel: Reporter for ProPublica who covers taxes

• Lawrence Rosenwald: Professor of English Emeritus at Wellesley College and a longtime war tax resister

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, which originally aired on March 28, 2024.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been 23 years since the sunny late summer Tuesday morning that changed basically everything.

This hour, a look back at September 11, 2001, and its long shadow, still darkening our days a bit now.

We talk to a historian about the generation that has lived its life in a post-9/11 world and a critic about the influence of 9/11 on and in our popular culture.

GUESTS:

• Lindsay Ellis: An author, video essayist, and film critic; her new novel is Apostles of Mercy
• Matthew Warshauer: Professor of history at Central Connecticut State University and the author of Creating and Failing the 9/11 Generation: The Real Story of September 11

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.

Plastic is everywhere in our world, and scientists are increasingly discovering the negative health and environmental impacts of the material.

This hour, we take a look at our relationship to plastic. We talk about the material, its evolution, and its symbolism in our culture. Plus, we look at the use of single use plastic in television and why it matters.

GUESTS:

• Susan Freinkel: Author of Plastic: A Toxic Love Story; her Substack is 1,017 Acres: Life in the Park

• Erica Cirino: Communications manager of the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the author of Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis

• Dana Weinstein: Project specialist for the Media Impact Project at the University of Southern California Annenberg Norman Lear Center

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, which originally aired on March 25, 2024.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all strive to be right about things — we do our research, we listen to people who seem smarter than us, we make compelling arguments over dinner tables. But is there an underappreciated art to being wrong?

This hour, lessons on changing your mind and admitting mistakes, from newspaper corrections to public intellectual pivots.

GUESTS:

• Eranda Jayawickreme: Professor of psychology at Wake Forest University

• Ty Seidule: Visiting professor of history at Hamilton College and the author of Robert E. Lee and Me; he’s a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army and the former vice chair of the Department of Defense’s Naming Commission

• Isaac Saul: Founder of the newsletter Tangle

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, Lily Tyson, and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on March 20, 2024.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chimp Crazy is a four-part HBO docuseries that “explores the captivating, often unfathomable, and secretive world of raising chimpanzees.” It is documentarian Eric Goode’s follow-up to the 2020 sensation Tiger King.

Plus: There is absolutely, definitely, 100% a right way to load your dishwasher. And you’re the only one in your house who knows what it is. Right? The Nose gets into it.

And finally, the new phenomenon known as fridgescaping. Which is a thing. Apparently.

GUESTS:

• Betsy Kaplan: Senior producer emeritus of The Colin McEnroe Show
• Jacques Lamarre: A playwright, and chief communications officer at Buzz Engine
• Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer, and she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grocery prices are becoming a regular talking point in this election cycle. This hour is all about the grocery store. We talk about how items get on the shelves, the unique business model of Trader Joe's, and the factors that impact grocery prices. Plus, a look at the appeal of Costco.

GUESTS:

• Benjamin Lorr: Author of The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket. His first book was Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga
• Abha Bhattarai: Economics correspondent for The Washington Post
• Ben Ryder Howe: Contributor to The New York Times and author of My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This hour is all about America’s 21st president, Chester A. Arthur, who took office after President James Garfield was assassinated.

We look at Arthur’s life and legacy and at what happens when someone unexpectedly takes over the highest office in the land.

GUESTS:

• David Edelstein: America’s Greatest Living Film Critic
• Scott S. Greenberger: Executive editor of Stateline and the author of The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur
• Victoria Sample: Historic sites section chief for the state of Vermont

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 March 6, 2024.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.