As we were preparing for our show on underdogs, I kept saying that we shouldn’t overlook the fact that, often, to be an underdog in the first place, you have to be relatively bad at the thing you’re an underdog about.

The more we talked about it, the more I found myself making the case that losers and losing are fascinating.

And they are. There’s a whole podcast about political candidates who lost. We romanticize losers in movies and TV and songs and stories.

And think just about the phrase “lovable losers.” In a culture where we focus seemingly entirely on the positive half of the zero sum, where we endlessly exalt WINNING, it’s kind of interesting that we love the losers too, isn’t it?

This hour, a long look at losers and losing.

GUESTS:
Jason Cherkis - Political reporter for The Huffington Post and the co-host of Candidate Confessional
Josh Keefe - An investigative reporter at the Bangor Daily News; in a piece for Slate’s Sports Nut, he claimed that he was the worst high school quarterback ever
Jonathan McNicol - Producer at Connecticut Public Radio
Irene Papoulis - Teaches writing at Trinity College
Brian Slattery - Arts editor for the New Haven Independent and a producer at WNHH radio

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Betsy Kaplan contributed to this show, which originally aired August 1, 2016.

As we were preparing for&nbsp;<a href="https://wnpr.org/post/myth-underdog">our show on underdogs</a>, I kept saying that we shouldn&rsquo;t overlook the fact that, often, to be an underdog in the first place, you have to be relatively bad at the thing you&rsquo;re an underdog about.
The more we talked about it, the more I found myself making the case that losers and losing are fascinating.
And they are. There&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/candidate-confessional-defeated-politicians-tell-all/id1073764351">a whole podcast about political candidates who lost</a>. We&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2012/03/09/great-american-losers/">romanticize losers</a>&nbsp;in movies and TV and songs and stories.
And think just about the phrase &ldquo;lovable losers.&rdquo; In a culture where we focus seemingly entirely on the positive half of the zero sum, where we endlessly exalt&nbsp;<a href="https://media.tenor.com/images/04a43a5c023c7e5742ea28a0764a358d/tenor.gif">WINNING</a>, it&rsquo;s kind of interesting that we love the losers too, isn&rsquo;t it?
This hour, a long look at losers and losing.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>Jason Cherkis&nbsp;- Political reporter for&nbsp;The Huffington Post&nbsp;and the co-host of&nbsp;<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/candidate-confessional-defeated-politicians-tell-all/id1073764351">Candidate Confessional</a></li>
<li>Josh Keefe&nbsp;- An investigative reporter at the&nbsp;Bangor Daily News; in a piece for&nbsp;Slate&rsquo;s Sports Nut, he claimed that&nbsp;<a href="https://slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2014/08/i_was_the_worst_high_school_quarterback_ever.html">he was the worst high school quarterback ever</a></li>
<li>Jonathan McNicol&nbsp;- Producer at Connecticut Public Radio</li>
<li>Irene Papoulis&nbsp;- Teaches writing at Trinity College</li>
<li>Brian Slattery&nbsp;- Arts editor for the&nbsp;New Haven Independent&nbsp;and a producer at WNHH radio</li>
</ul>
Join the conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/ColinMcShow">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wnprcolin">Twitter</a>.
Colin McEnroe and Betsy Kaplan contributed to this show, which originally aired August 1, 2016.

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.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> 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 <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

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