From fueling some of mankind's most violent events to inspiring your daughter's latest pop star obsession, mania has become an indispensable force in shaping our collective story. This hour we explore a centuries-long flower frenzy and modern-day fanaticism to uncover why we are so drawn to being "totally obsessed."

GUESTS: 
Daniel Durbin: Professor of Communication and Director of the Institute of Sports, Media and Society at the University of Southern California Annenberg School
Sarah Bilston: Professor of English at Trinity College and author of the forthcoming book, The Lost Orchid: A Story of Victorian Plunder & Obsession
Paul Barnes: Pianist and Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music

From fueling some of mankind's most violent events to inspiring your daughter's latest pop star obsession, mania has become an indispensable force in shaping our collective story. This hour we explore a centuries-long flower frenzy and modern-day fanaticism to uncover why we are so drawn to being "totally obsessed."
GUESTS:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Daniel Durbin:&nbsp;Professor of Communication and Director of the Institute of Sports, Media and Society at the University of Southern California Annenberg School</li>
<li>Sarah Bilston:&nbsp;Professor of English at Trinity College and author of the forthcoming book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674272606">The Lost Orchid: A Story of Victorian Plunder &amp; Obsession</a></li>
<li>Paul Barnes:&nbsp;Pianist and Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music</li>
</ul>

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.

The Colin McEnroe Show

A look at cultural manias from Liszt and orchids to the Beatles and beyond

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. So we did another one.

This hour, the conversation winds around to America 250, Oasis, bird songs, the SAVE Act, Trump, natural lawns … Anything. (Seemingly) everything.

Music Featured (in order):
bite my tongue – wilt
won’t make it out alive – Nicole Zuraitis, Larry Goldings
Just Say You Want Me – Lo Steele
Teach Me Tonight – Ledisi
I Do, I Do – Dua Saleh
Penny In The Lake – Ratboys
We Made It – Sammy Rae and the Friends ft. CELISSE

We&rsquo;ve been doing these shows where we don&rsquo;t book any guests, where we fill the hour with your calls. And your calls have been interesting and surprising and amusing. So we did another one.
This hour, the conversation winds around to America 250, Oasis, bird songs, the SAVE Act, Trump, natural lawns &hellip; Anything. (Seemingly) everything.
Music Featured (in order):
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8zHC0a-Gg4">bite my tongue</a>&nbsp;&ndash; wilt <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bwHoMqgs6U">won&rsquo;t make it out alive</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Nicole Zuraitis, Larry Goldings</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX-FfRGDA-c">Just Say You Want Me</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Lo Steele</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T04WO9HYSq4">Teach Me Tonight</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Ledisi</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G3zyKKM_Ss">I Do, I Do</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Dua Saleh</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX5adLHQobY">Penny In The Lake</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Ratboys</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LA69DiqAtw">We Made It</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Sammy Rae and the Friends ft. CELISSE</li>
</ul>

All calls: Crows make better noise than Oasis

The 98th Academy Awards were Sunday night. KPop Demon Hunters swept its two nominations. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein cleaned up in the craft categories and won three awards.

But the big question going into the night was what would win the big awards. Would it be Sinners, with its record-setting 16 nominations, or the seemingly inevitable One Battle After Another?

Inevitability won out. One Battle After Another won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson.

This hour, The Nose reacts to the Oscars — the awards themselves, the ceremony as television, the fashion, the memes, Conan O’Brien’s turn as host — the whole thing.

GUESTS:
Shawn Murray: A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the Nobody Asked Shawn podcast
Vivian Nabeta: Director of digital marketing for Connecticut State Community College
Gene Seymour: A “writer, professional spectator, pop-culture maven, and jazz geek

Music featured (in order):
There’s No Business Like Show Business – The Original Movie Orchestra
Peg – Steely Dan
Everything’s Come Up Roses – The Replacements
I Lied to You (Live at the Oscars) – Miles Canton, Shaboozey, Brittany Howard, Eric Gales, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Golden (Live at the Oscars) – EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami
The Way We Were – Barbra Streisand (but the original proper version)

The 98th Academy Awards were Sunday night.&nbsp;KPop Demon Hunters&nbsp;swept its two nominations. Guillermo del Toro&rsquo;s&nbsp;Frankenstein&nbsp;cleaned up in the craft categories and won three awards.
But the big question going into the night was what would win the big awards. Would it be&nbsp;Sinners, with its record-setting 16 nominations, or the seemingly inevitable&nbsp;One Battle After Another?
Inevitability won out.&nbsp;One Battle After Another&nbsp;won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson.
This hour, The Nose reacts to the Oscars &mdash; the awards themselves, the ceremony as television, the fashion, the memes, Conan O&rsquo;Brien&rsquo;s turn as host &mdash; the whole thing.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>Shawn Murray:&nbsp;A stand-up comedian, writer, and the host of the&nbsp;Nobody Asked Shawn&nbsp;podcast</li>
<li>Vivian Nabeta:&nbsp;Director of digital marketing for Connecticut State Community College</li>
<li>Gene Seymour:&nbsp;A &ldquo;writer, professional spectator, pop-culture maven, and jazz geek</li>
</ul>
Music featured (in order):
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcF5qeUDW6k">There&rsquo;s No Business Like Show Business</a>&nbsp;&ndash; The Original Movie Orchestra</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki2GxDUxEkM">Peg</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Steely Dan</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVg3AKLO2S8">Everything&rsquo;s Come Up Roses</a>&nbsp;&ndash; The Replacements</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3ae7BvTuC4">I Lied to You (Live at the Oscars)</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Miles Canton, Shaboozey, Brittany Howard, Eric Gales, Christone &ldquo;Kingfish&rdquo; Ingram</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex4SrdtvHwE">Golden (Live at the Oscars)</a>&nbsp;&ndash; EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifWOSnoCS0M">The Way We Were</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Barbra Streisand (but the original proper version)</li>
</ul>

The Noscars 2026

Mike Pesca is one of our very favorite guests — onanynumberoftopics.

His book, Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History, is a whole series of earth-shattering, hypothetical, what-if questions (and posited answers to said earth-shattering, hypothetical, what-if questions):

What if a blimp full of money had exploded over world track headquarters in 1952? What if Nixon had been good at football? What if Bobby Fischer had received proper psychiatric help? What if the Dodgers hadn’t left Brooklyn? What if basketball rims were smaller than basketballs? What if the 1999 U.S. women’s national soccer team had lost the Women’s World Cup? And yes: What if the Olympics had never dropped tug of war?

It goes on and on.

Pesca joins us for the hour.

GUESTS:
Will Leitch: Contributing editor at New York magazine, founder of Deadspin, and a whole bunch of other things
Mike Pesca: Host of The Gist and the author of Upon Further Review
Louisa Thomas: Staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams

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, Carlos Mejia, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired June 7, 2018.

Mike Pesca is one of our very favorite guests &mdash; <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2025-03-19/march-madness-2025">on</a> <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2023-05-01/the-artist-formerly-known-as-the-colin-mcenroe-show-conversations-about-rebranding">any</a> <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/arts-and-culture/2019-05-23/from-the-bad-ideas-dept-its-a-show-about-towels">number</a> <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2025-03-21/from-the-bad-ideas-dept-todays-show-is-not-about-tapirs">of</a> <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2022-03-03/an-hour-with-the-gist-podcast-host-mike-pesca">topics</a>.
His book, <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/mike-pesca/upon-further-review/9781455540372/">Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History</a>, is a whole series of earth-shattering, hypothetical, what-if questions (and posited answers to said earth-shattering, hypothetical, what-if questions):
What if a blimp full of money had exploded over world track headquarters in 1952? <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/upon_further_review/2018/05/the_new_podcast_from_slate_s_mike_pesca_explores_the_greatest_what_ifs_in.html">What if Nixon had been good at football?</a> What if Bobby Fischer had received proper psychiatric help? <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2018/05/what-if-the-dodgers-had-never-left-brooklyn.html">What if the Dodgers hadn&rsquo;t left Brooklyn?</a> What if basketball rims were smaller than basketballs? <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2018/06/what-if-the-1999-u-s-womens-national-soccer-team-had-lost-the-womens-world-cup.html">What if the 1999 U.S. women&rsquo;s national soccer team had lost the Women&rsquo;s World Cup?</a> And yes: What if the Olympics had never dropped tug of war?
It goes on and on.
Pesca joins us for the hour.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>Will Leitch: Contributing editor at New York magazine, founder of Deadspin, and a whole bunch of other things</li>
<li>Mike Pesca: Host of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mikepesca.com/thegist">The Gist</a>&nbsp;and the author of Upon Further Review</li>
<li>Louisa Thomas: Staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.louisathomas.com/#louisa">Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams</a></li>
</ul>
The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-colin-mcenroe-show/id714179884">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0AXtqrzWounIoJyIqz003p">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9b6b3cee-f69b-4729-a78b-181f851d80e8/the-colin-mcenroe-show">Amazon Music</a>, <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/The-Colin-McEnroe-Show-p1208473/">TuneIn</a>, <a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-colin-mcenroe-show-connecticut-public-lXR08dxQSM5/">Listen Notes</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!
<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/newsletters">Subscribe to The Noseletter</a>, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.
Join the conversation on <a href="https://facebook.com/ColinMcShow">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/colinmcshow">Twitter</a>.
Colin McEnroe, Carlos Mejia, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired June 7, 2018.

A look at cultural manias from Liszt and orchids to the Beatles and beyond

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