During the Inauguration in a few weeks, President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office. It's a practice that elected officials are taking part in across the country following the 2024 election. So what is the significance of this oath? This hour, we take a look at oaths, vows, and pledges. We'll discuss their history and their meaning, and explore the examples of marriage vows and the Pledge of Allegiance.

GUESTS: 
Joanne Pierce: Professor Emerita in the Department of Religious Studies at the College of The Holy Cross, who specializes in medieval Christianity, particularly liturgy and worship 
Cheryl Mendelson: Author of Vows: The Modern Genius of an Ancient Rite
Charles Dorn: Professor of Education at Bowdoin College, and co-author of Patriotic Education in a Global Age 

During the Inauguration in a few weeks, President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office. It's a practice that elected officials are taking part in across the country following the 2024 election. So what is the significance of this oath? This hour, we take a look at oaths, vows, and pledges. We'll discuss their history and their meaning, and explore the examples of marriage vows and the Pledge of Allegiance.
GUESTS:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Joanne Pierce: Professor Emerita in the Department of Religious Studies at the College of The Holy Cross, who specializes in medieval Christianity, particularly liturgy and worship&nbsp;</li>
<li>Cheryl Mendelson: Author of <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Vows/Cheryl-Mendelson/9781668021569">Vows: The Modern Genius of an Ancient Rite</a></li>
<li>Charles Dorn: Professor of Education at Bowdoin College, and co-author of <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo28179129.html">Patriotic Education in a Global Age</a>&nbsp;</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

The power of promises, from inaugural oaths to marriage vows

From the Golden Globes, to global conflicts, to elections, prediction markets have moved into the mainstream. What happens when we can bet on anything? What are the cultural impacts of that? This hour, we take stock of the status of prediction markets, and look at what they might do to politics and polling. Plus, a look at the "Wisdom of Crowds".

GUESTS:
Kate Knibbs: Senior Writer at WIRED
Danny Funt: Reporter and author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling
Sarah Hughes-Berheim: Postdoctoral researcher in the Special Education Department at Vanderbilt University
James Surowiecki: Journalist and author of The Wisdom of Crowds

Music featured (in order):
Future Lover – Thee Sacred Souls
Everybody Knows – Leonard Cohen
Something’s Gotta Give – Sammy Davis Jr.
We Can’t Predict the Future – The Flaming Lips
What Comes Next? – Jonathan Groff, Hamilton
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall – Bob Dylan

From the Golden Globes, to global conflicts, to elections, prediction markets have moved into the mainstream. What happens when we can bet on anything? What are the cultural impacts of that? This hour, we take stock of the status of prediction markets, and look at what they might do to politics and polling. Plus, a look at the "Wisdom of Crowds".
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>Kate Knibbs:&nbsp;Senior Writer at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/author/kate-knibbs/">WIRED</a></li>
<li>Danny Funt:&nbsp;Reporter and author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Everybody-Loses/Danny-Funt/9781668062029">Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling</a></li>
<li>Sarah Hughes-Berheim:&nbsp;Postdoctoral researcher in the Special Education Department at Vanderbilt University</li>
<li>James Surowiecki:&nbsp;Journalist and author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/175380/the-wisdom-of-crowds-by-james-surowiecki/">The Wisdom of Crowds</a></li>
</ul>
Music featured (in order):
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eABalevWjQM">Future Lover</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Thee Sacred Souls</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu8u9ZbCJgQ">Everybody Knows</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Leonard Cohen</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzgiP1N6e8M">Something&rsquo;s Gotta Give</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Sammy Davis Jr.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIZ_5ZQC2Po">We Can&rsquo;t Predict the Future</a>&nbsp;&ndash; The Flaming Lips</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKw6n0PnTMY">What Comes Next?</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Jonathan Groff, Hamilton</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXn9ZKPx6CY">A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Bob Dylan</li>
</ul>

What happens when we can bet on anything?

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 Anthropic, cataract surgery, the burrito vs. bowl debate, Saturday Night Live, the general unhappiness in the U.S., plastics … 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):
Destination Heaven – Euphoria Again & Dogwood Tales
Farther Along – Ron Carter, Ricky Dillard
Coming Up Roses – Harry Styles (orch. Jules Buckley)
Love, Love, Love – Stephen Sanchez
Sirius – Katherine Priddy
Blind – Yonder Mountain String Band
With a Little Luck – Paul McCartney, Wings

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.
This hour, the conversation winds around to Anthropic, cataract surgery, the burrito vs. bowl debate,&nbsp;Saturday Night Live, the general unhappiness in the U.S., plastics &hellip; 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):
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmrlniCB1GY">Destination Heaven</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Euphoria Again &amp; Dogwood Tales</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxO7MwW4nNs">Farther Along</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Ron Carter, Ricky Dillard</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3GKsIFtEoE">Coming Up Roses</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Harry Styles (orch. Jules Buckley)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZaOon6Yhms">Love, Love, Love</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Stephen Sanchez</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5OkDsykYoo">Sirius</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Katherine Priddy</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi0ho-hTG-U">Blind</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Yonder Mountain String Band</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6KNiKchr-8">With a Little Luck</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Paul McCartney, Wings</li>
</ul>

All calls: Marty the Robot is gonna kill Colin first chance he gets

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman premiered in 1949. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. It’s been said that it’s “probably the most successful modern play ever published.”

This hour, with a new Broadway revival in previews, and with Peter Jacobson playing the title role in a new production at Hartford Stage, a look at Arthur Miller’s masterpiece of American drama, Death of a Salesman.

GUESTS:
Melia Bensussen: Artistic director at Hartford Stage and the director of their current production of Death of a Salesman
Peter Jacobson: An actor; he’s playing Willy Loman in Hartford Stage’s current production of Death of a Salesman
Stephen Marino: Founding editor of The Arthur Miller Journal and the author, most recently, of Arthur Miller’s New York: Visions of the City

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, and Robyn Doyon-Aitken contributed to this show.

Arthur Miller&rsquo;s Death of a Salesman premiered in 1949. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. It&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/01/25/making-willy-loman">been said</a> that it&rsquo;s &ldquo;probably the most successful modern play ever published.&rdquo;
This hour, with a new Broadway revival in previews, and with Peter Jacobson playing the title role in <a href="https://www.hartfordstage.org/death-of-a-salesman">a new production at Hartford Stage</a>, a look at Arthur Miller&rsquo;s masterpiece of American drama, Death of a Salesman.
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>Melia Bensussen: Artistic director at Hartford Stage and the director of their current production of Death of a Salesman</li>
<li>Peter Jacobson: An actor; he&rsquo;s playing Willy Loman in Hartford Stage&rsquo;s current production of Death of a Salesman</li>
<li>Stephen Marino: Founding editor of The Arthur Miller Journal and the author, most recently, of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/arthur-millers-new-york-9781350524750/">Arthur Miller&rsquo;s New York: Visions of the City</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, Eugene Amatruda, and Robyn Doyon-Aitken contributed to this show.

The power of promises, from inaugural oaths to marriage vows

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