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Romance novels have long had a reputation for being flimsy, sexist, trashy bodice-rippers. But there’s lots more to the genre than meets the eye. This hour, we look at what makes romance novels work – and why so many of us are devouring them.

GUESTS: 
Olivia Waite: The New York Times Book Review’s romance fiction columnist who writes queer and historical romance, fantasy, and critical essays on the genre’s history and future
Jason Rogers: Olympic medalist, journalist covering masculinity, and the founder of a now-defunct romance book club for men
Tony Horvath: Creative director for the long-time romance-novel publisher Harlequin, where he oversees production of about 80 book covers a month

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Romance novels have long had a reputation for being flimsy, sexist, trashy bodice-rippers. But there’s lots more to the genre than meets the eye. This hour, we look at what makes romance novels work – and why so many of us are devouring them.
GUESTS: 
<ul>
<li>Olivia Waite: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/olivia-waite">The New York Times Book Review</a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/olivia-waite">’s romance fiction columnist</a> who <a href="https://www.oliviawaite.com/books">writes</a> queer and historical romance, fantasy, and critical essays on the genre’s history and future</li>
<li>Jason Rogers: Olympic medalist, journalist covering masculinity, and the founder of a now-defunct romance book club for men</li>
<li>Tony Horvath: Creative director for the long-time romance-novel publisher <a href="https://www.harlequin.com/shop/index.html">Harlequin</a>, where he oversees production of about 80 book covers a month</li>
</ul>
Join the conversation on <a href="https://facebook.com/ColinMcShow">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/colinmcshow">Twitter</a>.

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

We ❤️ romance novels

Billboard

March Madness is here!

And so the only logical thing is to get improv comedian Julia Pistell and the actual Bill Curry together to talk basketball for an hour on the radio. For the 16th* time.

That may not be the only logical thing to do. It may be that that’s not a logical thing to do at all.

But we’re doing it anyway.

*It’s our 16th one of these, unless it isn’t. Our story is that we’ve done this every year since 2010 except for 2020 — which is to say, every year our show has been on that there actually was a March Madness tourney. And we’re pretty sure our story is true. One of those years, the show was actually about birds. But so what?

GUESTS:
Bill Curry: Playing the part of Bill Curry
Mike Pesca: Hosts the independent daily podcast The Gist
Julia Pistell: A founding member of Sea Tea Improv, among a number of other things
Elizabeth Davis: The 12th president of Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina

Music featured (in order):
D-Code – Dust Devil
This Happy Madness – Frank Sinatra (ft. Antônio Carlos Jobim)
I Wish I Could Go Back To College – Avenue Q
The Paladins Song – Furman University Fight Song
Ballad of Paladin – Johnny Western
I Wish (Radio Edit) – Skee-Lo
Basketball (edit) – Kurtis Blow

March Madness is here!
And so the only logical thing is to get improv comedian Julia Pistell and the actual Bill Curry together to talk basketball for an hour on the radio. For the 16th* time.
That may not be the only logical thing to do. It may be that that&rsquo;s not a logical thing to do at all.
But we&rsquo;re doing it anyway.
*It&rsquo;s our 16th one of these, unless it isn&rsquo;t. Our story is that we&rsquo;ve done this every year since 2010 except for 2020 &mdash; which is to say, every year our show has been on that there actually was a March Madness tourney. And we&rsquo;re pretty sure our story is true. One of those years, the show was actually&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2012-03-16/the-beak-electing-a-new-connecticut-state-bird-march-madness-style">about birds</a>. But so what?
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>Bill Curry:&nbsp;Playing the part of Bill Curry</li>
<li>Mike Pesca:&nbsp;Hosts the independent daily podcast&nbsp;The Gist</li>
<li>Julia Pistell:&nbsp;A founding member of Sea Tea Improv, among a number of other things</li>
<li>Elizabeth Davis:&nbsp;The 12th president of Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina</li>
</ul>
Music featured (in order):
<ul>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/enjV3AR5Wag">D-Code</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Dust Devil</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmrwvFJltnI">This Happy Madness</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Frank Sinatra (ft. Ant&ocirc;nio Carlos Jobim)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMJ9D3lSrDg">I Wish I Could Go Back To College</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Avenue Q</li>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/F_OYb970_-M">The Paladins Song</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Furman University Fight Song</li>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/q-Av1LM3tDE">Ballad of Paladin</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Johnny Western</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmXZOI7cM0M">I Wish (Radio Edit)</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Skee-Lo</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_shxzlTRK44">Basketball (edit)</a>&nbsp;&ndash; Kurtis Blow</li>
</ul>

March Madness 2026

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>

We ❤️ romance novels

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