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A (Somewhat) Serious Look at Donald Trump's (Possible) Presidency

Gage Skidmore
/
flickr creative commons
Donald Trump at Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011

For a normal show, on a normal day, in a normal time, we'd usually put two or three experts in a room with Colin and ask them to hash out whatever it is we're interested in for that hour.

For this show, by the time it's over with, we'll have corresponded with dozens of people and recorded interviews with seven or eight experts from ten or eleven different disciplines: a philosopher, an ethicist, a futurist, a speechwriter, a comedy writer, an author of speculative fiction, a politician, an 'investigative humorist,' a Muslim, an expert in international affairs, and an expert in... manners.

It's going to be, you might say, huge.

The premise that we posed to all of these folks is simple, but you won't believe it, but we mean it:

It's 2019. We're two years into a Donald Trump presidency. Is there still running water? Or: Is everything made out of gold?

GUESTS:

  • Donna - A small business owner and a Donald Trump supporter who lives in Connecticut
  • Henry Alford - An "investigative humorist" and the author of Would It Kill You To Stop Doing That? A Modern Guide to Manners; he wrote a "psychological profile" of Trump for Vanity Fair: "Is Donald Trump Actually a Narcissist?"
  • M. Saud Anwar - The former mayor of South Windsor, Conn.
  • Elizabeth Bear - Two-time Hugo Award-winning author, mostly of speculative fiction; her most recent novel, Karen Memory, is out in paperback
  • Michael Lynch - Professor of philosophy at UConn and the author of The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data
  • Jon Macks - Seven-time Emmy nominee who was co-head writer for this year’s Academy Awards and a speechwriter and political consultant who’s written for Senators Elizabeth Warren and John Kerry; his book Monologue: What Makes America Laugh... Before Bed comes out in paperback in April
  • Wendell Wallach - Futurist, ethicist, and scholar at Yale University's Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and the author of A Dangerous Master: How To Keep Technology from Slipping Beyond Our Control

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Greg Hill, Betsy Kaplan, Catie Talarski, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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