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190 years after his birth, Mark Twain is as relevant (and funny) as ever

Richard Thomas in Connecticut Public’s Studio B after his appearance on The Colin McEnroe Show and before performing ‘Mark Twain Tonight!’ at TheaterWorks Hartford on August 14, 2025.
Joe Amon
/
Connecticut Public
Richard Thomas in Connecticut Public’s Studio B after his appearance on The Colin McEnroe Show and before performing ‘Mark Twain Tonight!’ at TheaterWorks Hartford on August 14, 2025.

Chances are, you know Richard Thomas as John-Boy on The Waltons. Or maybe you saw him more recently in his many-episode arcs on shows like The Americans and Ozark. You might’ve even seen him on Broadway in Our Town or as Atticus Finch in the tour of To Kill a Mockingbird. He’s in town doing the very first authorized production of Mark Twain Tonight! since Hal Holbrook died.

And John Jeremiah Sullivan has won the Pushcart Prize, two National Magazine Awards, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His essay “Twain Dreams: The Enigma of Samuel Clemens” ran in the 175th anniversary issue of Harpers.

This hour, Thomas and Sullivan join us to talk Twain.

GUESTS:

  • John Jeremiah Sullivan: A writer, musician, and editor
  • Richard Thomas: An Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor

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!

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Colin McEnroe, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Betsy Kaplan, Cat Pastor, Dylan Reyes, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, parts of which originally aired February 4, 2015; September 14, 2023; and June 5, 2024, in a different form.

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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.