July 16, 2025 • 36 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
The 2024 most popular dog breeds and which breeds are gaining popularity! Brandi Munden - Vice President of Public Relations & Communications for the American Kennel Club has the answers.
New Data Shows 59% of Workers Feel Anxious Taking Paid Time Off…Why? Toni Frana - career expert for LiveCareer joined Dan to discuss.
A Local illustrator/animator of mainly children’s books that has made a very successful career creating and sharing emotionally and socially complex topics into approachable messages that touch hearts and change minds. Peter Reynolds – Illustrator/Creator & Animator. Also owns a local bookstore in Dedham called: Blue Bunny Bookstore stopped by.
Heat emergency declared in Boston through Friday Brian Thompson – AccuWeather Meteorologist checked in.
The 2024 most popular dog breeds and which breeds are gaining popularity! Brandi Munden - Vice President of Public Relations & Communications for the American Kennel Club has the answers.
New Data Shows 59% of Workers Feel Anxious Taking Paid Time Off…Why? Toni Frana - career expert for LiveCareer joined Dan to discuss.
A Local illustrator/animator of mainly children’s books that has made a very successful career creating and sharing emotionally and socially complex topics into approachable messages that touch hearts and change minds. Peter Reynolds – Illustrator/Creator & Animator. Also owns a local bookstore in Dedham called: Blue Bunny Bookstore stopped by.
Heat emergency declared in Boston through Friday Brian Thompson – AccuWeather Meteorologist checked in.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Dan Ray. I'm going Easy Bondon's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Thanks Madison. We have lots to talk about tonight. Actually
it's a maybe a slow day in Major League Baseball
as the players return from that All Star Game last night,
which of course meant nothing to anyone except the guy
that hit three home runs. Schwaber. Would be great if
we get players like that. Anyway, we have four great
guests coming up in the eight o'clock hour. My name
is Dan Ray. We're gonna be talking with United States
(00:28):
Ambassador to Denmark, Alan Leventhal in the nine o'clock hour.
He is a pretty inspiring message to young people. Don't
give up hope. We've faced problems before, and I think
you're going to enjoy hearing from forming US Ambassador to Denmark,
Alan Leventhal. And then at ten o'clock we're gonna open
up a conversation about the MBTA. Yesterday, five hundred MBTA
(00:55):
riders Tuesday afternoon spent a portion of the day under
the Atlantic Ocean on a Blue Line train traveling from
Maverick Station to the Aquarium station shut down, leaving them
stuck underground without air conditioning. And we're going to talk
with Brian Kaney's the executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board.
(01:16):
As to what's going on, there's also another study out
that says the MBTA is spending a lot of money.
We'll get to all of that, but first we're going
to go to our four guests starting off the program tonight,
and we're going to start off with a subject that
all of us have different opinions on, and that is
what is the most popular dog breeds? In which breeds
are gaining popularity? Who better to talk to than Brandy Mundon.
(01:39):
She's the vice president of public Relations and Communications for
the AKC, the American Kendel Club. Welcome to night's side, Brandy.
How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I'm wonderful. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, thank you very much. Let's start with the dogs
that are the dog breeds gaining popularity. Let's start with
those dog breeds. What breed of dog has moved up
the list in twenty twenty four the list of.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Popularity, Believe it or not, the Kanic Corso is one
that continues to move up the list very very quickly.
Soberman's are increasing in popularity, and we really love to
see that. You have the Pembroke Welsh quirki, which is
a bit different from the traditional quirky that a lot
of people see, So actually that's the traditional one, sorry.
(02:29):
And the Cardigan is actually increasing in popularity as well,
So the Pembroke is the one that many people familiarise
with the queen and the Cardigan is a bit more
speckled of a coke. Australian shepherds and many American shepherds
continue to rise in the list of popularity, and the
border colleague keeps wiggling its way on up there. I
think people are falling in love with that because agility
(02:51):
is getting such high visibility. So those are.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
All breeds of dogs, and I think most people, no
matter what the dog is that you happen to choose,
you fall in love with that breed. And I know
that the American Kettle Club is a wonderful organization. But
I also was given a surprising statistic by my daughter today.
(03:15):
Yesterday was I'm sure you know what a gotcha day is,
right the day that you go and adopt a dog.
And so my daughter has a beautiful Corgi named Mustard.
Looks like Mustard, but he's a he's a Corky, and
he was adopted two years ago yesterday, so we had
a little gotcha day party, the equivalent of a birthday party,
(03:37):
because you don't know the of the dog. But what
I found out late tonight actually that every year over
three hundred thousand dogs are put down in shelters across
the country because so many people either are having dogs
and not realizing the responsibility or breathing dogs. And I
(04:00):
know that most of those dogs, many of them are
mixed breeds, and we're talking about a lot of the
breeds with you tonight. But I just want to take
a moment the behest of my daughter and encourage people
A dog does not have to be a pure bread
to be loved or to be beautiful. He does not,
you know, And I just think that more we should
(04:22):
try to encourage people if they're thinking about getting a dog.
A lot of these shelters, they're so crouded with dogs.
They will literally wave fees, vaccinationian fees and things like that.
So it's and it can and you can bring a
dog into your home who probably is already trained. I mean,
there's a lot of advantages and I just wanted to
(04:43):
take the moment because my daughter hit it with me.
She said, dogs do you think are put down by
shelters across the country every year? And I said, I
don't know. Five thousand? She said higher. When I got
to fifty thousand, she looked at me, said three hundred
and thirty thousand last year. That's a lot of that's
a lot of potential pets that.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
We absolutely absolutely true. So first and foremost, because this
is a great platform to do so to know that
the AKC is in no way against rescue. What we
advocate for is responsible is dog ownership overall, no matter
how you acquire your pets, no matter how you decide,
if you decide to work with the breeder or you
(05:24):
decide to adopt, responsible dog ownership is what reduces the
rate of dogs in shelters. Dogs don't end up in
shelters because they're bad dogs. They end up in shelters
because owners are irresponsible or ill equipped to take care
of those dogs. And we have to be honest about
that because you know, people say things like adopt, don't shop,
(05:45):
when in reality it's very hard for you to go
to a shelter and find a purebred dog, so that
it's not really coming out of breeding programs, but it
is coming out of the lack of spay and neutering
that needs to occur. If you don't have any desire
to breach your dog or don't want an accidental litter,
you should absolutely consult with your veterinarian in order to
(06:07):
do that. I am a person that owns peerbreads and rescues,
so I am very much an advocate of being responsible
in how you acquire your dog because we've seen time
and time again that people do things like they see
a movie and or a show like we saw with
no offense. I am a Game of a Thrones fan,
but people were adopting or trying to purchase huskies left
(06:29):
and right because they thought they looked like diables, when
in reality, if you're not equipped to own a husky,
it can be a very challenging experience if you don't
know what you're getting into. So then you saw that
high rate of return, which is not fair to the
dog at all. So what we should advocate for, no
matter how you acquire your dog is responsible dog ownership.
We need to be responsible because your pet depends on you.
(06:52):
We are their lifeline, and the more responsible we are responsible.
We are the better life we have with our animals.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well well, said Brandy Munden of the AKC. So now
let us get to what people have been waiting for
and give us the top. Let's say the top ten
popular breeds twenty twenty four. We'll start with number ten.
I wish you had a drum roll, but we'll have
to do with Go ahead, Brandy.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
It's totally fine. Number ten is the German short haired pointer.
They're a beautiful speckled dogs. You see them a lot
in airports now they're used for you know, air traffic control,
not air traffic control, but you know, sniffing in airports
and all of that. You have Bulldogs of love breed
at number nine. A lot of people know them for
mascots and things like that. Another great breed to own,
(07:37):
rotweilers are at number eight, a very sweet breed that
sometimes gets a bad rep, but honestly, a well trained
rotweiler is an excellent pet. You have beagles at number seven.
Beagles are beloved across the board. They come in three sizes.
They're absolutely wonderful dogs to own, and people really love
them dog sins. Everybody calls them the wiener dog incredibly
(08:00):
keute to look at, very sweet to own. Also a
breeze you need to be prepared to own to a
little bit of research and what they're bred to do.
Tootals and all around versatile dog that does not get
enough credit is in at number five. They can run,
they can hunt, they can do all of the things.
Don't let their haircut fool you, guys, Seriously, They're not
a frillly dog at all. There's so much fun. Number
(08:23):
four the German shepherd dog. Beloved for years and years
and years and years, and we see them in police
work and search and rescue as well as beloved dogs
that people just love to own. Golden Retrievers come in
at number three. I've never met a Golden I didn't like.
Probably you haven't either. Wonderful, affable, great with kids, great
(08:43):
family dogs. And number two is the Labrador Retriever that
reigned for thirty one years before it was knocked off.
Number one. Extremely versatile dogs, very fun, excellent with kids,
will go as long as you want to go, and
are a joy to own. And that number one is
the French bulldogs. It is a highly debated breed, but
(09:05):
it is an absolutely wonderful breed. It is a breed
that you need to do your research and make sure
that you're working with a responsible breeder to find. But
they are an excellent breed. They are a couch potato
when you want to be a couch potato. They do
well and excellent and excellent and apartments. They're actually good
in houses as well. They can be good with children.
(09:28):
But again, this is a breed you want to research
because they can be a bit stubborn and require some training,
so they're not just cute cuddly. You want to make
sure that you're getting the appropriate training for them and
working with a responsible breeder so that you're getting a
healthy puppy.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Well that's great. Now it looks like my favorite, which
is a Corgi and a Cavalier King Child Spaniel that
my family had for two few years. That we had
them for ten years. She'd stuck with this longer Charlie,
the Keviler King Carol Spaniel. So they didn't make the list,
but there's.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
A lot of dog money.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well they're in the top twenty, they're just not in
the top ten.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Okay, Well that's fine, that's okay, But you know, we'll
get together maybe get them up there next year. Brandy,
I love your enthusiasm. Thank you for echoing my comments
on rescue dogs and shelter dogs so important. And anytime
you want to come back and talk about dogs, we
love dogs because remember we end every show tonight, every
(10:25):
night of the week. By the way, all dogs, all cats,
all pets go to heaven.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Absolutely absolutely, And the only bad thing about owning a dog,
I tell people is they just don't live long enough.
That's literally it.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Betcha Brandy London of the American Kennel Club. And I'm
sure you have an easy website, is it AKC dot org?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Absolutely for all things dogs. Whether you have a pure
bread or a mixed breed, you can be part of
the AKC. You can become a canine partner, come hang
out with us. We love all things dogs because everything
we do we do four dogs.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Sounds great, Brandy, I really appreciate your time tonight. So
enjoyed the conversation talking dogs with Brandy Mundon of the
American Kennil Club.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Thanks Brandy, Thank you have a great one YouTube.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
When we come back, we're going to talk about fifty
nine percent of workers feel anxious about taking paid time off.
That means like holidays and vacations. Come on, America. You
want to work, but at the same time, you got
to kick back. We're going to talk about it with
a career expert right after the break here at Nightside.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
All right, welcome back, everybody. We're going to talk with
Tony Frannash. She's a career expert for a company called
Live Career. And the study that we're going to refer
to is that fifty nine percent of US workers feel
uneasy about taking time off. Now, when we talk about
(11:58):
time off, we're not talking about necessarily sick time. We're
talking about paid time off what they call PTO, like
vacation time. Tony. I hope I pronounce your name correctly,
is it Frana?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
You did.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
You did a great job. Thanks for having lunked.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Out on that one. Sometimes you got to take against Tony,
So thank you for Tony was easy. By the way,
I know that one very well. So what is going on?
Fifty nine percent? You studied a thousand US workers?
Speaker 5 (12:26):
Yeah? Wow, I mean yeah, it's pretty incredible. The anxiety
level that people feel to you know, take some time
away from the office, which is a benefit that many
people have when they're hired.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Of course it is Look, I assume most people in
this country get a couple of weeks vacation minimum. You
got some paid holidays, sick time, water workers, they're hardly
ever sick. But what are they afraid of that while
they're away someone is going to take their job or
(13:04):
are they going to take over what they do?
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Yeah, you know, I think there's a couple of things
at play. We found in the Live Career data that
you know, people are concerned that you know, work will
pile up, which means maybe somebody is going to have
to pick up the flack. And then it will give
people the idea that maybe you're less committed or you're replaceable,
and that you know, gives people a little bit of
(13:29):
unease when they think about being away and wondering what's
going on at work without me, And so, you know,
people just really, you know, according to this this research,
are our stress and anxious about really taking advantage of PTO.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Now, is there a is not a gender break? Well,
I'll ask, is there a gender breakdown or is it
fifty nine men and women?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
This was a survey of men and women. So this
is the complete fifty nine percent of those surveyed, right,
But so you didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Break it down. A lot of times they do these roles,
they break it down. So, yeah, we don't know if
it's higher or or lower amongst either gender what And
therefore I'm assuming age groups. I've talked to people with
studies that said that, you know, Gen X and Gen
Z people, they're much more cavalier. And I was wondering
if there was any sort of an age bias with
(14:25):
not a bias, but an age differential meaning that older
workers were more in tune with the idea of getting
to the job every day and all of that, where
younger people were a little more cavalier. Any sort of
a breakdown in.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Terms of age or no, Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
No, not in this data. But you certainly, you know,
are onto something in terms of the different generations that
are in the workplace. Now there are some differences, and
so that could be the case. But overall, you know,
what we found, you know, people's workload, regardless of what
generation you're in, you know, kind of is another contributor
to why they might not be able to take time
(15:04):
off because it's just too unrealistic, you know. And also,
I think another key point here which is not due
to you know, different generations in the workforce, but really
the leadership can set the tone for this. So if
somebody's manager is not taking time off, twenty percent of
people are less likely to take time off because of
(15:24):
that too, because it's the example that's being set from
the leadership above. And so if you have a leader
who has committed to using the PTO and having some
rest and recharge time themselves, then people are going to
feel more comfortable to do that as well. But if
the flip side is true, you know, you see a
lot more hesitancy.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Is there any indication that the middle managers in these
companies when someone's going off on a Friday for a
week's vacation or a two weeks vacation, they might make
little comments that make the person easy or you know,
is there something that that happens to American workers where
(16:06):
you know, some middle manager will say, well, I hope
your jobs here when you get back, or you know,
some you know what maybe they think is a funny comment,
but it's not a funny comment.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
At all, Right, And it's actually really toxic. And there
were nearly ten percent of people who said that their
employer actively discourages time off Dan, So I think that
you're onto something with that too. If you're hearing little
comments like that around you know, your considerations for taking
time out of the office again, it's going to make
(16:38):
you pause and think, now, is it really that important
that I take this time away or can I manage
without it?
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And of course, not having time off, whether you take
advantage of it or not, but not having the ability
to take time off with a clear conscience. That has
to impact family life at home as well, because you know,
it's summertime and maybe the kids have done well in school,
and maybe the spouse has worked very hard himself or herself,
(17:08):
and everybody needs a break. And if one of the
bread winners comes home and says, you know, I don't
think we can do that vacation this year. Yeah we
have the money, but I'm afraid, you know what might
happen to me at work. That's that's got to be
a miserable.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Existence, you know.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
It is something that is really unfortunate that because this
consequence of having a workplace that doesn't encourage using the
benefit that they give employees for paid time off really
does have consequences throughout the whole family. Just as you said,
it's really hard to manage work life balance if you
don't feel like you can actually unplug and relax, or
(17:47):
you know, maybe you decide We'll go ahead and take
that vacation, but I'm going to keep working if I
have the ability to work remotely for this part of
the time, or you know, whatever that might be. It
really does impact more than just the employees.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
You know, we have laughed at some European countries. So
for example, in some European countries, particularly in France, the
month of August, they're shut down. Great time ago, but
there's nothing happening. In some parts of the world, a
good min afternoon or midday nap a siesta is considered
(18:22):
a part of the lifestyle, and we're sort of as Americans,
we've looked down our nose, but maybe those cultures are
more advanced than we are. Actually something to think about, Tony.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Absolutely, I think that, you know, leadership and management can
look at other ways to really encourage people to take
this benefit first and foremost, you know, encouraging, encouraging them
to take it. But what other ways can you incorporate
things that will benefit the whole self of the employee,
which in turn would have positive benefits on the business
and the organization.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Sounds great, Tony, give us your website because people may
want to check this out a little bit more in
depth than we've been able to give it. What is
the live career website.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
It is livecreer dot com. All one word L I
ve e C A R e e R dot com and.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
If there is a capital L and a capital C,
as you would expect to be grammatically correct. Tony Franna,
thank you very much for your time. Left have you
back interesting topic?
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Thanks Dan, thanks for having me. Have a great night.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, very welcome. I will also remind you that if
you haven't taken advantage of the new and improved free
iHeart app, just go to your app store wherever it is,
Galaxy Store, whatever, pull it down, put it on your laptop,
your desktop, your tablet, your smart watch, whatever device you have,
and make us make WBZ your first preset, and therefore
(19:46):
we will always be only a fingertip away, whether you're
at home or halfway around the world. My name's Dan Ray.
Here's the news. When we come back, we're going to
talk with a local illustrator, creator and animator. It's amazing
this gentleman and owns a bookstore in Denham called Blue
Bunny Books. But he is fabulous, we're told at illustrator,
(20:08):
creator and animator, a very creative person. His name is
Peter Reynolds. Will talk to him right after the news
at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
It's Nightside with Ray Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Well, I'm delighted to introduce to you Peter Reynolds. He's
an illustrator, a creator and an animator. He owns a
local bookstore in Denham called the Blue Bunny Bookstore. We
can talk about that, but I'm fascinated to talk to
somebody who actually draws and creates and animates for a living.
And you're from Denham, I assume, Peter. Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Hey, Thanks Dan. I amd from Deadham, been living there
for about forty years. Love it and hopefully you've been
over to Deadham Deadham Square.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I know Dedham very well, very well. I grew up
in Reayville, Peter, which is ah contiguous Tom, you know,
and I had great friends and Debham, including Bill Stewart,
Ted and Martha Alepsio. It's a wonderful community, great people. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
How did you at the courthouse?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
How did you become in the courthouse down? Oh, well,
that's a lot of action. We're going to leave that
away for the last couple of years. Everybody knows where
that is. How did you become an illustrative creator and animator?
Is this something you studied for or something that you
realized you had the ability for.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
I knew I loved to draw, probably in kindergarten, and
but I would say by third grade I noticed that
I was I was still going. I was still drawing
when other people kind of started slowing down. Probably around
high school. I realized, yeah, this is definitely what I
want to do, and I started my own cartoon strip
(21:53):
in the inner school newspaper. Became a reporter as well.
That we have in common, and I I love newspapers.
I just thought that getting the word out was exciting.
And yes, I draw, but for me, getting messages out
there to people is really really important. And that's why
(22:13):
I love newspapers. I love radio, I love media anyway
that we can get the word.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Out, you know. I I enjoy cartoon strips. Have you
ever thought about becoming a cartoonist full time, either an
editorial cartoonist or is that just you know, sort of
one pew of the same church, you know? In other words,
you have the Paul Zepps of the world, who are
the new work cartoonist. You know, if there's a Hall
(22:39):
of Fame for newspaper cartoonist, Paul Zepp is in it.
Absolutely the great child Shoots and Peanuts, al Cap and
Little Abner. I like one that is in the that's
in the globe every day. It's you're a plugger if
and it tells you, you know that if you have
the habit, you know that one of so.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Sure, So how did you title your Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:04):
What what did you end up doing? What do you
what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (23:08):
What am I doing?
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Well?
Speaker 4 (23:09):
I speaking of Paul's app He was one of my
heroes growing up. I would uh, that was one of
the first things I would go to. And I was
probably nine or ten, which is kind of unusual for
a nine or ten year old going for the political cartoons.
But I loved Jeff McNelly, I loved Paul Zepp, and uh,
(23:29):
I started doing political cartoons for a school newspaper. But
then I started, you know, I also loved reading comic books,
and then I started doing you know, comic strips for
a newspaper. And then I had a daughter, Sarah, and
I think that really changed everything for me, because I
liked to write, I like to draw, but I also
(23:51):
love to tell stories to my daughter. I love to
read to her. But then we would run out of
books and she's like, I want another story, and I
would just make up stuff. And then as I'm making
it up, I'm like, hey, that's not a bad idea.
I should write that down. So I started writing them
down for her. And one of the stories I wrote
is called the Blue Shoe and some Gary Goldberger, who
(24:14):
works for me at Fablevision, which is our animation company
in Newbergy Street in Boston, he saw the story sitting
there on the coffee table and he said, Pete, let's
turn that into an animated film. Turn it into an
animated film. We entered it into the World Animation Celebration
in Los Angeles and it came in the second place.
And I'm like, this is so much fun. Let's keep
doing it. So thirty years later, fable Vision still is
(24:37):
making animated films. We're also doing interactive applications working with
Jim Pens and Productions, Smithsonian, all sorts of great organizations
who want to get the word out about what they're doing.
Love education, love mental wellness. We're doing a lot of projects.
Just at a project with the Carol School and Lincoln
(24:59):
Great cool for kids with learning differences, and we actually
got the kids to write the story and we animated it.
It's called My Amazing Brain and it's about what dyslexia
is as told by by kids.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
This amazing stuff. Peter, Peter, I have to ask you
what is your connection to Canada? Since you pronounced the
word organization organization?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Ah, yes, I was born in Canada.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I nailed that one.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
You did, you did? Yeah? So yeah, born in Toronto
and with my twin Uh, dad was born in Argentina.
My mother was born in London. So uh, you know,
we've been a bit of a journey family.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Well, the word organization, when organization, that's right, very good.
Harry used to always say the former general manager of
the Bruins, and I sort of whenever I hear someone
say organization, sometimes well their wife is Canadian and they've
spent time in Canada. So tell us Blue Bunny Bookstore,
(26:06):
where about to debt right in Denham.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Square, right in historic Denham Square, And opened it up
twenty two years ago in October because, as I was saying,
I know, I did start doing stories for my daughter Sarah,
and then I realized, hey, you know, I might as
well start publishing. So I published my first book the
North Star Canadawak Press, an amazing publisher in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(26:34):
They caught wind of it, and they they signed me
up to do a series called the Judy Movie Series,
which if you were a third grade kid right now,
you'd be jumping up and down Judy Movies. I think
there are about thirty five books in the series. I've
been doing that for the past twenty five years, written
by Megan McDonald, and I illustrate that whole series. And
then they asked me, They said, Pete, what else do
(26:56):
you have up your sleeve? And I said, well, I have.
I have three stories about creativity. And it just drives
me crazy when I hear adults say they can draw,
but especially it drives me nuts when I hear a
first grader or second grader say they can't draw, and
I think, well, you know, you don't get better at
the things you give up on. So I wanted to
(27:20):
write a series of books to inspire people to be
brave about the blank page. And so I wrote a
book called The Dot, and another one a sequel, Ish
and sky Color, and those three really launched my career
as a picture book creator. And now I have I
think I'm coming up on a hundred books with my
(27:40):
name on them, so and so, and I'm like, I
would love to see my book on a shelf. So
I went looking for my local bookstore. I realized Detim
did not have one, so I opened one. So it's
called the Blue Bunny because it's a little.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Not to his.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Dedham had a pottery studio called Dedham Pottery and it's
highly collectible now. It's white crackled clays using blue paint,
and their most famous design is a rabbit, so I
thought blue rabbit. Okay, this is a bookshop for kids
on Blue Bunny, so hence Blue Bunny, and it's a
fixture in Denham Square and everyone's invited down. We also
(28:21):
have a cafe now too, and.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Also Blubby Bunny Bookstore is very illiterative.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
It is isn't it Peter Reynolds.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
So folks can get to the Blue Bunny Bookstore if
they're listening from a far away places. What's your best
website so they can sample some of your work and
maybe buy some of your books.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Sure well, Peter H. Reynolds on My middle name is
H for Hamilton, like the hip Broadway musical. So it's
Peterhreynolds dot com. And from there you can find all
of my endeavors Fable Vision Animation Studio, I've got Renold
Center for teach Warning at Creativity are not for profit.
(29:05):
And then the dot Central dot com is my little
shop that you can buy autograph books and prints and
artwork and all sorts of fun stuff, inspirational inspiration.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I would say, sound is great, Peter.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Appreciate your time next time I'm in Debt him. I
don't be surprised if I stop in and say hello.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
That's awesome, Dan, Thanks, thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Peter for you Bunny Bookstore in Debham, Massachusetts. I love
a story like this. This is a man who found
his career or his career found him, but he was
destined to be an illustrator, creator and animator and has
been very successful at it. Peter, we will meet someday.
Thank you very much. I enjoyed our conversation.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Thank you, Thanks man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
When we get back, we're going to talk about a
topic that you might not enjoy as much, and that
is a heat emergency which is now apparently in effect
and we'll be in effect through Friday in Greater Boston.
We're going to talk with Brian Thompson, aqu weather meteorologist
right after the break here on a Wednesday night edition
of Nightside. Hope you're cool wherever you are.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Well, if you've been watching your weather forecast, you know
it's going to warm up a little bit here. We've
been through a couple of mini heat waves, and let's
talk about what's going to be hitting us. I guess tonight, Tomorrow, Friday,
maybe even into Saturday. Brian Thompson, acu AKU weather meteorologist. Brian,
welcome back to Nightside. What do we got to look
forward to the next few days.
Speaker 6 (30:41):
Well, eventually we are going to get into some better
weather here Dan as we get toward Friday and Saturday.
But we are going to get a pretty hot, very
humid day again for tomorrow, and we didn't sneak up
into the nineties and most spots this afternoon. Most places
yesterday we're in the mid to oper eighties, and I
think tomorrow for the most part heights apter in the
mid to oper eighty's, which does not sound that hot,
(31:03):
But the problem is just how high the humidity is
right now.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
And the humidity is going.
Speaker 6 (31:07):
To continue to be at almost tropical levels into tomorrow.
So when you factor that in with the temperature, you
wind up with acuve. With the real field temperatures that'll
be in the mid to upper nineties, maybe even close
to one hundred at times.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
And that's why.
Speaker 6 (31:21):
Even though it's on paper, if you just look at
the air temperature, that doesn't look like a really hot day,
but certainly it's going to feel like it just because
of this continued humidity.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So we have to hit what's it ninety at Logan Airport.
That's the measurement three days in a row.
Speaker 6 (31:37):
Yeah, and that can always be kind of tricky because
if there's even a little bit of a sea breeze
the kicks in early enough of the day that can
kind of cut off the temperature from rising at Logan
versus areas even a few miles off to the west
now did get up into the mid nineties. I believe
ninety four was the height today at Logan Airport. Didn't
get to ninety yesterday. I don't think it'll get to
ninety tomorrow, so this won't be a heat wave. But again,
(31:59):
with the humidity being so high, it's certainly going to
feel like a heat wave.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And people who are in the suburbs here it's ninety
four at Logan today, for example, but you might if
you're in a suburb, are you likely to be higher
or lower than that? I mean no, I guess the
sea breeze could cool it off, but if the sea
breeze is blown in the wrong direction, it doesn't get
(32:26):
cool enough.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
Yeah, And today was an example of most of the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
At Logan Airport.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
It was in the mid to upper eighties, but there
was a brief time between about four and five thirty
that the wind shifted just a little bit. It was
an offshore breeze and it was enough to push Logan
up into the mid nineties. So that was pretty much
on par with the suburbs. So a lot of times
when the wind is offshore of what's coming in for
the West. We saw this one Boston hit one two
(32:52):
last month. It can be Logan could be one of
the hottest places in the area, but if that sea
breeze is in play, that usually does off temperatures a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Now, this is New England, it's the middle of July,
so we have to expect it. Hopefully you won't hang
around anymore than, as you said, a couple of days here,
and there'll probably be another one in late July. I
always think of the last week of July being the
hottest month. But putting all that aside, as bad as
(33:24):
our weather may have been in the last few weeks,
it's nothing like what people in Texas have experienced, what
people in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York are experiencing.
We have so far avoided that those disasters. Are we
just lucky or has basically the stirring currents kept us safer.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It's basically been the steering currents.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
I mean, there's always there's always some luck involved in
the in the world of weather. But you talk about Texas,
that the track that happened down there, it was an
area that's particularly prone to flash flooding, and we have
seen that flooding in parts of the mid Atlantic States
in recent days, but that's been mostly off to our
south and west, and really that's probably going to be
(34:12):
the case the next few days.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I think even.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
Tomorrow, most of the thunderstorm activities will be a cold
front approaching. Most of the storms will be up across
northern New England, although we will see a couple of
storms here try to develop locally, but again we'll probably
miss out on a lot of the heavy storms once again.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
And then where do we stand. I know that the
hurricane season starts, since I got you, I have to
ask that question. Hurricane season officially starts in June. So
we're six weeks into the hurricane season. Has it been
an active hurricane season so far down down South or
is it looking a little quieter than expected?
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Not particularly.
Speaker 6 (34:50):
I mean, we've had three named storms, none of them
have been particularly strong, and we're watching a system right
now kind of along the Gulf coast looks it looks
more and more like it probably won't develop. It is
going to bring a lot of rain to the central
Gulf Coast of the next few days, but at this
point there's really not a lot in the pipeline here
(35:11):
over the next several days outside of that, so it's
not terribly unusual to start off this quiet. Of course,
the peak of hurricane season isn't until late August and
the early the middle part of September, so we're a
little bit from that. But overall, aside from those three
name storms, it's been fairly uneventful start to the hurricane season.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Let's hope it stays that way. Yes, Brian has always
I appreciate you checking in with us. It gives us.
We listen to the forecast, but it's so great to
be able to talk about it and follow up with questions.
Really appreciate what you and everyone else does ACI Weather
for us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Thanks Dan, You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Have a great rest of the weekend, May and a
cooler weekend too. We are done with our eight o'clock hour,
but coming up on the other side of the news,
we're going to be talking with the former United States
Ambassador to Denmark, Alan Leventhal. Well known in this area.
He served as the ambassador of the United States during
the latter two years of the Biden administration. And he'll
(36:12):
have a lot to say about what's going on in Europe,
what's going on around the world, and maybe what's going
on here in America, particularly as it relates to young people.
So if you're young, or if you know someone who's young,
they should you should contact them and have them flip
this on and think he's got a very interesting and
I would say inspirational message for the young people of America.
(36:36):
We'll be back on Nightside with Alan Leventhal. He's well
known in Boston, and he should be well known even
beyond Boston, and he is in Democratic circles. But tonight
we're going to talk as two Americans, maybe two people
who may not agree on every issue but agree on principles.
Back on Night Side after this
It's Dan Ray. I'm going Easy Bondon's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Thanks Madison. We have lots to talk about tonight. Actually
it's a maybe a slow day in Major League Baseball
as the players return from that All Star Game last night,
which of course meant nothing to anyone except the guy
that hit three home runs. Schwaber. Would be great if
we get players like that. Anyway, we have four great
guests coming up in the eight o'clock hour. My name
is Dan Ray. We're gonna be talking with United States
(00:28):
Ambassador to Denmark, Alan Leventhal in the nine o'clock hour.
He is a pretty inspiring message to young people. Don't
give up hope. We've faced problems before, and I think
you're going to enjoy hearing from forming US Ambassador to Denmark,
Alan Leventhal. And then at ten o'clock we're gonna open
up a conversation about the MBTA. Yesterday, five hundred MBTA
(00:55):
riders Tuesday afternoon spent a portion of the day under
the Atlantic Ocean on a Blue Line train traveling from
Maverick Station to the Aquarium station shut down, leaving them
stuck underground without air conditioning. And we're going to talk
with Brian Kaney's the executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board.
(01:16):
As to what's going on, there's also another study out
that says the MBTA is spending a lot of money.
We'll get to all of that, but first we're going
to go to our four guests starting off the program tonight,
and we're going to start off with a subject that
all of us have different opinions on, and that is
what is the most popular dog breeds? In which breeds
are gaining popularity? Who better to talk to than Brandy Mundon.
(01:39):
She's the vice president of public Relations and Communications for
the AKC, the American Kendel Club. Welcome to night's side, Brandy.
How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
I'm wonderful. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, thank you very much. Let's start with the dogs
that are the dog breeds gaining popularity. Let's start with
those dog breeds. What breed of dog has moved up
the list in twenty twenty four the list of.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Popularity, Believe it or not, the Kanic Corso is one
that continues to move up the list very very quickly.
Soberman's are increasing in popularity, and we really love to
see that. You have the Pembroke Welsh quirki, which is
a bit different from the traditional quirky that a lot
of people see, So actually that's the traditional one, sorry.
(02:29):
And the Cardigan is actually increasing in popularity as well,
So the Pembroke is the one that many people familiarise
with the queen and the Cardigan is a bit more
speckled of a coke. Australian shepherds and many American shepherds
continue to rise in the list of popularity, and the
border colleague keeps wiggling its way on up there. I
think people are falling in love with that because agility
(02:51):
is getting such high visibility. So those are.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
All breeds of dogs, and I think most people, no
matter what the dog is that you happen to choose,
you fall in love with that breed. And I know
that the American Kettle Club is a wonderful organization. But
I also was given a surprising statistic by my daughter today.
(03:15):
Yesterday was I'm sure you know what a gotcha day is,
right the day that you go and adopt a dog.
And so my daughter has a beautiful Corgi named Mustard.
Looks like Mustard, but he's a he's a Corky, and
he was adopted two years ago yesterday, so we had
a little gotcha day party, the equivalent of a birthday party,
(03:37):
because you don't know the of the dog. But what
I found out late tonight actually that every year over
three hundred thousand dogs are put down in shelters across
the country because so many people either are having dogs
and not realizing the responsibility or breathing dogs. And I
(04:00):
know that most of those dogs, many of them are
mixed breeds, and we're talking about a lot of the
breeds with you tonight. But I just want to take
a moment the behest of my daughter and encourage people
A dog does not have to be a pure bread
to be loved or to be beautiful. He does not,
you know, And I just think that more we should
(04:22):
try to encourage people if they're thinking about getting a dog.
A lot of these shelters, they're so crouded with dogs.
They will literally wave fees, vaccinationian fees and things like that.
So it's and it can and you can bring a
dog into your home who probably is already trained. I mean,
there's a lot of advantages and I just wanted to
(04:43):
take the moment because my daughter hit it with me.
She said, dogs do you think are put down by
shelters across the country every year? And I said, I
don't know. Five thousand? She said higher. When I got
to fifty thousand, she looked at me, said three hundred
and thirty thousand last year. That's a lot of that's
a lot of potential pets that.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
We absolutely absolutely true. So first and foremost, because this
is a great platform to do so to know that
the AKC is in no way against rescue. What we
advocate for is responsible is dog ownership overall, no matter
how you acquire your pets, no matter how you decide,
if you decide to work with the breeder or you
(05:24):
decide to adopt, responsible dog ownership is what reduces the
rate of dogs in shelters. Dogs don't end up in
shelters because they're bad dogs. They end up in shelters
because owners are irresponsible or ill equipped to take care
of those dogs. And we have to be honest about
that because you know, people say things like adopt, don't shop,
(05:45):
when in reality it's very hard for you to go
to a shelter and find a purebred dog, so that
it's not really coming out of breeding programs, but it
is coming out of the lack of spay and neutering
that needs to occur. If you don't have any desire
to breach your dog or don't want an accidental litter,
you should absolutely consult with your veterinarian in order to
(06:07):
do that. I am a person that owns peerbreads and rescues,
so I am very much an advocate of being responsible
in how you acquire your dog because we've seen time
and time again that people do things like they see
a movie and or a show like we saw with
no offense. I am a Game of a Thrones fan,
but people were adopting or trying to purchase huskies left
(06:29):
and right because they thought they looked like diables, when
in reality, if you're not equipped to own a husky,
it can be a very challenging experience if you don't
know what you're getting into. So then you saw that
high rate of return, which is not fair to the
dog at all. So what we should advocate for, no
matter how you acquire your dog is responsible dog ownership.
We need to be responsible because your pet depends on you.
(06:52):
We are their lifeline, and the more responsible we are responsible.
We are the better life we have with our animals.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well well, said Brandy Munden of the AKC. So now
let us get to what people have been waiting for
and give us the top. Let's say the top ten
popular breeds twenty twenty four. We'll start with number ten.
I wish you had a drum roll, but we'll have
to do with Go ahead, Brandy.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
It's totally fine. Number ten is the German short haired pointer.
They're a beautiful speckled dogs. You see them a lot
in airports now they're used for you know, air traffic control,
not air traffic control, but you know, sniffing in airports
and all of that. You have Bulldogs of love breed
at number nine. A lot of people know them for
mascots and things like that. Another great breed to own,
(07:37):
rotweilers are at number eight, a very sweet breed that
sometimes gets a bad rep, but honestly, a well trained
rotweiler is an excellent pet. You have beagles at number seven.
Beagles are beloved across the board. They come in three sizes.
They're absolutely wonderful dogs to own, and people really love
them dog sins. Everybody calls them the wiener dog incredibly
(08:00):
keute to look at, very sweet to own. Also a
breeze you need to be prepared to own to a
little bit of research and what they're bred to do.
Tootals and all around versatile dog that does not get
enough credit is in at number five. They can run,
they can hunt, they can do all of the things.
Don't let their haircut fool you, guys, Seriously, They're not
a frillly dog at all. There's so much fun. Number
(08:23):
four the German shepherd dog. Beloved for years and years
and years and years, and we see them in police
work and search and rescue as well as beloved dogs
that people just love to own. Golden Retrievers come in
at number three. I've never met a Golden I didn't like.
Probably you haven't either. Wonderful, affable, great with kids, great
(08:43):
family dogs. And number two is the Labrador Retriever that
reigned for thirty one years before it was knocked off.
Number one. Extremely versatile dogs, very fun, excellent with kids,
will go as long as you want to go, and
are a joy to own. And that number one is
the French bulldogs. It is a highly debated breed, but
(09:05):
it is an absolutely wonderful breed. It is a breed
that you need to do your research and make sure
that you're working with a responsible breeder to find. But
they are an excellent breed. They are a couch potato
when you want to be a couch potato. They do
well and excellent and excellent and apartments. They're actually good
in houses as well. They can be good with children.
(09:28):
But again, this is a breed you want to research
because they can be a bit stubborn and require some training,
so they're not just cute cuddly. You want to make
sure that you're getting the appropriate training for them and
working with a responsible breeder so that you're getting a
healthy puppy.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Well that's great. Now it looks like my favorite, which
is a Corgi and a Cavalier King Child Spaniel that
my family had for two few years. That we had
them for ten years. She'd stuck with this longer Charlie,
the Keviler King Carol Spaniel. So they didn't make the list,
but there's.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
A lot of dog money.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Well they're in the top twenty, they're just not in
the top ten.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Okay, Well that's fine, that's okay, But you know, we'll
get together maybe get them up there next year. Brandy,
I love your enthusiasm. Thank you for echoing my comments
on rescue dogs and shelter dogs so important. And anytime
you want to come back and talk about dogs, we
love dogs because remember we end every show tonight, every
(10:25):
night of the week. By the way, all dogs, all cats,
all pets go to heaven.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Absolutely absolutely, And the only bad thing about owning a dog,
I tell people is they just don't live long enough.
That's literally it.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Betcha Brandy London of the American Kennel Club. And I'm
sure you have an easy website, is it AKC dot org?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Absolutely for all things dogs. Whether you have a pure
bread or a mixed breed, you can be part of
the AKC. You can become a canine partner, come hang
out with us. We love all things dogs because everything
we do we do four dogs.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Sounds great, Brandy, I really appreciate your time tonight. So
enjoyed the conversation talking dogs with Brandy Mundon of the
American Kennil Club.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Thanks Brandy, Thank you have a great one YouTube.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
When we come back, we're going to talk about fifty
nine percent of workers feel anxious about taking paid time off.
That means like holidays and vacations. Come on, America. You
want to work, but at the same time, you got
to kick back. We're going to talk about it with
a career expert right after the break here at Nightside.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
All right, welcome back, everybody. We're going to talk with
Tony Frannash. She's a career expert for a company called
Live Career. And the study that we're going to refer
to is that fifty nine percent of US workers feel
uneasy about taking time off. Now, when we talk about
(11:58):
time off, we're not talking about necessarily sick time. We're
talking about paid time off what they call PTO, like
vacation time. Tony. I hope I pronounce your name correctly,
is it Frana?
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
You did.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
You did a great job. Thanks for having lunked.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Out on that one. Sometimes you got to take against Tony,
So thank you for Tony was easy. By the way,
I know that one very well. So what is going on?
Fifty nine percent? You studied a thousand US workers?
Speaker 5 (12:26):
Yeah? Wow, I mean yeah, it's pretty incredible. The anxiety
level that people feel to you know, take some time
away from the office, which is a benefit that many
people have when they're hired.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Of course it is Look, I assume most people in
this country get a couple of weeks vacation minimum. You
got some paid holidays, sick time, water workers, they're hardly
ever sick. But what are they afraid of that while
they're away someone is going to take their job or
(13:04):
are they going to take over what they do?
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Yeah, you know, I think there's a couple of things
at play. We found in the Live Career data that
you know, people are concerned that you know, work will
pile up, which means maybe somebody is going to have
to pick up the flack. And then it will give
people the idea that maybe you're less committed or you're replaceable,
and that you know, gives people a little bit of
(13:29):
unease when they think about being away and wondering what's
going on at work without me, And so, you know,
people just really, you know, according to this this research,
are our stress and anxious about really taking advantage of PTO.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Now, is there a is not a gender break? Well,
I'll ask, is there a gender breakdown or is it
fifty nine men and women?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
This was a survey of men and women. So this
is the complete fifty nine percent of those surveyed, right,
But so you didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Break it down. A lot of times they do these roles,
they break it down. So, yeah, we don't know if
it's higher or or lower amongst either gender what And
therefore I'm assuming age groups. I've talked to people with
studies that said that, you know, Gen X and Gen
Z people, they're much more cavalier. And I was wondering
if there was any sort of an age bias with
(14:25):
not a bias, but an age differential meaning that older
workers were more in tune with the idea of getting
to the job every day and all of that, where
younger people were a little more cavalier. Any sort of
a breakdown in.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Terms of age or no, Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
No, not in this data. But you certainly, you know,
are onto something in terms of the different generations that
are in the workplace. Now there are some differences, and
so that could be the case. But overall, you know,
what we found, you know, people's workload, regardless of what
generation you're in, you know, kind of is another contributor
to why they might not be able to take time
(15:04):
off because it's just too unrealistic, you know. And also,
I think another key point here which is not due
to you know, different generations in the workforce, but really
the leadership can set the tone for this. So if
somebody's manager is not taking time off, twenty percent of
people are less likely to take time off because of
(15:24):
that too, because it's the example that's being set from
the leadership above. And so if you have a leader
who has committed to using the PTO and having some
rest and recharge time themselves, then people are going to
feel more comfortable to do that as well. But if
the flip side is true, you know, you see a
lot more hesitancy.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Is there any indication that the middle managers in these
companies when someone's going off on a Friday for a
week's vacation or a two weeks vacation, they might make
little comments that make the person easy or you know,
is there something that that happens to American workers where
(16:06):
you know, some middle manager will say, well, I hope
your jobs here when you get back, or you know,
some you know what maybe they think is a funny comment,
but it's not a funny comment.
Speaker 5 (16:17):
At all, Right, And it's actually really toxic. And there
were nearly ten percent of people who said that their
employer actively discourages time off Dan, So I think that
you're onto something with that too. If you're hearing little
comments like that around you know, your considerations for taking
time out of the office again, it's going to make
(16:38):
you pause and think, now, is it really that important
that I take this time away or can I manage
without it?
Speaker 2 (16:44):
And of course, not having time off, whether you take
advantage of it or not, but not having the ability
to take time off with a clear conscience. That has
to impact family life at home as well, because you know,
it's summertime and maybe the kids have done well in school,
and maybe the spouse has worked very hard himself or herself,
(17:08):
and everybody needs a break. And if one of the
bread winners comes home and says, you know, I don't
think we can do that vacation this year. Yeah we
have the money, but I'm afraid, you know what might
happen to me at work. That's that's got to be
a miserable.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Existence, you know.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
It is something that is really unfortunate that because this
consequence of having a workplace that doesn't encourage using the
benefit that they give employees for paid time off really
does have consequences throughout the whole family. Just as you said,
it's really hard to manage work life balance if you
don't feel like you can actually unplug and relax, or
(17:47):
you know, maybe you decide We'll go ahead and take
that vacation, but I'm going to keep working if I
have the ability to work remotely for this part of
the time, or you know, whatever that might be. It
really does impact more than just the employees.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
You know, we have laughed at some European countries. So
for example, in some European countries, particularly in France, the
month of August, they're shut down. Great time ago, but
there's nothing happening. In some parts of the world, a
good min afternoon or midday nap a siesta is considered
(18:22):
a part of the lifestyle, and we're sort of as Americans,
we've looked down our nose, but maybe those cultures are
more advanced than we are. Actually something to think about, Tony.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Absolutely, I think that, you know, leadership and management can
look at other ways to really encourage people to take
this benefit first and foremost, you know, encouraging, encouraging them
to take it. But what other ways can you incorporate
things that will benefit the whole self of the employee,
which in turn would have positive benefits on the business
and the organization.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Sounds great, Tony, give us your website because people may
want to check this out a little bit more in
depth than we've been able to give it. What is
the live career website.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
It is livecreer dot com. All one word L I
ve e C A R e e R dot com and.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
If there is a capital L and a capital C,
as you would expect to be grammatically correct. Tony Franna,
thank you very much for your time. Left have you
back interesting topic?
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Thanks Dan, thanks for having me. Have a great night.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, very welcome. I will also remind you that if
you haven't taken advantage of the new and improved free
iHeart app, just go to your app store wherever it is,
Galaxy Store, whatever, pull it down, put it on your laptop,
your desktop, your tablet, your smart watch, whatever device you have,
and make us make WBZ your first preset, and therefore
(19:46):
we will always be only a fingertip away, whether you're
at home or halfway around the world. My name's Dan Ray.
Here's the news. When we come back, we're going to
talk with a local illustrator, creator and animator. It's amazing
this gentleman and owns a bookstore in Denham called Blue
Bunny Books. But he is fabulous, we're told at illustrator,
(20:08):
creator and animator, a very creative person. His name is
Peter Reynolds. Will talk to him right after the news
at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
It's Nightside with Ray Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Well, I'm delighted to introduce to you Peter Reynolds. He's
an illustrator, a creator and an animator. He owns a
local bookstore in Denham called the Blue Bunny Bookstore. We
can talk about that, but I'm fascinated to talk to
somebody who actually draws and creates and animates for a living.
And you're from Denham, I assume, Peter. Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Hey, Thanks Dan. I amd from Deadham, been living there
for about forty years. Love it and hopefully you've been
over to Deadham Deadham Square.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I know Dedham very well, very well. I grew up
in Reayville, Peter, which is ah contiguous Tom, you know,
and I had great friends and Debham, including Bill Stewart,
Ted and Martha Alepsio. It's a wonderful community, great people. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
How did you at the courthouse?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
How did you become in the courthouse down? Oh, well,
that's a lot of action. We're going to leave that
away for the last couple of years. Everybody knows where
that is. How did you become an illustrative creator and animator?
Is this something you studied for or something that you
realized you had the ability for.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
I knew I loved to draw, probably in kindergarten, and
but I would say by third grade I noticed that
I was I was still going. I was still drawing
when other people kind of started slowing down. Probably around
high school. I realized, yeah, this is definitely what I
want to do, and I started my own cartoon strip
(21:53):
in the inner school newspaper. Became a reporter as well.
That we have in common, and I I love newspapers.
I just thought that getting the word out was exciting.
And yes, I draw, but for me, getting messages out
there to people is really really important. And that's why
(22:13):
I love newspapers. I love radio, I love media anyway
that we can get the word.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Out, you know. I I enjoy cartoon strips. Have you
ever thought about becoming a cartoonist full time, either an
editorial cartoonist or is that just you know, sort of
one pew of the same church, you know? In other words,
you have the Paul Zepps of the world, who are
the new work cartoonist. You know, if there's a Hall
(22:39):
of Fame for newspaper cartoonist, Paul Zepp is in it.
Absolutely the great child Shoots and Peanuts, al Cap and
Little Abner. I like one that is in the that's
in the globe every day. It's you're a plugger if
and it tells you, you know that if you have
the habit, you know that one of so.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Sure, So how did you title your Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:04):
What what did you end up doing? What do you
what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (23:08):
What am I doing?
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Well?
Speaker 4 (23:09):
I speaking of Paul's app He was one of my
heroes growing up. I would uh, that was one of
the first things I would go to. And I was
probably nine or ten, which is kind of unusual for
a nine or ten year old going for the political cartoons.
But I loved Jeff McNelly, I loved Paul Zepp, and uh,
(23:29):
I started doing political cartoons for a school newspaper. But
then I started, you know, I also loved reading comic books,
and then I started doing you know, comic strips for
a newspaper. And then I had a daughter, Sarah, and
I think that really changed everything for me, because I
liked to write, I like to draw, but I also
(23:51):
love to tell stories to my daughter. I love to
read to her. But then we would run out of
books and she's like, I want another story, and I
would just make up stuff. And then as I'm making
it up, I'm like, hey, that's not a bad idea.
I should write that down. So I started writing them
down for her. And one of the stories I wrote
is called the Blue Shoe and some Gary Goldberger, who
(24:14):
works for me at Fablevision, which is our animation company
in Newbergy Street in Boston, he saw the story sitting
there on the coffee table and he said, Pete, let's
turn that into an animated film. Turn it into an
animated film. We entered it into the World Animation Celebration
in Los Angeles and it came in the second place.
And I'm like, this is so much fun. Let's keep
doing it. So thirty years later, fable Vision still is
(24:37):
making animated films. We're also doing interactive applications working with
Jim Pens and Productions, Smithsonian, all sorts of great organizations
who want to get the word out about what they're doing.
Love education, love mental wellness. We're doing a lot of projects.
Just at a project with the Carol School and Lincoln
(24:59):
Great cool for kids with learning differences, and we actually
got the kids to write the story and we animated it.
It's called My Amazing Brain and it's about what dyslexia
is as told by by kids.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
This amazing stuff. Peter, Peter, I have to ask you
what is your connection to Canada? Since you pronounced the
word organization organization?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Ah, yes, I was born in Canada.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
I nailed that one.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
You did, you did? Yeah? So yeah, born in Toronto
and with my twin Uh, dad was born in Argentina.
My mother was born in London. So uh, you know,
we've been a bit of a journey family.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Well, the word organization, when organization, that's right, very good.
Harry used to always say the former general manager of
the Bruins, and I sort of whenever I hear someone
say organization, sometimes well their wife is Canadian and they've
spent time in Canada. So tell us Blue Bunny Bookstore,
(26:06):
where about to debt right in Denham.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Square, right in historic Denham Square, And opened it up
twenty two years ago in October because, as I was saying,
I know, I did start doing stories for my daughter Sarah,
and then I realized, hey, you know, I might as
well start publishing. So I published my first book the
North Star Canadawak Press, an amazing publisher in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(26:34):
They caught wind of it, and they they signed me
up to do a series called the Judy Movie Series,
which if you were a third grade kid right now,
you'd be jumping up and down Judy Movies. I think
there are about thirty five books in the series. I've
been doing that for the past twenty five years, written
by Megan McDonald, and I illustrate that whole series. And
then they asked me, They said, Pete, what else do
(26:56):
you have up your sleeve? And I said, well, I have.
I have three stories about creativity. And it just drives
me crazy when I hear adults say they can draw,
but especially it drives me nuts when I hear a
first grader or second grader say they can't draw, and
I think, well, you know, you don't get better at
the things you give up on. So I wanted to
(27:20):
write a series of books to inspire people to be
brave about the blank page. And so I wrote a
book called The Dot, and another one a sequel, Ish
and sky Color, and those three really launched my career
as a picture book creator. And now I have I
think I'm coming up on a hundred books with my
(27:40):
name on them, so and so, and I'm like, I
would love to see my book on a shelf. So
I went looking for my local bookstore. I realized Detim
did not have one, so I opened one. So it's
called the Blue Bunny because it's a little.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Not to his.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Dedham had a pottery studio called Dedham Pottery and it's
highly collectible now. It's white crackled clays using blue paint,
and their most famous design is a rabbit, so I
thought blue rabbit. Okay, this is a bookshop for kids
on Blue Bunny, so hence Blue Bunny, and it's a
fixture in Denham Square and everyone's invited down. We also
(28:21):
have a cafe now too, and.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Also Blubby Bunny Bookstore is very illiterative.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
It is isn't it Peter Reynolds.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
So folks can get to the Blue Bunny Bookstore if
they're listening from a far away places. What's your best
website so they can sample some of your work and
maybe buy some of your books.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
Sure well, Peter H. Reynolds on My middle name is
H for Hamilton, like the hip Broadway musical. So it's
Peterhreynolds dot com. And from there you can find all
of my endeavors Fable Vision Animation Studio, I've got Renold
Center for teach Warning at Creativity are not for profit.
(29:05):
And then the dot Central dot com is my little
shop that you can buy autograph books and prints and
artwork and all sorts of fun stuff, inspirational inspiration.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I would say, sound is great, Peter.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Appreciate your time next time I'm in Debt him. I
don't be surprised if I stop in and say hello.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
That's awesome, Dan, Thanks, thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Peter for you Bunny Bookstore in Debham, Massachusetts. I love
a story like this. This is a man who found
his career or his career found him, but he was
destined to be an illustrator, creator and animator and has
been very successful at it. Peter, we will meet someday.
Thank you very much. I enjoyed our conversation.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Thank you, Thanks man, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
When we get back, we're going to talk about a
topic that you might not enjoy as much, and that
is a heat emergency which is now apparently in effect
and we'll be in effect through Friday in Greater Boston.
We're going to talk with Brian Thompson, aqu weather meteorologist
right after the break here on a Wednesday night edition
of Nightside. Hope you're cool wherever you are.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Well, if you've been watching your weather forecast, you know
it's going to warm up a little bit here. We've
been through a couple of mini heat waves, and let's
talk about what's going to be hitting us. I guess tonight, Tomorrow, Friday,
maybe even into Saturday. Brian Thompson, acu AKU weather meteorologist. Brian,
welcome back to Nightside. What do we got to look
forward to the next few days.
Speaker 6 (30:41):
Well, eventually we are going to get into some better
weather here Dan as we get toward Friday and Saturday.
But we are going to get a pretty hot, very
humid day again for tomorrow, and we didn't sneak up
into the nineties and most spots this afternoon. Most places
yesterday we're in the mid to oper eighties, and I
think tomorrow for the most part heights apter in the
mid to oper eighty's, which does not sound that hot,
(31:03):
But the problem is just how high the humidity is
right now.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
And the humidity is going.
Speaker 6 (31:07):
To continue to be at almost tropical levels into tomorrow.
So when you factor that in with the temperature, you
wind up with acuve. With the real field temperatures that'll
be in the mid to upper nineties, maybe even close
to one hundred at times.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
And that's why.
Speaker 6 (31:21):
Even though it's on paper, if you just look at
the air temperature, that doesn't look like a really hot day,
but certainly it's going to feel like it just because
of this continued humidity.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
So we have to hit what's it ninety at Logan Airport.
That's the measurement three days in a row.
Speaker 6 (31:37):
Yeah, and that can always be kind of tricky because
if there's even a little bit of a sea breeze
the kicks in early enough of the day that can
kind of cut off the temperature from rising at Logan
versus areas even a few miles off to the west
now did get up into the mid nineties. I believe
ninety four was the height today at Logan Airport. Didn't
get to ninety yesterday. I don't think it'll get to
ninety tomorrow, so this won't be a heat wave. But again,
(31:59):
with the humidity being so high, it's certainly going to
feel like a heat wave.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And people who are in the suburbs here it's ninety
four at Logan today, for example, but you might if
you're in a suburb, are you likely to be higher
or lower than that? I mean no, I guess the
sea breeze could cool it off, but if the sea
breeze is blown in the wrong direction, it doesn't get
(32:26):
cool enough.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
Yeah, And today was an example of most of the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
At Logan Airport.
Speaker 6 (32:31):
It was in the mid to upper eighties, but there
was a brief time between about four and five thirty
that the wind shifted just a little bit. It was
an offshore breeze and it was enough to push Logan
up into the mid nineties. So that was pretty much
on par with the suburbs. So a lot of times
when the wind is offshore of what's coming in for
the West. We saw this one Boston hit one two
(32:52):
last month. It can be Logan could be one of
the hottest places in the area, but if that sea
breeze is in play, that usually does off temperatures a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Now, this is New England, it's the middle of July,
so we have to expect it. Hopefully you won't hang
around anymore than, as you said, a couple of days here,
and there'll probably be another one in late July. I
always think of the last week of July being the
hottest month. But putting all that aside, as bad as
(33:24):
our weather may have been in the last few weeks,
it's nothing like what people in Texas have experienced, what
people in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York are experiencing.
We have so far avoided that those disasters. Are we
just lucky or has basically the stirring currents kept us safer.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It's basically been the steering currents.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
I mean, there's always there's always some luck involved in
the in the world of weather. But you talk about Texas,
that the track that happened down there, it was an
area that's particularly prone to flash flooding, and we have
seen that flooding in parts of the mid Atlantic States
in recent days, but that's been mostly off to our
south and west, and really that's probably going to be
(34:12):
the case the next few days.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I think even.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
Tomorrow, most of the thunderstorm activities will be a cold
front approaching. Most of the storms will be up across
northern New England, although we will see a couple of
storms here try to develop locally, but again we'll probably
miss out on a lot of the heavy storms once again.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
And then where do we stand. I know that the
hurricane season starts, since I got you, I have to
ask that question. Hurricane season officially starts in June. So
we're six weeks into the hurricane season. Has it been
an active hurricane season so far down down South or
is it looking a little quieter than expected?
Speaker 1 (34:50):
Not particularly.
Speaker 6 (34:50):
I mean, we've had three named storms, none of them
have been particularly strong, and we're watching a system right
now kind of along the Gulf coast looks it looks
more and more like it probably won't develop. It is
going to bring a lot of rain to the central
Gulf Coast of the next few days, but at this
point there's really not a lot in the pipeline here
(35:11):
over the next several days outside of that, so it's
not terribly unusual to start off this quiet. Of course,
the peak of hurricane season isn't until late August and
the early the middle part of September, so we're a
little bit from that. But overall, aside from those three
name storms, it's been fairly uneventful start to the hurricane season.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Let's hope it stays that way. Yes, Brian has always
I appreciate you checking in with us. It gives us.
We listen to the forecast, but it's so great to
be able to talk about it and follow up with questions.
Really appreciate what you and everyone else does ACI Weather
for us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Thanks Dan, You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Have a great rest of the weekend, May and a
cooler weekend too. We are done with our eight o'clock hour,
but coming up on the other side of the news,
we're going to be talking with the former United States
Ambassador to Denmark, Alan Leventhal. Well known in this area.
He served as the ambassador of the United States during
the latter two years of the Biden administration. And he'll
(36:12):
have a lot to say about what's going on in Europe,
what's going on around the world, and maybe what's going
on here in America, particularly as it relates to young people.
So if you're young, or if you know someone who's young,
they should you should contact them and have them flip
this on and think he's got a very interesting and
I would say inspirational message for the young people of America.
(36:36):
We'll be back on Nightside with Alan Leventhal. He's well
known in Boston, and he should be well known even
beyond Boston, and he is in Democratic circles. But tonight
we're going to talk as two Americans, maybe two people
who may not agree on every issue but agree on principles.
Back on Night Side after this
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