August 11, 2025 • 35 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
The ethics of creating deepfakes or AI generated avatars of the dead! How technology is being used by some in end of life planning…
Guest: Paul Fried – owner of I Made Arrangements – an end of life planning website & service
Tanglewood Music Center to present an evening of silent film at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Tanglewood composers, conductors, and instrumentalists will perform live on Tuesday, August 12.
Guest: Kathy Tallman, CEO and Executive Director at the Coolidge Corner Theatre
What to know about Powassan virus, a rare but serious tick-borne disease. Virus suspected of infecting newborn on Martha's Vineyard…
Guest: Dr. Shira Doron - Tufts Medical Center Chief Infection Control Officer
The Boston Triathlon returns to South Boston August 16-17, 2025 -Also an annual kids day at the Boston Triathlon on Saturday the 16th – free for all kids.
Guest: Mike O’Neil – Event Director of the Boston Triathlon
The ethics of creating deepfakes or AI generated avatars of the dead! How technology is being used by some in end of life planning…
Guest: Paul Fried – owner of I Made Arrangements – an end of life planning website & service
Tanglewood Music Center to present an evening of silent film at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Tanglewood composers, conductors, and instrumentalists will perform live on Tuesday, August 12.
Guest: Kathy Tallman, CEO and Executive Director at the Coolidge Corner Theatre
What to know about Powassan virus, a rare but serious tick-borne disease. Virus suspected of infecting newborn on Martha's Vineyard…
Guest: Dr. Shira Doron - Tufts Medical Center Chief Infection Control Officer
The Boston Triathlon returns to South Boston August 16-17, 2025 -Also an annual kids day at the Boston Triathlon on Saturday the 16th – free for all kids.
Guest: Mike O’Neil – Event Director of the Boston Triathlon
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's nice with Dan Ray. I'm going easy Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
All right, good evening, everyone, and welcome into Monday, August eleventh,
as I refer to it, Monday, the beginning of the week.
We're ready to go, that's for sure. I got a
great show lined up for you. Rob Brooks is back
in the control room. He has all said he's on
top of his game. I assure you with that. We
have a four guests lined up, as we always do
(00:27):
during our eight o'clock hour. I'm different in various topics.
Then we're going to talk about the public perception of
the Massachusetts State Police taken quite a hit in the
last few years, and we're going to it's an interesting
article in the Globe today, and also the new state
Police colonel who's not that new. He's now in his
eleventh month, Jeffrey Noble was quoted in the Globe today
(00:50):
and we will be talking with him a couple of weeks. Hence,
I want him to take some phone calls from you
listeners and make him comfortable. But whatever question since you have,
then we're going to talk about President Donald Trump's capital
crime crackdown. We look we're taking kind of a deep
look at what's going on down in Washington, d C.
It isn't pretty, that's for sure. We will talk about
(01:13):
what the President proposes to do. We can do it
for about thirty days without congressional approval. We'll have to
see where it goes about thirty days from now. But
we'll get to all of that. We'll explain it, and
we're going to start off tonight and talking about end
of life planning. Now, normally, when you think about end
of life planning, I think, well, I'm going is the
loved one? Do they want a funeral? They're going to
(01:35):
have a burial at sea. We've talked to the fellow
down in the capeho does burials at see all of that.
It's much more complicated these days, in part because of
AI artificial intelligence. Here to explain all of that is
Paul Freed. He's the owner of I Made Arrangements and
end of life planning website and service. Paul Freed. I
(01:58):
hope I pronounced the name correct. It's please tell me
it's not.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Nah.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
You got it?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Dan Good? All right, Paul, appreciate it, and thanks for
the few moments we had just before the eight o'clock
news so so you were not the owner of a
funeral parlor. You know that that is no not what
you do here. Who are the people who come to
you and what do they want you to accomplish for them?
(02:24):
Or they love one?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So what we created was an online platform where people
go in and make all of their end of life arrangements.
And you know, it's interesting how you know technology is playing,
you know, a large role in how all this happens now,
even with with online wills, advanced directives, things like that.
(02:48):
You know, it's very interesting when you start looking at statistics, right,
and you know, twenty four percent of Americans have wills,
and you know, I believe a lot of this is because,
well listen, look, we're a death denying culture. So people
don't even want to talk about they don't plan for it.
But what they don't realize is the mayhem that they're
going to leave behind. And you've seen it. I'm sure.
(03:11):
I bumped into a woman I knew from the bank.
I saw her at Whole Foods today and I hadn't
seen her about two years. She had moved out of
the area. She said, yeah, she had to come back.
Her dad had passed away and know no will, so
the state's time and probate. So she had to come
and she said, it's just complete chaos.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So you know, by the way, you know this, Paul,
But I'm a lawyer and I certainly advocate to everyone
who I know to have some form of a document,
so will, yeah, yeah, trust. So clearly what he's saying
is true. But you do more than this what a
lawyer would do.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So we do. So people can come in, they can
cite and they can plan out their funeral, just the
logistics of the funeral and fill out a document and
that document can then be emailed to their loved ones
right from the platform. Do you want to be buried,
you want to be cremated? What would you like done
with your ashes? You know, set the tone for the ceremony, music, food, readings,
all of that, and then you can go on to
(04:11):
build a will. You can go on to build an
advanced directive. You can upload contacts. You'll assign an executor
and they'll get invited through the system and the system
will vet them. They'll accept their role as your executor.
We label them, we layel them a wish keeper, so
(04:33):
they'll accept that role. They'll have limited access to all
of the information that you have on your on your
site until you pass away. Their key role enter the
date you pass You will upload all your contacts into
your page, your profile once you're and you'll create a
(04:53):
notification of passing. So when your wishkeeper enters the date
you pass away, an email will go out to all
your content tex from you, letting him know that you
passed away.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
This is very twenty first century.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
This is very twenty century, and I'm sure you've witnessed this.
You know, you bump into an old buddy and they
tell you about the passing of a mutual friend, and
you know, oh wow, I wish I would have known.
I loved the gun on the fuld.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Happened to me this weekend a neighbor who had passed,
So I know exactly what you're talking about. You You also,
one of the reasons we got to this today was
that some people, I guess can leave videos, which is understandable.
That it has become very high tech and very artificial
(05:42):
intelligent intelligence inclined. It's doing things that you never would
have imagined five, ten, fifteen, twenty years ago.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
The technology is playing such a big role, and you know.
The nice thing about it is, you know, Dan, you
think about it, People don't want to talk about this.
You know what if if I can sit in front
of my computer and I can put all of this together, right,
you know what, it's a lot easier than sitting down
talking with my children and all that, right, I can.
It's very personal and I could take the time. So
you know again, on our platform, you can write your
(06:15):
own obituary, you can write your own eulogy. You can
upload a video eulogy to be played at your at
your funeral. You can queue up emails or text messages, do.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Your own eulogy and deliver your own eulogy.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Correct, correct, Yes, you can kill em out.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That's happening. I enjoyed the ride, Thanks very much, folks
to my friends. Right, Oh my goodness. There was a
what some thought was a very distasteful interview over the
weekend in which a former CNN reporter did an interview
with an avatar. I guess of one of the young
(06:53):
high school students who were killed at Parkland High School
in Florida, and I guess the parents went along with
it to deliver a message about stricter gun control. But
it did generate a little bit of controversy because here
we have that reporter who used to work at the
(07:14):
White House interviewing a videotape of someone who sadly was
killed seven years ago. That sort of is a is
a new frontier in terms of using using images and
artificial intelligence. It's God, it's going to go.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
There was a story. There's a story. This is about
a year ago and the technology has advanced so much.
But there was a bother in Buenos Aires who he
lost his son in a motorcycle accident. So he went
into you know, one of the platforms, and he crafted
a digital version of his son, and he spent a
lot of time uploading a lot of information. So he
(07:57):
uploaded a lot of a lot of photos, and he
uploaded tens of thousands of character traits to shape the personality.
And then he started to have conversations with the son.
And it is very very eerie, right, you know. He
asked the son like why did you why did you
ride without a helmet? And you know, and the sun responded,
(08:20):
riding without a helmet on a motorcycle, there's an automatted
feeling of freedom. I felt the wind on my face
I felt alive. You can only imagine, you know, this
is coming back in this kid's voice. You can only
imagine the father and what emotion.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I'll tell you it is. Elvis Huxley had it right
a long time ago when he wrote Brave New World.
He never could have imagined what we're talking about tonight,
Paul Freed, how can if folks would like to get
some more information from you? You have a website. How
can folks get in touch with you?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
We have a website, Imade Thearrangements dot Com, and there's
a lot of great information there when it comes to
the end of life plannings. So I welcome your listeners
to take a look.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
And of course, as in the old days, you were
dealing with a funeral home a couple of blocks away
or maybe a mile away. Now it doesn't matter where
you are in the world. Imade dot Com. Paul, very
instructive and very interesting and to some extent kind of sad.
But maybe some will benefit from this. We just don't know.
(09:27):
Thank you, Paul, really appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
We'd be well you too.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Before we get back on to talk with Kathy Tolman.
She's the CEO and the executive director of the Coolidge
Corner Theater. They are planning an evening of silent film.
But there's a catch. There's a catch. Tanglewood composers, conductors
and instrumentalists. Instrumentalists will perform live to in conjunction with
(09:56):
the silent film. We're going to talk with Kathy in
just a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
You're on Night Side with Dan ray On den Youbzy
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
All right, I am delighted to be joined by Kathy Tollman.
She's the CEO and executive director of the Coolidge Corner Theater.
And Kathy, I want to get right to it. You
have a silent Film festival coming up.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
It's actually hi, Dan, thank you so much. I'm so
happy to be on the program. It's not actually a festival.
It is a program that we are co presenting with
the Tanglewood Music Tangoboleod Learning Institute, Tanglewood Music Center. We
did this last year and we're doing it again tomorrow.
We're thrilled to have that collaboration.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
So this is tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
What time, It's seven o'clock tomorrow. There will be five
short silent films that were all from the nineteen twenties
and conductors conductor fellows. These are all students at the
tangle Wood Learning Institute have composed scores for each one
of those five films, and musicians will be here tomorrow
and conductors from Tanglewood to perform those to each of
(10:59):
the elms.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Give us a little bit of a tease. I'm assuming
I don't know much about the nineteen twenty film industry
except I think it was mostly silent. Bet Charlie Chaplin,
was he one of the in one of the movies tomorrow?
Speaker 4 (11:17):
He's not in one of the movies tomorrow. I have
to say they're pretty esoteric, but they're interesting. They're mostly animated,
and so obviously, as you noted, the films for a
long time were just silent. In fact, when the talkies
came on, there was a lot of concern in the
industry that it would kill the industry.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah. I was very much concerned at that time. I
thought this is going to be the end of the movie. Yeah.
So basically this starts at seven tomorrow night, Coolidge Corner Theater.
Everyone knows where that is.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Is this?
Speaker 2 (11:52):
You said the second year. Have you done this for
more than two years or is this.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Truly Yeah, this is our second year. We're really happy
to have this collaboration. We hope we can continue it.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Excellent. Well, how did it work out last year?
Speaker 4 (12:04):
It worked out great. And what's interesting about it is
that it came about because I lived above or below
a person who became a friend who is now the
director at Tanglewood Music Center, and I'm the CEO of
Coolish Corner Theater and we were talking and the Coolige
just had a silent film program called Sounds of Silence
for many years, and so we often have silent films
with live accompaniment, and so we were saying, hey, I
(12:27):
wonder if the Tanglewood Fellows could do their program. They
do this at tangle Wood every year. They did it
last night. They had two shows. They sell out. So
we're delighted to bring it to Boston a little.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
More convenient for people east of Worcester to go to
the Coolidge.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Yeah, like no traffic on the mass Turnpike.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, coming in at that are the night that's for sure. Well,
this is great. So it was a success last year,
and you're going to double down on it this year.
Give us You said that some of these were like
cartoon films, but some of them have actual human actors
as well. Is it a variety?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Four out of five are the are animated, and they're
all short. I'm going to say there's nothing particularly familiar.
It's more or a situation of enjoying the student composers
and the student conductors, and the big screen at the Coolidge,
and the camaraderie and the combination of art and film,
which has been inseparable from the beginning of time.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Sounding film, I'm.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I'm just blue sky in here with my questions. Is
there going to be any sort of Q and A
at any point, either before, during, or afterward? People can
ask questions?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
No, there isn't, But what a great idea there isn't
this year, But I think I'll incorporate that in next
year's program.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
You could. You can steal it from me, no costs.
I'm happy to whatsoever. How long have you been at
the Coolist Stature. You've been there for a while.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
I'm been the CEO for twelve years, and I was
on the board for eight years before that. It's certainly
a place near and dear to my heart.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Okay, I just I hit a wrong button here. I apologize. Yeah,
so the I'm sure the price this is reasonable. Tickets
of are the seats available? Tickets available?
Speaker 4 (14:03):
There are seats available. We have a pretty good crub.
Tickets are thirty five dollars. There are thirty two dollars
for members. They're available at Wwwcoolidge dot org. And we'd
love to have more people join us.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Any break for seniors or kids or anything like that,
I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
How about naside listeners? If they say a night side listener,
can we get them awak, tell us.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
They're a member and we'll give them the member price.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I'm just having fun with you, Kathy. I remember you
just being in good Sport, and look, I'm just want
I want to sell it out for you tomorrow night.
That's what I want to do.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I really appreciate it. I mean, this is a big
thing for me because I'm really determined to elevate the
Coolidge as a cultural art organization in Greater Boston. And
we do a lot with live theater. We don't do
live theater here, but we partner with the Huntingson Theater
and other organizations as a as an artful partnership collaboration
and so to be able to do this BSO is
(15:00):
just really terrific and solidifies our position.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
No, it's great, and look, everybody knows the Coolish Corner Theater.
Everybody appreciates it is really a treasure here in Greater
Boston and it's something that needs to be supported. And
it's just it's a little it's a different night tomorrow night.
This is a one night only, as I understand the.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Correct it is a one night only. We will have
our Sounds of Silent Silence program throughout the year, but
this is the only time we work with the tango
with fellows who are here from all over the world.
They're really pretty extraordinary people.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Sounds great. Kathy Toleman, thanks very much to see you
and executive director the Coolish Corner Theater. Your passion and
your excitement about this is infectious. I'm excited about it.
If I wasn't on the air tomorrow night from eight
to midnight, I'd be over there in the front row.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Oh and you can come another time to something else. Dan,
Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
You're very welcome. Thanks Kathy, you have a great night.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
All right, all.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Right, we have the news coming up here at the
bottom of the hour obviously the eight thirty news, but
I want to encourage some of you. Now we have
a really neat way that you can become a part
of the night Side broadcast. Normally I tell you have
to call and maybe have to wait in the line
a few minutes. However, you can utilize our talkback feature
(16:16):
in the iHeartRadio app. Make sure you download and have
the free, new and improved iHeartRadio app. While you're listening
to the Night Side Live on WBZ News Radio or
during the day, at any point, you can tap the
red microphone talkback button in the top right corner to
send us your personalized audio message and we will play
it back, assuming it's clean. Remember it's got to be
(16:39):
like within thirty seconds and clean. We are FCC regulated.
It can be critical, it can be constructively critical. It
might even be complementary. We'll play it whatever. You know.
All points of view accepted here. It's that simple. All
you got to do is hit the red microphone button
in the top right corner of the app while listening
to the Night Side and say there's your audio message.
(17:01):
You may want to write a note or two just
to help you out. It's almost like your own PSA
on WBZ, So have at it and hope to hear
from some of you this evening. When we get back,
we're going to talk about a triathlon for kids. The
Boston Triaththon returns to South Boston this weekend August sixteenth
(17:26):
and seventeenth. We're going to be talked with Michae O'Neil.
He's the event director of the Boston Triathlon.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Night side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Well I had some bad information at A twenty nine.
So we will get to the Boston Triathlon in a
few minutes. But first, an old friend of this program,
not an old friend, but a friend of some time,
doctor Shira dourone of the Tofts Medical Center Chief Infection
Control Officer, Doctor Dorone, welcome back.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
How are you so good to.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
Be back with you?
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Thank you, Right back at you.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
We're talking tonight about what's called the Poason virus, a
rare but serious tick borne disease. People I still don't
think realize the danger the ticks present to us. This
virus is suspected of infecting a newborn. I guess was
out on Martha's vineyard first of all, how was this
(18:25):
child doing and it isn't. I believe it's close to
an infant and has had tremendous adverse impact on the
child and the family.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Yeah, I don't have any direct knowledge of how the
child is doing today. You know, the story really hit
the papers, you know, almost a week ago, and at
that time we heard that the baby was in pretty
serious condition, which is certainly something that we see as
a result of the powasan virus, which is a neuro
(18:57):
invasive virus. So it can cause encephalitis or brain swelling.
It can cause meningitis or swelling up the lining of
the brain and spinal cord. It can be very very serious.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, the bacteria, I guess, the spira keep is what's
the danger, and it actually can cause it can carry
some tremendous medical complications. People think about a tick bite
and they say, oh, yeah, I got I got a
little you know, bulls eye on my leg or my
ankle or whatever. It's no problem. But tick born illnesses
(19:32):
can literally take people, you know, and put them in
bed for you know, twenty hours a day. I mean,
it can incapacitate people. I can't emphasize so much now
this poacid virus, is this new or is this something
that's been around and we're just learning about it.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Yeah, so let's break that down a little bit. So
the poasan virus has been around, but it is very
thankfully rare. You know, we only have seen three cases
in Massachusetts this year. We've only had twenty four or
so cases in the United States this year, you know,
(20:14):
on track to be around the same as last year.
So that's not a lot of cases, which is good news.
When we look at ticks and test them in the
state of Massachusetts for the powassan virus, it's actually relatively
common considering how rare the disease is and humans you
can find it and one to two percent of ticks,
and yet we see very few cases, which is good.
(20:37):
You talked about some other tickborn illnesses and it really
does highlight how dangerous tick bites can be. So, this
coactum virus is a virus. The lime spira keup that
you mentioned is bacteria. We also have the visiosis, which
is a parasite, and so you can get all kinds
of nasty things from ticks, as you can from mosquitoes,
and as I sit here, I'm covered with mosquito bites
(20:59):
because I failed at my bugspray application the other night
when I was out after dusk. So you know, bugspray
is your friend at this time of year in particular,
and we do want to try to avoid those tick
and mosquito bites.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
You know, I've told this story before, but I want
to tell it you. And I was working as a
television reporter for many years. Whenever this time of year
there'd be the first case of ein equine equine encephalitis
or one of those mosquito born diseases, and I would
you know, it would have been found somewhere, I don't know,
(21:36):
pick a town, Cohasset or something, and I'd be live
in Cohasset with mosquitoes buzzing around me at five thirty
in the morning when mosquitos are active. Reporting on this
and I thought to me, saif this is not a
great way to elipping, Oh my, here we are and okay, yeah,
and it's it's just out there and these mosquitos. And
(21:57):
I talked to my great friend doctor Al Miller of Texas,
who's probably one of the foremost authorities on ticks and
lime disease and the implications. He believes that a lot
of the neurological problems that people develop later in life
can be directly related to a tick bite that they
(22:18):
had twenty years, thirty years previously, which was not treated
properly with the proper doses of amongst the cylin or
whatever the medication that needs needs to be applied. So
this is very serious stuff, is what I'm trying. I'm
trying to emphasize to people. And when doctors like you
(22:39):
tell us that you've got to apply you know, mosquito repellent,
or you have to wear clothes that have been treated
if you're going to be out in the woods. This
child was in i believe, in a baby carriage and
being pushed by his parents, and somehow they saw the
tick and they, you know, they removed the tick. I
think they threw it way so they didn't get a
(23:01):
chance to get the tick you know, checked out by
the disease control people.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
This is a very unfortunate situation. We don't typically see
these tick bites in babies and children who are too
young to walk right because it generally happens when you're
walking through garassy, wooded brushy areas. And so you know,
you might not even think to look for it in
a baby. That being said, you know, when we think
(23:32):
about lime disease, we think about a tick that's been
in place for twenty four forty eight hours, And if
it hasn't been and it's not engorged, and you can
remove it, you can be pretty confident that you didn't
get lime disease. If it has been there for more
than forty eight hours and it's in gorged, you remove it.
You can usually do a dose of doxy cycling and
(23:52):
antibiotic and prevent the development of limesse. With powas and virus,
there is no treatment. And not only that, but it
actually transmits the virus much faster. It can be in
place for only fifteen minutes and still infect you. And
there isn't actually anything you can do to prevent full
blown infection or anything really to treat the infection once
it happened. So again, that just makes that prevention of
(24:15):
tick bites so so so important. Like you said, wearing
long sleeves and long pants when you're out in those
types of areas, doing those tick checks, showering when you
get back inside, looking in the armpits, and the groin
and behind the knees. You know, those are all really
important steps that you can take.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, and like it or not, we here in New
England it's called Lime disease after East Lime, Connecticut. We're
in a hot zone and it's something that we need
to We don't necessarily have to worry about things like rattlesnakes,
although I suspect you could find a rattlesnake here or there,
but concerned about tick should be foremost in everyone's mind.
Thank you, doctor Carone. Always great to hear your voice.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Thank you so much, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Good night. When we come back, as promised, a presentative
of the Boston Triathlon, this is an annual kids Day
at the Boston Triathlon this Saturday, free for all kids.
We want to talk about that, and I guess the
triathlon also returns this weekend the sixteenth and seventeenth. We'll
sort it out for you. I think, I think, and
(25:18):
sometimes I'm not really sure, but I think I'm gonna
be talking with michael'neil. Isn't that right, Rob Michae O'Neil,
the executive director of the Boston Triathlon. Good, we got
it right. We'll be back on the Night Side.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
It's Night Side with Ray Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Well, my guest is michael'briant. Mike, welcome to Knights or
Mike O'Neil close close, but no cigar. Mike, welcome to
Night's Side. It's been a confusing night here to start,
so I guess we had a wrong number on you
and we had to move you. So no problem.
Speaker 6 (25:53):
We're good now, right, Yeah, I'm good and thanks for
having me.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Right, You're very welcome. You're the event director the Boston Triathlon.
Tell us about the Boston Triathlon.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
Well, we're in our seventeenth year over in South Boston
at Carson Beach and it's a beautiful venue, clean water,
and the event's grown quite a bit over the years,
and now it's a full weekend event. And so Saturday
is Kid's Day at the Boston Triathlon, a completely free
event all day long for any and all kids. And
(26:26):
there's a fun run for kids under the age of six,
and my three year old daughter will be running her
second fun run on Saturday and she's pretty excited. And
then the older kids will do a splash and dash
where they run after they swim, so they do a
swim and then a run. But on top of that,
other than the racing, the Boston Red Sox are coming
(26:47):
with their mobile batting cage. The Boston Bruins will be
there with their Beef Hit Zone, The New England Revolution
will be there with some inflatable kicking challenges, and the
new women's Boston Legacy Soccer team will also be there.
The Boston Common Golf Team will be there with a
golf simulator for kids and adults, and our partners from
(27:11):
Boston Harbor Now are going to be there with an
interactive booth and there'll be games and prizes, and the
Boston Police Department ice cream truck is coming for the
kids and bringing them there.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
So time is the ice cream truck coming? That's always
a critical question.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
It's a critical question, you know, Dan. I would give
you that information, but you're not a kid, and I'm
afraid you're going to come and show up and take.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
You know me too well, you know me too well,
Just ding.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
They'll probably come around for in the afternoon after the
kids are done their racing, and they'll get to have
an ice cream to celebrate their their accomplishment. So that's
on and then on Sunday's the adult racing.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yeah, so tell me about the let's let's talk about
Sunday too. So the kids are going to have a
lot of fun in ice cream the adults. How long
are the events normally in the triathlon and to talk
about some biking, some swimming, and some running. What is
your triathlon composed of?
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Yeah? Yeah, so it's it's a swimming and biking and running.
And as I always tell my mom, because she gets
confused to what the order is, I tell her, mom,
remember you got to start with the swim because people
would be too tired if that was left. So the
swimming goes first. And then in beautiful Carson Beach right there,
(28:27):
and there's two races. There's a sprint distance and there's
an Olympic distance. And for the sprint distance swim they
swim half a mile, and for the Olympic distance, they
swim a mile. And then they jump on their bike
and it's a completely closed safe course uptable of art
Head up towards Carson Beach out toward Old Head and
(28:50):
when they complete their bike leg, which is twelve miles
for the bike for the shorter race of sprint and
twenty two miles for the Olympic. Then they put on
their running shoes and they do a five k run
for the sprint distance, and then they do a ten
k run for the Olympic distance. So it's it's quite
an accomplishment for everyone. For the average person will probably
(29:14):
take a two hours to do the hour and a
half to two hours for the sprint and you know,
maybe closer to three hours for the Olympic distance race.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I'm exhausted just listening to you right now. This I
know has been You've been doing this for how many
years now?
Speaker 6 (29:36):
This will be our seventeenth year. And you know what
I'm really excited about. What I'm really excited about, Dan,
is when we started this, I think there was very
few people in selfie that knew what a traflon was.
And you know, we've really engaged the neighborhood. We're active
year round. We do a lot in the neighborhood and
you get a lot of people that were runners and
(29:56):
they say, what is this thing here? Oh, maybe maybe
this helps me do a little bit of cross training,
So lighten up on my knees and all the running,
and I can balance it with a little swimming and
a little running, and we also do there are relays
available dance. So someone who's never done a trathlon and
it makes their eyes roll back in their head thinking
about doing a swim, a bike and a run. They
(30:18):
can get together with a couple of friends and split
it up, so one friends the swim and then another
friend does the bike, and then the other friend does
the run. And what's happened over the years is people
that just never could wrap their head around the concept
of doing a trathlon. They come and they do a relay,
(30:39):
and then they look around and they see there's regular
people just like them out there doing it, and then
they set a goal for themselves. Maybe it's getting the
pool and learn how to swim again or learn how
to swim for the first time. And we do a
bunch of training clinics for our customers throughout the year
and try and help people have the tools to feel
(31:00):
confident to take on the race.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Give me a sense of the scope of this event.
How many people are going to participate, and particularly on
Sunday with the adults, are we talking about a couple
of hundred people? How big?
Speaker 6 (31:13):
No, no, no, no, it's it's actually a couple of thousand
and and we're I think we're one of the largest
independent races in the country, and it's it's grown a lot.
When we started seventeen years ago, I think we had
one hundred and fifty people, maybe one hundred the first year,
and we only had the sprint distance. And we've continued
to evolve and grow, and the city of Boston's been supportive.
(31:36):
The state of Massachusetts DCR incredibly supportive, and I think
they've now seen you know, these these these races, you know,
they close down roads and they can be inconvenient, but
they they're they're incredible platform for people, and you know,
people race and raise money for charities. And over the
(31:57):
years that you know, Boston traff On racers have raised
millions of dollars for various charities and that continues. And
so somebody sets a goal, they're they're trying to raise
money for cause that's near and dear to their heart,
and they're also trying to improve themselves and be the
best version of themselves. So it's it's really a pretty
cool thing. And you know that there'll be also hundreds
(32:19):
of people there that are volunteers down that that aren't racing.
Maybe they race in their younger days, or maybe they
never race, but they just they're inspired by the energy
of people doing difficult things and people.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Asking me help.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Let me help you out here, because I'm sure that
there's people who are thinking about it in this saying
Crossing Beach, beautiful location, but tough to get to, a
nearly impossible to park. Ah. You know, obviously I know
all about the MBTA. Good, so get you over there.
But realistically, for people who might be listening tonight, I
(32:56):
don't know west of one twenty eight and are thinking
about getting involved in this, well, what do you tell them?
Is there any accommodation.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
Problem problem solved? So the event, the event's gone grown
so much that we we have we we call them stakeholders,
people that work with us, that are partners, and UMass
Boston is one of our longtime partners, and so is
Corkoran Jennison, a private a private business that owns the
Double Tree Hotel there, and we are able to we
(33:24):
provide parking, free parking for all of.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Our customers and all of the competitors.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
No no, no, but no no. If someone wants to come
and spectate and check it out, they don't have to volunteer,
they have to do anything. They can come and they
can park for free and we cover that. So you know,
the redlines right there obviously for the folks in town,
but people that are coming. We have athletes. Over the years,
we've had athletes from fifty all fifty states and fifty
(33:50):
countries raise the race. And historically we've had racers from
three hundred and five cities and towns across Massachusetts come
and raise our race. So folks are coming in. One
of the things people say, for a large there's.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Only like three hundred and fifty one. What town are
you missing?
Speaker 6 (34:08):
I don't know, I don't know. I got to look
at that, but it's three oh five in my my team.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Well I told you said three fifty okay.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
So three five, So three o five three or five? Yeah, yeah, okay,
you know three hundred and five that's a pretty good representation.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Well, yeah, you've only got about forty one to go
or fifty fifty one now forty six, forty six. I
did my math in my head, which is always a mistake. Look,
this sounds like a great event, Mike. How can people
get information and there's still room for people to participate.
Speaker 6 (34:38):
There is this room for folks to participate. You know,
we have plenty of room for kids. We have hundreds coming.
But Boston Www Boston Try tri i dot com and
all the informations there and people can volunteer, they can
bring their kids, they can spectate, they can race.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Okay, just remember this. If there's one thing you'll learn
from me today, you know, have to say the www
dot anymore, Boston Try.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
I'm kind of old school a little bit though at
some level.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
So so it's it's Boston Try t r I for triathlon,
Boston Try dot com. Correct, Yes, perfect, perfect?
Speaker 6 (35:19):
Am I going to see you creeping around the ice
cream truck?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Uh? You know I'll probably be in disguise so you
won't be recommend I have the master of the prius
and disguises, so you won't.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
See the weather well stream weather coming. It's going to
be a beautiful weekend.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Mike, best of luck, great cause, thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
All right, we get back. We're going to talk about
the public perception of the Massachusetts State Police and looking
for as many people as possible to weigh into this.
If you, whatever your point of view, you're more than
welcome here at Nightside, coming back right after this
It's nice with Dan Ray. I'm going easy Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
All right, good evening, everyone, and welcome into Monday, August eleventh,
as I refer to it, Monday, the beginning of the week.
We're ready to go, that's for sure. I got a
great show lined up for you. Rob Brooks is back
in the control room. He has all said he's on
top of his game. I assure you with that. We
have a four guests lined up, as we always do
(00:27):
during our eight o'clock hour. I'm different in various topics.
Then we're going to talk about the public perception of
the Massachusetts State Police taken quite a hit in the
last few years, and we're going to it's an interesting
article in the Globe today, and also the new state
Police colonel who's not that new. He's now in his
eleventh month, Jeffrey Noble was quoted in the Globe today
(00:50):
and we will be talking with him a couple of weeks. Hence,
I want him to take some phone calls from you
listeners and make him comfortable. But whatever question since you have,
then we're going to talk about President Donald Trump's capital
crime crackdown. We look we're taking kind of a deep
look at what's going on down in Washington, d C.
It isn't pretty, that's for sure. We will talk about
(01:13):
what the President proposes to do. We can do it
for about thirty days without congressional approval. We'll have to
see where it goes about thirty days from now. But
we'll get to all of that. We'll explain it, and
we're going to start off tonight and talking about end
of life planning. Now, normally, when you think about end
of life planning, I think, well, I'm going is the
loved one? Do they want a funeral? They're going to
(01:35):
have a burial at sea. We've talked to the fellow
down in the capeho does burials at see all of that.
It's much more complicated these days, in part because of
AI artificial intelligence. Here to explain all of that is
Paul Freed. He's the owner of I Made Arrangements and
end of life planning website and service. Paul Freed. I
(01:58):
hope I pronounced the name correct. It's please tell me
it's not.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Nah.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
You got it?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Dan Good? All right, Paul, appreciate it, and thanks for
the few moments we had just before the eight o'clock
news so so you were not the owner of a
funeral parlor. You know that that is no not what
you do here. Who are the people who come to
you and what do they want you to accomplish for them?
(02:24):
Or they love one?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So what we created was an online platform where people
go in and make all of their end of life arrangements.
And you know, it's interesting how you know technology is playing,
you know, a large role in how all this happens now,
even with with online wills, advanced directives, things like that.
(02:48):
You know, it's very interesting when you start looking at statistics, right,
and you know, twenty four percent of Americans have wills,
and you know, I believe a lot of this is because,
well listen, look, we're a death denying culture. So people
don't even want to talk about they don't plan for it.
But what they don't realize is the mayhem that they're
going to leave behind. And you've seen it. I'm sure.
(03:11):
I bumped into a woman I knew from the bank.
I saw her at Whole Foods today and I hadn't
seen her about two years. She had moved out of
the area. She said, yeah, she had to come back.
Her dad had passed away and know no will, so
the state's time and probate. So she had to come
and she said, it's just complete chaos.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So you know, by the way, you know this, Paul,
But I'm a lawyer and I certainly advocate to everyone
who I know to have some form of a document,
so will, yeah, yeah, trust. So clearly what he's saying
is true. But you do more than this what a
lawyer would do.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So we do. So people can come in, they can
cite and they can plan out their funeral, just the
logistics of the funeral and fill out a document and
that document can then be emailed to their loved ones
right from the platform. Do you want to be buried,
you want to be cremated? What would you like done
with your ashes? You know, set the tone for the ceremony, music, food, readings,
all of that, and then you can go on to
(04:11):
build a will. You can go on to build an
advanced directive. You can upload contacts. You'll assign an executor
and they'll get invited through the system and the system
will vet them. They'll accept their role as your executor.
We label them, we layel them a wish keeper, so
(04:33):
they'll accept that role. They'll have limited access to all
of the information that you have on your on your
site until you pass away. Their key role enter the
date you pass You will upload all your contacts into
your page, your profile once you're and you'll create a
(04:53):
notification of passing. So when your wishkeeper enters the date
you pass away, an email will go out to all
your content tex from you, letting him know that you
passed away.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
This is very twenty first century.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
This is very twenty century, and I'm sure you've witnessed this.
You know, you bump into an old buddy and they
tell you about the passing of a mutual friend, and
you know, oh wow, I wish I would have known.
I loved the gun on the fuld.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Happened to me this weekend a neighbor who had passed,
So I know exactly what you're talking about. You You also,
one of the reasons we got to this today was
that some people, I guess can leave videos, which is understandable.
That it has become very high tech and very artificial
(05:42):
intelligent intelligence inclined. It's doing things that you never would
have imagined five, ten, fifteen, twenty years ago.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
The technology is playing such a big role, and you know.
The nice thing about it is, you know, Dan, you
think about it, People don't want to talk about this.
You know what if if I can sit in front
of my computer and I can put all of this together, right,
you know what, it's a lot easier than sitting down
talking with my children and all that, right, I can.
It's very personal and I could take the time. So
you know again, on our platform, you can write your
(06:15):
own obituary, you can write your own eulogy. You can
upload a video eulogy to be played at your at
your funeral. You can queue up emails or text messages, do.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Your own eulogy and deliver your own eulogy.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Correct, correct, Yes, you can kill em out.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That's happening. I enjoyed the ride, Thanks very much, folks
to my friends. Right, Oh my goodness. There was a
what some thought was a very distasteful interview over the
weekend in which a former CNN reporter did an interview
with an avatar. I guess of one of the young
(06:53):
high school students who were killed at Parkland High School
in Florida, and I guess the parents went along with
it to deliver a message about stricter gun control. But
it did generate a little bit of controversy because here
we have that reporter who used to work at the
(07:14):
White House interviewing a videotape of someone who sadly was
killed seven years ago. That sort of is a is
a new frontier in terms of using using images and
artificial intelligence. It's God, it's going to go.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
There was a story. There's a story. This is about
a year ago and the technology has advanced so much.
But there was a bother in Buenos Aires who he
lost his son in a motorcycle accident. So he went
into you know, one of the platforms, and he crafted
a digital version of his son, and he spent a
lot of time uploading a lot of information. So he
(07:57):
uploaded a lot of a lot of photos, and he
uploaded tens of thousands of character traits to shape the personality.
And then he started to have conversations with the son.
And it is very very eerie, right, you know. He
asked the son like why did you why did you
ride without a helmet? And you know, and the sun responded,
(08:20):
riding without a helmet on a motorcycle, there's an automatted
feeling of freedom. I felt the wind on my face
I felt alive. You can only imagine, you know, this
is coming back in this kid's voice. You can only
imagine the father and what emotion.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I'll tell you it is. Elvis Huxley had it right
a long time ago when he wrote Brave New World.
He never could have imagined what we're talking about tonight,
Paul Freed, how can if folks would like to get
some more information from you? You have a website. How
can folks get in touch with you?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
We have a website, Imade Thearrangements dot Com, and there's
a lot of great information there when it comes to
the end of life plannings. So I welcome your listeners
to take a look.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
And of course, as in the old days, you were
dealing with a funeral home a couple of blocks away
or maybe a mile away. Now it doesn't matter where
you are in the world. Imade dot Com. Paul, very
instructive and very interesting and to some extent kind of sad.
But maybe some will benefit from this. We just don't know.
(09:27):
Thank you, Paul, really appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
We'd be well you too.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Before we get back on to talk with Kathy Tolman.
She's the CEO and the executive director of the Coolidge
Corner Theater. They are planning an evening of silent film.
But there's a catch. There's a catch. Tanglewood composers, conductors
and instrumentalists. Instrumentalists will perform live to in conjunction with
(09:56):
the silent film. We're going to talk with Kathy in
just a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
You're on Night Side with Dan ray On den Youbzy
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
All right, I am delighted to be joined by Kathy Tollman.
She's the CEO and executive director of the Coolidge Corner Theater.
And Kathy, I want to get right to it. You
have a silent Film festival coming up.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
It's actually hi, Dan, thank you so much. I'm so
happy to be on the program. It's not actually a festival.
It is a program that we are co presenting with
the Tanglewood Music Tangoboleod Learning Institute, Tanglewood Music Center. We
did this last year and we're doing it again tomorrow.
We're thrilled to have that collaboration.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
So this is tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
What time, It's seven o'clock tomorrow. There will be five
short silent films that were all from the nineteen twenties
and conductors conductor fellows. These are all students at the
tangle Wood Learning Institute have composed scores for each one
of those five films, and musicians will be here tomorrow
and conductors from Tanglewood to perform those to each of
(10:59):
the elms.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Give us a little bit of a tease. I'm assuming
I don't know much about the nineteen twenty film industry
except I think it was mostly silent. Bet Charlie Chaplin,
was he one of the in one of the movies tomorrow?
Speaker 4 (11:17):
He's not in one of the movies tomorrow. I have
to say they're pretty esoteric, but they're interesting. They're mostly animated,
and so obviously, as you noted, the films for a
long time were just silent. In fact, when the talkies
came on, there was a lot of concern in the
industry that it would kill the industry.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah. I was very much concerned at that time. I
thought this is going to be the end of the movie. Yeah.
So basically this starts at seven tomorrow night, Coolidge Corner Theater.
Everyone knows where that is.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Is this?
Speaker 2 (11:52):
You said the second year. Have you done this for
more than two years or is this.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Truly Yeah, this is our second year. We're really happy
to have this collaboration. We hope we can continue it.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Excellent. Well, how did it work out last year?
Speaker 4 (12:04):
It worked out great. And what's interesting about it is
that it came about because I lived above or below
a person who became a friend who is now the
director at Tanglewood Music Center, and I'm the CEO of
Coolish Corner Theater and we were talking and the Coolige
just had a silent film program called Sounds of Silence
for many years, and so we often have silent films
with live accompaniment, and so we were saying, hey, I
(12:27):
wonder if the Tanglewood Fellows could do their program. They
do this at tangle Wood every year. They did it
last night. They had two shows. They sell out. So
we're delighted to bring it to Boston a little.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
More convenient for people east of Worcester to go to
the Coolidge.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Yeah, like no traffic on the mass Turnpike.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, coming in at that are the night that's for sure. Well,
this is great. So it was a success last year,
and you're going to double down on it this year.
Give us You said that some of these were like
cartoon films, but some of them have actual human actors
as well. Is it a variety?
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Four out of five are the are animated, and they're
all short. I'm going to say there's nothing particularly familiar.
It's more or a situation of enjoying the student composers
and the student conductors, and the big screen at the Coolidge,
and the camaraderie and the combination of art and film,
which has been inseparable from the beginning of time.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Sounding film, I'm.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I'm just blue sky in here with my questions. Is
there going to be any sort of Q and A
at any point, either before, during, or afterward? People can
ask questions?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
No, there isn't, But what a great idea there isn't
this year, But I think I'll incorporate that in next
year's program.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
You could. You can steal it from me, no costs.
I'm happy to whatsoever. How long have you been at
the Coolist Stature. You've been there for a while.
Speaker 4 (13:46):
I'm been the CEO for twelve years, and I was
on the board for eight years before that. It's certainly
a place near and dear to my heart.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Okay, I just I hit a wrong button here. I apologize. Yeah,
so the I'm sure the price this is reasonable. Tickets
of are the seats available? Tickets available?
Speaker 4 (14:03):
There are seats available. We have a pretty good crub.
Tickets are thirty five dollars. There are thirty two dollars
for members. They're available at Wwwcoolidge dot org. And we'd
love to have more people join us.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Any break for seniors or kids or anything like that,
I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
How about naside listeners? If they say a night side listener,
can we get them awak, tell us.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
They're a member and we'll give them the member price.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I'm just having fun with you, Kathy. I remember you
just being in good Sport, and look, I'm just want
I want to sell it out for you tomorrow night.
That's what I want to do.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
I really appreciate it. I mean, this is a big
thing for me because I'm really determined to elevate the
Coolidge as a cultural art organization in Greater Boston. And
we do a lot with live theater. We don't do
live theater here, but we partner with the Huntingson Theater
and other organizations as a as an artful partnership collaboration
and so to be able to do this BSO is
(15:00):
just really terrific and solidifies our position.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
No, it's great, and look, everybody knows the Coolish Corner Theater.
Everybody appreciates it is really a treasure here in Greater
Boston and it's something that needs to be supported. And
it's just it's a little it's a different night tomorrow night.
This is a one night only, as I understand the.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Correct it is a one night only. We will have
our Sounds of Silent Silence program throughout the year, but
this is the only time we work with the tango
with fellows who are here from all over the world.
They're really pretty extraordinary people.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Sounds great. Kathy Toleman, thanks very much to see you
and executive director the Coolish Corner Theater. Your passion and
your excitement about this is infectious. I'm excited about it.
If I wasn't on the air tomorrow night from eight
to midnight, I'd be over there in the front row.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Oh and you can come another time to something else. Dan,
Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
You're very welcome. Thanks Kathy, you have a great night.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
All right, all.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Right, we have the news coming up here at the
bottom of the hour obviously the eight thirty news, but
I want to encourage some of you. Now we have
a really neat way that you can become a part
of the night Side broadcast. Normally I tell you have
to call and maybe have to wait in the line
a few minutes. However, you can utilize our talkback feature
(16:16):
in the iHeartRadio app. Make sure you download and have
the free, new and improved iHeartRadio app. While you're listening
to the Night Side Live on WBZ News Radio or
during the day, at any point, you can tap the
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(16:39):
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It can be critical, it can be constructively critical. It
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All points of view accepted here. It's that simple. All
you got to do is hit the red microphone button
in the top right corner of the app while listening
to the Night Side and say there's your audio message.
(17:01):
You may want to write a note or two just
to help you out. It's almost like your own PSA
on WBZ, So have at it and hope to hear
from some of you this evening. When we get back,
we're going to talk about a triathlon for kids. The
Boston Triaththon returns to South Boston this weekend August sixteenth
(17:26):
and seventeenth. We're going to be talked with Michae O'Neil.
He's the event director of the Boston Triathlon.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Night side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Well I had some bad information at A twenty nine.
So we will get to the Boston Triathlon in a
few minutes. But first, an old friend of this program,
not an old friend, but a friend of some time,
doctor Shira dourone of the Tofts Medical Center Chief Infection
Control Officer, Doctor Dorone, welcome back.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
How are you so good to.
Speaker 4 (18:00):
Be back with you?
Speaker 5 (18:01):
Thank you, Right back at you.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
We're talking tonight about what's called the Poason virus, a
rare but serious tick borne disease. People I still don't
think realize the danger the ticks present to us. This
virus is suspected of infecting a newborn. I guess was
out on Martha's vineyard first of all, how was this
(18:25):
child doing and it isn't. I believe it's close to
an infant and has had tremendous adverse impact on the
child and the family.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Yeah, I don't have any direct knowledge of how the
child is doing today. You know, the story really hit
the papers, you know, almost a week ago, and at
that time we heard that the baby was in pretty
serious condition, which is certainly something that we see as
a result of the powasan virus, which is a neuro
(18:57):
invasive virus. So it can cause encephalitis or brain swelling.
It can cause meningitis or swelling up the lining of
the brain and spinal cord. It can be very very serious.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yeah, the bacteria, I guess, the spira keep is what's
the danger, and it actually can cause it can carry
some tremendous medical complications. People think about a tick bite
and they say, oh, yeah, I got I got a
little you know, bulls eye on my leg or my
ankle or whatever. It's no problem. But tick born illnesses
(19:32):
can literally take people, you know, and put them in
bed for you know, twenty hours a day. I mean,
it can incapacitate people. I can't emphasize so much now
this poacid virus, is this new or is this something
that's been around and we're just learning about it.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Yeah, so let's break that down a little bit. So
the poasan virus has been around, but it is very
thankfully rare. You know, we only have seen three cases
in Massachusetts this year. We've only had twenty four or
so cases in the United States this year, you know,
(20:14):
on track to be around the same as last year.
So that's not a lot of cases, which is good news.
When we look at ticks and test them in the
state of Massachusetts for the powassan virus, it's actually relatively
common considering how rare the disease is and humans you
can find it and one to two percent of ticks,
and yet we see very few cases, which is good.
(20:37):
You talked about some other tickborn illnesses and it really
does highlight how dangerous tick bites can be. So, this
coactum virus is a virus. The lime spira keup that
you mentioned is bacteria. We also have the visiosis, which
is a parasite, and so you can get all kinds
of nasty things from ticks, as you can from mosquitoes,
and as I sit here, I'm covered with mosquito bites
(20:59):
because I failed at my bugspray application the other night
when I was out after dusk. So you know, bugspray
is your friend at this time of year in particular,
and we do want to try to avoid those tick
and mosquito bites.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
You know, I've told this story before, but I want
to tell it you. And I was working as a
television reporter for many years. Whenever this time of year
there'd be the first case of ein equine equine encephalitis
or one of those mosquito born diseases, and I would
you know, it would have been found somewhere, I don't know,
(21:36):
pick a town, Cohasset or something, and I'd be live
in Cohasset with mosquitoes buzzing around me at five thirty
in the morning when mosquitos are active. Reporting on this
and I thought to me, saif this is not a
great way to elipping, Oh my, here we are and okay, yeah,
and it's it's just out there and these mosquitos. And
(21:57):
I talked to my great friend doctor Al Miller of Texas,
who's probably one of the foremost authorities on ticks and
lime disease and the implications. He believes that a lot
of the neurological problems that people develop later in life
can be directly related to a tick bite that they
(22:18):
had twenty years, thirty years previously, which was not treated
properly with the proper doses of amongst the cylin or
whatever the medication that needs needs to be applied. So
this is very serious stuff, is what I'm trying. I'm
trying to emphasize to people. And when doctors like you
(22:39):
tell us that you've got to apply you know, mosquito repellent,
or you have to wear clothes that have been treated
if you're going to be out in the woods. This
child was in i believe, in a baby carriage and
being pushed by his parents, and somehow they saw the
tick and they, you know, they removed the tick. I
think they threw it way so they didn't get a
(23:01):
chance to get the tick you know, checked out by
the disease control people.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
This is a very unfortunate situation. We don't typically see
these tick bites in babies and children who are too
young to walk right because it generally happens when you're
walking through garassy, wooded brushy areas. And so you know,
you might not even think to look for it in
a baby. That being said, you know, when we think
(23:32):
about lime disease, we think about a tick that's been
in place for twenty four forty eight hours, And if
it hasn't been and it's not engorged, and you can
remove it, you can be pretty confident that you didn't
get lime disease. If it has been there for more
than forty eight hours and it's in gorged, you remove it.
You can usually do a dose of doxy cycling and
(23:52):
antibiotic and prevent the development of limesse. With powas and virus,
there is no treatment. And not only that, but it
actually transmits the virus much faster. It can be in
place for only fifteen minutes and still infect you. And
there isn't actually anything you can do to prevent full
blown infection or anything really to treat the infection once
it happened. So again, that just makes that prevention of
(24:15):
tick bites so so so important. Like you said, wearing
long sleeves and long pants when you're out in those
types of areas, doing those tick checks, showering when you
get back inside, looking in the armpits, and the groin
and behind the knees. You know, those are all really
important steps that you can take.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Yeah, and like it or not, we here in New
England it's called Lime disease after East Lime, Connecticut. We're
in a hot zone and it's something that we need
to We don't necessarily have to worry about things like rattlesnakes,
although I suspect you could find a rattlesnake here or there,
but concerned about tick should be foremost in everyone's mind.
Thank you, doctor Carone. Always great to hear your voice.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Thank you so much, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Good night. When we come back, as promised, a presentative
of the Boston Triathlon, this is an annual kids Day
at the Boston Triathlon this Saturday, free for all kids.
We want to talk about that, and I guess the
triathlon also returns this weekend the sixteenth and seventeenth. We'll
sort it out for you. I think, I think, and
(25:18):
sometimes I'm not really sure, but I think I'm gonna
be talking with michael'neil. Isn't that right, Rob Michae O'Neil,
the executive director of the Boston Triathlon. Good, we got
it right. We'll be back on the Night Side.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
It's Night Side with Ray Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Well, my guest is michael'briant. Mike, welcome to Knights or
Mike O'Neil close close, but no cigar. Mike, welcome to
Night's Side. It's been a confusing night here to start,
so I guess we had a wrong number on you
and we had to move you. So no problem.
Speaker 6 (25:53):
We're good now, right, Yeah, I'm good and thanks for
having me.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Right, You're very welcome. You're the event director the Boston Triathlon.
Tell us about the Boston Triathlon.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
Well, we're in our seventeenth year over in South Boston
at Carson Beach and it's a beautiful venue, clean water,
and the event's grown quite a bit over the years,
and now it's a full weekend event. And so Saturday
is Kid's Day at the Boston Triathlon, a completely free
event all day long for any and all kids. And
(26:26):
there's a fun run for kids under the age of six,
and my three year old daughter will be running her
second fun run on Saturday and she's pretty excited. And
then the older kids will do a splash and dash
where they run after they swim, so they do a
swim and then a run. But on top of that,
other than the racing, the Boston Red Sox are coming
(26:47):
with their mobile batting cage. The Boston Bruins will be
there with their Beef Hit Zone, The New England Revolution
will be there with some inflatable kicking challenges, and the
new women's Boston Legacy Soccer team will also be there.
The Boston Common Golf Team will be there with a
golf simulator for kids and adults, and our partners from
(27:11):
Boston Harbor Now are going to be there with an
interactive booth and there'll be games and prizes, and the
Boston Police Department ice cream truck is coming for the
kids and bringing them there.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
So time is the ice cream truck coming? That's always
a critical question.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
It's a critical question, you know, Dan. I would give
you that information, but you're not a kid, and I'm
afraid you're going to come and show up and take.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
You know me too well, you know me too well,
Just ding.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
They'll probably come around for in the afternoon after the
kids are done their racing, and they'll get to have
an ice cream to celebrate their their accomplishment. So that's
on and then on Sunday's the adult racing.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yeah, so tell me about the let's let's talk about
Sunday too. So the kids are going to have a
lot of fun in ice cream the adults. How long
are the events normally in the triathlon and to talk
about some biking, some swimming, and some running. What is
your triathlon composed of?
Speaker 6 (28:06):
Yeah? Yeah, so it's it's a swimming and biking and running.
And as I always tell my mom, because she gets
confused to what the order is, I tell her, mom,
remember you got to start with the swim because people
would be too tired if that was left. So the
swimming goes first. And then in beautiful Carson Beach right there,
(28:27):
and there's two races. There's a sprint distance and there's
an Olympic distance. And for the sprint distance swim they
swim half a mile, and for the Olympic distance, they
swim a mile. And then they jump on their bike
and it's a completely closed safe course uptable of art
Head up towards Carson Beach out toward Old Head and
(28:50):
when they complete their bike leg, which is twelve miles
for the bike for the shorter race of sprint and
twenty two miles for the Olympic. Then they put on
their running shoes and they do a five k run
for the sprint distance, and then they do a ten
k run for the Olympic distance. So it's it's quite
an accomplishment for everyone. For the average person will probably
(29:14):
take a two hours to do the hour and a
half to two hours for the sprint and you know,
maybe closer to three hours for the Olympic distance race.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I'm exhausted just listening to you right now. This I
know has been You've been doing this for how many
years now?
Speaker 6 (29:36):
This will be our seventeenth year. And you know what
I'm really excited about. What I'm really excited about, Dan,
is when we started this, I think there was very
few people in selfie that knew what a traflon was.
And you know, we've really engaged the neighborhood. We're active
year round. We do a lot in the neighborhood and
you get a lot of people that were runners and
(29:56):
they say, what is this thing here? Oh, maybe maybe
this helps me do a little bit of cross training,
So lighten up on my knees and all the running,
and I can balance it with a little swimming and
a little running, and we also do there are relays
available dance. So someone who's never done a trathlon and
it makes their eyes roll back in their head thinking
about doing a swim, a bike and a run. They
(30:18):
can get together with a couple of friends and split
it up, so one friends the swim and then another
friend does the bike, and then the other friend does
the run. And what's happened over the years is people
that just never could wrap their head around the concept
of doing a trathlon. They come and they do a relay,
(30:39):
and then they look around and they see there's regular
people just like them out there doing it, and then
they set a goal for themselves. Maybe it's getting the
pool and learn how to swim again or learn how
to swim for the first time. And we do a
bunch of training clinics for our customers throughout the year
and try and help people have the tools to feel
(31:00):
confident to take on the race.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Give me a sense of the scope of this event.
How many people are going to participate, and particularly on
Sunday with the adults, are we talking about a couple
of hundred people? How big?
Speaker 6 (31:13):
No, no, no, no, it's it's actually a couple of thousand
and and we're I think we're one of the largest
independent races in the country, and it's it's grown a lot.
When we started seventeen years ago, I think we had
one hundred and fifty people, maybe one hundred the first year,
and we only had the sprint distance. And we've continued
to evolve and grow, and the city of Boston's been supportive.
(31:36):
The state of Massachusetts DCR incredibly supportive, and I think
they've now seen you know, these these these races, you know,
they close down roads and they can be inconvenient, but
they they're they're incredible platform for people, and you know,
people race and raise money for charities. And over the
(31:57):
years that you know, Boston traff On racers have raised
millions of dollars for various charities and that continues. And
so somebody sets a goal, they're they're trying to raise
money for cause that's near and dear to their heart,
and they're also trying to improve themselves and be the
best version of themselves. So it's it's really a pretty
cool thing. And you know that there'll be also hundreds
(32:19):
of people there that are volunteers down that that aren't racing.
Maybe they race in their younger days, or maybe they
never race, but they just they're inspired by the energy
of people doing difficult things and people.
Speaker 3 (32:32):
Asking me help.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Let me help you out here, because I'm sure that
there's people who are thinking about it in this saying
Crossing Beach, beautiful location, but tough to get to, a
nearly impossible to park. Ah. You know, obviously I know
all about the MBTA. Good, so get you over there.
But realistically, for people who might be listening tonight, I
(32:56):
don't know west of one twenty eight and are thinking
about getting involved in this, well, what do you tell them?
Is there any accommodation.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
Problem problem solved? So the event, the event's gone grown
so much that we we have we we call them stakeholders,
people that work with us, that are partners, and UMass
Boston is one of our longtime partners, and so is
Corkoran Jennison, a private a private business that owns the
Double Tree Hotel there, and we are able to we
(33:24):
provide parking, free parking for all of.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Our customers and all of the competitors.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
No no, no, but no no. If someone wants to come
and spectate and check it out, they don't have to volunteer,
they have to do anything. They can come and they
can park for free and we cover that. So you know,
the redlines right there obviously for the folks in town,
but people that are coming. We have athletes. Over the years,
we've had athletes from fifty all fifty states and fifty
(33:50):
countries raise the race. And historically we've had racers from
three hundred and five cities and towns across Massachusetts come
and raise our race. So folks are coming in. One
of the things people say, for a large there's.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Only like three hundred and fifty one. What town are
you missing?
Speaker 6 (34:08):
I don't know, I don't know. I got to look
at that, but it's three oh five in my my team.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Well I told you said three fifty okay.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
So three five, So three o five three or five? Yeah, yeah, okay,
you know three hundred and five that's a pretty good representation.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Well, yeah, you've only got about forty one to go
or fifty fifty one now forty six, forty six. I
did my math in my head, which is always a mistake. Look,
this sounds like a great event, Mike. How can people
get information and there's still room for people to participate.
Speaker 6 (34:38):
There is this room for folks to participate. You know,
we have plenty of room for kids. We have hundreds coming.
But Boston Www Boston Try tri i dot com and
all the informations there and people can volunteer, they can
bring their kids, they can spectate, they can race.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Okay, just remember this. If there's one thing you'll learn
from me today, you know, have to say the www
dot anymore, Boston Try.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
I'm kind of old school a little bit though at
some level.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
So so it's it's Boston Try t r I for triathlon,
Boston Try dot com. Correct, Yes, perfect, perfect?
Speaker 6 (35:19):
Am I going to see you creeping around the ice
cream truck?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Uh? You know I'll probably be in disguise so you
won't be recommend I have the master of the prius
and disguises, so you won't.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
See the weather well stream weather coming. It's going to
be a beautiful weekend.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Mike, best of luck, great cause, thank you very much.
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
All right, we get back. We're going to talk about
the public perception of the Massachusetts State Police and looking
for as many people as possible to weigh into this.
If you, whatever your point of view, you're more than
welcome here at Nightside, coming back right after this
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