September 26, 2025 • 38 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Why the brain hangs on to some memories but lets others fade…BU researchers sought out an answer to this…
Guest: Leo Chenyang Lin (goes by Leo)
How to best prepare for a job interview. What type of questions might come up? What’s the best way to present yourself?
Guest: Laura Brown – Interview and Business Coach - co-author of the new book, Interview Speak: What Your Interviewer Really Wants You to Know
What is Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT)? There is an upcoming Walk Sept 28th to raise funds & awareness for CMT.
Guest: Jill Ricci – a Mom and representative for the CMT Association - & Son Vittorio Ricci – Individual living with CMT is walking and cycling to end the rare, incurable disease her son lives with every day.
A Cursed Brick Returns To the Old North Church after a string of Misfortunes…
Guest: Nikki Stewart - Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, which operates the Old North Church Historic Site
Why the brain hangs on to some memories but lets others fade…BU researchers sought out an answer to this…
Guest: Leo Chenyang Lin (goes by Leo)
How to best prepare for a job interview. What type of questions might come up? What’s the best way to present yourself?
Guest: Laura Brown – Interview and Business Coach - co-author of the new book, Interview Speak: What Your Interviewer Really Wants You to Know
What is Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT)? There is an upcoming Walk Sept 28th to raise funds & awareness for CMT.
Guest: Jill Ricci – a Mom and representative for the CMT Association - & Son Vittorio Ricci – Individual living with CMT is walking and cycling to end the rare, incurable disease her son lives with every day.
A Cursed Brick Returns To the Old North Church after a string of Misfortunes…
Guest: Nikki Stewart - Executive Director of Old North Illuminated, which operates the Old North Church Historic Site
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Night's Eyes with Dan Ray. I'm going you Mazy
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A little bit of a bad news update. The Tigers
just scored the first run. They actually they now have
three runs. They're having a rally in the top of
the fourth and the Red Sox are down three zip.
That has happened literally within the last few seconds. It's
not on nesson tonight, so those of you who have
Apple TV can turn the audio down and participate. Listen
(00:29):
to on Nightside and follow the Red Sox game. My
name is my name is Dan Ray. I'm the host
of Nightside, heard every Monday through Friday night, and this,
of course is Friday night. So I always promise you
on Friday night I will take you right to the weekend,
or to the cusp of the weekend, meaning about eleven
fifty eight. We'll be all set. We'll get you there.
(00:49):
We have a really good show for you tonight. Besides
for interesting guests. In the first hour, we're going to
talk about some comments that Mayor Tom Coke of Quinsy
made on this program on Monday night which has stirred
up a bit of a firestorm. And we will be
(01:09):
joined by a guest, who himself was the victim of
abuse sexual abuse by a Catholic priest at the age
of eight down in Attleborough. I understand that Mayor Coke
had actually sent some individual apologies today to individuals who well,
(01:32):
at least one that I know of. So apologies, apologies
are good and everybody can learn, and so we're not
here to harm Mayor Coke. We're here to make this
a teaching moment for for all of us, for everyone.
And then later on tonight we are going to talk
to you about FBI misconduct here in the Boston office
(01:57):
and how it's spread all the way to Oklahoma. We're
going to tell you the story of h. Paul Rico
through the eyes of the police officer who put the
cuffs on Rico, charged with the meet with the murder
of Roger Wheeler, and Roger Wheeler's son, David Wheeler will
join us tonight. That's going to be a really interesting hour,
(02:17):
I assure you that. And then at eleven we will
have our twentieth hour of the week. But without any
further ado, I would like to go to our first
guest tonight, and it's a wonderful opportunity for me to
welcome a new guest, Leo jen Yang Lynn, to the show,
asking the question why brains hang on to some memories
(02:39):
but let others fade? And Leo was at Boston University
doing some research seeking the answer. And there's a piece
in the Washington Post. Leo, welcome TONIGHT'SID. How are you.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Fair well, Thank you very much, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Dan, You're welcome. I want you to know I read
the piece in the Washington Post and it's not written
by you, but it's a tough concept to understand. You're
dealing with some very interesting ideas, and so maybe you
(03:14):
can explain it better to us verbally than the writer
in the Washington Post put it on a piece of paper.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Well, I'll be trying, yes, So I think one thing
I'll like to point out about our study. One of
our major discovery was that memory isn't just determined by
how intense or emotional experience is. We found that powerful events,
you know, the ones that really matter, can reach out
(03:43):
work in time to strengthen some otherwise very fragile memories
that occurred before and after those salient events. But even
more interesting is that which memories get rescued by the brain.
The brain doesn't just boot everything nearby. It's sort of
a selective process where memories that are semantically or perceptually
(04:03):
similar to the important events we have in our mind
are more likely to be rescued later on. I guess
that was the sort of the main finding that we
have in our Curren style.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Okay, so let's drill down on that a little bit.
I want to ask you a question, since you have
studied this area, I have a question for most people, adults,
you know, people over twenty one or whatever, adults, what
is the earliest memory that most people can actually recall.
(04:36):
I have a reason for asking that question. And at
what age. I don't think anyone can remember the day
that they exited the womb, obviously, and I suspect that
no one can remember specific events in their first year
of life. What is the age when actually memories start
to form memories that stay.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
That is a very interesting question. I've been thinking about
it like too, and for a lot of people, actually
the memories, the memories from the first few years of
their life basically just gone when they become adults. And
that was just a sort of a protective mechanism of
a brain as well, where you know, we have very
limited capacity in the brain to store memories, and we
(05:20):
grow up, you are going to store those that are
most meaningful to you, and therefore those sort of like
the early first few years, memory is going to be
gone for most people unfortunately. And I don't know exactly
the number. I guess the earliest age where people start
to forget things, but I would like to say maybe
(05:42):
five to eight years old. Okay, that's just my.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Guest, Yes, since you're a brain researcher. I mentioned this
the other night, and this is the truth. The first
memory that I have in life, I was two years
old and the memory I was sitting on a stoop.
I grew up in you veterans housing, I guess is
what you call it. And I was sitting on a
stoop and there were firefighters and policemen who ran between
(06:05):
our house and the house next door. And it was
on that day that they discovered the body of a
little girl who had drowned in a fish pool. I
had very specific memory of watching the firefighters and the
police officers run up the driveway. Obviously the little girl
was missing, and they find it. I had located her.
I had located her having drowned in a very shallow
(06:28):
pool of a fish pool. Is it possible for a
child to actually have a memory as early as the
age of two and I can remember it as if
it was yesterday.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Right, I mean, that's totally possible. And for things like that,
you know, some very emotional experience in our life. Unfortunately,
some of them can be sat once. It can totally
it would totally be possible that it may sort of
enhance some of the itself, but also memories that occur
(07:01):
nearby that may sing mundane and first sight, but they
can all be rescued by those emotional experiences.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So let me ask you this. If people in my
audience wanted to sit quietly in a room, can they
as they sit quietly, not in the hubbub of the day,
can they pull memories back out of their brain? Or
once a memory is gone, it's gone forever.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
There's one thing that we have been studying for years.
It's called memory reactivation. It can happen both for short
term and for long term as well. And we definitely
have seen people where they haven't have, you know, remembered
one thing four years and then suddenly one day that
a certain queue and the environment that is related to
(07:56):
that memory can trigger the comeback of the memory. Definitely,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Well, this is this is fascinating stuff. How did you
end up? They talk in this article? It was a
very good article where you had watched some squirrels on
a trip to and that stuck with you because you
really focused, et cetera. So I'm assuming focusing memory the
(08:23):
imprint is clearer. How did you get into this area
of study? If I could ask.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You, Leo, of course you know that that trip you
talked about is actually it's quite new to me because
this is the first time here. I'm here in New
England area, and I think it was the lab trip
two years ago to New Hampshire where we sort of
stopped to see a bunch of squirrels changing each other.
It was quite a scene for me, and hours later
(08:53):
I realized I could vivially remember not only those squirrels,
but also sort of some of the farm animals that
we passed by along the road trip, along road trip
earlier that morning, some details that you would normally just forget,
And that got me thinking, what does why does the
brain cling so tightly to some some trivial details while
letting others slip away, and that that was sort of
(09:14):
the motivation that guide it the work. But you know,
throughout my undergrads and nowadays PhD, I've been very interested
in human memory and that just been a main topic
of my study right now.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And are you through with your your studies? Are you're
still uh in research researching in Boston University or have
you moved on?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
I'm I'm your students still so there are a few
more years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Okay, Well that's great. Look, I really you you made
it much clearer to me than than the article but
the articles in the Washington Post. Uh, and maybe others
why the brain hangs on to some memories but let
others fade. Uh. That's great. And Leo, I really thank you.
I think you're in a fascinating field and I'd love
(10:05):
to talk to you more because this is something that
has always kind of interested me. What good memories bad memories?
And I always thought it was kind of simple that
the things that you remember are the highs and the
lows and not the mundane. But I guess the mundane
can be remembered as well. Thank you so much for
your time. Leo, and I hope we can talk again.
(10:27):
Leo chen Yang Lyn, a graduate student at Boston University
in the whole area of research field of memory.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Thank you very much, absolutely, thanks so much for having me.
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I enjoyed the conversation a whole lot. When we get back,
we're going to talk about how you prep for a
job interview. I think this is someone something that everybody
should be interested. And we're back on night Side right
after the quick break, no phone calls until after nine o'clock.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
All right, welcome back, everybody. Welcome to Laura Brown. Laura
is an interview and business coach, co author of a
new book, Interview Speak What Your Interviewer Really Wants You
to Know? Interesting interesting title. Not what your interviewer wants
to know, but what your interviewer really wants you to know.
(11:22):
Explain that one to me, Laura Brown, Welcome to Night Side.
How are you hey, Dan?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
And it's wonderful to be here. Actually, it really is
what your interviewer really wants to know. So there was
a little there's a little mistake in there.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
What oh what your interviewer really wants you, he.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Really want to because it's all about we translate what
the interviewer is actually saying so people really understand what's
the question behind the question.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay, So let me make sure that I haven't messed
that up for everybody. So the book is interview Speak
what your interviewer really wants you to know? That's the
correct title.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
No, No, it's interview Speak your interviewer really wants to know?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Okay. Yeah, because that threw me when I saw it,
and it's written here on my math card. I don't
know how it got that, but we've straightened that out. Okay,
so that makes a lot of sense. The interviewer is
interviewing you for a potential job, employment, and what do
they want to know about you?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I assume yes. And really it's all about the fact
that the questions might seem simple, and a lot of
times there's a question behind the question, and unless you
really understand why they're asking things, you could give the
wrong answer.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Okay, give us an example. Let's make it. Let's make
it concrete. Give us an example.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Okay, all right, so let me give you the most
common question. So the most common question is tell me
about yourself. Now, this doesn't mean that I can start saying, well,
I went to high school here and I did this,
and here are my hobbit. Is absolutely not And that's
what people think. That the interviewer wants to know about
them generally know what they want to know a little
(12:59):
bit about you. So they want to know how you
connect to this job. So in thirty to sixty seconds,
what you want to do is pick two or three
key things about you that you're proud of, that you're
excited about, that connect to this job. That will help
the interviewer to understand a little bit about you and
why you're interviewing for this.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So if you were to say to the interviewer, I
promise I will never lose my mind and slaughter members
of the company while during the work day, that probably
is not a good thing to tell your interviewer, right, Oh.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
Dan, I would put that under the you're never going
to get hired and okay, I tell stories about about
bad things, but but you just top them all.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I have to say, okay, so what so what what
would you say? So would you sort of does that
an opportunity to kind of brag and say, look, I'm
somebody who is who works one hundred and ten percent
because that's the way I'm wired.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
No, okay, so you don't want realm so well no.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
No, no, you should brag, but honest to goodness, interviewers
have heard all sorts of bs. They've heard I work
one hundred and ten percent. I you know, I don't
have work life balance, and i'm you know, the most
something person that you know. I'm the most honest person,
you know whatever. They don't need that crap anymore. What
they really need to hear is a human being talk
(14:22):
about I work really hard and I get things done,
so it's good to say that. And what you also
want to do, and the preparation is pick a story,
because if you just tell me I work really hard, yeah,
that doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Right, I work really hard.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Let me give you an example of a project that
I ran and we did this, this and this, and
we were able to do it in three months. The
company thought it would take us six months. And so
that's what they want. Don't don't brag without saying, actually,
any stories.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I like that. I like that. So you do you
offer individual prep to people? I mean if people are
going for a job that is, you know, entry level job,
and they don't particularly care if they get it or not.
They don't need your services. Who are the people who
avail themselves of Laura Brown services in anticipation of interviews?
(15:12):
What can you mean? Well, you an idea of your clientele.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
I do do coaching, but really the coaching I do
is about salaries. So I coach people how to ask
for a raise at their current job or how to
get a higher starting salary at their next job. So
while I can do general coaching, my coaching is really
about money.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Okay, So other than falling on your knees and weeping
and begging for money, is there a better way to
do that?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
You know what, Dan, I think there are some better
ways to do it. And that's all about If you're
in a company, it's about preparation. It's about letting your
boss know what you're doing that makes a difference to
the company, and it's about working with your boss, not
thinking your boss is the bad person. And if you're
trying to get a job, it's really all about making
(15:58):
sure that you do the research, what are similar jobs paid,
and then at the end negotiate and talk to them
about why you either want more money or if they
can't give you more money, because sometimes they can't. Are
there other negotiables? Is there a signing bonus, Is there
a stay bonus? Is there a relocation bonus? I mean,
(16:18):
there are all sorts of things that you can ask for,
But it gets back to you have to be prepared.
You have to know what you're doing now.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Everything that I read recently is that there there's an
undersupply of qualified people for whatever job level we're talking about,
and that there is some power that is on the
job applicant side of the table, whether it's a first
time job, job on your career path, and the companies
(16:49):
really are having a tough time finding good qualified candidates
who they can they can have, they can buy into.
Is that true? Who's that fiction?
Speaker 4 (17:02):
It's sort of true, because that's what the opposite. Yeah,
So no, I mean, I because I hear from people
that have been out of jobs for months and months
and it's really hard and they get ghosted and things
like that. And I've also talked to companies like we
can't find the right person for this. What I would
be careful about is that you don't want to go
into an interview thinking, well, you know, I am the
(17:23):
best person or I have you know, this sort of degree,
because they are testing you and they are seeing if
you are the right person when you have the most leverages.
After you go through the interviews and they give you
the offer, now it's your time to sort of test
is this the place I really want to work? But
until then you really don't have a lot of leverage.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Okay, here's a final question, and it's half serious. You
know my questions are half serious. The question is you're
going through a job interview. Everyone is going to be
nervous if you really want the job. Other than having
a couple of drinks before that job interview, what can
you do so to calm yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Well, I'm going to point out the interviewer.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Is also nervous.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
They have a lot of fear. We don't think about that.
They're afraid that if they hire you and you mess up,
they're gonna look bad. But for the INTERVIEWE what you
need to do? To me, it's all about preparation. That prepare, prepare, prepare.
You've got your stories, you've got your ideas, and then
I say do whatever it is that calms you down.
If it's play loud music, if it's play you know,
(18:28):
let it go, if it's dance around, if it's meditate,
whatever it is, think about what can I do so
I feel calmer when I go into the interview.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Okay, but certainly wear pants. That's an important thing, you
know what.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
And if it's funny. We don't specifically talk about that
and interview speak, but we do say you should you know,
you should dress well. And obviously you know everybody's seeing that,
you know the videos that people are not wearing pants.
So yes, that's important. But we also talk about things like,
I mean, you have to be this is gonna sound funny.
Make sure you don't have a fan on that's in
the video if you've got let's say on zoom, because
(19:05):
that's really distracting, and so you really have to think
about again what is around you.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yes, yes, I had a lot of more zoom interviews
now than ever before. Laura, you're a good sport. It's
a serious subject and I like to have fun with
my guests, and you were a guest I had a
lot of fun with and I think people listened better, uh,
and they've they've learned something from you tonight, and thank
you very much. If folks want to get in touch
with you. You got a new book, tell us where
they can get the book, tell us how they can
(19:31):
get in touch with you.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Thank you so much. Dan, it's been a pleasure talking
to you and laughingly you. They can get interview speak
what your interviewer really wants to know. They can go
to my website Careercoffee Break dot com, where they can
get a forty five percent discount on it. They can
reach me there. It's also on Amazon, but if you
go to my website you get the discount.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Sounds great. And the website one more time is career.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
It's Careercoffee Break dot com. So you can it's ideas
to sip while you have a cup of coffee.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Sounds great. Laura, thank you very much. Love to have
you back. You're a great guest.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Thank you, Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Have a great day you too.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
We have a great weekend. We got the news at
the bottom of the air and we come back when
we talk about a rare I think, a relatively weird
disease that we should know more of, and also an
upcoming walk On September twenty eighth, So that is this
weekend Sunday, and we want to make you aware of that.
It's going to be out in Lexington at the Lexington
(20:28):
Visitors Center, so those of you who are in that
neck of the woods pay attention. We'll be back right
after the news at the bottom of the ar We're
a couple of minutes late. And I had fun with
Laura Brown.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on w Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I want to welcome Jill Ritchie, a representative of the
CMT Association, along with her son Vittorio, who actually is
an individual who is living with CMT. And CMT is
a incurable disease and it is I think relatively rare.
(21:05):
I had not heard of it before the last couple
of days. It's called the Sharcott Marietooth disease, and I
kept looking at that trying to figure out that's actually
the names of the three doctors who identified this disease.
Jill and Victorial welcome to Night's Side.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Thanks Stan, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
L You're very welcome. Victoria. How old are you? If
I could ask, how long have you been dealing with
this condition? Oh?
Speaker 7 (21:35):
I'm twenty seven right now, but I was technically diagnosed
around the age of fourteen. But you know, this being
a genetic disease, I was esventually born with it and
didn't really start showing symptoms until around thirteen, fourteen years old.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Okay, So I want to ask your mom, Jill, this
had to be as a circus set of circumstances that
that no parent wants. But I believe and I'm told
that you and your son and your family are very close.
(22:12):
Tell us about the disease, which normally the disease is
someone some that that we've heard of. What what what
is Victorio dealing with and how is he doing?
Speaker 6 (22:24):
Vittoria was doing fantastic. Actually, CNT is the most commonly
inherited peripheral neuropathy and I had never heard of it.
No one in our family had ever heard of it.
And we did try going back to see if there
was something in the grandparents that might have had this disease,
but we could not find anything. So it caused. It's
(22:46):
a rare disease that causes muscle weakness. The symptoms can
include atrophy of the arms and legs, sensory loss, other
complications like that. For Vittorio, he was you know, he
had developed a foot drop around fourteen, and that's when
we went on this cycle of going to different doctors
(23:08):
to try and figure out what was going on and
what was wrong. And like many people that live with CMT,
it can be months even years to find out that
you have CMT. So and that was our story as well.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Okay, when you say foot drop as he's walking, is
it something that is noticeable or is it something that
that his his pace is somewhat off? How would you
describe it beyond just the word foot drop?
Speaker 6 (23:37):
For Victorio, it started with his big toe, and I
think it was Victoria, you want to talk about this actually, sure?
Speaker 8 (23:44):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, I could talk a little bit to it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
So foot drop is kind of like, you know, being
diagnosed with a rare disease like this, you pick up
a lot of medical terms and whatnot. So foot drop
is I kind of think of it like being able
to like walk in your heel or being able to
walk on your toes. So being able to have that
flexibility in the ankle, the ability to manipulate your foot
in that way. So I originally noticed that I was
(24:11):
tripping around the house, so that I couldn't really engage my
big toe, and so I get my toe would get
caught on the carpet, and I tripped when I was thirteen,
fourteen years old.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
And so now how has that You're now twice as old.
You told me you were twenty seven. Yeah. Has that
condition worsened as it stabilized?
Speaker 8 (24:34):
Yeah, So this is a progressive disease. It kind of
varies on what age it sets on. It's pretty common
for it to set around that kind of like early
teen age in most people, and then it tends to
progress on. So I've developed a pretty significant neuropathy in
my lower legs, so below my knee, I pretty much
have no motor function. I can't really flex my ankles
(24:58):
or move anything below my I need so of course,
like my calf muscles is pretty much after feed, I'm
fortunate enough I still have some all my sensory nerves
are still intact, so I can still feel. And another
common one is a lot of people end up getting
nerve damage below the elbow as well, so affecting their
ability to manipulate their fingers and grip things. And fortunately
(25:20):
for me that hasn't really been too impacted by this.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
What's the prognosis, Victoria? What are you? First of all,
are you able to work? You're twenty seven. I assume
you would be working at that age. What are you
working now? Don't have to tell me. Where are we? Yeah? Good?
So you keep busy.
Speaker 8 (25:40):
Yeah, it's actually pretty important for people with neurological conditions
to keep active in order to maintain that strength, maintain flexibility.
It's even more important to have like the muscles that
are intact be a little bit of extra strong so
that they can kind of compensate for the other underlying weaknesses.
But there's a lot of great medical tech out there now.
(26:01):
I wear like braces called ankle foot orthotics, and there's
all types of different AFOs you can get out there
at different companies that.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Kind of.
Speaker 8 (26:12):
Do They They essentially act as like scaffolding on the
leg and they can fit into shoes and kind of
help provide balance and remedy some of the muscle weakness there.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yeah. Look, there's there's a lot that people are doing.
Your prognosis. You sound great. I'm hoping that your prognosis
is for a long and healthy existence, long and healthy life.
I want to get back to your mom here, tell
us about the walk and cycling. Uh this week this Sunday.
It's at Lexington, the Lexington Visitors Center. You hope to
(26:46):
raise some money uh for research? Tell us about it?
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Yes, definitely. Yeah. So Victoria and I run Help Run
together the Boston c MTA branch and we've been involved
for about twelve years with the Charco Marie Tooth Association.
This will be our eleventh walk on Sunday at the
Visitors Center in Lexington. It starts at nine and there
(27:12):
is a half mile walk and there are four different
bike rides you can go on, or you can just
come join us at the visitor Center. You don't have
to walk or.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Mike and I assume that people can go there and
if they want to make a donation or if they
I see your teams where people are raising funds. It
sounds like it's going to be a great day. The
weather looks like it's going to be good on Sunday.
I checked the weather forecast this afternoon. I'm serious, guys,
look good.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Yeah, it looks great.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
A little bit of rain, I guess in the overnight
between Saturday and Sunday, but that'll just damp down the
dust or whatever, and it'll be perfect conditions. How much
would you do you hope to raise or have you.
Speaker 6 (27:54):
Raised in other years? We hope to raise over fifty
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
That's not a bad day's work, that's good.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
Yeah. Yeah, And again, the people that have this disease
are the ones that go out and rally for themselves.
They know that funding research continues, the progress to find
new types of CMT and hopefully new clinical trials, and
so yeah, we we all pitch in and do it
for ending CMT. I always like to call it funding
(28:25):
the fight.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
To I like that too. I never I never like
when they say there's a I don't know, a walk
for filling the disease. That preposition for says, well are
you walking to combat it? But so I like funding
the fight. That's I like the terminology there. How can
folks get in touch, get more information or maybe just
(28:46):
become supporters of the CMTMT Association.
Speaker 6 (28:50):
People can go to the website is c MTA USA
dot org and they can see the walk cycle, they
can see all the branches that there are. There are
branches for CMT across the country. And again, if they
want to click on the local branch of Boston. They can,
(29:14):
you know, see what we're doing in Lexington.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
That's great. Well, you guys are going to have a
great day on Sunday. I hope you raise a lot
of money and let's hope that with research this this
disease can become something that we can talk about in
the past tense. That maybe that would be great. Victoria,
thank you very much. You sound like a great young man.
And Jill, you've raised a great sun and you've been
(29:39):
a great role model. Thanks for all you do, not
only for your family, but for all the families affected
by CMT. Thank you.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Have a great, great day on Sunday. When we get back.
We're going to talk about this is an interesting one.
They're all interesting today, but this is a story about
a cursed brick that was stolen from the Old North Church.
It led to a string of misfortunes as we understand
it for the person who absconded with the brick, and
(30:10):
the brick has been returned. This is an interesting story.
Nikki Stewart, executive director of the Old North Illuminated which
operates the Old North Church historic site, will join us.
This is going to be an interesting story, stay with us,
and then we have two well, we have three great
hours of radio coming up tonight. I normally don't brag,
(30:31):
but if you've ever listened to Nightside, tonight is the
night to listen. You will walk away from the show
after midnight and always want to listen to Nightside. I'm
so proud of what we've put together tonight in the
eight o'clock hour, but also in the nine to ten
of the eleven We'll come on right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
So this is a story about a historic monument, a
church in Greater Boston and actually in the North End,
and a cursed brick which was stolen from this church
under mysterious circumstances, and the brick while it was in
captivity apparently caused a string of misfortunes to the thieves
(31:15):
who had absconded with the brick. The brick has now
been returned anonymously. No one understands why or how. And
with us is Nicki Stewart. She's the executive director of
the Old North Illuminated, which operates the Old North Church
historic site, and Nicki is going to explain to us
all of the eccentricities of this story and the mysteries
that none of us have been able to solve. Nicky,
(31:37):
I'm a little scared to do this interview. I'm not
scared to do interviews normally, but this one sounds particularly scary.
How are you tonight?
Speaker 5 (31:45):
I am great. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
I tried to get people in the mood here, you know,
so I'm just trying. Yeah, okay, all right, So, first
of all, how is a brick stolen from the old
North Church? I would assume you have some guards at
every door and making sure that no bricks walk off
the property unescorted.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Oh I do, now, you know, we can't say for sure,
but we did do a major restoration in the crypt
in twenty twenty three in partnership with the National Park Service.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I remember that we talked about that on my show. Yeah,
go ahead.
Speaker 5 (32:22):
Before or after that project, there were some loose bricks around.
I think somebody probably picked one up, either right before
or after that restoration.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Okay, so they absconded with the brick, no conscience whatsoever,
no concern for historical artifacts, and then soul right, Well,
we can't make that judgment, but you know what I'm saying.
So that's the higher power. So they finally decided that
what they had done needed to be reversed, uh, and
(32:55):
they took it upon themselves to return the brick. It
wasn't returned by Camp Pigeon. It wasn't returned by some
sort of men riding a horse like Paul Revere. It
came in what FedEx or some one of those.
Speaker 5 (33:09):
It came, Yeah, just came through the regular US mail.
It was a small brown box, no return address. It
was postmarked from San Jose. So we know the thief lives.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
In San Jose or near San Jose or.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Near They could have cross town lines to protect their anonymity.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
You never know what these people, anyone that would steal
a brick would cross town lines.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
So they would.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
They sent it and they explained was there a letter
or a note of apology or contrition?
Speaker 5 (33:39):
There was there was. There was a little a tiny
little note on just a little scrap of paper that said,
my husband took this brick from the crypt.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
A likely story.
Speaker 5 (33:51):
My suspicion is return.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
But the wife probably said, hey, do me a favor,
grab that brick. But that's okay, I'm just speculating. Go ahead, yep.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
So my husband took this from the crypt. We've had
a string of bad luck and we want to return
the brick.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Well, the brick accomplished its task and is in its
rightful place. I understand that the brick is now under glass,
not like pheasant under glass, but a brick under glass.
Speaker 5 (34:19):
It's on a nice little plint. It has a velvet cushion,
and it does sit in a glass box now, so
we want it to feel comfortable and secure.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
And is it on display? And is it it's an
archive of note? Is it going to stay in on
display for a long time?
Speaker 5 (34:40):
It is on display right now, along with the note.
And so anyone who comes for our after hours cryptors
or who gets our combo passed during the day, they
will all get to go in the crypt and see
it and take their photos and not take anything else.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
And they can't know. Yeah, they can take a selfie
with the brick.
Speaker 5 (35:01):
I assume they absolutely can.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Well, this is wow. Has anything like this ever happened before?
Speaker 1 (35:09):
You know?
Speaker 2 (35:09):
I'm serious. I wanted to interject a little note of
drama and also levity simultaneously. But has this happened before
your historic site. And I'm sure that I remember watching
a friend of mine once a long time ago, long
before the Statue of Limitations, attempt to take something out
(35:30):
of the Pont de Hac, which was the German machine
gun nests on Omaha Beach, with all sorts of signage
that said in English and German and French, do not
touch anything. And I was saying, are you nuts, We're
gonna know to be arrested. We're gonna be We're gonna
be jailed in France if you take that. And so
(35:51):
what what why would someone do this? And has this
has never happened before. I mean, there's there's no more historic.
It is one of the most historic sites in in
the history of this country. So you can understand why
people might say, wouldn't it be great to like take
a pebble or something the brick?
Speaker 5 (36:09):
Yeah, you know, I understand people want unique souvenirs. You know,
we did receive maybe ten or fifteen years ago, the
church actually received an entire tombstone in the mail that
someone had stolen from Copshill Cemetery and then started to
feel guilty about it, and so he sent it to
(36:29):
the church. So I think these things happen, but it's
not a good idea to steal from a cemetery or
a church or a crypt. You know, maybe things catch
up with you.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yeah, But so someone loved a tombstone? Did you ever
find out who that was? Was anyone ever charged with that?
I mean, that's really nasty.
Speaker 5 (36:53):
So what the person explained in the letter is that
this was a This is a very older gentleman who
had had it for several decades, and when he was
in the navy and his ship was in Boston, he
brought it, took it out of the cemetery, brought it
back on the ship, and so he had it for
much of his life, and then as an older man
started to feel guilty.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
What where was he from? If you recall, I'm just
kind of curious.
Speaker 5 (37:18):
I mean, I don't think we knew that. I don't
think that information was provided.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
But how crazy is that? What are you going to
do with that? You're going to show your friends and
people are weird? People are weird?
Speaker 5 (37:32):
He indicated in the letter he used it as a
coffee table.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Oh god, well, I mean, first of all, that's disrespectful.
Whoever's whoever that tombstone absolutely mortalized, no question, no question, Nikki,
thank you, thank you very much. Of course, the Old
North Church is always available. Anyone who has lived within
Boston for any more than twenty years and hasn't visited
the Old North Church needs to get there and support
(37:59):
this wonder full, wonderful structure. Thank you so much, and
thank you for sharing the story. Thanks Nikki, you talk okay.
On Monday night, we had the Mayor of Quincy with
us and there were some comments that were made that
infuriated a lot of people. As a matter of fact,
the Boston Herald has called for the mayor's resignation. I'm
not sure that's going to occur, but I think it
was interesting. And we are going to be talking with
(38:21):
a victim of Father Porter, one of the earliest pedophile priests,
and we'll be talking with Claude Leboeuff right after the
nine o'clock news here on Nightside
It's Night's Eyes with Dan Ray. I'm going you Mazy
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
A little bit of a bad news update. The Tigers
just scored the first run. They actually they now have
three runs. They're having a rally in the top of
the fourth and the Red Sox are down three zip.
That has happened literally within the last few seconds. It's
not on nesson tonight, so those of you who have
Apple TV can turn the audio down and participate. Listen
(00:29):
to on Nightside and follow the Red Sox game. My
name is my name is Dan Ray. I'm the host
of Nightside, heard every Monday through Friday night, and this,
of course is Friday night. So I always promise you
on Friday night I will take you right to the weekend,
or to the cusp of the weekend, meaning about eleven
fifty eight. We'll be all set. We'll get you there.
(00:49):
We have a really good show for you tonight. Besides
for interesting guests. In the first hour, we're going to
talk about some comments that Mayor Tom Coke of Quinsy
made on this program on Monday night which has stirred
up a bit of a firestorm. And we will be
(01:09):
joined by a guest, who himself was the victim of
abuse sexual abuse by a Catholic priest at the age
of eight down in Attleborough. I understand that Mayor Coke
had actually sent some individual apologies today to individuals who well,
(01:32):
at least one that I know of. So apologies, apologies
are good and everybody can learn, and so we're not
here to harm Mayor Coke. We're here to make this
a teaching moment for for all of us, for everyone.
And then later on tonight we are going to talk
to you about FBI misconduct here in the Boston office
(01:57):
and how it's spread all the way to Oklahoma. We're
going to tell you the story of h. Paul Rico
through the eyes of the police officer who put the
cuffs on Rico, charged with the meet with the murder
of Roger Wheeler, and Roger Wheeler's son, David Wheeler will
join us tonight. That's going to be a really interesting hour,
(02:17):
I assure you that. And then at eleven we will
have our twentieth hour of the week. But without any
further ado, I would like to go to our first
guest tonight, and it's a wonderful opportunity for me to
welcome a new guest, Leo jen Yang Lynn, to the show,
asking the question why brains hang on to some memories
(02:39):
but let others fade? And Leo was at Boston University
doing some research seeking the answer. And there's a piece
in the Washington Post. Leo, welcome TONIGHT'SID. How are you.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Fair well, Thank you very much, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Dan, You're welcome. I want you to know I read
the piece in the Washington Post and it's not written
by you, but it's a tough concept to understand. You're
dealing with some very interesting ideas, and so maybe you
(03:14):
can explain it better to us verbally than the writer
in the Washington Post put it on a piece of paper.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Well, I'll be trying, yes, So I think one thing
I'll like to point out about our study. One of
our major discovery was that memory isn't just determined by
how intense or emotional experience is. We found that powerful events,
you know, the ones that really matter, can reach out
(03:43):
work in time to strengthen some otherwise very fragile memories
that occurred before and after those salient events. But even
more interesting is that which memories get rescued by the brain.
The brain doesn't just boot everything nearby. It's sort of
a selective process where memories that are semantically or perceptually
(04:03):
similar to the important events we have in our mind
are more likely to be rescued later on. I guess
that was the sort of the main finding that we
have in our Curren style.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Okay, so let's drill down on that a little bit.
I want to ask you a question, since you have
studied this area, I have a question for most people, adults,
you know, people over twenty one or whatever, adults, what
is the earliest memory that most people can actually recall.
(04:36):
I have a reason for asking that question. And at
what age. I don't think anyone can remember the day
that they exited the womb, obviously, and I suspect that
no one can remember specific events in their first year
of life. What is the age when actually memories start
to form memories that stay.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
That is a very interesting question. I've been thinking about
it like too, and for a lot of people, actually
the memories, the memories from the first few years of
their life basically just gone when they become adults. And
that was just a sort of a protective mechanism of
a brain as well, where you know, we have very
limited capacity in the brain to store memories, and we
(05:20):
grow up, you are going to store those that are
most meaningful to you, and therefore those sort of like
the early first few years, memory is going to be
gone for most people unfortunately. And I don't know exactly
the number. I guess the earliest age where people start
to forget things, but I would like to say maybe
(05:42):
five to eight years old. Okay, that's just my.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Guest, Yes, since you're a brain researcher. I mentioned this
the other night, and this is the truth. The first
memory that I have in life, I was two years
old and the memory I was sitting on a stoop.
I grew up in you veterans housing, I guess is
what you call it. And I was sitting on a
stoop and there were firefighters and policemen who ran between
(06:05):
our house and the house next door. And it was
on that day that they discovered the body of a
little girl who had drowned in a fish pool. I
had very specific memory of watching the firefighters and the
police officers run up the driveway. Obviously the little girl
was missing, and they find it. I had located her.
I had located her having drowned in a very shallow
(06:28):
pool of a fish pool. Is it possible for a
child to actually have a memory as early as the
age of two and I can remember it as if
it was yesterday.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Right, I mean, that's totally possible. And for things like that,
you know, some very emotional experience in our life. Unfortunately,
some of them can be sat once. It can totally
it would totally be possible that it may sort of
enhance some of the itself, but also memories that occur
(07:01):
nearby that may sing mundane and first sight, but they
can all be rescued by those emotional experiences.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So let me ask you this. If people in my
audience wanted to sit quietly in a room, can they
as they sit quietly, not in the hubbub of the day,
can they pull memories back out of their brain? Or
once a memory is gone, it's gone forever.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
There's one thing that we have been studying for years.
It's called memory reactivation. It can happen both for short
term and for long term as well. And we definitely
have seen people where they haven't have, you know, remembered
one thing four years and then suddenly one day that
a certain queue and the environment that is related to
(07:56):
that memory can trigger the comeback of the memory. Definitely,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Well, this is this is fascinating stuff. How did you
end up? They talk in this article? It was a
very good article where you had watched some squirrels on
a trip to and that stuck with you because you
really focused, et cetera. So I'm assuming focusing memory the
(08:23):
imprint is clearer. How did you get into this area
of study? If I could ask.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
You, Leo, of course you know that that trip you
talked about is actually it's quite new to me because
this is the first time here. I'm here in New
England area, and I think it was the lab trip
two years ago to New Hampshire where we sort of
stopped to see a bunch of squirrels changing each other.
It was quite a scene for me, and hours later
(08:53):
I realized I could vivially remember not only those squirrels,
but also sort of some of the farm animals that
we passed by along the road trip, along road trip
earlier that morning, some details that you would normally just forget,
And that got me thinking, what does why does the
brain cling so tightly to some some trivial details while
letting others slip away, and that that was sort of
(09:14):
the motivation that guide it the work. But you know,
throughout my undergrads and nowadays PhD, I've been very interested
in human memory and that just been a main topic
of my study right now.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And are you through with your your studies? Are you're
still uh in research researching in Boston University or have
you moved on?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
I'm I'm your students still so there are a few
more years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Okay, Well that's great. Look, I really you you made
it much clearer to me than than the article but
the articles in the Washington Post. Uh, and maybe others
why the brain hangs on to some memories but let
others fade. Uh. That's great. And Leo, I really thank you.
I think you're in a fascinating field and I'd love
(10:05):
to talk to you more because this is something that
has always kind of interested me. What good memories bad memories?
And I always thought it was kind of simple that
the things that you remember are the highs and the
lows and not the mundane. But I guess the mundane
can be remembered as well. Thank you so much for
your time. Leo, and I hope we can talk again.
(10:27):
Leo chen Yang Lyn, a graduate student at Boston University
in the whole area of research field of memory.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Thank you very much, absolutely, thanks so much for having me.
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
I enjoyed the conversation a whole lot. When we get back,
we're going to talk about how you prep for a
job interview. I think this is someone something that everybody
should be interested. And we're back on night Side right
after the quick break, no phone calls until after nine o'clock.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
All right, welcome back, everybody. Welcome to Laura Brown. Laura
is an interview and business coach, co author of a
new book, Interview Speak What Your Interviewer Really Wants You
to Know? Interesting interesting title. Not what your interviewer wants
to know, but what your interviewer really wants you to know.
(11:22):
Explain that one to me, Laura Brown, Welcome to Night Side.
How are you hey, Dan?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
And it's wonderful to be here. Actually, it really is
what your interviewer really wants to know. So there was
a little there's a little mistake in there.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
What oh what your interviewer really wants you, he.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Really want to because it's all about we translate what
the interviewer is actually saying so people really understand what's
the question behind the question.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Okay, So let me make sure that I haven't messed
that up for everybody. So the book is interview Speak
what your interviewer really wants you to know? That's the
correct title.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
No, No, it's interview Speak your interviewer really wants to know?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Okay. Yeah, because that threw me when I saw it,
and it's written here on my math card. I don't
know how it got that, but we've straightened that out. Okay,
so that makes a lot of sense. The interviewer is
interviewing you for a potential job, employment, and what do
they want to know about you?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I assume yes. And really it's all about the fact
that the questions might seem simple, and a lot of
times there's a question behind the question, and unless you
really understand why they're asking things, you could give the
wrong answer.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Okay, give us an example. Let's make it. Let's make
it concrete. Give us an example.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Okay, all right, so let me give you the most
common question. So the most common question is tell me
about yourself. Now, this doesn't mean that I can start saying, well,
I went to high school here and I did this,
and here are my hobbit. Is absolutely not And that's
what people think. That the interviewer wants to know about
them generally know what they want to know a little
(12:59):
bit about you. So they want to know how you
connect to this job. So in thirty to sixty seconds,
what you want to do is pick two or three
key things about you that you're proud of, that you're
excited about, that connect to this job. That will help
the interviewer to understand a little bit about you and
why you're interviewing for this.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So if you were to say to the interviewer, I
promise I will never lose my mind and slaughter members
of the company while during the work day, that probably
is not a good thing to tell your interviewer, right, Oh.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
Dan, I would put that under the you're never going
to get hired and okay, I tell stories about about
bad things, but but you just top them all.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I have to say, okay, so what so what what
would you say? So would you sort of does that
an opportunity to kind of brag and say, look, I'm
somebody who is who works one hundred and ten percent
because that's the way I'm wired.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I absolutely not.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
No, okay, so you don't want realm so well no.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
No, no, you should brag, but honest to goodness, interviewers
have heard all sorts of bs. They've heard I work
one hundred and ten percent. I you know, I don't
have work life balance, and i'm you know, the most
something person that you know. I'm the most honest person,
you know whatever. They don't need that crap anymore. What
they really need to hear is a human being talk
(14:22):
about I work really hard and I get things done,
so it's good to say that. And what you also
want to do, and the preparation is pick a story,
because if you just tell me I work really hard, yeah,
that doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
Right, I work really hard.
Speaker 4 (14:34):
Let me give you an example of a project that
I ran and we did this, this and this, and
we were able to do it in three months. The
company thought it would take us six months. And so
that's what they want. Don't don't brag without saying, actually,
any stories.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I like that. I like that. So you do you
offer individual prep to people? I mean if people are
going for a job that is, you know, entry level job,
and they don't particularly care if they get it or not.
They don't need your services. Who are the people who
avail themselves of Laura Brown services in anticipation of interviews?
(15:12):
What can you mean? Well, you an idea of your clientele.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
I do do coaching, but really the coaching I do
is about salaries. So I coach people how to ask
for a raise at their current job or how to
get a higher starting salary at their next job. So
while I can do general coaching, my coaching is really
about money.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Okay, So other than falling on your knees and weeping
and begging for money, is there a better way to
do that?
Speaker 4 (15:35):
You know what, Dan, I think there are some better
ways to do it. And that's all about If you're
in a company, it's about preparation. It's about letting your
boss know what you're doing that makes a difference to
the company, and it's about working with your boss, not
thinking your boss is the bad person. And if you're
trying to get a job, it's really all about making
(15:58):
sure that you do the research, what are similar jobs paid,
and then at the end negotiate and talk to them
about why you either want more money or if they
can't give you more money, because sometimes they can't. Are
there other negotiables? Is there a signing bonus, Is there
a stay bonus? Is there a relocation bonus? I mean,
(16:18):
there are all sorts of things that you can ask for,
But it gets back to you have to be prepared.
You have to know what you're doing now.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Everything that I read recently is that there there's an
undersupply of qualified people for whatever job level we're talking about,
and that there is some power that is on the
job applicant side of the table, whether it's a first
time job, job on your career path, and the companies
(16:49):
really are having a tough time finding good qualified candidates
who they can they can have, they can buy into.
Is that true? Who's that fiction?
Speaker 4 (17:02):
It's sort of true, because that's what the opposite. Yeah,
So no, I mean, I because I hear from people
that have been out of jobs for months and months
and it's really hard and they get ghosted and things
like that. And I've also talked to companies like we
can't find the right person for this. What I would
be careful about is that you don't want to go
into an interview thinking, well, you know, I am the
(17:23):
best person or I have you know, this sort of degree,
because they are testing you and they are seeing if
you are the right person when you have the most leverages.
After you go through the interviews and they give you
the offer, now it's your time to sort of test
is this the place I really want to work? But
until then you really don't have a lot of leverage.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Okay, here's a final question, and it's half serious. You
know my questions are half serious. The question is you're
going through a job interview. Everyone is going to be
nervous if you really want the job. Other than having
a couple of drinks before that job interview, what can
you do so to calm yourself.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Well, I'm going to point out the interviewer.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Is also nervous.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
They have a lot of fear. We don't think about that.
They're afraid that if they hire you and you mess up,
they're gonna look bad. But for the INTERVIEWE what you
need to do? To me, it's all about preparation. That prepare, prepare, prepare.
You've got your stories, you've got your ideas, and then
I say do whatever it is that calms you down.
If it's play loud music, if it's play you know,
(18:28):
let it go, if it's dance around, if it's meditate,
whatever it is, think about what can I do so
I feel calmer when I go into the interview.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Okay, but certainly wear pants. That's an important thing, you
know what.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
And if it's funny. We don't specifically talk about that
and interview speak, but we do say you should you know,
you should dress well. And obviously you know everybody's seeing that,
you know the videos that people are not wearing pants.
So yes, that's important. But we also talk about things like,
I mean, you have to be this is gonna sound funny.
Make sure you don't have a fan on that's in
the video if you've got let's say on zoom, because
(19:05):
that's really distracting, and so you really have to think
about again what is around you.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yes, yes, I had a lot of more zoom interviews
now than ever before. Laura, you're a good sport. It's
a serious subject and I like to have fun with
my guests, and you were a guest I had a
lot of fun with and I think people listened better, uh,
and they've they've learned something from you tonight, and thank
you very much. If folks want to get in touch
with you. You got a new book, tell us where
they can get the book, tell us how they can
(19:31):
get in touch with you.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Thank you so much. Dan, it's been a pleasure talking
to you and laughingly you. They can get interview speak
what your interviewer really wants to know. They can go
to my website Careercoffee Break dot com, where they can
get a forty five percent discount on it. They can
reach me there. It's also on Amazon, but if you
go to my website you get the discount.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Sounds great. And the website one more time is career.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
It's Careercoffee Break dot com. So you can it's ideas
to sip while you have a cup of coffee.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Sounds great. Laura, thank you very much. Love to have
you back. You're a great guest.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Thank you, Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Have a great day you too.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
We have a great weekend. We got the news at
the bottom of the air and we come back when
we talk about a rare I think, a relatively weird
disease that we should know more of, and also an
upcoming walk On September twenty eighth, So that is this
weekend Sunday, and we want to make you aware of that.
It's going to be out in Lexington at the Lexington
(20:28):
Visitors Center, so those of you who are in that
neck of the woods pay attention. We'll be back right
after the news at the bottom of the ar We're
a couple of minutes late. And I had fun with
Laura Brown.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on w Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
I want to welcome Jill Ritchie, a representative of the
CMT Association, along with her son Vittorio, who actually is
an individual who is living with CMT. And CMT is
a incurable disease and it is I think relatively rare.
(21:05):
I had not heard of it before the last couple
of days. It's called the Sharcott Marietooth disease, and I
kept looking at that trying to figure out that's actually
the names of the three doctors who identified this disease.
Jill and Victorial welcome to Night's Side.
Speaker 6 (21:26):
Thanks Stan, thanks for having us.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
L You're very welcome. Victoria. How old are you? If
I could ask, how long have you been dealing with
this condition? Oh?
Speaker 7 (21:35):
I'm twenty seven right now, but I was technically diagnosed
around the age of fourteen. But you know, this being
a genetic disease, I was esventually born with it and
didn't really start showing symptoms until around thirteen, fourteen years old.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Okay, So I want to ask your mom, Jill, this
had to be as a circus set of circumstances that
that no parent wants. But I believe and I'm told
that you and your son and your family are very close.
(22:12):
Tell us about the disease, which normally the disease is
someone some that that we've heard of. What what what
is Victorio dealing with and how is he doing?
Speaker 6 (22:24):
Vittoria was doing fantastic. Actually, CNT is the most commonly
inherited peripheral neuropathy and I had never heard of it.
No one in our family had ever heard of it.
And we did try going back to see if there
was something in the grandparents that might have had this disease,
but we could not find anything. So it caused. It's
(22:46):
a rare disease that causes muscle weakness. The symptoms can
include atrophy of the arms and legs, sensory loss, other
complications like that. For Vittorio, he was you know, he
had developed a foot drop around fourteen, and that's when
we went on this cycle of going to different doctors
(23:08):
to try and figure out what was going on and
what was wrong. And like many people that live with CMT,
it can be months even years to find out that
you have CMT. So and that was our story as well.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Okay, when you say foot drop as he's walking, is
it something that is noticeable or is it something that
that his his pace is somewhat off? How would you
describe it beyond just the word foot drop?
Speaker 6 (23:37):
For Victorio, it started with his big toe, and I
think it was Victoria, you want to talk about this actually, sure?
Speaker 8 (23:44):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, I could talk a little bit to it.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
So foot drop is kind of like, you know, being
diagnosed with a rare disease like this, you pick up
a lot of medical terms and whatnot. So foot drop
is I kind of think of it like being able
to like walk in your heel or being able to
walk on your toes. So being able to have that
flexibility in the ankle, the ability to manipulate your foot
in that way. So I originally noticed that I was
(24:11):
tripping around the house, so that I couldn't really engage my
big toe, and so I get my toe would get
caught on the carpet, and I tripped when I was thirteen,
fourteen years old.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
And so now how has that You're now twice as old.
You told me you were twenty seven. Yeah. Has that
condition worsened as it stabilized?
Speaker 8 (24:34):
Yeah, So this is a progressive disease. It kind of
varies on what age it sets on. It's pretty common
for it to set around that kind of like early
teen age in most people, and then it tends to
progress on. So I've developed a pretty significant neuropathy in
my lower legs, so below my knee, I pretty much
have no motor function. I can't really flex my ankles
(24:58):
or move anything below my I need so of course,
like my calf muscles is pretty much after feed, I'm
fortunate enough I still have some all my sensory nerves
are still intact, so I can still feel. And another
common one is a lot of people end up getting
nerve damage below the elbow as well, so affecting their
ability to manipulate their fingers and grip things. And fortunately
(25:20):
for me that hasn't really been too impacted by this.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
What's the prognosis, Victoria? What are you? First of all,
are you able to work? You're twenty seven. I assume
you would be working at that age. What are you
working now? Don't have to tell me. Where are we? Yeah? Good?
So you keep busy.
Speaker 8 (25:40):
Yeah, it's actually pretty important for people with neurological conditions
to keep active in order to maintain that strength, maintain flexibility.
It's even more important to have like the muscles that
are intact be a little bit of extra strong so
that they can kind of compensate for the other underlying weaknesses.
But there's a lot of great medical tech out there now.
(26:01):
I wear like braces called ankle foot orthotics, and there's
all types of different AFOs you can get out there
at different companies that.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Kind of.
Speaker 8 (26:12):
Do They They essentially act as like scaffolding on the
leg and they can fit into shoes and kind of
help provide balance and remedy some of the muscle weakness there.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yeah. Look, there's there's a lot that people are doing.
Your prognosis. You sound great. I'm hoping that your prognosis
is for a long and healthy existence, long and healthy life.
I want to get back to your mom here, tell
us about the walk and cycling. Uh this week this Sunday.
It's at Lexington, the Lexington Visitors Center. You hope to
(26:46):
raise some money uh for research? Tell us about it?
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Yes, definitely. Yeah. So Victoria and I run Help Run
together the Boston c MTA branch and we've been involved
for about twelve years with the Charco Marie Tooth Association.
This will be our eleventh walk on Sunday at the
Visitors Center in Lexington. It starts at nine and there
(27:12):
is a half mile walk and there are four different
bike rides you can go on, or you can just
come join us at the visitor Center. You don't have
to walk or.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Mike and I assume that people can go there and
if they want to make a donation or if they
I see your teams where people are raising funds. It
sounds like it's going to be a great day. The
weather looks like it's going to be good on Sunday.
I checked the weather forecast this afternoon. I'm serious, guys,
look good.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Yeah, it looks great.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
A little bit of rain, I guess in the overnight
between Saturday and Sunday, but that'll just damp down the
dust or whatever, and it'll be perfect conditions. How much
would you do you hope to raise or have you.
Speaker 6 (27:54):
Raised in other years? We hope to raise over fifty
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
That's not a bad day's work, that's good.
Speaker 6 (28:02):
Yeah. Yeah, And again, the people that have this disease
are the ones that go out and rally for themselves.
They know that funding research continues, the progress to find
new types of CMT and hopefully new clinical trials, and
so yeah, we we all pitch in and do it
for ending CMT. I always like to call it funding
(28:25):
the fight.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
To I like that too. I never I never like
when they say there's a I don't know, a walk
for filling the disease. That preposition for says, well are
you walking to combat it? But so I like funding
the fight. That's I like the terminology there. How can
folks get in touch, get more information or maybe just
(28:46):
become supporters of the CMTMT Association.
Speaker 6 (28:50):
People can go to the website is c MTA USA
dot org and they can see the walk cycle, they
can see all the branches that there are. There are
branches for CMT across the country. And again, if they
want to click on the local branch of Boston. They can,
(29:14):
you know, see what we're doing in Lexington.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
That's great. Well, you guys are going to have a
great day on Sunday. I hope you raise a lot
of money and let's hope that with research this this
disease can become something that we can talk about in
the past tense. That maybe that would be great. Victoria,
thank you very much. You sound like a great young man.
And Jill, you've raised a great sun and you've been
(29:39):
a great role model. Thanks for all you do, not
only for your family, but for all the families affected
by CMT. Thank you.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Have a great, great day on Sunday. When we get back.
We're going to talk about this is an interesting one.
They're all interesting today, but this is a story about
a cursed brick that was stolen from the Old North Church.
It led to a string of misfortunes as we understand
it for the person who absconded with the brick, and
(30:10):
the brick has been returned. This is an interesting story.
Nikki Stewart, executive director of the Old North Illuminated which
operates the Old North Church historic site, will join us.
This is going to be an interesting story, stay with us,
and then we have two well, we have three great
hours of radio coming up tonight. I normally don't brag,
(30:31):
but if you've ever listened to Nightside, tonight is the
night to listen. You will walk away from the show
after midnight and always want to listen to Nightside. I'm
so proud of what we've put together tonight in the
eight o'clock hour, but also in the nine to ten
of the eleven We'll come on right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
So this is a story about a historic monument, a
church in Greater Boston and actually in the North End,
and a cursed brick which was stolen from this church
under mysterious circumstances, and the brick while it was in
captivity apparently caused a string of misfortunes to the thieves
(31:15):
who had absconded with the brick. The brick has now
been returned anonymously. No one understands why or how. And
with us is Nicki Stewart. She's the executive director of
the Old North Illuminated, which operates the Old North Church
historic site, and Nicki is going to explain to us
all of the eccentricities of this story and the mysteries
that none of us have been able to solve. Nicky,
(31:37):
I'm a little scared to do this interview. I'm not
scared to do interviews normally, but this one sounds particularly scary.
How are you tonight?
Speaker 5 (31:45):
I am great. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
I tried to get people in the mood here, you know,
so I'm just trying. Yeah, okay, all right, So, first
of all, how is a brick stolen from the old
North Church? I would assume you have some guards at
every door and making sure that no bricks walk off
the property unescorted.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Oh I do, now, you know, we can't say for sure,
but we did do a major restoration in the crypt
in twenty twenty three in partnership with the National Park Service.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I remember that we talked about that on my show. Yeah,
go ahead.
Speaker 5 (32:22):
Before or after that project, there were some loose bricks around.
I think somebody probably picked one up, either right before
or after that restoration.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Okay, so they absconded with the brick, no conscience whatsoever,
no concern for historical artifacts, and then soul right, Well,
we can't make that judgment, but you know what I'm saying.
So that's the higher power. So they finally decided that
what they had done needed to be reversed, uh, and
(32:55):
they took it upon themselves to return the brick. It
wasn't returned by Camp Pigeon. It wasn't returned by some
sort of men riding a horse like Paul Revere. It
came in what FedEx or some one of those.
Speaker 5 (33:09):
It came, Yeah, just came through the regular US mail.
It was a small brown box, no return address. It
was postmarked from San Jose. So we know the thief lives.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
In San Jose or near San Jose or.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Near They could have cross town lines to protect their anonymity.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
You never know what these people, anyone that would steal
a brick would cross town lines.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
So they would.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
They sent it and they explained was there a letter
or a note of apology or contrition?
Speaker 5 (33:39):
There was there was. There was a little a tiny
little note on just a little scrap of paper that said,
my husband took this brick from the crypt.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
A likely story.
Speaker 5 (33:51):
My suspicion is return.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
But the wife probably said, hey, do me a favor,
grab that brick. But that's okay, I'm just speculating. Go ahead, yep.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
So my husband took this from the crypt. We've had
a string of bad luck and we want to return
the brick.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Well, the brick accomplished its task and is in its
rightful place. I understand that the brick is now under glass,
not like pheasant under glass, but a brick under glass.
Speaker 5 (34:19):
It's on a nice little plint. It has a velvet cushion,
and it does sit in a glass box now, so
we want it to feel comfortable and secure.
Speaker 2 (34:29):
And is it on display? And is it it's an
archive of note? Is it going to stay in on
display for a long time?
Speaker 5 (34:40):
It is on display right now, along with the note.
And so anyone who comes for our after hours cryptors
or who gets our combo passed during the day, they
will all get to go in the crypt and see
it and take their photos and not take anything else.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
And they can't know. Yeah, they can take a selfie
with the brick.
Speaker 5 (35:01):
I assume they absolutely can.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Well, this is wow. Has anything like this ever happened before?
Speaker 1 (35:09):
You know?
Speaker 2 (35:09):
I'm serious. I wanted to interject a little note of
drama and also levity simultaneously. But has this happened before
your historic site. And I'm sure that I remember watching
a friend of mine once a long time ago, long
before the Statue of Limitations, attempt to take something out
(35:30):
of the Pont de Hac, which was the German machine
gun nests on Omaha Beach, with all sorts of signage
that said in English and German and French, do not
touch anything. And I was saying, are you nuts, We're
gonna know to be arrested. We're gonna be We're gonna
be jailed in France if you take that. And so
(35:51):
what what why would someone do this? And has this
has never happened before. I mean, there's there's no more historic.
It is one of the most historic sites in in
the history of this country. So you can understand why
people might say, wouldn't it be great to like take
a pebble or something the brick?
Speaker 5 (36:09):
Yeah, you know, I understand people want unique souvenirs. You know,
we did receive maybe ten or fifteen years ago, the
church actually received an entire tombstone in the mail that
someone had stolen from Copshill Cemetery and then started to
feel guilty about it, and so he sent it to
(36:29):
the church. So I think these things happen, but it's
not a good idea to steal from a cemetery or
a church or a crypt. You know, maybe things catch
up with you.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yeah, But so someone loved a tombstone? Did you ever
find out who that was? Was anyone ever charged with that?
I mean, that's really nasty.
Speaker 5 (36:53):
So what the person explained in the letter is that
this was a This is a very older gentleman who
had had it for several decades, and when he was
in the navy and his ship was in Boston, he
brought it, took it out of the cemetery, brought it
back on the ship, and so he had it for
much of his life, and then as an older man
started to feel guilty.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
What where was he from? If you recall, I'm just
kind of curious.
Speaker 5 (37:18):
I mean, I don't think we knew that. I don't
think that information was provided.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
But how crazy is that? What are you going to
do with that? You're going to show your friends and
people are weird? People are weird?
Speaker 5 (37:32):
He indicated in the letter he used it as a
coffee table.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Oh god, well, I mean, first of all, that's disrespectful.
Whoever's whoever that tombstone absolutely mortalized, no question, no question, Nikki,
thank you, thank you very much. Of course, the Old
North Church is always available. Anyone who has lived within
Boston for any more than twenty years and hasn't visited
the Old North Church needs to get there and support
(37:59):
this wonder full, wonderful structure. Thank you so much, and
thank you for sharing the story. Thanks Nikki, you talk okay.
On Monday night, we had the Mayor of Quincy with
us and there were some comments that were made that
infuriated a lot of people. As a matter of fact,
the Boston Herald has called for the mayor's resignation. I'm
not sure that's going to occur, but I think it
was interesting. And we are going to be talking with
(38:21):
a victim of Father Porter, one of the earliest pedophile priests,
and we'll be talking with Claude Leboeuff right after the
nine o'clock news here on Nightside
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