July 4, 2025 • 36 mins
We Break Down The News headlines.
Joey Atwell, owner, Alpha Fireworks Displays- how fireworks shows happen
Heide Herriott, animal trainer- how to help pets cope with Fourth of July fireworks.
News headlines
Brandon Dillard, curator, Monticello- the importance of Thomas Jefferson.
Tatiana Jordan, author, “Parental Control”- how to let kids use the internet safely.
Joey Atwell, owner, Alpha Fireworks Displays- how fireworks shows happen
Heide Herriott, animal trainer- how to help pets cope with Fourth of July fireworks.
News headlines
Brandon Dillard, curator, Monticello- the importance of Thomas Jefferson.
Tatiana Jordan, author, “Parental Control”- how to let kids use the internet safely.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Larry Menti. Menti in the Morning returns Monday
morning from six Jill ten. Now, it's the iHeartRadio Independence
Day Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Show and we are live on this fourth of July.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I'm Read Shepherd along with Dana McKay Jason Bearinger as
our producer, and this is iHeartRadio's holiday talk program. We'd
like to say thank you first of all for joining us,
and thank you to the iHeartMedia news talk stations around
the country for picking up the show. What about one
hundred or so we think her?
Speaker 4 (00:38):
I think so, don't put the pressure on me.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Read Well. You know when we did the Memorial Day show,
I said that the way you look at the holiday
kind of depends on whether or not you had a
brother or father, sister, a buddy who gave his or
her life for our country. Today is a day for everybody,
the fourth of July. It's America's Day.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
It's a party day.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
It's a party day, barbecues, fireworks, hanging out by the pool,
sleeping in if that's what you so desire. So this
hour we're talking about fireworks, how a pro puts the
show together, and also how to keep your pets safe
on the fourth of July and a historian from Thomas
Jefferson's Monticello pronounced Monticello, by the way, not not a cello. Plus,
(01:24):
of course, the day's top news stories, and we begin,
as you might expect, with President Trump visiting Iowa to
kick off a year long celebration of the two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the country's founding. At this event
kind of doubled as a victory lap for the passage
of the Big Beautiful Bill. He spoke at a Salute
to America event in Des Moines on the eve of
(01:46):
Independence Day, and his remarks came hours after the House
passed the One Big Beautiful Act came after hours and
hours of debate, over a day, yes, over a day.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yes. And here's the moment when Mike Johnson read the votes.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
The ya's are to eighteen, the nayser two fourteen.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
The motion is adopted, and then you'll hear the USA chance.
So a lot of people, some people very happy about this,
others not so much so. Hakeem Jeffries broke the record
for the longest speech on the House floor at eight
(02:28):
hours and forty four minutes. The other night he started
speaking at four point fifty three am Eastern time yesterday morning,
and people on Capitol Hill started wondering if he was
going to keep going until he broke the record set
by Kevin McCarthy back in twenty twenty one. And that's
exactly what he did. His Uh, Kevin McCarthy's speech was
eight hours and thirty two minutes, and before that, Nancy
(02:50):
Pelosi had set the record back in twenty eighteen with
the speech about dreamers. So here's Hakeem Jeffries in what
he said yesterday at about four hours in.
Speaker 6 (02:59):
Because it was totally unacceptable that you would try to
jam this bill, mister speaker down the throats of the
American people, with fifteen minutes allocated for a debate that
would hurt everyday Americans allocated to the committees of juris
at fifteen minutes. And so now I'm here with my
(03:21):
House Democratic colleagues four years four. How was it taken
our sweet time?
Speaker 7 (03:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
He repeated that a lot. He's going to take a
sweet time. And then after his speech, it was time
for Mike Johnson to speak for a minute, and he
plopped a big binder down in motions like he's going
to start reading from it and then everyone laughs, and
then he took a dig at Hakeem Jeffries.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
You know, Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
Said one time that no speech should be longer than
twenty minutes, and unlike the Democrat leader, I'm going to
honor my.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Colleague's time and be a little more brief than that.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Right, I just want to say something that many of
us learned when we were children. We were taught, you know,
it takes a lot longer to build a lie than
to tell the simple truth.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
So that's what Mike Johnson had to say yesterday, and
then he spoke for about twenty minutes, just excited about
the passage of the bill. And President Trump says, B
two bombers are going to fly over the White House
as he signs the big beautiful bill at about five
o'clock Eastern time today.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So the legislation extends the tax cuts that Trump signed
into law in twenty seventeen they were to set to
expire later this year. Provides a one hundred and fifty
billion dollar increase in funding for a border wall, one
hundred and fifty billion in new defense spending for priorities
like shipbuilding, a golden Dome Missile Defense project. We've heard
(04:39):
something about that in recent days. Democrats, on the other hand,
they're talking about cuts to low income health and nutrition programs,
reductions designed to help offset the loss of revenues from
the tax cuts, but also expected to eliminate health coverage. Now,
the question I ran into is how popular or unpo
(05:00):
popular is the bill? Now? Five new poles and again
a poll, take a poll for whatever you wish, But
five new poles show it underwater between nineteen and twenty
nine points. So on the surface at least, it's not
so certain that Americans are all that thrilled about the big,
beautiful bill. But as you said, the President is going
(05:21):
to sign it today on July fourth, as he initially
wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Seven people are still unaccounted for after a fireworks warehouse
in northern California exploded into a huge fireball earlier this week.
Firefighters responded just before six pm Tuesday and found multiple
buildings on fire. The owner of the pyrotechnics company is
working with authorities to locate those missing. Videos showing the
massive explosion have gone viral, and some residents in Yolo
(05:48):
County had to evacuate due to fears the fire and
explosions could spread. Crews are using drones to survey the
area to search for those missing and assess the damage,
and as of yesterday, California's State Fire Marshall said the
site remains hazardous, partly because of all the chemicals linked
to the fireworks, as crews work to neutralize the threat
of the unignited fireworks. And at the same time, in Massa,
(06:11):
Choosett's fireworks from a Fourth of July show at a
golf course prematurely exploded on Wednesday, leading to a massive
emergency response. A vehicle that was offloading fireworks for the
show caught fire, causing several of the fireworks to explode.
Two people were hospitalized, one with serious injuries, and six
others were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So if you're planning on hosting a Fourth of July
cookout this year, you might find that it's a little
bit more expensive. You're going to have to dig a
little deeper. Higher prices for items like ground beef, pork chops,
lemonade because of the citrus industry are contributing to the increase.
Ground beef prices in particular have surged, attributing it to
(06:53):
factors like low cattle supplies. Okay, I suppose that makes
some sense. Some cookout essentials like aluminum foil and grill
tools are also seeing price hikes. Americans should expect to
spend around three to four dollars more per person on
average than last year. Now, we saw a story earlier
(07:15):
this week that talked about if you're having a barbecue
for ten people, you are gonna pay something like one
hundred and fifty dollars. And I was loving, like, I'm
not gonna have ten people over us.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I'm thinking my party would be more like twenty people.
But who can have a party for ten people and
only spend about one hundred and fifty bucks? I feel like,
where are you shopping to offset costs?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Some suggestions out there like swapping beef for chicken, okay,
buying drinks and larger containers looking for store sales.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I guess well, and speaking of beef. After being disqualified
last year, Joey Chestnut will make his return to Nathan's
Hot Dog Eating Contest today. He says he feels amazing
and he intends to get his title back now Nathan's
booted him from competing just weeks before the contest last
year after they learned he made a sponsorship deal with
Impossible Foods and their plant based hot dogs. Chessnut said
(08:08):
he didn't burn any bridges. He loves the event and
he's happy they worked it all out.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Now.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
His record is seventy six hot dogs in ten minutes.
The guy, the guy who won last year when he
was disqualified, eight fifty eight hot dogs and ten minutes.
So that just goes to show you how many more
hot dogs he's capable of consuming than everyone else. He's
won the competition sixteen times, so we'll see.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
There's something about his metabolism that I got to understand
exactly what's going on.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
I know he's not a very big guy for eating
all those hot dogs.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Always not well. After the break, we get an insight
on how professionals put a fireworks show together, how to
keep pets safe. I'm read Shepherd. This is iHeartRadio's holiday
talk program. So what would the fourth of July be
(09:00):
out fireworks? Well, you ever wonder how a show comes together,
how a pyrotechnic company sets up everything. So we all
go ooh and ah when it all goes boom in
the sky. Well, Joey at Well knows he's the owner
of Alpha Fireworks Displays, and we're delighted to have him
on the program. Joey, I guess give us some insight
(09:21):
on what goes into putting together a fireworks show.
Speaker 8 (09:25):
Yeah, absolutely, and thank you for having me on today.
So it all starts usually with a phone call, and
then we figure out, you know, what our client's needs are.
The big thing with firework displays is the space that
we have available to perform the show. And so of
course the more space we have, the bigger shells we
can shoot. And so once we get that figured out,
(09:48):
then we will start scripting the show, pull the permits
for the show, secure the permits the product, and then
essentially we'll put a team together to perform the firework display.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
How do the fireworks get their colors in shapes? I'm
always curious about that. When you can make a heart
in the sky.
Speaker 8 (10:07):
Yeah, so it's actually pretty simple in theory to do that. Basically,
what you would do is put a heart inside the shell,
and so inside the shell we have what's called stars,
and so with those stars we mix different types of
metals to get different colors for instance, if we want
a blue color, we would mix a copper type metal.
(10:28):
And so what you would do is place those stars
inside the display shell in a heart shape or a
star shape or a smiley face, and then secure the
packaging around that, put it on a lift charge, and
we shoot it in the air. The trick we're getting
that is, you know, you would just have to hope
that that shell breaks in the right direction of the spectators,
because you know, like a heart might just look like
(10:50):
a straight line if it breaks at a ninety degree angle.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
What are some trends like new things happening with fireworks
that some people might not know about our new things
that people might see it a Fourth of July show
this year that they haven't seen in the past because
it's new.
Speaker 8 (11:04):
Oh, I would probably say pairing drones with pyrotechnics.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Ye, when I was thinking about that myself, that.
Speaker 8 (11:12):
Yeah, that's something that we're really kind of diving into.
We have some things lined up where, you know, I'm
not sure if you've seen any videos yet there, you know,
where we're able to put fountains and different types of
pyrotechnics on the drones themselves. So that's very exciting. But
then also pairing drones with fireworks. It's just an amazing
way to demonstrate what effects you can do with both
(11:35):
of those types of displays.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
We're talking to Joey Atwell, the owner of Alpha Fireworks Displays.
What what kind of training I guess you does your
crew need to work on these fireworks because there's an
there's an obvious safety concern that has to be met.
Speaker 8 (11:51):
Yeah, absolutely so, believe it or not. Most of the
training comes in house, and so a lot of our
crew operates under my main life license, which is a
federal license. And once you have that federal explosives license,
you can you can have users operate underneath your license.
And what we do, uh is when we bring somebody
(12:12):
on a lot of times when we're bringing someone into
the fire techniques, we prefer them not to have any
experience so that we can train them, uh, the proper way.
We don't want bad habits, if that makes sense. So
we'll bring somebody in, we'll start them as a helper
loading shells off the trucks, you know, loading mortar recks
off of you know. That's that's the not so fun
stuff that goes into a firework display. And then you know,
(12:33):
we'll slowly start allowing them to handle the fireworks. WHI
are the fireworks up? Of course, we teach them all
the safety precautions and so all of the training is
usually done in house shared Alpha.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
We talk about the conclusion, the big, the big, the
big conclusion to the fireworkshop, the finale.
Speaker 8 (12:51):
Yeah, the fun part.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
How how do you set that up? And what goes
into that?
Speaker 8 (12:57):
Yeah, So finales are are going to be So when
we're doing different types of shells, different types of displays,
we have different matches, we have different fus that we
can use to set those shells off and a series
of time. So during the regular part of the fireworks show,
we may have a time time fuse to where you know,
we light one but it shoots five shells off with
(13:18):
a three second delay for each show. Well, with the finale,
we just skip the time part and we run black
match across say ten shells, and so we'll light one
fuse and we'll send ten shells up in a matter
of one second. We'll have ten shells in there, and
so it looks like a lot's going off. But on
our side, on our script for the finale, we're sending
three hundred shells off, but we've really only we've only
(13:42):
pinned three thirty q's to send those three hundred shells off.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
A little bit of an insight into the firework shows
that we're all going to enjoy on this fourth of July.
Joey Atwell from Alpha Fireworks Displays, thank you so much
for joining us today.
Speaker 8 (13:55):
You're very welcome.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
So we've talked about what goes into a firework show.
The fact is our four legged friends might not be
all that thrilled with the noise. It's not unusual for
a pet that's outside to be frightened and run away.
Heide Harriet is an animal advocate and trainer who was
served as consultant for various venues across the country. She's
traveled across North America exhibiting her trained horses and dogs.
(14:20):
She joins us in studio today to talk about keeping
our best friends safe on this fourth of July. Heidi,
thank you so much for joining us today. And I
guess let's just dive right into it keeping our pets
safe on the fourth of July. This is not a
day that they like very much.
Speaker 9 (14:37):
Yeah, and I can tell you, by the way, thank
you for having me on because this is important. One
of the things that I want to lead with is that,
you know, I hear from people, clients of mind, other
people who want to ask me about their animals, and
if they're starting a few weeks out to say, my
dog's going to be nervous on the fourth of July,
I could promise you their dog's going to be nervous
(14:59):
because it's an energy we're giving our animals. So the
other thing to really keep in mind here, the fourth
of July is one of the biggest days for animal escapes,
so this is a real important topic, not only to
keep your dog from hunkering down in the corner and puddling,
but also because we want to keep them in our
homes and in our yards. So it's a day you
(15:20):
want to make sure if they're usually outside in a
fenced area, bring them in when you know this is
going to start. Take them for a long walk during
the day. Get that energy out, get your energy out,
and that'll.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Help a lot.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
That's where we're going to start. Well, why are dogs
so sensitive to fireworks?
Speaker 9 (15:39):
Well, I would say to you, I'm in my sixties,
so when I was grown up, this wasn't an issue
we talked about a lot. Of course, we didn't have
the Internet, but I grew up with a dozens probably
arguably hundreds of animals because we trained for others as well.
I think we've changed, We've become more emotional, and we
(16:00):
kind of put that on our pets. So that's a
little part of it. So if you're nervous, your pet's
going to be nervous.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
Okay.
Speaker 9 (16:06):
So I tell my people when i'm training, think service dog,
Think that you want this dog who's right beside you.
And when they're nervous, there's something happens.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
They look at you.
Speaker 9 (16:16):
We're in a radio, so you kid say that, But
I got my eyes up like I'm looking at my human,
or I look as a dog. I want it to
look straight ahead with no energy. Animals don't multitask. I
don't think we do either.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
We just think we do.
Speaker 9 (16:29):
But because they don't, if you get their attention, they're
going to have a much harder time getting frantic. So
here are some tips. People will say, my dog's under
the bed in the bedroom. I put a dog on
a leash because I train for others too, and I've
kept dogs during this time as an entertainer. I work
at county fairs. They love to shoot off fireworks on
(16:52):
their Saturday and my horses and dogs will kind of
look at the fireworks and then go back to eating.
But it's because what I'm helping them with along the
way solid training. Now it's the fourth of July, so
you're not going to be able to train your way
out of this. But we look to drugs, we look
to the thundervest, all the stuff. The reality is. And
I challenge you listening to try this. Put a leash
(17:14):
on that dog, get their ted, just a little tug
get there, ted, Hey, look at me, hold a little treat.
If you need to look at me, tap your chest
and have confidence. It's the equivalent of if you're walking
with a small child something scary in front of you.
You're holding hands and the child starts to quiver and like,
oh that's scary. If you go oh that's scary back,
(17:35):
the kid's like, well, I gotta take this now, instead
of squeezing that hand and saying, hey, we got this,
look at me. By the way, we're training. In my job,
I'm training animals because I want them to be comfortable
and safe throughout their life. Whether I own them or not.
The drugs, the thundervest all that that's just masking it.
And I always say, if the humans would take the drugs,
(17:55):
the dogs would definitely calm down.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
We're talking. That's my best advice. We're talking to Heidi
Harriet's animal advocate and trainer. Thank you so much for
joining us on this fourth of July. Some great tips
as far as keeping your pet safe. Again, thank you
so much for joining us today.
Speaker 9 (18:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Now, if only we could have somebody to give tips
on how to keep people from blowing off fireworks before
the fourth of July, because read last night it's not
the fourth yet, and fireworks all night long. I don't know,
I'm always blowing them off, but I couldn't sleep.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I believe it.
Speaker 7 (18:27):
Well.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Coming up, we're talking with a historian from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello,
plus the day's top news stories. This is iHeartRadio's holiday
talk program.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Menting in the Morning returns Monday morning from six to ten.
Now more of the iHeartRadio Independence Day Morning.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Show, and we are back on iHeartRadio's nationwide holiday talk
program for this fourth of July twenty twenty five. I'm
read Shepherd along with Dana McKay. Jason Barringer is our producer.
(19:14):
Coming up this half hour, we're talking with a historian
from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson, of course, is the man
who wrote the Declaration of Independence, which is what July
fourth is all about. First, today's top news stories and
a surprise plea deal in Idaho. Yes.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Ryan Coberger, the man accused of killing four University of
Idaho students in the fall of twenty twenty two, entered
a plea deal that will spare his life earlier this week.
As part of the agreement, he confessed to each one
of the killings.
Speaker 7 (19:43):
Did you honor about that same date in Moscow, Idaho
kill and murder Kayleie Gonzalez a human being?
Speaker 8 (19:52):
Yes?
Speaker 7 (19:53):
And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately and with
premeditation and malice and forethought?
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The families of the four victims are divided on this decision,
with two of the families wanting a trial and the
death penalty and the other two satisfied that he'll spend
the rest of his life in prison and that there's
no chance of an acquittal. Now we're learning more about
the murders as one of the prosecutor's later out details
in court. Prosecutor Bill Thompson told the court it seems
(20:20):
Coburger did not plan to kill all four victims that night,
that he entered through a second floor slider and went
right to Madison Mogan's room. Kaylee Goncalvez had already moved
out of the home but was visiting her friends that night,
so she and Mogan were in the same bed. They
were killed first. It's believed that Mogan was likely the target,
possibly Goncalves, but Xana Kernodle encountered Coburger in the hallway
(20:44):
and that's when he killed her and then went to
her bedroom and killed her boyfriend, Ethan Shapin. The prosecutor
got overwhelmed with emotion at the end of his ten
minute explanation and began to cry in the courtroom.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
And taking a quick check on sports. This morning, the
Supreme Court is agreeing to hear a case on whether
states can ban transgender students from being on sports teams
that match their gender identity. Tammy Trujilo has details on that.
Speaker 10 (21:09):
The announcement comes just days after the Court upheld a
Tennessee law that restricts gender transition care for minors. The
Justice to say they'll hear appeals from Republican leaders in
West Virginia and Idaho who will defend vans in their states.
A decision on the case is expected to be made
by next summer. I'm Tammy Trihuello.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Big milestone for the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw this week as
he joined the three thousand strikeout club. Kershaw becomes the
twentieth pitcher and only the fourth lefty to reach that mark,
joining Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton, and C. C. Sabbathia. Some
games to watch today and this weekend. The Yankees open
a series against the Mets. This afternoon, Tigers had to Cleveland.
(21:47):
Tigers have a twelve and a half game lead over
the Cleveland Guardians, and the Astros take on the Dodgers
in the NL West at Dodgers Stadium. Well, July fourth
is a holiday for all America, but there's one document
that defines the day and defines us as Americans. That
document is, of course, the Declaration of Independence. Its author
(22:07):
Thomas Jefferson, who was a delegate to the Second Continental
Congress from Virginia. So why was he chosen to be
the principal author of this magnificent declaration? And where did
his ideas come from? Brandon Dillard is the director of
historical Interpretation at Monticello, Jefferson's beautiful home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
So why did Jefferson's colleagues in the Congress look to
(22:30):
him for this task?
Speaker 8 (22:32):
I love this question.
Speaker 11 (22:33):
It's a great question, and I'll do my best to
answer it as concisely as I can. I think one
of the best stories about this actually comes in the
later years of Jefferson's life, where he's reminiscing about these
early years some fifty years on and almost fifty years on,
and he's thinking about those early years and believing himself
(22:55):
to be someone who was merely described. And Jefferson himself,
when speaking of the declaration, said that he was not
aiming at originality, he was merely expressing the American mind.
And one of the funnier insights actually comes from Jefferson's colleague,
sometimes friends, sometimes enemy, the second President, John Adams. And
(23:16):
John Adams wrote a reminiscence about those early days of
the Second Countinental Congress and wrote about Jefferson himself writing
the declaration, and Adams said that Adams was the person
who told Jefferson that he had to write it, and
he listed out several reasons. Those reasons included that Jefferson
was a Virginian and remembering that Virginia was the most
(23:36):
populated and helpiest colony by far, Adams said, of Virginia
must be at the head of this thing. Adams also
told Jefferson that he was a better writer than most
of the people there. Jefferson had already written something called
a Summary Review of the Rights of British America when
he was thirty one that was widely read, and recognized
(23:57):
that Jefferson was quite skillful, perhaps most humorously, Adams went
saying that Jefferson should write it instead of Adams himself.
Adams wrote, I am obnoxious, unpopular, and suspect, and you
are very much otherwise. So the differences in their personality
were already clear even in those early days. Jefferson himself
(24:17):
later said Adams was a bit mistaken in his memory
of that, but suffice it to say, Jefferson became the
principal author, and we have what we have two hundred
and fifty years on.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
So what is so iconic about Monticello and the property itself.
Speaker 11 (24:32):
You know, I'm biased, obviously. I have an extraordinary office
where I get to see this iconic home every day.
And it is the only presidential home in the United
States of America that's recognized as a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization,
which means that it singularly represents a time and place
(24:55):
in a way that nothing else does, in a way
that belongs to all people for all time. And when
you visit Monticello and you see it, you can see
the expression of Jefferson himself and the architecture. Roosevelt. Franklin
Roosevelt said that it seems to me, more than any
other home in America, Monticello is the expression of the
(25:17):
personality of its builder.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Absolutely a beautiful home. I visited once when I was
a kid. I remember visiting Monticello, and as he said,
it is, it is absolutely beautiful. As far as the declaration, Brandon,
I'm curious. This may be a bit of a kind
of naive question, but did Jefferson want to write it?
(25:43):
I don't know. I don't know how you deal with that.
Go ahead, you.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Do it reluctantly. They're all making me do this.
Speaker 11 (25:51):
Huh. It's a great question, and I think it requires
a little bit of conjecture on our part in some assumption.
So I'll go on the record and say I don't know,
but I will say that a couple of things about
it include that at the time there was really this
sense that public service was a duty, and it wasn't
something that anyone would want to do. It was something
(26:15):
that they were called to do, and it wasn't seen
as a glorious kind of personal accolade, but rather as
drugury of a sort. And I believe that were you
to ask Thomas Jefferson, you know, this is exactly what
a historian should never do, is make these kinds of assumptions.
(26:36):
But I would say that Jefferson probably would have answered
along those lines, something about believing it was duty and necessary.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Brandon Dillard, the director of Historical Interpretation at Jefferson's home
Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Brandon, thank you so much for
joining us, and happy fourth through July to you.
Speaker 11 (26:55):
Happy for h thanks read all right again.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
As I mentioned earlier, I visited Monticelle when I was
a kid, and if you have the chance to do so,
take advantage of it. It really is, first of all,
a beautiful home and a really a trip down American history.
So coming up fourth of July, travel where the weather
might be a problem, parents and social media this is
(27:18):
always a big concern. Plus more of the day's top
news stories coming up. This is iHeartRadio's holiday talk program.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
And I'm Data McKay along with Reed Shepherd, and we
will be back on the iHeartRadio Holiday Talk program in
just a few minutes. Thank you for listening on this
fourth of July.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
I am Larry Menti. Menti in the Morning returns Monday
morning from six till ten. Now more of the iHeartRadio
Independence Day Morning Show.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
So we are back on iHeartRadio's holiday talk program for
the fourth of July twenty twenty five. We certainly hope
you're planning a great fourth today, whether it be a barbecue,
just relaxing, today is the day to do it. I'm
Reading Shepherd along with Dana McKay. Jason Bearinger is our producer. Now,
if you have travel plans, you're gonna have a lot
(28:30):
of company. Triple A Reports are record breaking. Seventy two
point two million Americans will be traveling more than fifty
miles of this between June twenty eighth and July sixth,
so an estimated sixty one point six million drivers and
five point eight million people will be going to the
airport to fly somewhere. Sometimes I wonder where they get
(28:52):
these numbers.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
I really do, right counting, Someone's got a little counter
gilery somewhere.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
However, the pop cities for this year Denver, Chicago, London,
San Diego, New York, and also with the opening of
the new theme park Epic Universe in Orlando, more and
more people are heading there as well. Now, according to
the National Weather Service, you could exceed You could see
(29:18):
some problems in the Northeast today that could cause delays,
especially for airline passengers. Strong to severe thunderstorms are forecast
for the northern and central Plains, also the Upper Mississippi Valley.
We're also watching possible development of a tropical depression or
storm in the Atlantic off the southeastern US coast now
(29:40):
that could bring rain to parts of the Georgia Coast
the Carolinas as it heads away from the US. Forecasters
sailed the a week system, but it is a reminder
that hurricane season is underway and we'll be checking in
with Ray Stagic from the Weather Channel in hour two,
so stay with us.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
So the price of your Amazon Prime membership is likely
going up soon. According to a JP Morgan analyst, Amazon
will likely raise the price from one hundred and thirty
nine dollars to one hundred and fifty nine dollars and
twenty twenty six, it's been one hundred and thirty nine
dollars since twenty twenty two. Before that, one hundred and
nineteen dollars. I'm pretty sure when I started with Prime
(30:17):
it was ninety nine dollars, so that twenty dollars increase
seems to be their pattern. It will mean about three
billion more dollars for Amazon, and the prediction is based
on Amazon's pattern of raising prices on significant features every
four years. About three hundred and fifty million people have
Prime memberships and the value is estimated to be about
(30:38):
one thy four hundred and thirty dollars, and that's based
on what you save on shipping and all the perks.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, I order stuff from Amazon quite a bit. I
ordered a new litter box for my cat, last weekend.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
Get it get there in a day.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
As matter of fact, I got an email that it's
on its way. Well, fantastic, so great, this is something
I really need.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
Yeah, absolutely it is.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Well.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
As the mom of two kids who spend way too
much time on their screens, I'm excited to talk to
our next guest. To Tanya Jordan is the author of
the book Parental Control, A Guide to Raising Balanced Kids
in the Digital Era. She describes it as a playbook
for adults who want to educate and empower kids to
be safe digital citizens. To Tanya, it looks like your
key point is that parents need to be empowered to
(31:22):
be parents. What exactly does that mean.
Speaker 12 (31:25):
I'm so glad you asked, and thank you for having me.
Speaking as a mom of an almost seventeen year old,
I remember distinctly in some cases feeling almost afraid of
my son's reaction when in reality, when in reality, I
should not be afraid. I am the parent, I am
in control. You do what I say. You might not
(31:46):
like it, but I'm making the choices that are for
your optimal mental and physical health. So don't be afraid
to be the parent.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
I totally agree with that, So I have a twenty
one year old daughter and a twelve year old son,
and the twenty one year old, you know, when she
wanted a phone and to be on social media. This
was about ten years ago, when I feel like we
just didn't know enough back then to realize just how
dangerous it was in how many different ways. And now
(32:13):
we have a situation where a couple of years ago,
we were at disney World and I told her, please
put your phone away. I spent thousands of dollars on
this trip. Enjoy it with your family, and she lost it.
Because these kids are addicted. So how do you manage it?
Because now my son is twelve and he wants a phone,
and he's turning thirteen later this summer, and that's the
(32:36):
big thing he wants. So how do you balance, you know,
letting your kid have the technology, be able to connect
with friends, and also keep them away from the more
dangerous things on social media and also just limiting their
interaction with it because they need to have a life
outside of it totally.
Speaker 12 (32:54):
First thing is is delay is the way, and I
can't take credit for that. That's where my friend Chris
McKenna of Protect young Eyes dot Com you'll never regret waiting.
Second thing is, thankfully, for your son and children today,
Unlike your oldest daughter and my son, they're safer tech.
So please don't make the first piece of tech that
(33:15):
you give your child an iPhone or phones that don't
have built in parental controls that actually work. So you
could look at the Bark phone, or there's other options
out there that let your child have the connectivity you're
looking for to text mom, dad, a few trusted friends,
track location, et cetera. But don't give them access to
the entire world and give the entire world access to them.
(33:37):
And then finally, some just ground rules around no connected
tech in the bedrooms. No, they do not need their
phone as an alarm clock. Don't use tech overnight so
they can actually sleep. You know, there are some basic,
basic tenants that we could hold on to let our
kids have access to safer tech and not, you know,
just throw it all out the window.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
My stepdaughter and her husband Canny get their son to
the table to eat dinner. Oh gosh, he doesn't have
a phone, but he has access to mom's computer.
Speaker 12 (34:08):
What do you isn't that While think about, yeah, yeah,
what what would our parents.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Do you get bud to the table right right?
Speaker 11 (34:18):
And other things that are not safe for broadcast.
Speaker 12 (34:21):
But you've got to help your children understand that they
are addicted. It'd be like giving me a tub of
ice cream and a spoon as a six year old
and be like, oh, just have as much as you want. No,
I can't control myself. And so helping our children understand
the science behind what these screens and what these games
do to our brains, how they spike chemicals that cause
(34:43):
you to want more and more of it, and how
they make everything else in your life feel less exciting
and less fulfilling, then they can understand, hey, you know
what this this checks out. I get what my mom
and dad are saying, and I do need to take
a break so that I don't turn into a complete zombie.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
This is something new for us as parents, in keeping
the kids not away from social media, but controlling the
social media to some degree. It's like, we don't really
know how to do this yet, do we.
Speaker 12 (35:14):
Well, we know how to be parents, right, and parents'
jobs are to keep their kids safe in the real
world and online. We're not here to be our kid's
friend first. We're here to help them, build resilience and navigate,
you know, the rocky landscape of growing up. So if
you feel in your gut and if you're observing that
(35:35):
there are things that are unhealthy that your child is encountering,
then it is your job to prevent it, block it,
provide access, learn about it.
Speaker 11 (35:45):
Period.
Speaker 12 (35:45):
You don't have to understand the nuances of Fortnite and
Snapchat in order to be a good parent, but you
can spend some time there, and you can go to
Google and just google dangers of whatever your child wants
to encounter, and then look at it with them.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Titanya Jordan, thank you so much for joining us on
the iHeartRadio Holiday Talk program. She is the author of
the book Parental Control, A Guide to Raising balanced Kids
in the Digital Era. And speaking of social media, you
have to see the very patriotic tie that Reid is
wearing today. That picture is on my Instagram at Dana
(36:23):
McKay radio, so I would check that out.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
I would say your outfit is somewhat patriotic too. This morning.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
You got me beat with the tie though, Reid. We'll
be right back on iHeartRadio's Holiday Talk
Hi, I'm Larry Menti. Menti in the Morning returns Monday
morning from six Jill ten. Now, it's the iHeartRadio Independence
Day Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Show and we are live on this fourth of July.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I'm Read Shepherd along with Dana McKay Jason Bearinger as
our producer, and this is iHeartRadio's holiday talk program. We'd
like to say thank you first of all for joining us,
and thank you to the iHeartMedia news talk stations around
the country for picking up the show. What about one
hundred or so we think her?
Speaker 4 (00:38):
I think so, don't put the pressure on me.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Read Well. You know when we did the Memorial Day show,
I said that the way you look at the holiday
kind of depends on whether or not you had a
brother or father, sister, a buddy who gave his or
her life for our country. Today is a day for everybody,
the fourth of July. It's America's Day.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
It's a party day.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
It's a party day, barbecues, fireworks, hanging out by the pool,
sleeping in if that's what you so desire. So this
hour we're talking about fireworks, how a pro puts the
show together, and also how to keep your pets safe
on the fourth of July and a historian from Thomas
Jefferson's Monticello pronounced Monticello, by the way, not not a cello. Plus,
(01:24):
of course, the day's top news stories, and we begin,
as you might expect, with President Trump visiting Iowa to
kick off a year long celebration of the two hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of the country's founding. At this event
kind of doubled as a victory lap for the passage
of the Big Beautiful Bill. He spoke at a Salute
to America event in Des Moines on the eve of
(01:46):
Independence Day, and his remarks came hours after the House
passed the One Big Beautiful Act came after hours and
hours of debate, over a day, yes, over a day.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yes. And here's the moment when Mike Johnson read the votes.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
The ya's are to eighteen, the nayser two fourteen.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
The motion is adopted, and then you'll hear the USA chance.
So a lot of people, some people very happy about this,
others not so much so. Hakeem Jeffries broke the record
for the longest speech on the House floor at eight
(02:28):
hours and forty four minutes. The other night he started
speaking at four point fifty three am Eastern time yesterday morning,
and people on Capitol Hill started wondering if he was
going to keep going until he broke the record set
by Kevin McCarthy back in twenty twenty one. And that's
exactly what he did. His Uh, Kevin McCarthy's speech was
eight hours and thirty two minutes, and before that, Nancy
(02:50):
Pelosi had set the record back in twenty eighteen with
the speech about dreamers. So here's Hakeem Jeffries in what
he said yesterday at about four hours in.
Speaker 6 (02:59):
Because it was totally unacceptable that you would try to
jam this bill, mister speaker down the throats of the
American people, with fifteen minutes allocated for a debate that
would hurt everyday Americans allocated to the committees of juris
at fifteen minutes. And so now I'm here with my
(03:21):
House Democratic colleagues four years four. How was it taken
our sweet time?
Speaker 7 (03:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
He repeated that a lot. He's going to take a
sweet time. And then after his speech, it was time
for Mike Johnson to speak for a minute, and he
plopped a big binder down in motions like he's going
to start reading from it and then everyone laughs, and
then he took a dig at Hakeem Jeffries.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
You know, Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 5 (03:41):
Said one time that no speech should be longer than
twenty minutes, and unlike the Democrat leader, I'm going to
honor my.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Colleague's time and be a little more brief than that.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Right, I just want to say something that many of
us learned when we were children. We were taught, you know,
it takes a lot longer to build a lie than
to tell the simple truth.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
So that's what Mike Johnson had to say yesterday, and
then he spoke for about twenty minutes, just excited about
the passage of the bill. And President Trump says, B
two bombers are going to fly over the White House
as he signs the big beautiful bill at about five
o'clock Eastern time today.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
So the legislation extends the tax cuts that Trump signed
into law in twenty seventeen they were to set to
expire later this year. Provides a one hundred and fifty
billion dollar increase in funding for a border wall, one
hundred and fifty billion in new defense spending for priorities
like shipbuilding, a golden Dome Missile Defense project. We've heard
(04:39):
something about that in recent days. Democrats, on the other hand,
they're talking about cuts to low income health and nutrition programs,
reductions designed to help offset the loss of revenues from
the tax cuts, but also expected to eliminate health coverage. Now,
the question I ran into is how popular or unpo
(05:00):
popular is the bill? Now? Five new poles and again
a poll, take a poll for whatever you wish, But
five new poles show it underwater between nineteen and twenty
nine points. So on the surface at least, it's not
so certain that Americans are all that thrilled about the big,
beautiful bill. But as you said, the President is going
(05:21):
to sign it today on July fourth, as he initially
wanted to do.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Seven people are still unaccounted for after a fireworks warehouse
in northern California exploded into a huge fireball earlier this week.
Firefighters responded just before six pm Tuesday and found multiple
buildings on fire. The owner of the pyrotechnics company is
working with authorities to locate those missing. Videos showing the
massive explosion have gone viral, and some residents in Yolo
(05:48):
County had to evacuate due to fears the fire and
explosions could spread. Crews are using drones to survey the
area to search for those missing and assess the damage,
and as of yesterday, California's State Fire Marshall said the
site remains hazardous, partly because of all the chemicals linked
to the fireworks, as crews work to neutralize the threat
of the unignited fireworks. And at the same time, in Massa,
(06:11):
Choosett's fireworks from a Fourth of July show at a
golf course prematurely exploded on Wednesday, leading to a massive
emergency response. A vehicle that was offloading fireworks for the
show caught fire, causing several of the fireworks to explode.
Two people were hospitalized, one with serious injuries, and six
others were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
So if you're planning on hosting a Fourth of July
cookout this year, you might find that it's a little
bit more expensive. You're going to have to dig a
little deeper. Higher prices for items like ground beef, pork chops,
lemonade because of the citrus industry are contributing to the increase.
Ground beef prices in particular have surged, attributing it to
(06:53):
factors like low cattle supplies. Okay, I suppose that makes
some sense. Some cookout essentials like aluminum foil and grill
tools are also seeing price hikes. Americans should expect to
spend around three to four dollars more per person on
average than last year. Now, we saw a story earlier
(07:15):
this week that talked about if you're having a barbecue
for ten people, you are gonna pay something like one
hundred and fifty dollars. And I was loving, like, I'm
not gonna have ten people over us.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
I'm thinking my party would be more like twenty people.
But who can have a party for ten people and
only spend about one hundred and fifty bucks? I feel like,
where are you shopping to offset costs?
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Some suggestions out there like swapping beef for chicken, okay,
buying drinks and larger containers looking for store sales.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I guess well, and speaking of beef. After being disqualified
last year, Joey Chestnut will make his return to Nathan's
Hot Dog Eating Contest today. He says he feels amazing
and he intends to get his title back now Nathan's
booted him from competing just weeks before the contest last
year after they learned he made a sponsorship deal with
Impossible Foods and their plant based hot dogs. Chessnut said
(08:08):
he didn't burn any bridges. He loves the event and
he's happy they worked it all out.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Now.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
His record is seventy six hot dogs in ten minutes.
The guy, the guy who won last year when he
was disqualified, eight fifty eight hot dogs and ten minutes.
So that just goes to show you how many more
hot dogs he's capable of consuming than everyone else. He's
won the competition sixteen times, so we'll see.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
There's something about his metabolism that I got to understand
exactly what's going on.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
I know he's not a very big guy for eating
all those hot dogs.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Always not well. After the break, we get an insight
on how professionals put a fireworks show together, how to
keep pets safe. I'm read Shepherd. This is iHeartRadio's holiday
talk program. So what would the fourth of July be
(09:00):
out fireworks? Well, you ever wonder how a show comes together,
how a pyrotechnic company sets up everything. So we all
go ooh and ah when it all goes boom in
the sky. Well, Joey at Well knows he's the owner
of Alpha Fireworks Displays, and we're delighted to have him
on the program. Joey, I guess give us some insight
(09:21):
on what goes into putting together a fireworks show.
Speaker 8 (09:25):
Yeah, absolutely, and thank you for having me on today.
So it all starts usually with a phone call, and
then we figure out, you know, what our client's needs are.
The big thing with firework displays is the space that
we have available to perform the show. And so of
course the more space we have, the bigger shells we
can shoot. And so once we get that figured out,
(09:48):
then we will start scripting the show, pull the permits
for the show, secure the permits the product, and then
essentially we'll put a team together to perform the firework display.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
How do the fireworks get their colors in shapes? I'm
always curious about that. When you can make a heart
in the sky.
Speaker 8 (10:07):
Yeah, so it's actually pretty simple in theory to do that. Basically,
what you would do is put a heart inside the shell,
and so inside the shell we have what's called stars,
and so with those stars we mix different types of
metals to get different colors for instance, if we want
a blue color, we would mix a copper type metal.
(10:28):
And so what you would do is place those stars
inside the display shell in a heart shape or a
star shape or a smiley face, and then secure the
packaging around that, put it on a lift charge, and
we shoot it in the air. The trick we're getting
that is, you know, you would just have to hope
that that shell breaks in the right direction of the spectators,
because you know, like a heart might just look like
(10:50):
a straight line if it breaks at a ninety degree angle.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
What are some trends like new things happening with fireworks
that some people might not know about our new things
that people might see it a Fourth of July show
this year that they haven't seen in the past because
it's new.
Speaker 8 (11:04):
Oh, I would probably say pairing drones with pyrotechnics.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Ye, when I was thinking about that myself, that.
Speaker 8 (11:12):
Yeah, that's something that we're really kind of diving into.
We have some things lined up where, you know, I'm
not sure if you've seen any videos yet there, you know,
where we're able to put fountains and different types of
pyrotechnics on the drones themselves. So that's very exciting. But
then also pairing drones with fireworks. It's just an amazing
way to demonstrate what effects you can do with both
(11:35):
of those types of displays.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
We're talking to Joey Atwell, the owner of Alpha Fireworks Displays.
What what kind of training I guess you does your
crew need to work on these fireworks because there's an
there's an obvious safety concern that has to be met.
Speaker 8 (11:51):
Yeah, absolutely so, believe it or not. Most of the
training comes in house, and so a lot of our
crew operates under my main life license, which is a
federal license. And once you have that federal explosives license,
you can you can have users operate underneath your license.
And what we do, uh is when we bring somebody
(12:12):
on a lot of times when we're bringing someone into
the fire techniques, we prefer them not to have any
experience so that we can train them, uh, the proper way.
We don't want bad habits, if that makes sense. So
we'll bring somebody in, we'll start them as a helper
loading shells off the trucks, you know, loading mortar recks
off of you know. That's that's the not so fun
stuff that goes into a firework display. And then you know,
(12:33):
we'll slowly start allowing them to handle the fireworks. WHI
are the fireworks up? Of course, we teach them all
the safety precautions and so all of the training is
usually done in house shared Alpha.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
We talk about the conclusion, the big, the big, the
big conclusion to the fireworkshop, the finale.
Speaker 8 (12:51):
Yeah, the fun part.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
How how do you set that up? And what goes
into that?
Speaker 8 (12:57):
Yeah, So finales are are going to be So when
we're doing different types of shells, different types of displays,
we have different matches, we have different fus that we
can use to set those shells off and a series
of time. So during the regular part of the fireworks show,
we may have a time time fuse to where you know,
we light one but it shoots five shells off with
(13:18):
a three second delay for each show. Well, with the finale,
we just skip the time part and we run black
match across say ten shells, and so we'll light one
fuse and we'll send ten shells up in a matter
of one second. We'll have ten shells in there, and
so it looks like a lot's going off. But on
our side, on our script for the finale, we're sending
three hundred shells off, but we've really only we've only
(13:42):
pinned three thirty q's to send those three hundred shells off.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
A little bit of an insight into the firework shows
that we're all going to enjoy on this fourth of July.
Joey Atwell from Alpha Fireworks Displays, thank you so much
for joining us today.
Speaker 8 (13:55):
You're very welcome.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
So we've talked about what goes into a firework show.
The fact is our four legged friends might not be
all that thrilled with the noise. It's not unusual for
a pet that's outside to be frightened and run away.
Heide Harriet is an animal advocate and trainer who was
served as consultant for various venues across the country. She's
traveled across North America exhibiting her trained horses and dogs.
(14:20):
She joins us in studio today to talk about keeping
our best friends safe on this fourth of July. Heidi,
thank you so much for joining us today. And I
guess let's just dive right into it keeping our pets
safe on the fourth of July. This is not a
day that they like very much.
Speaker 9 (14:37):
Yeah, and I can tell you, by the way, thank
you for having me on because this is important. One
of the things that I want to lead with is that,
you know, I hear from people, clients of mind, other
people who want to ask me about their animals, and
if they're starting a few weeks out to say, my
dog's going to be nervous on the fourth of July,
I could promise you their dog's going to be nervous
(14:59):
because it's an energy we're giving our animals. So the
other thing to really keep in mind here, the fourth
of July is one of the biggest days for animal escapes,
so this is a real important topic, not only to
keep your dog from hunkering down in the corner and puddling,
but also because we want to keep them in our
homes and in our yards. So it's a day you
(15:20):
want to make sure if they're usually outside in a
fenced area, bring them in when you know this is
going to start. Take them for a long walk during
the day. Get that energy out, get your energy out,
and that'll.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Help a lot.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
That's where we're going to start. Well, why are dogs
so sensitive to fireworks?
Speaker 9 (15:39):
Well, I would say to you, I'm in my sixties,
so when I was grown up, this wasn't an issue
we talked about a lot. Of course, we didn't have
the Internet, but I grew up with a dozens probably
arguably hundreds of animals because we trained for others as well.
I think we've changed, We've become more emotional, and we
(16:00):
kind of put that on our pets. So that's a
little part of it. So if you're nervous, your pet's
going to be nervous.
Speaker 6 (16:06):
Okay.
Speaker 9 (16:06):
So I tell my people when i'm training, think service dog,
Think that you want this dog who's right beside you.
And when they're nervous, there's something happens.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
They look at you.
Speaker 9 (16:16):
We're in a radio, so you kid say that, But
I got my eyes up like I'm looking at my human,
or I look as a dog. I want it to
look straight ahead with no energy. Animals don't multitask. I
don't think we do either.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
We just think we do.
Speaker 9 (16:29):
But because they don't, if you get their attention, they're
going to have a much harder time getting frantic. So
here are some tips. People will say, my dog's under
the bed in the bedroom. I put a dog on
a leash because I train for others too, and I've
kept dogs during this time as an entertainer. I work
at county fairs. They love to shoot off fireworks on
(16:52):
their Saturday and my horses and dogs will kind of
look at the fireworks and then go back to eating.
But it's because what I'm helping them with along the
way solid training. Now it's the fourth of July, so
you're not going to be able to train your way
out of this. But we look to drugs, we look
to the thundervest, all the stuff. The reality is. And
I challenge you listening to try this. Put a leash
(17:14):
on that dog, get their ted, just a little tug
get there, ted, Hey, look at me, hold a little treat.
If you need to look at me, tap your chest
and have confidence. It's the equivalent of if you're walking
with a small child something scary in front of you.
You're holding hands and the child starts to quiver and like,
oh that's scary. If you go oh that's scary back,
(17:35):
the kid's like, well, I gotta take this now, instead
of squeezing that hand and saying, hey, we got this,
look at me. By the way, we're training. In my job,
I'm training animals because I want them to be comfortable
and safe throughout their life. Whether I own them or not.
The drugs, the thundervest all that that's just masking it.
And I always say, if the humans would take the drugs,
(17:55):
the dogs would definitely calm down.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
We're talking. That's my best advice. We're talking to Heidi
Harriet's animal advocate and trainer. Thank you so much for
joining us on this fourth of July. Some great tips
as far as keeping your pet safe. Again, thank you
so much for joining us today.
Speaker 9 (18:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Now, if only we could have somebody to give tips
on how to keep people from blowing off fireworks before
the fourth of July, because read last night it's not
the fourth yet, and fireworks all night long. I don't know,
I'm always blowing them off, but I couldn't sleep.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
I believe it.
Speaker 7 (18:27):
Well.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Coming up, we're talking with a historian from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello,
plus the day's top news stories. This is iHeartRadio's holiday
talk program.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
Menting in the Morning returns Monday morning from six to ten.
Now more of the iHeartRadio Independence Day Morning.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Show, and we are back on iHeartRadio's nationwide holiday talk
program for this fourth of July twenty twenty five. I'm
read Shepherd along with Dana McKay. Jason Barringer is our producer.
(19:14):
Coming up this half hour, we're talking with a historian
from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson, of course, is the man
who wrote the Declaration of Independence, which is what July
fourth is all about. First, today's top news stories and
a surprise plea deal in Idaho. Yes.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Ryan Coberger, the man accused of killing four University of
Idaho students in the fall of twenty twenty two, entered
a plea deal that will spare his life earlier this week.
As part of the agreement, he confessed to each one
of the killings.
Speaker 7 (19:43):
Did you honor about that same date in Moscow, Idaho
kill and murder Kayleie Gonzalez a human being?
Speaker 8 (19:52):
Yes?
Speaker 7 (19:53):
And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately and with
premeditation and malice and forethought?
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The families of the four victims are divided on this decision,
with two of the families wanting a trial and the
death penalty and the other two satisfied that he'll spend
the rest of his life in prison and that there's
no chance of an acquittal. Now we're learning more about
the murders as one of the prosecutor's later out details
in court. Prosecutor Bill Thompson told the court it seems
(20:20):
Coburger did not plan to kill all four victims that night,
that he entered through a second floor slider and went
right to Madison Mogan's room. Kaylee Goncalvez had already moved
out of the home but was visiting her friends that night,
so she and Mogan were in the same bed. They
were killed first. It's believed that Mogan was likely the target,
possibly Goncalves, but Xana Kernodle encountered Coburger in the hallway
(20:44):
and that's when he killed her and then went to
her bedroom and killed her boyfriend, Ethan Shapin. The prosecutor
got overwhelmed with emotion at the end of his ten
minute explanation and began to cry in the courtroom.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
And taking a quick check on sports. This morning, the
Supreme Court is agreeing to hear a case on whether
states can ban transgender students from being on sports teams
that match their gender identity. Tammy Trujilo has details on that.
Speaker 10 (21:09):
The announcement comes just days after the Court upheld a
Tennessee law that restricts gender transition care for minors. The
Justice to say they'll hear appeals from Republican leaders in
West Virginia and Idaho who will defend vans in their states.
A decision on the case is expected to be made
by next summer. I'm Tammy Trihuello.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Big milestone for the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw this week as
he joined the three thousand strikeout club. Kershaw becomes the
twentieth pitcher and only the fourth lefty to reach that mark,
joining Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton, and C. C. Sabbathia. Some
games to watch today and this weekend. The Yankees open
a series against the Mets. This afternoon, Tigers had to Cleveland.
(21:47):
Tigers have a twelve and a half game lead over
the Cleveland Guardians, and the Astros take on the Dodgers
in the NL West at Dodgers Stadium. Well, July fourth
is a holiday for all America, but there's one document
that defines the day and defines us as Americans. That
document is, of course, the Declaration of Independence. Its author
(22:07):
Thomas Jefferson, who was a delegate to the Second Continental
Congress from Virginia. So why was he chosen to be
the principal author of this magnificent declaration? And where did
his ideas come from? Brandon Dillard is the director of
historical Interpretation at Monticello, Jefferson's beautiful home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
So why did Jefferson's colleagues in the Congress look to
(22:30):
him for this task?
Speaker 8 (22:32):
I love this question.
Speaker 11 (22:33):
It's a great question, and I'll do my best to
answer it as concisely as I can. I think one
of the best stories about this actually comes in the
later years of Jefferson's life, where he's reminiscing about these
early years some fifty years on and almost fifty years on,
and he's thinking about those early years and believing himself
(22:55):
to be someone who was merely described. And Jefferson himself,
when speaking of the declaration, said that he was not
aiming at originality, he was merely expressing the American mind.
And one of the funnier insights actually comes from Jefferson's colleague,
sometimes friends, sometimes enemy, the second President, John Adams. And
(23:16):
John Adams wrote a reminiscence about those early days of
the Second Countinental Congress and wrote about Jefferson himself writing
the declaration, and Adams said that Adams was the person
who told Jefferson that he had to write it, and
he listed out several reasons. Those reasons included that Jefferson
was a Virginian and remembering that Virginia was the most
(23:36):
populated and helpiest colony by far, Adams said, of Virginia
must be at the head of this thing. Adams also
told Jefferson that he was a better writer than most
of the people there. Jefferson had already written something called
a Summary Review of the Rights of British America when
he was thirty one that was widely read, and recognized
(23:57):
that Jefferson was quite skillful, perhaps most humorously, Adams went
saying that Jefferson should write it instead of Adams himself.
Adams wrote, I am obnoxious, unpopular, and suspect, and you
are very much otherwise. So the differences in their personality
were already clear even in those early days. Jefferson himself
(24:17):
later said Adams was a bit mistaken in his memory
of that, but suffice it to say, Jefferson became the
principal author, and we have what we have two hundred
and fifty years on.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
So what is so iconic about Monticello and the property itself.
Speaker 11 (24:32):
You know, I'm biased, obviously. I have an extraordinary office
where I get to see this iconic home every day.
And it is the only presidential home in the United
States of America that's recognized as a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization,
which means that it singularly represents a time and place
(24:55):
in a way that nothing else does, in a way
that belongs to all people for all time. And when
you visit Monticello and you see it, you can see
the expression of Jefferson himself and the architecture. Roosevelt. Franklin
Roosevelt said that it seems to me, more than any
other home in America, Monticello is the expression of the
(25:17):
personality of its builder.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Absolutely a beautiful home. I visited once when I was
a kid. I remember visiting Monticello, and as he said,
it is, it is absolutely beautiful. As far as the declaration, Brandon,
I'm curious. This may be a bit of a kind
of naive question, but did Jefferson want to write it?
(25:43):
I don't know. I don't know how you deal with that.
Go ahead, you.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Do it reluctantly. They're all making me do this.
Speaker 11 (25:51):
Huh. It's a great question, and I think it requires
a little bit of conjecture on our part in some assumption.
So I'll go on the record and say I don't know,
but I will say that a couple of things about
it include that at the time there was really this
sense that public service was a duty, and it wasn't
something that anyone would want to do. It was something
(26:15):
that they were called to do, and it wasn't seen
as a glorious kind of personal accolade, but rather as
drugury of a sort. And I believe that were you
to ask Thomas Jefferson, you know, this is exactly what
a historian should never do, is make these kinds of assumptions.
(26:36):
But I would say that Jefferson probably would have answered
along those lines, something about believing it was duty and necessary.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Brandon Dillard, the director of Historical Interpretation at Jefferson's home
Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Brandon, thank you so much for
joining us, and happy fourth through July to you.
Speaker 11 (26:55):
Happy for h thanks read all right again.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
As I mentioned earlier, I visited Monticelle when I was
a kid, and if you have the chance to do so,
take advantage of it. It really is, first of all,
a beautiful home and a really a trip down American history.
So coming up fourth of July, travel where the weather
might be a problem, parents and social media this is
(27:18):
always a big concern. Plus more of the day's top
news stories coming up. This is iHeartRadio's holiday talk program.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
And I'm Data McKay along with Reed Shepherd, and we
will be back on the iHeartRadio Holiday Talk program in
just a few minutes. Thank you for listening on this
fourth of July.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
I am Larry Menti. Menti in the Morning returns Monday
morning from six till ten. Now more of the iHeartRadio
Independence Day Morning Show.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
So we are back on iHeartRadio's holiday talk program for
the fourth of July twenty twenty five. We certainly hope
you're planning a great fourth today, whether it be a barbecue,
just relaxing, today is the day to do it. I'm
Reading Shepherd along with Dana McKay. Jason Bearinger is our producer. Now,
if you have travel plans, you're gonna have a lot
(28:30):
of company. Triple A Reports are record breaking. Seventy two
point two million Americans will be traveling more than fifty
miles of this between June twenty eighth and July sixth,
so an estimated sixty one point six million drivers and
five point eight million people will be going to the
airport to fly somewhere. Sometimes I wonder where they get
(28:52):
these numbers.
Speaker 4 (28:52):
I really do, right counting, Someone's got a little counter
gilery somewhere.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
However, the pop cities for this year Denver, Chicago, London,
San Diego, New York, and also with the opening of
the new theme park Epic Universe in Orlando, more and
more people are heading there as well. Now, according to
the National Weather Service, you could exceed You could see
(29:18):
some problems in the Northeast today that could cause delays,
especially for airline passengers. Strong to severe thunderstorms are forecast
for the northern and central Plains, also the Upper Mississippi Valley.
We're also watching possible development of a tropical depression or
storm in the Atlantic off the southeastern US coast now
(29:40):
that could bring rain to parts of the Georgia Coast
the Carolinas as it heads away from the US. Forecasters
sailed the a week system, but it is a reminder
that hurricane season is underway and we'll be checking in
with Ray Stagic from the Weather Channel in hour two,
so stay with us.
Speaker 4 (29:57):
So the price of your Amazon Prime membership is likely
going up soon. According to a JP Morgan analyst, Amazon
will likely raise the price from one hundred and thirty
nine dollars to one hundred and fifty nine dollars and
twenty twenty six, it's been one hundred and thirty nine
dollars since twenty twenty two. Before that, one hundred and
nineteen dollars. I'm pretty sure when I started with Prime
(30:17):
it was ninety nine dollars, so that twenty dollars increase
seems to be their pattern. It will mean about three
billion more dollars for Amazon, and the prediction is based
on Amazon's pattern of raising prices on significant features every
four years. About three hundred and fifty million people have
Prime memberships and the value is estimated to be about
(30:38):
one thy four hundred and thirty dollars, and that's based
on what you save on shipping and all the perks.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah, I order stuff from Amazon quite a bit. I
ordered a new litter box for my cat, last weekend.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
Get it get there in a day.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
As matter of fact, I got an email that it's
on its way. Well, fantastic, so great, this is something
I really need.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
Yeah, absolutely it is.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Well.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
As the mom of two kids who spend way too
much time on their screens, I'm excited to talk to
our next guest. To Tanya Jordan is the author of
the book Parental Control, A Guide to Raising Balanced Kids
in the Digital Era. She describes it as a playbook
for adults who want to educate and empower kids to
be safe digital citizens. To Tanya, it looks like your
key point is that parents need to be empowered to
(31:22):
be parents. What exactly does that mean.
Speaker 12 (31:25):
I'm so glad you asked, and thank you for having me.
Speaking as a mom of an almost seventeen year old,
I remember distinctly in some cases feeling almost afraid of
my son's reaction when in reality, when in reality, I
should not be afraid. I am the parent, I am
in control. You do what I say. You might not
(31:46):
like it, but I'm making the choices that are for
your optimal mental and physical health. So don't be afraid
to be the parent.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
I totally agree with that, So I have a twenty
one year old daughter and a twelve year old son,
and the twenty one year old, you know, when she
wanted a phone and to be on social media. This
was about ten years ago, when I feel like we
just didn't know enough back then to realize just how
dangerous it was in how many different ways. And now
(32:13):
we have a situation where a couple of years ago,
we were at disney World and I told her, please
put your phone away. I spent thousands of dollars on
this trip. Enjoy it with your family, and she lost it.
Because these kids are addicted. So how do you manage it?
Because now my son is twelve and he wants a phone,
and he's turning thirteen later this summer, and that's the
(32:36):
big thing he wants. So how do you balance, you know,
letting your kid have the technology, be able to connect
with friends, and also keep them away from the more
dangerous things on social media and also just limiting their
interaction with it because they need to have a life
outside of it totally.
Speaker 12 (32:54):
First thing is is delay is the way, and I
can't take credit for that. That's where my friend Chris
McKenna of Protect young Eyes dot Com you'll never regret waiting.
Second thing is, thankfully, for your son and children today,
Unlike your oldest daughter and my son, they're safer tech.
So please don't make the first piece of tech that
(33:15):
you give your child an iPhone or phones that don't
have built in parental controls that actually work. So you
could look at the Bark phone, or there's other options
out there that let your child have the connectivity you're
looking for to text mom, dad, a few trusted friends,
track location, et cetera. But don't give them access to
the entire world and give the entire world access to them.
(33:37):
And then finally, some just ground rules around no connected
tech in the bedrooms. No, they do not need their
phone as an alarm clock. Don't use tech overnight so
they can actually sleep. You know, there are some basic,
basic tenants that we could hold on to let our
kids have access to safer tech and not, you know,
just throw it all out the window.
Speaker 3 (33:57):
My stepdaughter and her husband Canny get their son to
the table to eat dinner. Oh gosh, he doesn't have
a phone, but he has access to mom's computer.
Speaker 12 (34:08):
What do you isn't that While think about, yeah, yeah,
what what would our parents.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Do you get bud to the table right right?
Speaker 11 (34:18):
And other things that are not safe for broadcast.
Speaker 12 (34:21):
But you've got to help your children understand that they
are addicted. It'd be like giving me a tub of
ice cream and a spoon as a six year old
and be like, oh, just have as much as you want. No,
I can't control myself. And so helping our children understand
the science behind what these screens and what these games
do to our brains, how they spike chemicals that cause
(34:43):
you to want more and more of it, and how
they make everything else in your life feel less exciting
and less fulfilling, then they can understand, hey, you know
what this this checks out. I get what my mom
and dad are saying, and I do need to take
a break so that I don't turn into a complete zombie.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
This is something new for us as parents, in keeping
the kids not away from social media, but controlling the
social media to some degree. It's like, we don't really
know how to do this yet, do we.
Speaker 12 (35:14):
Well, we know how to be parents, right, and parents'
jobs are to keep their kids safe in the real
world and online. We're not here to be our kid's
friend first. We're here to help them, build resilience and navigate,
you know, the rocky landscape of growing up. So if
you feel in your gut and if you're observing that
(35:35):
there are things that are unhealthy that your child is encountering,
then it is your job to prevent it, block it,
provide access, learn about it.
Speaker 11 (35:45):
Period.
Speaker 12 (35:45):
You don't have to understand the nuances of Fortnite and
Snapchat in order to be a good parent, but you
can spend some time there, and you can go to
Google and just google dangers of whatever your child wants
to encounter, and then look at it with them.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Titanya Jordan, thank you so much for joining us on
the iHeartRadio Holiday Talk program. She is the author of
the book Parental Control, A Guide to Raising balanced Kids
in the Digital Era. And speaking of social media, you
have to see the very patriotic tie that Reid is
wearing today. That picture is on my Instagram at Dana
(36:23):
McKay radio, so I would check that out.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
I would say your outfit is somewhat patriotic too. This morning.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
You got me beat with the tie though, Reid. We'll
be right back on iHeartRadio's Holiday Talk
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