January 14, 2025 • 39 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Are you always interrupting others? You’re not alone! Tips for interrupting people less often with Meredith Goldstein – Boston Globe Columnist.
GOP Lawmakers Outline Extensive Reforms to Address Migrant Crisis. Rep. Paul Frost checked in with Dan.
Why is January the busiest month of the year for divorce attorneys? We found out from Sharon Ramage - Divorce Attorney.
Fat, Stressed, and Sick: MSG, Processed Food, and America's Health Crisis. Surprising sources of hidden MSG in everyday foods. With Dr. Katherine Reid - Founder of Unblind My Mind, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to improving health through informed food choices.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
Are you always interrupting others? You’re not alone! Tips for interrupting people less often with Meredith Goldstein – Boston Globe Columnist.
GOP Lawmakers Outline Extensive Reforms to Address Migrant Crisis. Rep. Paul Frost checked in with Dan.
Why is January the busiest month of the year for divorce attorneys? We found out from Sharon Ramage - Divorce Attorney.
Fat, Stressed, and Sick: MSG, Processed Food, and America's Health Crisis. Surprising sources of hidden MSG in everyday foods. With Dr. Katherine Reid - Founder of Unblind My Mind, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to improving health through informed food choices.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's new radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Cole, thank you very much as we move through this
really chilly night boy. If you're out and about it,
I hope you bundled up, and if you're driving, I
hope the heat is working in the car. We'll take
you all the way to midnight. As to Cole suggested,
my name is Dan Ray, host of Nightside here every
weeknight from eight until midnight, almost weeknights. Every once in
a while I take a night off here in a
night there. But for the most start Rob Brooks and
(00:30):
the night Side team. Rob is back in the control room.
Of course during the day, Marita or aka Lightning, helps
us set up the program, and we have a four
interesting guest in this first hour. And without any further Ado,
I want to introduce some Meredith Goldstein. Meredith, how are
you tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I'm okay, I'm losing my voice, which is ironic being
considering what we're about to talk about.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, I got it, and I'm going to try to
help you. I've read the first of all, you're one
of the best columnists. I think one of the reasons
people read the Boston Globe. I got to tell you you're
really a great writer, and I just want to say
thanks very much. I think this is the first time
we've had you on, but you have written a very
(01:16):
interesting piece which my wife often reminds me about why
am I always interrupting people? And you have a five tips.
I don't know how many of those we can get through,
and I guess your sister is somewhat of an expert
on this as well. As I read the article, i'll
read it more closely. First of all, tell us about
your sister. Does she teach at Harvard Business School?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
No? No, no, So my sister is a casting director
and speaking coach, and she's always saying to me, why
is everyone interrupting me? And she means me, I'm a
big interrupter right as her sister. And this is why
I'm laughing about losing my voice, because I am being
punished for being an interrupter my voice. But I wondered
(02:02):
why am I becoming someone who interrupts? And it was
really fascinating to talk to Harvard Business School leaders, to
psychologists because I think that in twenty twenty five, we
are a culture of people who cut people off a lot,
and so what what is that about.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, that's the that's the question. We are fast paced,
I mean everything. I don't know about you, but I
don't know. Some people prefer to text, others prefer to email.
Guys like me, I'd prefer to call you in the
phone and kind of you know, talk to you for
two or three minutes and move on with the rest
(02:43):
of the day. You send someone a text and you're
waiting for the text back. So I don't know, there's
I think there's a whole bunch of factors at work.
You're the expert. You wrote the piece, and you said
that this may have kind of arrived with COVID.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, absolutely, because first of all, we all got a
little bit weird socially, right, But also when you're on
a zoom call, no one knows who should be talking,
and when someone is talking, people are also writing in
a chat, so there's this constant simultaneous conversation. And that
started to happen in real vocal conversations too, where my
(03:20):
sister starts saying a sentence and I'll try to finish
for a sentence. So it was you know, I think
technology and zoom culture is a big part of it.
I also laughed a lot because a lot of the
people I interviewed said, well, not to offend you, but
how old are you? And I told them I was
forty seven, and they said, you are right around the
time when you start losing your thoughts, like whether it's
(03:44):
women going through menopause right aging in general, where if
I don't say it right now, I'm going to forget it.
So then I yell it. I just say it right.
And so there's this rudeness that comes with a fear
of losing your point, which now much more sensitive to.
And and it also made me feel a little bit
(04:06):
better right that it's not an intended rudeness, it's a
need to say it before it goes away.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah. Well, as they say, my wife will say to me,
you need to listen more. Maybe that maybe most wife
say that to their husbands, but I don't know. And
she also say say to me, when I'm talking to someone,
you know, turn the conversation back to them. She's very
good now what she listens to which I can't listen to.
On a Sunday night, I'm going in to watch a
(04:34):
baseball game or a football game, and she's watching like
masterpiece theater, and you know, the piece of the dialogue
and Masterpiece Theater goes something like this, Hello, darling, Yes,
what would you like to have for dinner tonight? Claude,
I don't know. Whatever you're preparing would be fine. And
(04:54):
that's a fast paced masterpiece. Masterpiece the drives me nuts.
It's fine.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Yeah, And.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
You're a radio right, you know radio, and in radio
especially people are moving quickly. You're going back and forth,
so I'm sure Masterpiece theater feels incredibly slow. But I
don't make the point for people listening that. When I
wrote this story, I was frustrated with myself and other interrupters.
But I think there are two big kinds of interrupting.
One is a more selfish, maybe even malicious, cutting someone
(05:26):
off and changing the subject and like as dismissing what
you're trying to say and saying something else. But what
I started to notice is a real well meaning interruption,
which is I'm so invested I want to jump to
the next thought. I'm so invested, I want to guess
the end of your sentence. And that's what I see
a spike in.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Meredith. I think you have a book here.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Maybe I mean I would I mean, I think we
all need more practice with phone conversations and I think
that would help and real life conversations. Too much is
done online, and I also think we have to you know,
the best tip of all the tips was the Harvard
Business School expert told me that during my whole interview
with her, she had a notebook under her desk and
(06:12):
she was taking notes so that she didn't say things
out loud while I was talking. I have, since that interview,
started doing that myself so that way, if I feel
like interrupting, I just write it down and I save it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Meredith, I have to tell you a quick, funny story
that deals with Harvard Business School, and I think you'll
appreciate this. My daughter went to Harvard Business School. She
graduated there a few years ago, and as the parents,
you were invited to audit emphasize audit one class. So
I went there with my wife and my daughter's husband,
(06:48):
and we were sitting up in the back row and
the teacher, the professor, who was about I don't know,
thirty five years old, maybe forty years old tops, he
was talking about the Ronald Reagan economy from the nineteen eighties.
That was his subject. Okay. I looked around the classroom
and I realized that I was the only person in
(07:09):
that classroom who had ever interviewed Ronald Reagan on radio,
interviewed him on television, had conversations with him on the
campaign trail, who actually kind of knew him as much
as you can know someone. And I was sitting there saying,
oh my god, why can't I say something. I was
not allowed to interrupt at Harvard Business School on from
(07:30):
your course. It would disown me.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
So yes, yes, you did that valuable information to yourself.
I mean it is Listen, that's the place where I
would be afraid to interrupt. And it is funny because
I think it can be more appropriate depending on where
you are. It's a globe. Everybody's just shouting at the
same time, so interrupting isn't much of a thought. At
the globe, We're all just interrupting. It's one big interrupting session.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
If you kind of interrupted the globe, you'll never get
a chance to speak exactly exactly. Mary. If you sound great,
your voice sounds like it's getting stronger than we started.
I hope you're not going to come down with something.
And I just want to say, thanks so much for
being a trooper.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
No, I need my interrupting power. My voice has to
come back.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
You bet you, you bet you well. I'll tell your
writing skills are great. I read your stuff, big fan.
Thank you so much for joining us tonight. And I'm
telling you you got a book here. I'm telling you,
I'll think when you're right it, you're going to come
on the show.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Thanks Mary, absolutely, thanks.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I talk to you soon. All right, when we get back,
we're going to talk about a Republican initiative today at
the State House in which there is legislation being filed,
reform legislation filed by the Republican party up there to
reform the migrant crisis here in Massachusetts, and a lot
of it to me, makes a lot of sense. We'll
(08:56):
be back on night Side right after this. There goes
my voice.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
Nice Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
All right, joining us now is Republican state Representative Paul
Frost here from Massachusetts. Representative Frost, you have been with
us before. Welcome back.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
How are you excellent? Dan, and thank you for having
me back.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
You're more than welcome. Well today you had a news
conference up on Bacon Hill, and right now the migrant
shelter system in Massachusetts is just broken. It's it's a
disaster in this state, and someone has to move forward.
And today Republicans in the House and Senate, I guess,
have indicated they intend to to what hold some hearings,
(09:43):
file some legislation. What's the game plan?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Sure, So today the House Republicans and the Senate Republicans
on Beacon Hill gathered to announce a big initiative that
we're supporting an omnibus bill lot of issues regarding the
shelter crisis and as well as some other immigration issues
that affect Massachusetts. And we're calling for transparency, accountability, public safety,
(10:09):
and fiscal responsibility UH in the program. The emergency shelter program,
which he was already said, is a mess, and it
is and it doesn't like it's more than.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It's a it's a disaster for the taxpayers, it's a
disaster for the authorities, and it's disaster for the migrants
who have to live there with people who are who
are dealing sentinel or or have have AK for AK fifty,
AK forty sevens AR fifteen's I mean this is nuts.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
No, it absolutely is. And it doesn't seem like the
right hand knows what the left hand is doing or
vice versa.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Uh, you know a.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Governor's claims that well, you know last spring, which which
by the way, a year ago. Last fall, we were
told that background checks were being deducted. But apparently that
spring she said, you know, she made it at all.
You know that background checks are supposed to be happening
in this and then recently just announce the other day
that that they haven't been not happening. And you know,
(11:08):
acing according.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
To what the governor said, I think representative not to
interrupt you, but according to what the governor said, was
she ordered them. She was never told by her staff
that they weren't being conducted. Who's in charge?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
But exactly? And that is one of the big answers
that we asked today. Who's in charge? You know house
More ear leader Brad Jones earlier in the week, you know,
was calling for someone's head, said look, he need a roll.
You know, someone dropped the ball and we want to
know why and how and who's responsible, and you know
they should be fired.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But today find someone being hired. It said, they're an
endangered species on Beacon Hill. So let's get into some
of the specifics. You guys want to limit the shelter
stays to six months, but more important you you want
to make sure that people who are availing themselves of
shelters are people who have lived here for aboudy at
(11:59):
least the year.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah, we feel that exactly that there should be a
residency requirement on eligibility, and that you've been a Massachusetts
resident for at least a year and not just been
here a day, not just get off a plane or
a boss or what have you, and all of a
sudden eligible for all these benefits and programs. We can't
afford it. It's bankrupting us, it's hurting the program, and
(12:23):
it's putting other Massachusetts residents who have been here, maybe
their entire lives, who do need these services from getting
these services or be competing for these services in a
wait list against people who've only been here a day.
And so yes, we're trying to put the year a
year eligibility of residency in there. We want to limit
it to six months. We want to prevent violent actors
(12:45):
from entering as well as re entering the shelter system,
and we want to authorize law enforcement and the courts
to honor ice detainers for violent offenders, which is something
that it should be a no brainer. You want to
require competitive bidding on on all elements of the migrant
crisis response and create an Office of Inspector General to
(13:06):
unit to provide oversight of the micro over the micro crisis.
The other thing we also called for today and is
we asked the state auditor to audit the program, the
emergency shelter program, and she responded right away as yes,
she will.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, Diane Disaugly is Diana Dozaugli is doing a great
job in my opinion as state auditor. So one of
the programs that I think you should look at. Have
you heard about the no bid taxicab contract? And I
think it's on well, I know it's on the Cape.
I think it's in the town at Truro for six
point one million dollars. Do you know how tlexicab rides
(13:45):
you can get for six point one million dollars? It's
a noble I would imagine a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Yes, I will, I will.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I mean that's just the other thing is that the
governor was quoted I think in the Globe and the
Herald last week is saying that she wanted to take
a second look at the legislative history of the nineteen
eighty three statute that Governor d Kakassian, which established the
shelter law in Massachusetts, and it's seem to me like
(14:13):
maybe she feels consistent with what you folks said today
that this is being made available to people for whom
the law never anticipated, never anticipated this influx of people
from around the world.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Absolutely, and this is something that we've been saying for
well over a year now, and that that this this
wasn't the intent of the program. It was here. It
was meant here for legal Massachusetts residents who are you know,
who need this assistance, who need these programs, And it
wasn't meant for people who just show up one day
at our at our doorstep and say, okay, we want
(14:49):
we want access to all these programs. So so no,
and it's about time I wish he listened to us
well over a year ago. But nevertheless, you know, we're
going to push it again we enter our new legislative session,
and we welcome any you know, movement in that direction
by the governor or the Democrats and the legislature to
(15:10):
finally do something to fix this program and to make
sure that it remains intact for Massachusetts residents as it
was meant to since the nineteen eighties.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Well represented, Paul Frost, do you represent four towns if
I'm not mistaken, in central Massachusetts, just south of Worcester,
And you are obviously working on behalf of your constituents
and on behalf of everyone here in the cornwalth of Massachusetts.
And I say keep at it any night that you
need some publicity on this. We got to keep that.
We have to keep the pressure on because this is
(15:42):
a disaster. Massachusetts is once again the laughing stock of
the nation, and we just you know, we've got to
become a two party state. That's the problem we have
right now. And I continue to believe that that they
are just the Democrats do whatever they want up on
Beacon Hill. They have a you know, old school leadership,
and they have a young progressives in the membership, and
(16:06):
the residents of Massachusetts are leaving. We talked last night
about the out migration problem, so there's a lot to
work on up there. I hope you folks stay on
top of it. Thanks very much for joining us tonight.
Representative Paul Frost of Central Massachusetts.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
You're very welcome. When we get back, we're going to
talk about January. It is the biggest month, the busiest
month of the year for divorces. We're going to talk
with the divorce attorney and she's going to explain to us.
I guess a couple of theories as to why. Back
on Nightside right after the news break at the bottom
of the hour. My name is Dan Ray. This is
(16:43):
Boston's news Radio WBZ ten thirty on your AM dial.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w Boston's
News Radio.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
All right, we have turned the corner into a new year,
because January first comes around once a year and it
always starts the month of January, which turns out to
be a very busy month for divorce lawyers. With us
is divorce attorney Attorney Sharon Rimmage, Attorney. I guess we
(17:21):
can speculate as to why divorces is the busiest month
for divorce attorneys, but you must know the real reason.
Tell us what's going on. How are you tonight?
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Thank you for having me. Well, I've done this work
a long time, and January is always very busy month,
and the average person before they actually go to a
divorce attorney probably spends a good twelve to eighteen months
thinking about it, and so they get through a variety
of reasons. They may put it off. They want to
(17:55):
get maybe some of their financials in order, maybe they're fine,
AELs are way out of order after the Christmas credit
card bills come in. But also they want to wait
and just get through the holidays, and they make a resolve.
You know, most people make resolutions to do something different
(18:16):
after the first of the year, and I don't want
to say that divorce is a new Year's resolution, but
turning a new leaf on life, going into a new
chapter and starting fresh and starting it kind of having
a fresh start, starting over. That's a common theme that
we see with clients, and they're finally ready to go
(18:37):
come January. And January sixth this year was, of course
divorce Day. It was the first Monday of the month.
But we've been very busy and there's been really no letup,
and so this January of twenty twenty five has really
proven to be just as much of a divorce January
as any other year.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
In your practice, who's initiating divorces? How much? What percentage
of them? Are sort of like mutual agreements where both
parties come to you and say, hey, we'd like to
save a little bit in our legal fees and we
want to split things up evenly, and which gender is
initiating more of the divorces? Men or women?
Speaker 5 (19:21):
I think historically, just across the board, women tend to
be the ones that file more frequently. But in our
practice we're pretty much we're pretty even represented by men
and women. I think men tend to stay in and
(19:42):
tolerate some things or ignore some things. Maybe they're just
cluarless about some things longer than some women. And it
just depends on a lot of different things, but we
don't really see that it's more frequently in January it's
women versus men. It's pretty much across the board. And
and sometimes they've agreed that most states and know in
(20:04):
our state, one attorney cannot represent both people because they're
really is a lawsuit. They're adverse parties, so we don't
meet with both parties. So frequently one party will go
to the lawyer and they will initiate the process and
maybe it does end up getting handled amicably, but more
often than not, both sides are getting representation if someone
(20:28):
has a lawyer. Unfortunately, a lot of people flood the
courthouse with the courthouse forms that are available or legal zoom,
and a lot of people make a lot of mistakes
in their haste to begin anew there's an art to
what needs to go into a divorce order, and they
don't necessarily know ramifications, and so come about a year
(20:54):
from when they go down this path, there may be
things that just can't be undone. And so it's not
just going to lawyers, it's just across the board going
through the process.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, but I first past the bar the last century.
I actually knew some lawyers who would not, out of principle,
handle divorce cases. And it might they might have been
religiously based, but there has to be sort of a
ying and yang. I never handled divorce cases just because
(21:31):
it wasn't an area that I was particularly interested in
getting involved in. So I'm interested from your perspective, there
must be some cases that come to you that are
pretty depressing, and there must be some cases that come
to you, I assume in which you say, gee, this
is really best for both parties. Do you how do
you keep your own human emotions as a divorce lawyer
(21:54):
out of it.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Well, my goal is to well represent my client and
be an objective voice, and so if I get too
emotionally involved, it's kind of hard to do that, and
so I strive to do that. In all the larriors
in my office strive to do that to remove ourselves
because we are to be their counselors and their attorneys,
(22:18):
not therapist counselor, but we're to counsel them on the
legal ramifications of the decisions that they're making, and it's
hard to do that if you're all wrapped up in it.
I will tell you I've had couples come in to
see me and I've ended up referring them to a
marriage therapist. I've had people come in, they try marriage
(22:38):
therapy and then they come back and they go forward.
We have people handle their divorce a lot of different ways,
but at the end of the day, I tell all
of our divorce clients, you are not ending your family
when you get a divorce. You're just changing the way
it looks, especially if you have kids. And so because
(22:59):
if you have kids, you're going to have school events together,
graduations together, first days of college, grandchildren, and so you've
got to think in those terms of the actions that
you're taking and how am I best preserving a relationship
even though it's not a marriage relationship that's something that
(23:20):
is workable in the future for everyone that's touched by
the divorce, because it's not just about the two people.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, and I have to assume that it is. It's
a tough practice of law. I know that you keep
your emotions out of it, but as each case comes
in the door, you know, and obviously you're there representing
the best interestship of your client, but you realize that
this sometimes is an absolutely necessary your separation, departure, divorce,
(23:55):
whatever you want to call it. And sometimes I'm sure
you look at it and say, gee, it's too bad.
You know, depending upon the circumstances, that it couldn't work out,
although obviously you are going to do the best you
can for your particular client and that has to be
a balance that you have to strike as an attorney.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
It is and you know, divorce representation, especially the really
high conflict cases, can become very dreaming, draining because there's
a lot of drama, and the key to having any
longevity in this business is to not allow yourself being
(24:39):
to be brought into that drama and to keep your
wits about you, because if you allow yourself to get
it drawn into it, you just don't last. And I
do think I'm you know, I'm catholic. I am a
long time here. I've been married twenty five almost twenty
six years, and I although I would not see myself divorcing,
(25:04):
and that's not been a part of what's gone on
with me. I respect what people are going through, and
I realize they're in pain and they're at their worst.
But I've had too many people come back to me
a year later, two years later and thank me because
they said I was not at my work.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I was not at my.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Best at that time. Thank you for seeing me through.
I know you gave me good advice. And you can
see how you help them transform, whether it's heavy litigation
or a more amicable approach to divorce, because most cases
aren't litigated. They're resolved in mediation or informal settlement, and
(25:44):
the goal is to keep people in a place where
it does not completely consume them and they can move
on and thrive after divorce, not just survive.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Absolutely, well, it comes awfully nice to talk with you.
What states do you are you are you practicing?
Speaker 5 (26:03):
If I could ask practice in Texas and the good
all stay to Texas and then we have plenty of
divorce in Texas. We have plenty to keep us busy.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. So I'm sure that again,
what do they say. I think it's some one out
of two marriages end up on these days in divorce.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
So it's correct.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
It's fifty to fifty. It's sad to watch any marriage dissolve.
It is, it is.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
It's a loss.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, but the service that you're providing is necessary at
a time when people are really quite emotional. And thank
you for taking your time, taking the time to talk
with us tonight. It was very interesting. I did not
realize that January was the the busy month that it is,
but makes a lot of sense when you look at it,
when you when you look at the calendar, that's for sure.
Appreciate the conversation. Thanks very much, Attorney Rammage.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Right, thank you very well.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
We get back. We're going to talk about surprising sources
of hidden MSG in everyday foods. I think all of
you know that I'm very much involved with the weight
loss program Awaken one eighty and I really believe in it.
And one of the things that Awakened one Adie did
for me was to think more about the food that
(27:21):
I was eating and what impact it had on me,
and that was really helpful. We're going to talk with
doctor Catherine Reid. She's the founder of a group called
Unblind My Mind, a nonprofit dedicated to improving health through
informed food choices. We'll talk with doctor Reed right after
this quick break on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Now back to Dan Ray Mine from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Well, all of us now in January have gotten through
the holiday season when all of us were eating anything
that was put in front of us, and all of
us now are trying to pull ourselves back into a
better role of caloric intake. Joining us now is doctor
Catherine Reid. She is the co author with doctor Barbara Price,
(28:14):
of a book called Fat, Stressed and Sick msg Processed
Food in America's Health Crisis. Welcome doctor Reid to Nightside.
How are you?
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Oh good?
Speaker 6 (28:25):
Thank you for having me, Dan, You.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
More than welcome when did the book come out? How
recent is the book out?
Speaker 6 (28:31):
September of twenty three.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Okay, so it's been around for a while, which is good,
and I hope it's been successful, and clearly a lot
of us now follow our diets a lot more closely.
I'm involved with a program up here for ten years
called Awaken one eighty in which I was able to
shed thirty five pounds and have kept it off to
(28:55):
this day. And a lot of that had to do
with just remembering a lit little bit about what you're
ingesting and what time of day you're ingesting it. So,
I mean, there is sort of a science to this,
and it sounds to me like that's exactly where this
book is. I'm going to try to pick it up
because I suspect that it will help me. Tell us
(29:15):
MSG is in the title fat, Stressed and Sick MSG,
processed food in America's Health crisis. Tell us what folks
will learn in the book.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Yeah, So it definitely does a deep dive on the
glutamate industry and it's hidden forces in the food supply.
Glue tomate is another name for monosodium glutamate or MSG,
and you know it's not labeled on our food packages.
And so the book is really kind of helping people
empower themselves making healthier food choices and understanding how the
(29:51):
processing of these foods is generating and riching and fortifying
MSG in the foods and why would they do it
because MSG is re addicting.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Now I've always associated and probably I'm kind of a
dummy in this regard MSG with Chinese food. Is is
it in all? Is it highly concentrated in Chinese food?
Or is it in every type of food we ingest.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
You know, your beliefs are very common that you know,
most people will say I don't consume MSG because they
think that it's mostly in Chinese food. The standard American diet,
which I call SAD, has more MSG in its you know,
consumption than the Chinese because of how much processing is
(30:39):
going on, particularly processed proteins. When you process the proteins,
meaning you're degrading them, you're you know, through fat hydrolysis
processes or extreme heat or fermentation. You degrade the protein,
breaking it up in its subunits of amino acids, and
glutamate is an amino assis did so just the fermentation
(31:02):
of wheat containing the gluten protein will create glutamate in
the fermentation of the wheat and the gluten proteins. So
most Americans and most people don't understand how much msry
they're consuming, and it's because of the processing.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
So what types of food get processed? Is it? Is
it cookies and snacks? Is it? Is it the chips
that that people eat, taco chips, potato chips, et cetera.
What you know? Without giving away everything in the book here,
and I believe, I believe that you're a biochemist, so
(31:44):
you very much understand the science behind this. I had
always thought MSG was in Chinese food, and I've never
been a big fan of Chinese food, but I always
used to get a headache from Chinese food, so I
could go years without eating Chinese food. Now friends of
mine just love it and they'll eat it every you know,
every opportunity they have. But I will buy, you know,
(32:09):
one of the things, because I do a talk show,
I'm always I'm always trying to improve my my standard
of food intake. I'll go to the store and I
love Boy's Head turkey, which I think is a good
quality turkey, but I know that's a processed food. Is
it not?
Speaker 4 (32:25):
And did you say bullyon turkey?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
No, forehead, forehead is a brand.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
Forehead, Oh forehead turkey, And now it's you know, somehow cured.
You know, then you're getting into the processing of that meat,
which will then create more MSG. So you asked about
some common foods, and certainly the more ultra processed foods,
which is a category you know, like your chips and
snacks and cookies and beef turkey, will have more MSG
(32:54):
and something that's you know, slightly less processed. But I
think you know, like the standard American diet, you know, cheese,
the way they ferment the caseine protein and they're adding
enzymes will create MSG because it's degrading, breaking apart that
caseine protein. So the more age the cheese, the more
(33:15):
MSG created. And so that's just a you know, an
eye opener for many people. The same thing I said
with the bread, you know, sour dough bread.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Everybody's like, oh, sour dough, you know, wonderful.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
Well, sour dough cultures ferment wheat or the gluten protein,
and the more fermented, the more that it's degrading that
gluten protein, creating MSG. And so we.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Should all be biochemist here because obviously you understand. Look,
let me let me talk about some safe foods. I'm
assuming raw fruit, raw vegetables are probably the best and
safest things that we could eat during during the day.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Correct, Yeah, So fruits, vegetables, organic nuts, and seeds. Uh.
Speaker 6 (34:00):
You know, meats that are coming from animals that are happy,
that aren't like secured and put into like deli meat,
so like you know, wild caught haemon or pastur raised
chickens that are you know, nice and happy and eating club.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
So the happy happy before they died obviously.
Speaker 6 (34:18):
Well happy animals before they reached the plate.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
So so a lot of free range is you'll see
free range stuff. Now, a lot of this stuff I
know is marketing, but I'm I'm trying to figure it
out here. If you see something that says free range eggs,
are those better for you than then the ones that
aren't marked free range?
Speaker 6 (34:40):
And that's a good question, and that's where you know,
you start to really know where your food comes from.
So I'm lucky I'm in the state of California. I mean,
I'm luckily not being impacted by the fires, but I
know where my eggs come from, you know, so I
know that where the chickens are and how they are
being treated, and they're not near a urban territory and such,
(35:02):
and so you know, it's nice to know where your
food comes from.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Okay, fair enough, let me ask you this. And this
may be somewhat of a political question. I don't want
to put you into the political With Robert F. Kennedy Junior.
I know that he has a lot of theories. I
don't really have a firm opinion as to what sort
of Health and Human Services secretary he would be. But
(35:29):
some of his ideas seem a little out there, and
then there's some of them that seem very kind of interesting,
kind of a mixed bag. Is that your reading of
him generally or no.
Speaker 6 (35:41):
It is, you know, because you know, I've heard about
him years ago because he was saying big food, big pharma,
and it's making us more ill because our policies are
being driven by corporation, you know, pocketbooks and such. And
I was in biotechnology for twenty here, so you know,
I know I'm in that. I was in that industry,
(36:03):
and so you know big food. You know, there is
an international technical glue tomate Committee. Now, figure that one
out as a head scratcher. Why would we need an
international committee, you know, with protecting the interest of glue
tomate in the food supply worldwide.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Yeah, one word comes to my mind, and that's lobbying exactly.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And so they lobby with World Health Organization to keep
glue tomate hidden from consumers. It's not labeled, it's not
put on like how much there is in these foods
because it's considered natural because it is in some natural foods.
But what's not natural is how much we're consuming in
the processing of the foods, and that's making people sick.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Well, I will tell you that as I as I
look at Amazon, your book is highly rated, you have
five stars. Well, I'm sure you're familiar with that, and
you get it from Amazon and elsewhere, I believe, and
it's available on Kindle. Also there's an audio version. A
(37:09):
lot of my listeners are non cited or blind, and
they're all we're always looking to talk about books that
are available on cassette or an audio CD version. So
the best way for people to do is I'm assuming Amazon,
and do you want to send you to a different website?
Speaker 6 (37:28):
Yeah, and so Amazon does have it. I do encourage
people to buy the hard copy if that they are able,
because it does have an appendix with recipes and wait
like a weekly plans and such, which the appendix material
is not something that people are getting through these audiobooks,
and that's a publisher deal, not something that I desired.
So you know, if you do want the recipes and
(37:50):
the meal plants and such, you know, the hard copy
is available on Amazon. Fact Stressed and Sick MSG Process
Foods and the Methods Health Crisis. And then I do
have a nonprofit, unblindmymind dot org where I work with
families individually or groups, you know, like you said you
have a weight you know, lost group. I work with
autism groups, you know, so because that's how I started
(38:13):
my journey with my daughter being diagnosed with autism.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Other what and you what is what is that website
you're you gave the Amazon dot com. We said, what
is your website?
Speaker 6 (38:25):
Unblindmmind dot org.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Unblindmmind dot org. Well, thank you very much, doctorI there
was pleasure to talk about to you and I really
enjoyed the conversation. We'll talk again, I hope. Thank you.
Speaker 6 (38:37):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Happy new year, same to you. We can still say,
because we're still in January, thank you very much. What
do we get? Okay, we get back after the nine
o'clock news. I want to open up a conversation that
we haven't talked about before here in night Side. And
it's one you go to a pharmacy and you want
to buy a tube of toothpaste, you want to buy
a deoderan spray or something like that, and it's locked up.
(39:02):
What the heck is going on in our world? I
was recently in a store which I'll tell you about,
where they had men's socks locked up. You couldn't just
pick them off the shelf and go buy them. We'll
get to all of that, I promised, right after the
nine o'clock news here on night Side
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's new radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Cole, thank you very much as we move through this
really chilly night boy. If you're out and about it,
I hope you bundled up, and if you're driving, I
hope the heat is working in the car. We'll take
you all the way to midnight. As to Cole suggested,
my name is Dan Ray, host of Nightside here every
weeknight from eight until midnight, almost weeknights. Every once in
a while I take a night off here in a
night there. But for the most start Rob Brooks and
(00:30):
the night Side team. Rob is back in the control room.
Of course during the day, Marita or aka Lightning, helps
us set up the program, and we have a four
interesting guest in this first hour. And without any further Ado,
I want to introduce some Meredith Goldstein. Meredith, how are
you tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I'm okay, I'm losing my voice, which is ironic being
considering what we're about to talk about.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Well, I got it, and I'm going to try to
help you. I've read the first of all, you're one
of the best columnists. I think one of the reasons
people read the Boston Globe. I got to tell you you're
really a great writer, and I just want to say
thanks very much. I think this is the first time
we've had you on, but you have written a very
(01:16):
interesting piece which my wife often reminds me about why
am I always interrupting people? And you have a five tips.
I don't know how many of those we can get through,
and I guess your sister is somewhat of an expert
on this as well. As I read the article, i'll
read it more closely. First of all, tell us about
your sister. Does she teach at Harvard Business School?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
No? No, no, So my sister is a casting director
and speaking coach, and she's always saying to me, why
is everyone interrupting me? And she means me, I'm a
big interrupter right as her sister. And this is why
I'm laughing about losing my voice, because I am being
punished for being an interrupter my voice. But I wondered
(02:02):
why am I becoming someone who interrupts? And it was
really fascinating to talk to Harvard Business School leaders, to
psychologists because I think that in twenty twenty five, we
are a culture of people who cut people off a lot,
and so what what is that about.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, that's the that's the question. We are fast paced,
I mean everything. I don't know about you, but I
don't know. Some people prefer to text, others prefer to email.
Guys like me, I'd prefer to call you in the
phone and kind of you know, talk to you for
two or three minutes and move on with the rest
(02:43):
of the day. You send someone a text and you're
waiting for the text back. So I don't know, there's
I think there's a whole bunch of factors at work.
You're the expert. You wrote the piece, and you said
that this may have kind of arrived with COVID.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, absolutely, because first of all, we all got a
little bit weird socially, right, But also when you're on
a zoom call, no one knows who should be talking,
and when someone is talking, people are also writing in
a chat, so there's this constant simultaneous conversation. And that
started to happen in real vocal conversations too, where my
(03:20):
sister starts saying a sentence and I'll try to finish
for a sentence. So it was you know, I think
technology and zoom culture is a big part of it.
I also laughed a lot because a lot of the
people I interviewed said, well, not to offend you, but
how old are you? And I told them I was
forty seven, and they said, you are right around the
time when you start losing your thoughts, like whether it's
(03:44):
women going through menopause right aging in general, where if
I don't say it right now, I'm going to forget it.
So then I yell it. I just say it right.
And so there's this rudeness that comes with a fear
of losing your point, which now much more sensitive to.
And and it also made me feel a little bit
(04:06):
better right that it's not an intended rudeness, it's a
need to say it before it goes away.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah. Well, as they say, my wife will say to me,
you need to listen more. Maybe that maybe most wife
say that to their husbands, but I don't know. And
she also say say to me, when I'm talking to someone,
you know, turn the conversation back to them. She's very
good now what she listens to which I can't listen to.
On a Sunday night, I'm going in to watch a
(04:34):
baseball game or a football game, and she's watching like
masterpiece theater, and you know, the piece of the dialogue
and Masterpiece Theater goes something like this, Hello, darling, Yes,
what would you like to have for dinner tonight? Claude,
I don't know. Whatever you're preparing would be fine. And
(04:54):
that's a fast paced masterpiece. Masterpiece the drives me nuts.
It's fine.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Yeah, And.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
You're a radio right, you know radio, and in radio
especially people are moving quickly. You're going back and forth,
so I'm sure Masterpiece theater feels incredibly slow. But I
don't make the point for people listening that. When I
wrote this story, I was frustrated with myself and other interrupters.
But I think there are two big kinds of interrupting.
One is a more selfish, maybe even malicious, cutting someone
(05:26):
off and changing the subject and like as dismissing what
you're trying to say and saying something else. But what
I started to notice is a real well meaning interruption,
which is I'm so invested I want to jump to
the next thought. I'm so invested, I want to guess
the end of your sentence. And that's what I see
a spike in.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Meredith. I think you have a book here.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Maybe I mean I would I mean, I think we
all need more practice with phone conversations and I think
that would help and real life conversations. Too much is
done online, and I also think we have to you know,
the best tip of all the tips was the Harvard
Business School expert told me that during my whole interview
with her, she had a notebook under her desk and
(06:12):
she was taking notes so that she didn't say things
out loud while I was talking. I have, since that interview,
started doing that myself so that way, if I feel
like interrupting, I just write it down and I save it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Meredith, I have to tell you a quick, funny story
that deals with Harvard Business School, and I think you'll
appreciate this. My daughter went to Harvard Business School. She
graduated there a few years ago, and as the parents,
you were invited to audit emphasize audit one class. So
I went there with my wife and my daughter's husband,
(06:48):
and we were sitting up in the back row and
the teacher, the professor, who was about I don't know,
thirty five years old, maybe forty years old tops, he
was talking about the Ronald Reagan economy from the nineteen eighties.
That was his subject. Okay. I looked around the classroom
and I realized that I was the only person in
(07:09):
that classroom who had ever interviewed Ronald Reagan on radio,
interviewed him on television, had conversations with him on the
campaign trail, who actually kind of knew him as much
as you can know someone. And I was sitting there saying,
oh my god, why can't I say something. I was
not allowed to interrupt at Harvard Business School on from
(07:30):
your course. It would disown me.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
So yes, yes, you did that valuable information to yourself.
I mean it is Listen, that's the place where I
would be afraid to interrupt. And it is funny because
I think it can be more appropriate depending on where
you are. It's a globe. Everybody's just shouting at the
same time, so interrupting isn't much of a thought. At
the globe, We're all just interrupting. It's one big interrupting session.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
If you kind of interrupted the globe, you'll never get
a chance to speak exactly exactly. Mary. If you sound great,
your voice sounds like it's getting stronger than we started.
I hope you're not going to come down with something.
And I just want to say, thanks so much for
being a trooper.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
No, I need my interrupting power. My voice has to
come back.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
You bet you, you bet you well. I'll tell your
writing skills are great. I read your stuff, big fan.
Thank you so much for joining us tonight. And I'm
telling you you got a book here. I'm telling you,
I'll think when you're right it, you're going to come
on the show.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Thanks Mary, absolutely, thanks.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I talk to you soon. All right, when we get back,
we're going to talk about a Republican initiative today at
the State House in which there is legislation being filed,
reform legislation filed by the Republican party up there to
reform the migrant crisis here in Massachusetts, and a lot
of it to me, makes a lot of sense. We'll
(08:56):
be back on night Side right after this. There goes
my voice.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World,
Nice Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
All right, joining us now is Republican state Representative Paul
Frost here from Massachusetts. Representative Frost, you have been with
us before. Welcome back.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
How are you excellent? Dan, and thank you for having
me back.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
You're more than welcome. Well today you had a news
conference up on Bacon Hill, and right now the migrant
shelter system in Massachusetts is just broken. It's it's a
disaster in this state, and someone has to move forward.
And today Republicans in the House and Senate, I guess,
have indicated they intend to to what hold some hearings,
(09:43):
file some legislation. What's the game plan?
Speaker 4 (09:47):
Sure, So today the House Republicans and the Senate Republicans
on Beacon Hill gathered to announce a big initiative that
we're supporting an omnibus bill lot of issues regarding the
shelter crisis and as well as some other immigration issues
that affect Massachusetts. And we're calling for transparency, accountability, public safety,
(10:09):
and fiscal responsibility UH in the program. The emergency shelter program,
which he was already said, is a mess, and it
is and it doesn't like it's more than.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It's a it's a disaster for the taxpayers, it's a
disaster for the authorities, and it's disaster for the migrants
who have to live there with people who are who
are dealing sentinel or or have have AK for AK fifty,
AK forty sevens AR fifteen's I mean this is nuts.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
No, it absolutely is. And it doesn't seem like the
right hand knows what the left hand is doing or
vice versa.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Uh, you know a.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Governor's claims that well, you know last spring, which which
by the way, a year ago. Last fall, we were
told that background checks were being deducted. But apparently that
spring she said, you know, she made it at all.
You know that background checks are supposed to be happening
in this and then recently just announce the other day
that that they haven't been not happening. And you know,
(11:08):
acing according.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
To what the governor said, I think representative not to
interrupt you, but according to what the governor said, was
she ordered them. She was never told by her staff
that they weren't being conducted. Who's in charge?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
But exactly? And that is one of the big answers
that we asked today. Who's in charge? You know house
More ear leader Brad Jones earlier in the week, you know,
was calling for someone's head, said look, he need a roll.
You know, someone dropped the ball and we want to
know why and how and who's responsible, and you know
they should be fired.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
But today find someone being hired. It said, they're an
endangered species on Beacon Hill. So let's get into some
of the specifics. You guys want to limit the shelter
stays to six months, but more important you you want
to make sure that people who are availing themselves of
shelters are people who have lived here for aboudy at
(11:59):
least the year.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah, we feel that exactly that there should be a
residency requirement on eligibility, and that you've been a Massachusetts
resident for at least a year and not just been
here a day, not just get off a plane or
a boss or what have you, and all of a
sudden eligible for all these benefits and programs. We can't
afford it. It's bankrupting us, it's hurting the program, and
(12:23):
it's putting other Massachusetts residents who have been here, maybe
their entire lives, who do need these services from getting
these services or be competing for these services in a
wait list against people who've only been here a day.
And so yes, we're trying to put the year a
year eligibility of residency in there. We want to limit
it to six months. We want to prevent violent actors
(12:45):
from entering as well as re entering the shelter system,
and we want to authorize law enforcement and the courts
to honor ice detainers for violent offenders, which is something
that it should be a no brainer. You want to
require competitive bidding on on all elements of the migrant
crisis response and create an Office of Inspector General to
(13:06):
unit to provide oversight of the micro over the micro crisis.
The other thing we also called for today and is
we asked the state auditor to audit the program, the
emergency shelter program, and she responded right away as yes,
she will.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yeah, Diane Disaugly is Diana Dozaugli is doing a great
job in my opinion as state auditor. So one of
the programs that I think you should look at. Have
you heard about the no bid taxicab contract? And I
think it's on well, I know it's on the Cape.
I think it's in the town at Truro for six
point one million dollars. Do you know how tlexicab rides
(13:45):
you can get for six point one million dollars? It's
a noble I would imagine a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Yes, I will, I will.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I mean that's just the other thing is that the
governor was quoted I think in the Globe and the
Herald last week is saying that she wanted to take
a second look at the legislative history of the nineteen
eighty three statute that Governor d Kakassian, which established the
shelter law in Massachusetts, and it's seem to me like
(14:13):
maybe she feels consistent with what you folks said today
that this is being made available to people for whom
the law never anticipated, never anticipated this influx of people
from around the world.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Absolutely, and this is something that we've been saying for
well over a year now, and that that this this
wasn't the intent of the program. It was here. It
was meant here for legal Massachusetts residents who are you know,
who need this assistance, who need these programs, And it
wasn't meant for people who just show up one day
at our at our doorstep and say, okay, we want
(14:49):
we want access to all these programs. So so no,
and it's about time I wish he listened to us
well over a year ago. But nevertheless, you know, we're
going to push it again we enter our new legislative session,
and we welcome any you know, movement in that direction
by the governor or the Democrats and the legislature to
(15:10):
finally do something to fix this program and to make
sure that it remains intact for Massachusetts residents as it
was meant to since the nineteen eighties.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Well represented, Paul Frost, do you represent four towns if
I'm not mistaken, in central Massachusetts, just south of Worcester,
And you are obviously working on behalf of your constituents
and on behalf of everyone here in the cornwalth of Massachusetts.
And I say keep at it any night that you
need some publicity on this. We got to keep that.
We have to keep the pressure on because this is
(15:42):
a disaster. Massachusetts is once again the laughing stock of
the nation, and we just you know, we've got to
become a two party state. That's the problem we have
right now. And I continue to believe that that they
are just the Democrats do whatever they want up on
Beacon Hill. They have a you know, old school leadership,
and they have a young progressives in the membership, and
(16:06):
the residents of Massachusetts are leaving. We talked last night
about the out migration problem, so there's a lot to
work on up there. I hope you folks stay on
top of it. Thanks very much for joining us tonight.
Representative Paul Frost of Central Massachusetts.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
You're very welcome. When we get back, we're going to
talk about January. It is the biggest month, the busiest
month of the year for divorces. We're going to talk
with the divorce attorney and she's going to explain to us.
I guess a couple of theories as to why. Back
on Nightside right after the news break at the bottom
of the hour. My name is Dan Ray. This is
(16:43):
Boston's news Radio WBZ ten thirty on your AM dial.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w Boston's
News Radio.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
All right, we have turned the corner into a new year,
because January first comes around once a year and it
always starts the month of January, which turns out to
be a very busy month for divorce lawyers. With us
is divorce attorney Attorney Sharon Rimmage, Attorney. I guess we
(17:21):
can speculate as to why divorces is the busiest month
for divorce attorneys, but you must know the real reason.
Tell us what's going on. How are you tonight?
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Thank you for having me. Well, I've done this work
a long time, and January is always very busy month,
and the average person before they actually go to a
divorce attorney probably spends a good twelve to eighteen months
thinking about it, and so they get through a variety
of reasons. They may put it off. They want to
(17:55):
get maybe some of their financials in order, maybe they're fine,
AELs are way out of order after the Christmas credit
card bills come in. But also they want to wait
and just get through the holidays, and they make a resolve.
You know, most people make resolutions to do something different
(18:16):
after the first of the year, and I don't want
to say that divorce is a new Year's resolution, but
turning a new leaf on life, going into a new
chapter and starting fresh and starting it kind of having
a fresh start, starting over. That's a common theme that
we see with clients, and they're finally ready to go
(18:37):
come January. And January sixth this year was, of course
divorce Day. It was the first Monday of the month.
But we've been very busy and there's been really no letup,
and so this January of twenty twenty five has really
proven to be just as much of a divorce January
as any other year.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
In your practice, who's initiating divorces? How much? What percentage
of them? Are sort of like mutual agreements where both
parties come to you and say, hey, we'd like to
save a little bit in our legal fees and we
want to split things up evenly, and which gender is
initiating more of the divorces? Men or women?
Speaker 5 (19:21):
I think historically, just across the board, women tend to
be the ones that file more frequently. But in our
practice we're pretty much we're pretty even represented by men
and women. I think men tend to stay in and
(19:42):
tolerate some things or ignore some things. Maybe they're just
cluarless about some things longer than some women. And it
just depends on a lot of different things, but we
don't really see that it's more frequently in January it's
women versus men. It's pretty much across the board. And
and sometimes they've agreed that most states and know in
(20:04):
our state, one attorney cannot represent both people because they're
really is a lawsuit. They're adverse parties, so we don't
meet with both parties. So frequently one party will go
to the lawyer and they will initiate the process and
maybe it does end up getting handled amicably, but more
often than not, both sides are getting representation if someone
(20:28):
has a lawyer. Unfortunately, a lot of people flood the
courthouse with the courthouse forms that are available or legal zoom,
and a lot of people make a lot of mistakes
in their haste to begin anew there's an art to
what needs to go into a divorce order, and they
don't necessarily know ramifications, and so come about a year
(20:54):
from when they go down this path, there may be
things that just can't be undone. And so it's not
just going to lawyers, it's just across the board going
through the process.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, but I first past the bar the last century.
I actually knew some lawyers who would not, out of principle,
handle divorce cases. And it might they might have been
religiously based, but there has to be sort of a
ying and yang. I never handled divorce cases just because
(21:31):
it wasn't an area that I was particularly interested in
getting involved in. So I'm interested from your perspective, there
must be some cases that come to you that are
pretty depressing, and there must be some cases that come
to you, I assume in which you say, gee, this
is really best for both parties. Do you how do
you keep your own human emotions as a divorce lawyer
(21:54):
out of it.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
Well, my goal is to well represent my client and
be an objective voice, and so if I get too
emotionally involved, it's kind of hard to do that, and
so I strive to do that. In all the larriors
in my office strive to do that to remove ourselves
because we are to be their counselors and their attorneys,
(22:18):
not therapist counselor, but we're to counsel them on the
legal ramifications of the decisions that they're making, and it's
hard to do that if you're all wrapped up in it.
I will tell you I've had couples come in to
see me and I've ended up referring them to a
marriage therapist. I've had people come in, they try marriage
(22:38):
therapy and then they come back and they go forward.
We have people handle their divorce a lot of different ways,
but at the end of the day, I tell all
of our divorce clients, you are not ending your family
when you get a divorce. You're just changing the way
it looks, especially if you have kids. And so because
(22:59):
if you have kids, you're going to have school events together,
graduations together, first days of college, grandchildren, and so you've
got to think in those terms of the actions that
you're taking and how am I best preserving a relationship
even though it's not a marriage relationship that's something that
(23:20):
is workable in the future for everyone that's touched by
the divorce, because it's not just about the two people.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, and I have to assume that it is. It's
a tough practice of law. I know that you keep
your emotions out of it, but as each case comes
in the door, you know, and obviously you're there representing
the best interestship of your client, but you realize that
this sometimes is an absolutely necessary your separation, departure, divorce,
(23:55):
whatever you want to call it. And sometimes I'm sure
you look at it and say, gee, it's too bad.
You know, depending upon the circumstances, that it couldn't work out,
although obviously you are going to do the best you
can for your particular client and that has to be
a balance that you have to strike as an attorney.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
It is and you know, divorce representation, especially the really
high conflict cases, can become very dreaming, draining because there's
a lot of drama, and the key to having any
longevity in this business is to not allow yourself being
(24:39):
to be brought into that drama and to keep your
wits about you, because if you allow yourself to get
it drawn into it, you just don't last. And I
do think I'm you know, I'm catholic. I am a
long time here. I've been married twenty five almost twenty
six years, and I although I would not see myself divorcing,
(25:04):
and that's not been a part of what's gone on
with me. I respect what people are going through, and
I realize they're in pain and they're at their worst.
But I've had too many people come back to me
a year later, two years later and thank me because
they said I was not at my work.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I was not at my.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Best at that time. Thank you for seeing me through.
I know you gave me good advice. And you can
see how you help them transform, whether it's heavy litigation
or a more amicable approach to divorce, because most cases
aren't litigated. They're resolved in mediation or informal settlement, and
(25:44):
the goal is to keep people in a place where
it does not completely consume them and they can move
on and thrive after divorce, not just survive.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Absolutely, well, it comes awfully nice to talk with you.
What states do you are you are you practicing?
Speaker 5 (26:03):
If I could ask practice in Texas and the good
all stay to Texas and then we have plenty of
divorce in Texas. We have plenty to keep us busy.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure. So I'm sure that again,
what do they say. I think it's some one out
of two marriages end up on these days in divorce.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
So it's correct.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
It's fifty to fifty. It's sad to watch any marriage dissolve.
It is, it is.
Speaker 5 (26:35):
It's a loss.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, but the service that you're providing is necessary at
a time when people are really quite emotional. And thank
you for taking your time, taking the time to talk
with us tonight. It was very interesting. I did not
realize that January was the the busy month that it is,
but makes a lot of sense when you look at it,
when you when you look at the calendar, that's for sure.
Appreciate the conversation. Thanks very much, Attorney Rammage.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Right, thank you very well.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
We get back. We're going to talk about surprising sources
of hidden MSG in everyday foods. I think all of
you know that I'm very much involved with the weight
loss program Awaken one eighty and I really believe in it.
And one of the things that Awakened one Adie did
for me was to think more about the food that
(27:21):
I was eating and what impact it had on me,
and that was really helpful. We're going to talk with
doctor Catherine Reid. She's the founder of a group called
Unblind My Mind, a nonprofit dedicated to improving health through
informed food choices. We'll talk with doctor Reed right after
this quick break on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Now back to Dan Ray Mine from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Well, all of us now in January have gotten through
the holiday season when all of us were eating anything
that was put in front of us, and all of
us now are trying to pull ourselves back into a
better role of caloric intake. Joining us now is doctor
Catherine Reid. She is the co author with doctor Barbara Price,
(28:14):
of a book called Fat, Stressed and Sick msg Processed
Food in America's Health Crisis. Welcome doctor Reid to Nightside.
How are you?
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Oh good?
Speaker 6 (28:25):
Thank you for having me, Dan, You.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
More than welcome when did the book come out? How
recent is the book out?
Speaker 6 (28:31):
September of twenty three.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Okay, so it's been around for a while, which is good,
and I hope it's been successful, and clearly a lot
of us now follow our diets a lot more closely.
I'm involved with a program up here for ten years
called Awaken one eighty in which I was able to
shed thirty five pounds and have kept it off to
(28:55):
this day. And a lot of that had to do
with just remembering a lit little bit about what you're
ingesting and what time of day you're ingesting it. So,
I mean, there is sort of a science to this,
and it sounds to me like that's exactly where this
book is. I'm going to try to pick it up
because I suspect that it will help me. Tell us
(29:15):
MSG is in the title fat, Stressed and Sick MSG,
processed food in America's Health crisis. Tell us what folks
will learn in the book.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Yeah, So it definitely does a deep dive on the
glutamate industry and it's hidden forces in the food supply.
Glue tomate is another name for monosodium glutamate or MSG,
and you know it's not labeled on our food packages.
And so the book is really kind of helping people
empower themselves making healthier food choices and understanding how the
(29:51):
processing of these foods is generating and riching and fortifying
MSG in the foods and why would they do it
because MSG is re addicting.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Now I've always associated and probably I'm kind of a
dummy in this regard MSG with Chinese food. Is is
it in all? Is it highly concentrated in Chinese food?
Or is it in every type of food we ingest.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
You know, your beliefs are very common that you know,
most people will say I don't consume MSG because they
think that it's mostly in Chinese food. The standard American diet,
which I call SAD, has more MSG in its you know,
consumption than the Chinese because of how much processing is
(30:39):
going on, particularly processed proteins. When you process the proteins,
meaning you're degrading them, you're you know, through fat hydrolysis
processes or extreme heat or fermentation. You degrade the protein,
breaking it up in its subunits of amino acids, and
glutamate is an amino assis did so just the fermentation
(31:02):
of wheat containing the gluten protein will create glutamate in
the fermentation of the wheat and the gluten proteins. So
most Americans and most people don't understand how much msry
they're consuming, and it's because of the processing.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
So what types of food get processed? Is it? Is
it cookies and snacks? Is it? Is it the chips
that that people eat, taco chips, potato chips, et cetera.
What you know? Without giving away everything in the book here,
and I believe, I believe that you're a biochemist, so
(31:44):
you very much understand the science behind this. I had
always thought MSG was in Chinese food, and I've never
been a big fan of Chinese food, but I always
used to get a headache from Chinese food, so I
could go years without eating Chinese food. Now friends of
mine just love it and they'll eat it every you know,
every opportunity they have. But I will buy, you know,
(32:09):
one of the things, because I do a talk show,
I'm always I'm always trying to improve my my standard
of food intake. I'll go to the store and I
love Boy's Head turkey, which I think is a good
quality turkey, but I know that's a processed food. Is
it not?
Speaker 4 (32:25):
And did you say bullyon turkey?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
No, forehead, forehead is a brand.
Speaker 6 (32:30):
Forehead, Oh forehead turkey, And now it's you know, somehow cured.
You know, then you're getting into the processing of that meat,
which will then create more MSG. So you asked about
some common foods, and certainly the more ultra processed foods,
which is a category you know, like your chips and
snacks and cookies and beef turkey, will have more MSG
(32:54):
and something that's you know, slightly less processed. But I
think you know, like the standard American diet, you know, cheese,
the way they ferment the caseine protein and they're adding
enzymes will create MSG because it's degrading, breaking apart that
caseine protein. So the more age the cheese, the more
(33:15):
MSG created. And so that's just a you know, an
eye opener for many people. The same thing I said
with the bread, you know, sour dough bread.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Everybody's like, oh, sour dough, you know, wonderful.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
Well, sour dough cultures ferment wheat or the gluten protein,
and the more fermented, the more that it's degrading that
gluten protein, creating MSG. And so we.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
Should all be biochemist here because obviously you understand. Look,
let me let me talk about some safe foods. I'm
assuming raw fruit, raw vegetables are probably the best and
safest things that we could eat during during the day.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Correct, Yeah, So fruits, vegetables, organic nuts, and seeds. Uh.
Speaker 6 (34:00):
You know, meats that are coming from animals that are happy,
that aren't like secured and put into like deli meat,
so like you know, wild caught haemon or pastur raised
chickens that are you know, nice and happy and eating club.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
So the happy happy before they died obviously.
Speaker 6 (34:18):
Well happy animals before they reached the plate.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
So so a lot of free range is you'll see
free range stuff. Now, a lot of this stuff I
know is marketing, but I'm I'm trying to figure it
out here. If you see something that says free range eggs,
are those better for you than then the ones that
aren't marked free range?
Speaker 6 (34:40):
And that's a good question, and that's where you know,
you start to really know where your food comes from.
So I'm lucky I'm in the state of California. I mean,
I'm luckily not being impacted by the fires, but I
know where my eggs come from, you know, so I
know that where the chickens are and how they are
being treated, and they're not near a urban territory and such,
(35:02):
and so you know, it's nice to know where your
food comes from.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Okay, fair enough, let me ask you this. And this
may be somewhat of a political question. I don't want
to put you into the political With Robert F. Kennedy Junior.
I know that he has a lot of theories. I
don't really have a firm opinion as to what sort
of Health and Human Services secretary he would be. But
(35:29):
some of his ideas seem a little out there, and
then there's some of them that seem very kind of interesting,
kind of a mixed bag. Is that your reading of
him generally or no.
Speaker 6 (35:41):
It is, you know, because you know, I've heard about
him years ago because he was saying big food, big pharma,
and it's making us more ill because our policies are
being driven by corporation, you know, pocketbooks and such. And
I was in biotechnology for twenty here, so you know,
I know I'm in that. I was in that industry,
(36:03):
and so you know big food. You know, there is
an international technical glue tomate Committee. Now, figure that one
out as a head scratcher. Why would we need an
international committee, you know, with protecting the interest of glue
tomate in the food supply worldwide.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Yeah, one word comes to my mind, and that's lobbying exactly.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And so they lobby with World Health Organization to keep
glue tomate hidden from consumers. It's not labeled, it's not
put on like how much there is in these foods
because it's considered natural because it is in some natural foods.
But what's not natural is how much we're consuming in
the processing of the foods, and that's making people sick.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Well, I will tell you that as I as I
look at Amazon, your book is highly rated, you have
five stars. Well, I'm sure you're familiar with that, and
you get it from Amazon and elsewhere, I believe, and
it's available on Kindle. Also there's an audio version. A
(37:09):
lot of my listeners are non cited or blind, and
they're all we're always looking to talk about books that
are available on cassette or an audio CD version. So
the best way for people to do is I'm assuming Amazon,
and do you want to send you to a different website?
Speaker 6 (37:28):
Yeah, and so Amazon does have it. I do encourage
people to buy the hard copy if that they are able,
because it does have an appendix with recipes and wait
like a weekly plans and such, which the appendix material
is not something that people are getting through these audiobooks,
and that's a publisher deal, not something that I desired.
So you know, if you do want the recipes and
(37:50):
the meal plants and such, you know, the hard copy
is available on Amazon. Fact Stressed and Sick MSG Process
Foods and the Methods Health Crisis. And then I do
have a nonprofit, unblindmymind dot org where I work with
families individually or groups, you know, like you said you
have a weight you know, lost group. I work with
autism groups, you know, so because that's how I started
(38:13):
my journey with my daughter being diagnosed with autism.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Other what and you what is what is that website
you're you gave the Amazon dot com. We said, what
is your website?
Speaker 6 (38:25):
Unblindmmind dot org.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Unblindmmind dot org. Well, thank you very much, doctorI there
was pleasure to talk about to you and I really
enjoyed the conversation. We'll talk again, I hope. Thank you.
Speaker 6 (38:37):
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Happy new year, same to you. We can still say,
because we're still in January, thank you very much. What
do we get? Okay, we get back after the nine
o'clock news. I want to open up a conversation that
we haven't talked about before here in night Side. And
it's one you go to a pharmacy and you want
to buy a tube of toothpaste, you want to buy
a deoderan spray or something like that, and it's locked up.
(39:02):
What the heck is going on in our world? I
was recently in a store which I'll tell you about,
where they had men's socks locked up. You couldn't just
pick them off the shelf and go buy them. We'll
get to all of that, I promised, right after the
nine o'clock news here on night Side
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