January 30, 2025 • 37 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
John Vincent - Senior Automotive Correspondent has the 2025 Best Cars for the Money list.
Kaleb Thome - Master Model Builder discussed LEGO® Brick's 67th Birthday and LEGO Discovery Center Boston is celebrating by launching a brand-new event called LEGO Creativity Academy this Thursday, January 30th, through March 3rd!
Kathleen Wong - USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter has the 14 best overseas retirement spots for 2025!
William R. Forstchen, Ph.D. - military historian and college professor explained EMP Attacks - How These Weapons Work.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
John Vincent - Senior Automotive Correspondent has the 2025 Best Cars for the Money list.
Kaleb Thome - Master Model Builder discussed LEGO® Brick's 67th Birthday and LEGO Discovery Center Boston is celebrating by launching a brand-new event called LEGO Creativity Academy this Thursday, January 30th, through March 3rd!
Kathleen Wong - USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter has the 14 best overseas retirement spots for 2025!
William R. Forstchen, Ph.D. - military historian and college professor explained EMP Attacks - How These Weapons Work.
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 night Side with Dan Ray on Delbsy Boston's new video.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Thank you Nicole. You can never underestimate the Calgary Zamboni's.
I mean they put on quite a show. Let me
tell you. Oh they're the machines. Oh I see to
make the ice okay, fair enough. My name's Dan Ray.
This is a night side and I start off with
a joke just to kind of break the tension a
little bit. It was a very difficult day here in
New England, very difficult day in the United States of America,
(00:29):
and we will be talking about the deadly DC or
plane crash, which is very hit close to home here
very much. We lost members of the skating Club of Boston.
And we'll get to that at nine o'clock and give
you an opportunity to to just talk, because that's all
(00:50):
we can do tonight is talk and remember the lives lost.
Such a sad night again at this time last night,
it's really frightening to think that those folks were on
a plane speeding towards Washington, DC, and obviously the folks
from Boston were going to be catching some sort of
I assume flight back here. If not last night, probably
(01:11):
sometime today and at this point they should be back
in their homes in the Greater Boston area, but that
was not to be, sadly, and we will get to
that at nine o'clock. We'll also talk about whether or
not social media for you has become more than an
opportunity to sort of check out the Internet. It's become
perhaps a little bit more than that, maybe even a
(01:33):
little addictive. We'll be talking with a very interesting guest,
doctor Don Grant, about this very issue. He is a
media psycho coologist and a doctoral addictions counselor and educator,
but specific expertise and technology impact on mental health. First, however,
we have our nightside news update, the Roundup, as I
(01:55):
like to call it sometimes. We have four topics coming up,
and we're going to start off and we are going
to talk about automobiles. I think everyone likes to talk
about automobiles. John Vincent is the senior automotive correspondent. I
believe John, you with the US News and World Report,
Is that correct? I am, Well, you have done a
(02:15):
lot of work to find out the best cars for
the money awards of twenty twenty five, and there's a
whole lot of categories here that you have been working on.
You have different cars dealing with just overall cars. Then
you have SUVs and minivans and other categories up to it,
(02:38):
including trucks, which is going to be interesting. So let's
talk about some of the great cars that you see
twenty twenty five. Let's talk about just the regular sedans.
I guess you like the Honda Civic, you like the
Hondai Alantra Hybrid, and you like the Honda Record. We
all three of those. Is it one two three or
(02:59):
is it one and a half one in a quarter
one and a half.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
It's actually one one one because each one stands alone
in this category.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
All right, Well, let's let's talk about thee cific give
us a sense on that best compact car.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So before we jump into the specific cars, let's talk
a little bit about the awards. And you know, these
awards exist because we know that buying a cheap car
is not always the best deal. You have to look at,
you know how much that car is going to cost
you over its lifespan. You have to look at whether
that's car is still going to be on the road
with you in five years, and whether you're still going
(03:36):
to be enjoying that car. So we look at data
from predicted cost of operations, we look at ownership costs,
we look at predicted reliability. We don't just sit in
the back room and throw darts at the dartboard. This
is all research based and we come up with what
we consider to be the best cars for the money.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
By the way, just the curiosity, how long has US
World a news report been doing this survey or releasing
this information every year?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
We've been doing the best cars for the money for
I think about a decade.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay, and have you had a pretty good Obviously, it's
like you picked the MVP in the American League or
the Pro Bowl quarterback. Sometimes you hit it, sometimes you don't.
I assume, since you're doing it ten years, you've got
a pretty good track record.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I think we did. I think we find the right ones,
and I think we give shoppers really good information here.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Okay, well, so let's talk. I just want to hit
as as many as we can here. Just folks might
be thinking, tell us the Honda Civic, Hondas, that's a
pretty reasonably priced car. What are we talking about to
buy a new twenty twenty five Honda Civic.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
How it is, you know, the Civic span kind of
a value leader since it came to America in like
nineteen seventy two. The new Civic is a lot bigger,
a lot better, probably the best Civic we've ever had.
You can get into it in the twenties and it's
going to give you, you know, a lot of great life.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Okay, So let's talk real quickly if we can about
maybe the the Hyundai Elantra hybrid. That's a that's the
best hybrid car. What's the cost of that. I assume
it's a little more than the Civic.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
It's a little more than the Civic. All hybrids are
slightly more expensive than their non hybrid counterparts. But you
over the life of the car, you get that money
back in gas price, in cast costs.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Okay, fair enough, Honda record best mid size cars. So
we get in a little bit more room. I assume'm
going to be a little bit more expensive.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yes, you're up in the thirties with the Accord for
the most part. Okay, So now we get to another
rock solid car.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Good. We get to the the SUVs and the mini vans,
and you got a Hyundai Tucson best compact Suv looks
like a pretty good sized car. I guess we're going
up a little bit in price once we get to
the SUV's and the minivans.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, up in price. The two soon competes in the
toughest category of the American market right now, which is
compact sub up against like the Honda CRV and Toyota four.
But when it comes to s car for money, it's
the Tucson okay.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And then you have a full electric Hyundai, the Hyundai
Kona Electric for those who want an electric car. And
I know that there's still some people who are saying yes,
some people are saying no. And the question is you
also got to make sure that you get a charging
station accessibility. Are those electric car prices coming down a
(06:36):
little bit? Generally?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You know, they are kind of stabilized, but the demand
is down a little bit, so you can get a
better deal right now. It makes much more sense if
you have a charging station at home than if you
have to try and publicly charge it. But the Conte
Electric is one of the least expensive electric cars you
can buy right now.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Okay, I'm going to skip around here a little bit
for the fun of it, and I want to move
over to the Honda Passport. It's the best two row suv.
Sort of what I have something old? I have an
old Vovo, which is sort of in that category. But
we're going to step out of my Vovo and get
(07:17):
into a Honda Passport. What am I looking at here?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
You're looking at probably around forty thousand for the one
you want.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And that's a good quality car.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's a good quality car. And what's interesting about the
Passport in this survey, in this study is that there's
a new Passport for twenty tranky six. The twenty twenty
five is in the last year of it's a product cycle,
and it's still won interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Interesting. Is it dangerous to buy a car in the
last year of its product cycle?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Absolutely not. In fact, a lot of experts will tell
you that that's when the best quality comes fair enough.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Here's one the name interesting me I know that tell
you Ride is a resort area, a very exclusive resort
area or at Colorado. So the twenty twenty five Kia
tell you Ride three row suv, that's going to be
a pretty good size suv. What do you think of
that car?
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Can you tell your ride's fantastic? It's been out for
several years now. It's big and it needs to be
beg to carry all the awards that it's won over
the last few years. It is a rock star amongst
three row SUVs.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Oh wow, and that's gonna be fifty or more you assuming.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
You can get it and win the forties, but it
easily goes into the fifties and even below sixties to
get the top end.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
One interesting, okay, real quick, if I'm just going to
ask you a question, I forever have been a Vovo person,
But if they're going to getting away from a Vovo,
I like the safety of the Volvo. My Vovo's quite old,
it's eleven years old. Would I be disappointed with a
tell you ride after having hit a Voval?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
You would not be disappointed with a tell you ride
after having a Volvo because Volvo, you know, own safety forever.
It still does great on safety, but everybody else is
caught up.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, okay, I think so. And real quick, let me
get one truck thing in one truck here that twenty
twenty five, fifteen hundred, Now that looks like a truck.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
That is a truck. That is a big, full sized
truck new engine family this year. That is fantastic. It's
the most refined engine you'll find in a pickup truck today,
most comfortable cab in the industry, and best ride of
any pickup truck you'll find.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You know what I'd like to do, John, If it's
okay with you, maybe bring you back some and we'll
spend an hour and we'll take phone calls from different
folks who are out in the in shopping around. Let's
we'll get back in touch with you in short order.
And I think this might be a fun topic, particularly
as we approach Washington's birthday, which you're old enough to remember,
(09:53):
used to be the biggest car weekend of the year,
holiday weekend of the year.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Is that a deal, Absolutely, it's I'd love to come
back on.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Sounds great. Thanks so much, John. I appreciate it really
do US World and News Report. You can check it out,
do your homework and we'll have John on in the
next maybe a couple of weeks. Thanks John, appreciate it
so much.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
When we get back, we're going to talk about Legos
going to go from cars to Legos. Legos is celebrating
at sixty seventh birthday. It has a big presence in Boston.
We'll explain, we'll pull it all together for you here
on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Well, Lego Brookes sixty seventh birthday and Lego Discovery Center
in Boston celebrating and they're going to launch a brand
new event called Lego Creativity Academy this Thursday to thirty
is actually today through March third, with us as Caleb
thom He is a master model builder. Caleb, Welcome to Nightside.
(10:56):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
How are you? Dan?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Great? I kind of missed the Lego thing because I
was born a little bit before when they arrived. How
popular is Lego these days worldwide?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Well, if it wasn't popular back then, it's certainly popular now.
It's especially in the past couple of years, perhaps since
the pandemic, it's seen a surge, especially with adults who
are now playing with them, having fun just as much
as kids are.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
So what prompted that you're talking about? You know, COVID
in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, twenty two, twenty
three did people rediscover their their inner childhood self or
how did this, how did this evolve?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I think it must have been something like that. And
it might be too that it's it's always been like
a puzzle. It's always been like a game. And people
enjoyed Lego in very different ways, whether they're playing with
it as kids like action figures, they're building it for
display models in their home like a lot of adults.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Do.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Now, give us the history of Lego again, as I say,
I kind of missed it. I've always been aware of it.
How who invented it? Where did it start and how
did it spread?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Sure, so it started in Denmark. And as you said,
it's the sixty seventh birthday of Lego, And what that
really means is sixty seven years ago, Godfred Kirk Christensen
got the first patent for what we know now today.
It's the Lego brick and the cool thing. And why
that's important is that Lego bricks from sixty seven years
ago can still be used and are compatible with pieces
(12:31):
made today. So it's kind of a continuation of a
product that's what stood the test of time and has
been popular through a lot of different ages.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Boy, there's no planned obsolescence with Lego. Isn't that wonderful?
I mean so many things I certinly hope not no,
but no. Seriously, so many things you buy these days
you're trying to get a replacement and you realize that
there's no replacement, so you're out of luck. Now, Lego
is developing a huge footprint in Boston, the Discovery Center.
(13:03):
How did that come to pass? And what can we
do to drive people there and make people aware of
this new asset in the city.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Absolutely. The biggest thing I think was a remodel back
in twenty nineteen. Since then, it's been our Discovery Center
here in Summerville, one of the only and at very
least the pre eminent attraction in the Northeast for playing,
having fun and exploring Lego bricks. And we have over
two million of those Lego bricks at the Discovery Center
(13:33):
where people to enjoy.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Now is that open and free to the public or
is there a little bit of a charge to participate
and get in? How does that work?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
There is?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And the best way I could put is that we're
most catered to families with children in age three to twelve,
but we allow families of course to come in and
enjoy the attraction of both kids and adults. You do
have to have a child under the age of eighteen
for entry, which starts at twenty four ninety nine, and
there's packages and other add ons, but twenty four ninety
(14:09):
nine is the taketd entry.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I hope that's the family price, not per per family member.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Yeah, it's per family member, Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And that's open seven days a week. They have to
make recussions.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
You can make reservations and if you book online you
might be able to say something or check out some
special events that we were running through, like you said,
through March second, but also things that are seasonal, like
our Valentine's Day Adult Night that we have coming up
on February fourteenth.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, you talk with you, that's a Friday night, So
that's a great That is a great timing this year
with Valentine's on Friday night. So you're talking about something
called Lego Creativity Creativity Academy. Is that something new and
is it going to be transitory or is that something
that's this putting down some roots here in Boston.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Well, it certainly is new. We started as of today
January thirtieth, and we'll be running through early March. It
is an event that we're doing across all Discovery Centers
and here in Boston. What are entails is a set
of activities that families kids get to participate in throughout
the Discovery Center. Master model builders there to guide them
(15:24):
through some tips and tricks. Hopefully you have a lot
of fun and at the very end they're able to
submit builds for what is the first time a global
competition for a mini master model builder.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Is this a family or does it? Is it limited
to kids in certain ages? If you get my drift,
you know, I can remember when they used to do
the Pinewood Derby and it was always the dads who
were working on the car. Yeah, So is this a
family activity or does a family watch as the the
(16:00):
child actually constructs the masterpiece.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
We certainly encourage families to be part of the experience,
be part of the project, but in the end, it
is the kid who is the one with their name
on it, submitting the build as their own, and we
take part in choosing winners at the end of this
event to then move on to the next phase of
the competition, which is representing the Boston area in the
(16:26):
search for the next Mini Master Model builder.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Now, I know this is a fun job for you
to have. I heard the enthusiasm in your voice. Did
you grow up as a Lego kid?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I really didn't. It's funny enough. I grew up building
Lego and then it must have been a good gap
of ten years until I got back into it. Kind
Of like you said, there's been just a surge and
people building Lego. It seems to be everywhere now and
I find myself to be one of those people too.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Well, that's great, so again I thank you. Folks. Get
information to get a website, you know, always great to
have a conversation. It's great if there's a website we
could drive some people to who might be interested, because
a lot of folks are listening driving home from work
and they don't have a paper and a scratch pad
next to them.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
You best to find most of our information, whether that
be ticketing or about this Creativity Academy event at Boston
at Legodiscoverycenter dot com. Lego being in all capitals pretty
easy to try to make it easy to find us,
especially with our giant giraffe named Geo outside of our
attraction if you happen to be in a Summerville area.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
So it's give it one more time, nice and slowly
for everybody to imprint in their mind.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Go ahead, Sure thing, that's Capital b Boston at Legodiscoverycenter
dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Perfect, great job, Thanks Caleb, Caleb Thom I hope I
pronounced your last name correctly.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yes, thank you, Dan Oh no, no.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
No, I was going to pronounce it. Has told me
after the Great Baseball Player Hall of Famer, So no relationship.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I'll always take that. Jim Tomy. Yeah, well I've gotten
that before and I always know it gets in smile.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Thanks Caleb, Thank you very much, appreciate your participating based
of luck with and welcome to Boston. Thanks again. Coming
up on the other side of the news at the
bottom of the hour, have you thought about retiring overseas?
Apparently more and more Americans are thinking about it. We're
going to talk with Kathleen Wong of USA today with
fourteen of the best overseas retirement spots for twenty twenty five,
(18:37):
and I think many of them will kind of surprise.
We'll be back on night side. You're listening to WBZ
Boston Boston's news radio. You can find us on our app,
the iHeart Appternoon improved I Part iHeart App, and you
can find that easily. And listen to WBZ seven days
a week, twenty four hours a day, three hundred and
(18:58):
sixty five days a year if you were so inclined,
and we would love you to be so inclined. Back
on Nightside after this, You're.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
On Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Want to welcome Kathleen Wong of USA Today. She's a
consumer travel reporter. And I didn't realize, Kathleen, Welcome to
Night's Side, that that many Americans are thinking about retiring overseas.
What's up with that?
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Hi?
Speaker 5 (19:29):
Yeah, nice to be here. It's definitely catching on. Just
since maybe what a two thousand and eight, there's been
a forty percent increase in Americans abroad who are collecting
Social Security income, and I think it's just kind of
becoming more mainstream. A gallop Pool found from twenty eleven
(19:52):
to twenty twenty four, a number of Americans who want
to live overseas has more than doubled. I think they're
hearing other people do it successfully and want to tie
another lifestyle themselves. I think it could be, you know,
the political climate, the uncertainty kind of driving people to
other countries and just kind of realizing that dream it's
(20:14):
becoming more realistic.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Okay, well, so you said that there's a forty percent increase.
I think you said since two thousand and eighties. How
many Americans I'm just curious how many Americans have actually,
if you know, have relocated in their retirement on a
you know, permit or a quasi permanent intention to finish
(20:38):
their lives overseas. Is that how big is the number
or is it? Is it?
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Yeah, that's a good question for sure. So last year
the number was more than seven hundred and sixty thousand
Social Security beneficiaries living abroad.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Okay, so that's seven hundred and sixty thousand total, not
seven hundred and sixty thousand who decided last year was
the year to immigrate abroad. And okay, okay, well that's
a significant number of people if they were breakdown in terms,
and again I know this is I want to get
to the cities here, but I'm just trying to get
is everybody heading to a couple of countries or is
(21:20):
it is it a real you know, dispersion of people
around the world.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
I don't have specific numbers on where people are going,
but I'm from my reporting, I hear a lot about Panama, Mexico,
and a lot in Europe, Spain and Portugal because it's
more affordable in the countries.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
All right, Well, let's talk about the the fourteen cities. Uh,
and and again if people can find this this article,
you'll work in the in USA today. But let's uh.
I got these fourteen cities and they It's interesting. I
assumed that a city like Montreal would be on there,
(22:03):
made or London. We start off with Valencia, Spain and
a city in Portugal, and then met a Lean in Colombia.
I thought, that's a dangerous city. What's what's up with that?
That really surprised me.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Yeah. Yeah, this index, it's an annual index from Living
invest Overseas.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
They do.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
They cast a wide net. They have on the ground
resources and they also their whole team is across the country,
so they're pretty tapped into you know, what these cities
are like in real time? I guess you can say.
But yeah, Valencia, Spain's a super popular place for expats
and Valencia is a big city, but not too big.
(22:47):
You know, it's pretty, it's right on the Mediterranean. It's
affordable right now, Spain is somewhat easy for people to
get residency. I think in like five years. Portugal as
well a popular place. You know, you probably heard of Lisbon,
but this cash Taise is kind of a smaller suburb
(23:08):
of Lisbon and it's a really friendly environment, very affordable. Safe.
Safety is also a big deal to a lot of people.
But yeah, that brings us to men Median. Yeah, the
city is definitely rising. I think in popularity, it's become safer.
I know it has kind of a stigma, but it's
(23:31):
a really vibrant place. They told they told me that
it's there's a lot of concerts, festivals, a big stood scene.
It's the only place in the country that has a metro,
so it's easy to get around and it's come a
long way.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Okay, then I want to get a few more. We
got a crete uh in Greece. That's an island, correct.
Speaker 5 (23:57):
Yes, yeah, a beautiful place. Yeah, you know there.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Also we have we have one city which I had
never heard of in Mexico, uh, Mazeelin muscle muscle and muscle.
How what's the pronunciation.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
I'm not completely sure either.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
The next one's easy. The next one's pizza, the leading
tower of pizza in Italy. I didn't realize that that's
number six on the list. And then from France. Uh,
you have uh La Rochelle sounds like Rochelle New York,
but that's neither here.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
No, paris definitely very different. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I have a friend who lived who lives in Belize,
an American who spends half the year in Belize. That
is a real interesting spot in the in the in
the Caribbean, we got Cyprus, Montenegro, that's beautiful, Mendoza, Argentina. Uh.
(24:59):
And then a city the Dominican. I've heard about a
lot of communities in the Dominican, which is so close, uh,
you know, shares you know, shares its its island paradise
with uh, with Puerto Rico les Terranas. Is that how
that's pronounced?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
Yes, I think, So what can you tell us about.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
That, because that's one that's you know, kind of in
the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Obviously tropical climates and a lot of people, you know,
would seek that in their retirement if they want to
spend their days somewhere it's beautiful. There's gorgeous beaches and
it's not, like you said, it's not too far from
the States as far as the plane ride goes. So
I think if you're kind of looking for uh laid
(25:45):
back beach town, that's a really good option and it's
definitely rising in popularity.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
And then the final two uh is one is in Thailand,
Hawaiian which I've never heard of in Thailand, and Veraguas
and Panama. A Greenland didn't make the list. I see
Panama made the list, but not Greenland.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
No, it did not. Yeah, it's a very it's a
list that it definitely makes you think and want to
look into some of these places. But they do weigh
like fifteen factors when they come up with the list
of it's cost of living is a big one, healthcare,
you know, safety, taxes, things to do that people would
want to enjoy with all their free time. So they
(26:29):
all have I think something worth checking out.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, it's interesting. At seven hundred and sixty thousand ex pats, boy,
that's a lot. That's a lot of people. As I
assume I'm represented by a lot of baby boomers, so
I really enjoyed this. This was this was a fun conversation.
It opened my eyes, Kathleen, and we'll follow you in
the USA today. Thanks so much for joining us. And
(26:54):
maybe we'll have you back some night and we'll take
some calls from callers and they can ask you questions
about some of these specific locales.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Yeah, this sounds fun. Thank you for your interest.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Thank you much, Kathleen. Kathleen Wong of USA today on
fourteen best Overseas retirement Spots for twenty twenty five. And
I didn't realize seven hundred and sixty thousand Americans getting
their Social Security checks overseas. Wow, we'll be back. We
have one more very special guest here on this Thursday
(27:26):
night edition of Nightside. This one's kind of serious. Going
to talk with the military historian and college professor about
EMP attacks. These are what's called electromagnetic pulses and they
have been weaponized, something we should all be aware of,
not afraid of, but aware of. Back on Nightside after this.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
(27:49):
Nightside Studios.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I'm DUMBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Just take one moment of personal privilege. Here what we
call the Arata section of nightside. I made a mistake
during my last interview with Kathleen Wong, who was lovely.
I somehow linked the Dominican Republic with Puerto Rico. The
Dominican Republic, which is one of the vacation retirement spots
(28:14):
that Americans apparently are flocking to, does not share an
ireland with Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is an American protectorate,
an island to itself. Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic shares
his spinola. I believe that's how it's pronounced with Haiti.
So I thank the kind person who called in and
(28:37):
caught me on that. You can't make a mistake on nights.
There's always someone out there who catches it. Now we're
going to a move into our fourth and final guest
at this hour, I want to welcome William Forsten. He's
a military historian and a college professor who also when
I read your bio, you did some construction work in
New York. I guess being a history teacher in the
(28:58):
nineteen seventies was probably not the best major to have
back then. How are you, sir?
Speaker 4 (29:05):
I was doing renovations on office buildings on thirty fourth
in Madison and was watching while the twin towers went up.
So yeah, that was back in the seventies early seventies.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Well, that's that's interesting. It shows that you're not just
some fuzzy brained academic here. This is someone who actually
works with his hands and with your minds and your mind.
And I first learned about electromagnetic pulses or e MPs
the book that Ray gorm wrote called seventy seven Days
in September. I assume you're familiar with that book, Yes.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
I am.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Yeah, Yeah, he's a great guy. I had him on
as a guest. So why don't you explain to my
audience this These are these are weapons now potential weapons EMPs,
and they could rake quite a lot of havoc, wreak
a lot of havoc, I should say, tell us about them.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
Incredible, Okay, I'll try and do this in one minute
or less. EMP electromagnetic pulse. It's created by detonating a
nuclear weapon about two hundred to two hundred and fifty
miles out in space, a relatively small one four to
five times the size of a euro from a bomb.
When the weapon detonates, it sets up an electrostatic discharge,
(30:21):
which is called the Compton effect, cascades down into the
Earth's atmosphere, hits the surface, feeds into the millions of
miles of electrical wiring in which are now antennas, which
in turn feeds into our power grid and blows the
whole thing out. A nightmare scenario would be three of
(30:44):
these detonate the same time. Eastern United States, Central Western
The Scary Statistic Congress did a study of this in
two thousand and two and came to the conclusion if
we were hit with an EMP, eighty to ninety percent
of the population would be dead a year later.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Oh man, this is how's your eating going otherwise? Well,
other than that, you know, the clam channel was okay,
but that were the main course And yeah, so okay.
So here's the question. I'm assuming the bad guys have
this capacity in capability, correct, Okay, what are we doing,
(31:24):
if anything, to defend against it? So it's been around
for a couple of decades now at least. What what
are we doing to defend against it?
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Well, it was first realized in nineteen sixty two when
we detonated a large one and knew of about one
mega Ton about five hundred miles south of Hawaii, you know,
up in space, and it blew out part of the
Hallolulu power grid. Russians do it a couple months later,
called Russian Test one eighty four. We all know you
(31:54):
can do it all. You need nothing other than any
new for their weapon, a suitcase sized bomb, Hahiroshima type bomb.
What happens is you lose your water, you lose your electricity, food,
you lose everything.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Absolutely, you don't have electricity con pump gas at gasoline stations.
Uh so, So okay, So the average American is not
aware of this, Okay. I mean we were aware of
the Kadashians, and we're all looking forward to the Chiefs
and the Eagles in the Super Bowl, which is fine,
but we're not aware of this. So because we're not
(32:29):
aware of it, Congress doesn't care about it. What is
there any system that we have that could protect ourselves
against that? Obviously, I don't trust the Russians, I don't
trust the Chinese, and I certainly don't trust a whackadoodle
in North Korea has one, yeah, go ahead, or the
(32:51):
molars in Iran. I mean, we got a bunch of
crazy people. Around the world. We're not crazy. We may
have weapons, but but we could have used these a
long time ago, and we never did.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
The North Koreans are my primary concern, and if Iran
acquires an ECO weapons, they already have satellite launch capability,
so North Korean delivery.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
So what you're saying is they have a delivery system, right.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
You know in the past, how old man, I ask
how old you are.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I'm on the wrong side of fifty and I worked
in television as a TV reporter here in Boston for
the CBS affiliate for thirty one years. And I'm in
my year eighteen, and I'm a lawyer. Went to law
school and for graduate school. So you can do the
math there. Don't give me a number of them.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Well, when you were a kid, when you were a kid,
I'm in my seventies. So I grew up during the
Cold War and it was the holding of mutual short destruction.
If the Russians hit us, we hit them. Nobody went
this is a game change. It's called an asymmetrical first
strike weapon and use a military type turn. North Koreans
(34:05):
throw this at US. Twenty minutes later, They've crippled the
United States. Then what we hit him back. In the end,
we have already lost. We'll lose the war in the
first thirty minutes.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
So you know this better than I do. And we
only have about two minutes left here. What can we
do to prevent that? Ah? You know, other than sending
Dennis Rodman over there is the new USO North Korea.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
I wish that would work all right. Trump administration first
time around, he started working on it, and then the
last administration came in. We're not going to get into politics.
Don't have what's needed now is and that's one reason
I'm doing a lot of interviews again, is for the
administration to do a comprehensive local DoD Department of Entergy
(35:00):
and others. What is an EMP? How do we prepare
for it? How do we protect ourselves and then move
ahead and do it? Don't talk about it, do it.
And that involves a good high tech inf you know,
iron dome system, and then as well preparing our infrastructure
(35:20):
to be able to better handle this. There are ways
of protecting yourself with different types of circuit breaking systems
and improved wiring and et cetera. You know, Department of Energy,
we're running electricity on a forty to fifty year old system.
In places it's antiquated.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
We have to modernize absolutely. And you know they talk
about the dome, think about Israel. They're iron smaller territory
deals with inter ballistic missiles. Primarily, this isn't a ballistic missile.
This is a different type of weapon. And I want
(35:58):
to make sure that a dome, which will cost trillions
of dollars, we'll protect us against e MPs. I'm with you,
We'll have you back. Okay, you're talking my language. Trust me.
We are both baby boomers, and we know what it
was like in the fifties and sixties hiding under your desk,
and I don't want to see my grand caps doing
the same thing, simple as that William forshed him. So
(36:20):
give us. The book is called about E m P
One second after by William. That's spelled f RS four
yeah HGN. But about E M P one second after
that's a book, folks, I'd love you all to get
and read. I mean it, honestly. Or seventy seven days
(36:41):
in September. That's more of a novel. But these are
two very important books.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Is the novel as well?
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Yep, that's Okay, that's okay, but let's let's keep it
as novels. We do not want it to be a
true story, because it will be an obituary for all
of us. Thank you so much. Thanks for your work, professor,
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (37:01):
Thank you, God bless have a good email.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Right back at you. Okay, we come back. We're going
to talk about what happened last night, a little over
twenty four hours ago in Washington, DC, and the impact
that it's having not only on the airline industry, but
first and foremost on the families who lost loved ones,
including families here in New England. We've been back back
on Night's side right after the nine o'clock news
It's night Side with Dan Ray on Delbsy Boston's new video.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Thank you Nicole. You can never underestimate the Calgary Zamboni's.
I mean they put on quite a show. Let me
tell you. Oh they're the machines. Oh I see to
make the ice okay, fair enough. My name's Dan Ray.
This is a night side and I start off with
a joke just to kind of break the tension a
little bit. It was a very difficult day here in
New England, very difficult day in the United States of America,
(00:29):
and we will be talking about the deadly DC or
plane crash, which is very hit close to home here
very much. We lost members of the skating Club of Boston.
And we'll get to that at nine o'clock and give
you an opportunity to to just talk, because that's all
(00:50):
we can do tonight is talk and remember the lives lost.
Such a sad night again at this time last night,
it's really frightening to think that those folks were on
a plane speeding towards Washington, DC, and obviously the folks
from Boston were going to be catching some sort of
I assume flight back here. If not last night, probably
(01:11):
sometime today and at this point they should be back
in their homes in the Greater Boston area, but that
was not to be, sadly, and we will get to
that at nine o'clock. We'll also talk about whether or
not social media for you has become more than an
opportunity to sort of check out the Internet. It's become
perhaps a little bit more than that, maybe even a
(01:33):
little addictive. We'll be talking with a very interesting guest,
doctor Don Grant, about this very issue. He is a
media psycho coologist and a doctoral addictions counselor and educator,
but specific expertise and technology impact on mental health. First, however,
we have our nightside news update, the Roundup, as I
(01:55):
like to call it sometimes. We have four topics coming up,
and we're going to start off and we are going
to talk about automobiles. I think everyone likes to talk
about automobiles. John Vincent is the senior automotive correspondent. I
believe John, you with the US News and World Report,
Is that correct? I am, Well, you have done a
(02:15):
lot of work to find out the best cars for
the money awards of twenty twenty five, and there's a
whole lot of categories here that you have been working on.
You have different cars dealing with just overall cars. Then
you have SUVs and minivans and other categories up to it,
(02:38):
including trucks, which is going to be interesting. So let's
talk about some of the great cars that you see
twenty twenty five. Let's talk about just the regular sedans.
I guess you like the Honda Civic, you like the
Hondai Alantra Hybrid, and you like the Honda Record. We
all three of those. Is it one two three or
(02:59):
is it one and a half one in a quarter
one and a half.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
It's actually one one one because each one stands alone
in this category.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
All right, Well, let's let's talk about thee cific give
us a sense on that best compact car.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So before we jump into the specific cars, let's talk
a little bit about the awards. And you know, these
awards exist because we know that buying a cheap car
is not always the best deal. You have to look at,
you know how much that car is going to cost
you over its lifespan. You have to look at whether
that's car is still going to be on the road
with you in five years, and whether you're still going
(03:36):
to be enjoying that car. So we look at data
from predicted cost of operations, we look at ownership costs,
we look at predicted reliability. We don't just sit in
the back room and throw darts at the dartboard. This
is all research based and we come up with what
we consider to be the best cars for the money.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
By the way, just the curiosity, how long has US
World a news report been doing this survey or releasing
this information every year?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
We've been doing the best cars for the money for
I think about a decade.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay, and have you had a pretty good Obviously, it's
like you picked the MVP in the American League or
the Pro Bowl quarterback. Sometimes you hit it, sometimes you don't.
I assume, since you're doing it ten years, you've got
a pretty good track record.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I think we did. I think we find the right ones,
and I think we give shoppers really good information here.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Okay, well, so let's talk. I just want to hit
as as many as we can here. Just folks might
be thinking, tell us the Honda Civic, Hondas, that's a
pretty reasonably priced car. What are we talking about to
buy a new twenty twenty five Honda Civic.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
How it is, you know, the Civic span kind of
a value leader since it came to America in like
nineteen seventy two. The new Civic is a lot bigger,
a lot better, probably the best Civic we've ever had.
You can get into it in the twenties and it's
going to give you, you know, a lot of great life.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Okay, So let's talk real quickly if we can about
maybe the the Hyundai Elantra hybrid. That's a that's the
best hybrid car. What's the cost of that. I assume
it's a little more than the Civic.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
It's a little more than the Civic. All hybrids are
slightly more expensive than their non hybrid counterparts. But you
over the life of the car, you get that money
back in gas price, in cast costs.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Okay, fair enough, Honda record best mid size cars. So
we get in a little bit more room. I assume'm
going to be a little bit more expensive.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yes, you're up in the thirties with the Accord for
the most part. Okay, So now we get to another
rock solid car.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Good. We get to the the SUVs and the mini vans,
and you got a Hyundai Tucson best compact Suv looks
like a pretty good sized car. I guess we're going
up a little bit in price once we get to
the SUV's and the minivans.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, up in price. The two soon competes in the
toughest category of the American market right now, which is
compact sub up against like the Honda CRV and Toyota four.
But when it comes to s car for money, it's
the Tucson okay.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
And then you have a full electric Hyundai, the Hyundai
Kona Electric for those who want an electric car. And
I know that there's still some people who are saying yes,
some people are saying no. And the question is you
also got to make sure that you get a charging
station accessibility. Are those electric car prices coming down a
(06:36):
little bit? Generally?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
You know, they are kind of stabilized, but the demand
is down a little bit, so you can get a
better deal right now. It makes much more sense if
you have a charging station at home than if you
have to try and publicly charge it. But the Conte
Electric is one of the least expensive electric cars you
can buy right now.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Okay, I'm going to skip around here a little bit
for the fun of it, and I want to move
over to the Honda Passport. It's the best two row suv.
Sort of what I have something old? I have an
old Vovo, which is sort of in that category. But
we're going to step out of my Vovo and get
(07:17):
into a Honda Passport. What am I looking at here?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
You're looking at probably around forty thousand for the one
you want.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And that's a good quality car.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That's a good quality car. And what's interesting about the
Passport in this survey, in this study is that there's
a new Passport for twenty tranky six. The twenty twenty
five is in the last year of it's a product cycle,
and it's still won interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Interesting. Is it dangerous to buy a car in the
last year of its product cycle?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Absolutely not. In fact, a lot of experts will tell
you that that's when the best quality comes fair enough.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Here's one the name interesting me I know that tell
you Ride is a resort area, a very exclusive resort
area or at Colorado. So the twenty twenty five Kia
tell you Ride three row suv, that's going to be
a pretty good size suv. What do you think of
that car?
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Can you tell your ride's fantastic? It's been out for
several years now. It's big and it needs to be
beg to carry all the awards that it's won over
the last few years. It is a rock star amongst
three row SUVs.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Oh wow, and that's gonna be fifty or more you assuming.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
You can get it and win the forties, but it
easily goes into the fifties and even below sixties to
get the top end.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
One interesting, okay, real quick, if I'm just going to
ask you a question, I forever have been a Vovo person,
But if they're going to getting away from a Vovo,
I like the safety of the Volvo. My Vovo's quite old,
it's eleven years old. Would I be disappointed with a
tell you ride after having hit a Voval?
Speaker 1 (08:56):
You would not be disappointed with a tell you ride
after having a Volvo because Volvo, you know, own safety forever.
It still does great on safety, but everybody else is
caught up.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, okay, I think so. And real quick, let me
get one truck thing in one truck here that twenty
twenty five, fifteen hundred, Now that looks like a truck.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
That is a truck. That is a big, full sized
truck new engine family this year. That is fantastic. It's
the most refined engine you'll find in a pickup truck today,
most comfortable cab in the industry, and best ride of
any pickup truck you'll find.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You know what I'd like to do, John, If it's
okay with you, maybe bring you back some and we'll
spend an hour and we'll take phone calls from different
folks who are out in the in shopping around. Let's
we'll get back in touch with you in short order.
And I think this might be a fun topic, particularly
as we approach Washington's birthday, which you're old enough to remember,
(09:53):
used to be the biggest car weekend of the year,
holiday weekend of the year.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Is that a deal, Absolutely, it's I'd love to come
back on.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Sounds great. Thanks so much, John. I appreciate it really
do US World and News Report. You can check it out,
do your homework and we'll have John on in the
next maybe a couple of weeks. Thanks John, appreciate it
so much.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
When we get back, we're going to talk about Legos
going to go from cars to Legos. Legos is celebrating
at sixty seventh birthday. It has a big presence in Boston.
We'll explain, we'll pull it all together for you here
on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Well, Lego Brookes sixty seventh birthday and Lego Discovery Center
in Boston celebrating and they're going to launch a brand
new event called Lego Creativity Academy this Thursday to thirty
is actually today through March third, with us as Caleb
thom He is a master model builder. Caleb, Welcome to Nightside.
(10:56):
How are you, sir?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I'm doing well.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
How are you? Dan?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Great? I kind of missed the Lego thing because I
was born a little bit before when they arrived. How
popular is Lego these days worldwide?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Well, if it wasn't popular back then, it's certainly popular now.
It's especially in the past couple of years, perhaps since
the pandemic, it's seen a surge, especially with adults who
are now playing with them, having fun just as much
as kids are.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
So what prompted that you're talking about? You know, COVID
in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, twenty two, twenty
three did people rediscover their their inner childhood self or
how did this, how did this evolve?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I think it must have been something like that. And
it might be too that it's it's always been like
a puzzle. It's always been like a game. And people
enjoyed Lego in very different ways, whether they're playing with
it as kids like action figures, they're building it for
display models in their home like a lot of adults.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Do.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Now, give us the history of Lego again, as I say,
I kind of missed it. I've always been aware of it.
How who invented it? Where did it start and how
did it spread?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Sure, so it started in Denmark. And as you said,
it's the sixty seventh birthday of Lego, And what that
really means is sixty seven years ago, Godfred Kirk Christensen
got the first patent for what we know now today.
It's the Lego brick and the cool thing. And why
that's important is that Lego bricks from sixty seven years
ago can still be used and are compatible with pieces
(12:31):
made today. So it's kind of a continuation of a
product that's what stood the test of time and has
been popular through a lot of different ages.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Boy, there's no planned obsolescence with Lego. Isn't that wonderful?
I mean so many things I certinly hope not no,
but no. Seriously, so many things you buy these days
you're trying to get a replacement and you realize that
there's no replacement, so you're out of luck. Now, Lego
is developing a huge footprint in Boston, the Discovery Center.
(13:03):
How did that come to pass? And what can we
do to drive people there and make people aware of
this new asset in the city.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Absolutely. The biggest thing I think was a remodel back
in twenty nineteen. Since then, it's been our Discovery Center
here in Summerville, one of the only and at very
least the pre eminent attraction in the Northeast for playing,
having fun and exploring Lego bricks. And we have over
two million of those Lego bricks at the Discovery Center
(13:33):
where people to enjoy.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Now is that open and free to the public or
is there a little bit of a charge to participate
and get in? How does that work?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
There is?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
And the best way I could put is that we're
most catered to families with children in age three to twelve,
but we allow families of course to come in and
enjoy the attraction of both kids and adults. You do
have to have a child under the age of eighteen
for entry, which starts at twenty four ninety nine, and
there's packages and other add ons, but twenty four ninety
(14:09):
nine is the taketd entry.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
I hope that's the family price, not per per family member.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Yeah, it's per family member, Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And that's open seven days a week. They have to
make recussions.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
You can make reservations and if you book online you
might be able to say something or check out some
special events that we were running through, like you said,
through March second, but also things that are seasonal, like
our Valentine's Day Adult Night that we have coming up
on February fourteenth.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, you talk with you, that's a Friday night, So
that's a great That is a great timing this year
with Valentine's on Friday night. So you're talking about something
called Lego Creativity Creativity Academy. Is that something new and
is it going to be transitory or is that something
that's this putting down some roots here in Boston.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Well, it certainly is new. We started as of today
January thirtieth, and we'll be running through early March. It
is an event that we're doing across all Discovery Centers
and here in Boston. What are entails is a set
of activities that families kids get to participate in throughout
the Discovery Center. Master model builders there to guide them
(15:24):
through some tips and tricks. Hopefully you have a lot
of fun and at the very end they're able to
submit builds for what is the first time a global
competition for a mini master model builder.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Is this a family or does it? Is it limited
to kids in certain ages? If you get my drift,
you know, I can remember when they used to do
the Pinewood Derby and it was always the dads who
were working on the car. Yeah, So is this a
family activity or does a family watch as the the
(16:00):
child actually constructs the masterpiece.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
We certainly encourage families to be part of the experience,
be part of the project, but in the end, it
is the kid who is the one with their name
on it, submitting the build as their own, and we
take part in choosing winners at the end of this
event to then move on to the next phase of
the competition, which is representing the Boston area in the
(16:26):
search for the next Mini Master Model builder.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Now, I know this is a fun job for you
to have. I heard the enthusiasm in your voice. Did
you grow up as a Lego kid?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
I really didn't. It's funny enough. I grew up building
Lego and then it must have been a good gap
of ten years until I got back into it. Kind
Of like you said, there's been just a surge and
people building Lego. It seems to be everywhere now and
I find myself to be one of those people too.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Well, that's great, so again I thank you. Folks. Get
information to get a website, you know, always great to
have a conversation. It's great if there's a website we
could drive some people to who might be interested, because
a lot of folks are listening driving home from work
and they don't have a paper and a scratch pad
next to them.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
You best to find most of our information, whether that
be ticketing or about this Creativity Academy event at Boston
at Legodiscoverycenter dot com. Lego being in all capitals pretty
easy to try to make it easy to find us,
especially with our giant giraffe named Geo outside of our
attraction if you happen to be in a Summerville area.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
So it's give it one more time, nice and slowly
for everybody to imprint in their mind.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Go ahead, Sure thing, that's Capital b Boston at Legodiscoverycenter
dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Perfect, great job, Thanks Caleb, Caleb Thom I hope I
pronounced your last name correctly.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
Yes, thank you, Dan Oh no, no.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
No, I was going to pronounce it. Has told me
after the Great Baseball Player Hall of Famer, So no relationship.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I'll always take that. Jim Tomy. Yeah, well I've gotten
that before and I always know it gets in smile.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Thanks Caleb, Thank you very much, appreciate your participating based
of luck with and welcome to Boston. Thanks again. Coming
up on the other side of the news at the
bottom of the hour, have you thought about retiring overseas?
Apparently more and more Americans are thinking about it. We're
going to talk with Kathleen Wong of USA today with
fourteen of the best overseas retirement spots for twenty twenty five,
(18:37):
and I think many of them will kind of surprise.
We'll be back on night side. You're listening to WBZ
Boston Boston's news radio. You can find us on our app,
the iHeart Appternoon improved I Part iHeart App, and you
can find that easily. And listen to WBZ seven days
a week, twenty four hours a day, three hundred and
(18:58):
sixty five days a year if you were so inclined,
and we would love you to be so inclined. Back
on Nightside after this, You're.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
On Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Want to welcome Kathleen Wong of USA Today. She's a
consumer travel reporter. And I didn't realize, Kathleen, Welcome to
Night's Side, that that many Americans are thinking about retiring overseas.
What's up with that?
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Hi?
Speaker 5 (19:29):
Yeah, nice to be here. It's definitely catching on. Just
since maybe what a two thousand and eight, there's been
a forty percent increase in Americans abroad who are collecting
Social Security income, and I think it's just kind of
becoming more mainstream. A gallop Pool found from twenty eleven
(19:52):
to twenty twenty four, a number of Americans who want
to live overseas has more than doubled. I think they're
hearing other people do it successfully and want to tie
another lifestyle themselves. I think it could be, you know,
the political climate, the uncertainty kind of driving people to
other countries and just kind of realizing that dream it's
(20:14):
becoming more realistic.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Okay, well, so you said that there's a forty percent increase.
I think you said since two thousand and eighties. How
many Americans I'm just curious how many Americans have actually,
if you know, have relocated in their retirement on a
you know, permit or a quasi permanent intention to finish
(20:38):
their lives overseas. Is that how big is the number
or is it? Is it?
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Yeah, that's a good question for sure. So last year
the number was more than seven hundred and sixty thousand
Social Security beneficiaries living abroad.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Okay, so that's seven hundred and sixty thousand total, not
seven hundred and sixty thousand who decided last year was
the year to immigrate abroad. And okay, okay, well that's
a significant number of people if they were breakdown in terms,
and again I know this is I want to get
to the cities here, but I'm just trying to get
is everybody heading to a couple of countries or is
(21:20):
it is it a real you know, dispersion of people
around the world.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
I don't have specific numbers on where people are going,
but I'm from my reporting, I hear a lot about Panama, Mexico,
and a lot in Europe, Spain and Portugal because it's
more affordable in the countries.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
All right, Well, let's talk about the the fourteen cities. Uh,
and and again if people can find this this article,
you'll work in the in USA today. But let's uh.
I got these fourteen cities and they It's interesting. I
assumed that a city like Montreal would be on there,
(22:03):
made or London. We start off with Valencia, Spain and
a city in Portugal, and then met a Lean in Colombia.
I thought, that's a dangerous city. What's what's up with that?
That really surprised me.
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Yeah. Yeah, this index, it's an annual index from Living
invest Overseas.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
They do.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
They cast a wide net. They have on the ground
resources and they also their whole team is across the country,
so they're pretty tapped into you know, what these cities
are like in real time? I guess you can say.
But yeah, Valencia, Spain's a super popular place for expats
and Valencia is a big city, but not too big.
(22:47):
You know, it's pretty, it's right on the Mediterranean. It's
affordable right now, Spain is somewhat easy for people to
get residency. I think in like five years. Portugal as
well a popular place. You know, you probably heard of Lisbon,
but this cash Taise is kind of a smaller suburb
(23:08):
of Lisbon and it's a really friendly environment, very affordable. Safe.
Safety is also a big deal to a lot of people.
But yeah, that brings us to men Median. Yeah, the
city is definitely rising. I think in popularity, it's become safer.
I know it has kind of a stigma, but it's
(23:31):
a really vibrant place. They told they told me that
it's there's a lot of concerts, festivals, a big stood scene.
It's the only place in the country that has a metro,
so it's easy to get around and it's come a
long way.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Okay, then I want to get a few more. We
got a crete uh in Greece. That's an island, correct.
Speaker 5 (23:57):
Yes, yeah, a beautiful place. Yeah, you know there.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Also we have we have one city which I had
never heard of in Mexico, uh, Mazeelin muscle muscle and muscle.
How what's the pronunciation.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
I'm not completely sure either.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
The next one's easy. The next one's pizza, the leading
tower of pizza in Italy. I didn't realize that that's
number six on the list. And then from France. Uh,
you have uh La Rochelle sounds like Rochelle New York,
but that's neither here.
Speaker 5 (24:35):
No, paris definitely very different. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I have a friend who lived who lives in Belize,
an American who spends half the year in Belize. That
is a real interesting spot in the in the in
the Caribbean, we got Cyprus, Montenegro, that's beautiful, Mendoza, Argentina. Uh.
(24:59):
And then a city the Dominican. I've heard about a
lot of communities in the Dominican, which is so close, uh,
you know, shares you know, shares its its island paradise
with uh, with Puerto Rico les Terranas. Is that how
that's pronounced?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
Yes, I think, So what can you tell us about.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
That, because that's one that's you know, kind of in
the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Obviously tropical climates and a lot of people, you know,
would seek that in their retirement if they want to
spend their days somewhere it's beautiful. There's gorgeous beaches and
it's not, like you said, it's not too far from
the States as far as the plane ride goes. So
I think if you're kind of looking for uh laid
(25:45):
back beach town, that's a really good option and it's
definitely rising in popularity.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
And then the final two uh is one is in Thailand,
Hawaiian which I've never heard of in Thailand, and Veraguas
and Panama. A Greenland didn't make the list. I see
Panama made the list, but not Greenland.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
No, it did not. Yeah, it's a very it's a
list that it definitely makes you think and want to
look into some of these places. But they do weigh
like fifteen factors when they come up with the list
of it's cost of living is a big one, healthcare,
you know, safety, taxes, things to do that people would
want to enjoy with all their free time. So they
(26:29):
all have I think something worth checking out.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, it's interesting. At seven hundred and sixty thousand ex pats, boy,
that's a lot. That's a lot of people. As I
assume I'm represented by a lot of baby boomers, so
I really enjoyed this. This was this was a fun conversation.
It opened my eyes, Kathleen, and we'll follow you in
the USA today. Thanks so much for joining us. And
(26:54):
maybe we'll have you back some night and we'll take
some calls from callers and they can ask you questions
about some of these specific locales.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Yeah, this sounds fun. Thank you for your interest.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Thank you much, Kathleen. Kathleen Wong of USA today on
fourteen best Overseas retirement Spots for twenty twenty five. And
I didn't realize seven hundred and sixty thousand Americans getting
their Social Security checks overseas. Wow, we'll be back. We
have one more very special guest here on this Thursday
(27:26):
night edition of Nightside. This one's kind of serious. Going
to talk with the military historian and college professor about
EMP attacks. These are what's called electromagnetic pulses and they
have been weaponized, something we should all be aware of,
not afraid of, but aware of. Back on Nightside after this.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
(27:49):
Nightside Studios.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
I'm DUMBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Just take one moment of personal privilege. Here what we
call the Arata section of nightside. I made a mistake
during my last interview with Kathleen Wong, who was lovely.
I somehow linked the Dominican Republic with Puerto Rico. The
Dominican Republic, which is one of the vacation retirement spots
(28:14):
that Americans apparently are flocking to, does not share an
ireland with Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is an American protectorate,
an island to itself. Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic shares
his spinola. I believe that's how it's pronounced with Haiti.
So I thank the kind person who called in and
(28:37):
caught me on that. You can't make a mistake on nights.
There's always someone out there who catches it. Now we're
going to a move into our fourth and final guest
at this hour, I want to welcome William Forsten. He's
a military historian and a college professor who also when
I read your bio, you did some construction work in
New York. I guess being a history teacher in the
(28:58):
nineteen seventies was probably not the best major to have
back then. How are you, sir?
Speaker 4 (29:05):
I was doing renovations on office buildings on thirty fourth
in Madison and was watching while the twin towers went up.
So yeah, that was back in the seventies early seventies.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Well, that's that's interesting. It shows that you're not just
some fuzzy brained academic here. This is someone who actually
works with his hands and with your minds and your mind.
And I first learned about electromagnetic pulses or e MPs
the book that Ray gorm wrote called seventy seven Days
in September. I assume you're familiar with that book, Yes.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
I am.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Yeah, Yeah, he's a great guy. I had him on
as a guest. So why don't you explain to my
audience this These are these are weapons now potential weapons EMPs,
and they could rake quite a lot of havoc, wreak
a lot of havoc, I should say, tell us about them.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
Incredible, Okay, I'll try and do this in one minute
or less. EMP electromagnetic pulse. It's created by detonating a
nuclear weapon about two hundred to two hundred and fifty
miles out in space, a relatively small one four to
five times the size of a euro from a bomb.
When the weapon detonates, it sets up an electrostatic discharge,
(30:21):
which is called the Compton effect, cascades down into the
Earth's atmosphere, hits the surface, feeds into the millions of
miles of electrical wiring in which are now antennas, which
in turn feeds into our power grid and blows the
whole thing out. A nightmare scenario would be three of
(30:44):
these detonate the same time. Eastern United States, Central Western
The Scary Statistic Congress did a study of this in
two thousand and two and came to the conclusion if
we were hit with an EMP, eighty to ninety percent
of the population would be dead a year later.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Oh man, this is how's your eating going otherwise? Well,
other than that, you know, the clam channel was okay,
but that were the main course And yeah, so okay.
So here's the question. I'm assuming the bad guys have
this capacity in capability, correct, Okay, what are we doing,
(31:24):
if anything, to defend against it? So it's been around
for a couple of decades now at least. What what
are we doing to defend against it?
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Well, it was first realized in nineteen sixty two when
we detonated a large one and knew of about one
mega Ton about five hundred miles south of Hawaii, you know,
up in space, and it blew out part of the
Hallolulu power grid. Russians do it a couple months later,
called Russian Test one eighty four. We all know you
(31:54):
can do it all. You need nothing other than any
new for their weapon, a suitcase sized bomb, Hahiroshima type bomb.
What happens is you lose your water, you lose your electricity, food,
you lose everything.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Absolutely, you don't have electricity con pump gas at gasoline stations.
Uh so, So okay, So the average American is not
aware of this, Okay. I mean we were aware of
the Kadashians, and we're all looking forward to the Chiefs
and the Eagles in the Super Bowl, which is fine,
but we're not aware of this. So because we're not
(32:29):
aware of it, Congress doesn't care about it. What is
there any system that we have that could protect ourselves
against that? Obviously, I don't trust the Russians, I don't
trust the Chinese, and I certainly don't trust a whackadoodle
in North Korea has one, yeah, go ahead, or the
(32:51):
molars in Iran. I mean, we got a bunch of
crazy people. Around the world. We're not crazy. We may
have weapons, but but we could have used these a
long time ago, and we never did.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
The North Koreans are my primary concern, and if Iran
acquires an ECO weapons, they already have satellite launch capability,
so North Korean delivery.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
So what you're saying is they have a delivery system, right.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
You know in the past, how old man, I ask
how old you are.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I'm on the wrong side of fifty and I worked
in television as a TV reporter here in Boston for
the CBS affiliate for thirty one years. And I'm in
my year eighteen, and I'm a lawyer. Went to law
school and for graduate school. So you can do the
math there. Don't give me a number of them.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Well, when you were a kid, when you were a kid,
I'm in my seventies. So I grew up during the
Cold War and it was the holding of mutual short destruction.
If the Russians hit us, we hit them. Nobody went
this is a game change. It's called an asymmetrical first
strike weapon and use a military type turn. North Koreans
(34:05):
throw this at US. Twenty minutes later, They've crippled the
United States. Then what we hit him back. In the end,
we have already lost. We'll lose the war in the
first thirty minutes.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
So you know this better than I do. And we
only have about two minutes left here. What can we
do to prevent that? Ah? You know, other than sending
Dennis Rodman over there is the new USO North Korea.
Speaker 4 (34:36):
I wish that would work all right. Trump administration first
time around, he started working on it, and then the
last administration came in. We're not going to get into politics.
Don't have what's needed now is and that's one reason
I'm doing a lot of interviews again, is for the
administration to do a comprehensive local DoD Department of Entergy
(35:00):
and others. What is an EMP? How do we prepare
for it? How do we protect ourselves and then move
ahead and do it? Don't talk about it, do it.
And that involves a good high tech inf you know,
iron dome system, and then as well preparing our infrastructure
(35:20):
to be able to better handle this. There are ways
of protecting yourself with different types of circuit breaking systems
and improved wiring and et cetera. You know, Department of Energy,
we're running electricity on a forty to fifty year old system.
In places it's antiquated.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
We have to modernize absolutely. And you know they talk
about the dome, think about Israel. They're iron smaller territory
deals with inter ballistic missiles. Primarily, this isn't a ballistic missile.
This is a different type of weapon. And I want
(35:58):
to make sure that a dome, which will cost trillions
of dollars, we'll protect us against e MPs. I'm with you,
We'll have you back. Okay, you're talking my language. Trust me.
We are both baby boomers, and we know what it
was like in the fifties and sixties hiding under your desk,
and I don't want to see my grand caps doing
the same thing, simple as that William forshed him. So
(36:20):
give us. The book is called about E m P
One second after by William. That's spelled f RS four
yeah HGN. But about E M P one second after
that's a book, folks, I'd love you all to get
and read. I mean it, honestly. Or seventy seven days
(36:41):
in September. That's more of a novel. But these are
two very important books.
Speaker 4 (36:45):
Is the novel as well?
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Yep, that's Okay, that's okay, but let's let's keep it
as novels. We do not want it to be a
true story, because it will be an obituary for all
of us. Thank you so much. Thanks for your work, professor,
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (37:01):
Thank you, God bless have a good email.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Right back at you. Okay, we come back. We're going
to talk about what happened last night, a little over
twenty four hours ago in Washington, DC, and the impact
that it's having not only on the airline industry, but
first and foremost on the families who lost loved ones,
including families here in New England. We've been back back
on Night's side right after the nine o'clock news
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