Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's news radio Madison.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Thank you very much. My name is Dan Ray.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
I'm the host of Nightside, back after a three nights off.
Actually want to thank Gary Tangway, who is kind of
enough to sit in for me this week Monday, Tuesday
and Wednesday, which allowed me to spend a little family
time away from the microphone, which is always a little bittersweet.
I like the microphone, but I like the family too.
(00:31):
So we'll well, I'm back and I will tell you
that you are listening to somewhat of a historic program tonight.
This is my four thousandth edition of Nightside since I
was sure well, thank you very much, Digital studio audience
appreciate that very much. So we have a very special
(00:51):
guest coming up at nine o'clock tonight, Josh Kraft, who
has just announced his campaign for mayor here in Boston.
He'll be challenging the incumbent mayor.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Wu and a little bit later on tonight aty ten o'clock,
going to talk about this trial balloon that President Trump
has floated, question about whether or not, in my opinion,
he's a little bit out.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Over his ski.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
He's talking about the US going in and basic taking
possession of the guys a strip. We'll get to all
of that, but first we have four really interesting guests,
and two of whom are going to deal with the
Super Bowl, which is this well about seventy two hours
from now.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
They'll be playing Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It's coming at us like a freight train with us.
As Jack wicktor Jack is USA Today's resident consumer travel reporter.
A little bit of a oxymoronic comment, Resident consumer travel reporter,
you shouldn't be a resident. You should be traveling all
the time.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Hi, Zach Hoyer, Hey, I'm good. Thanks and congrats on
four thousand episodes. That's a big milestone.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
It's a lot. It's about eighteen years. We're in the
middle of eighteen years. I did thirty one years in
TV here in Boston at WBCTV, and now have tacked
on about eighteen years and who knows, maybe another couple
of years as well. But we want to talk about
the Super Bowl. So, first of all, Consumer Travel Reporter,
(02:15):
that's great. Give us a little bit of information about
your beat, because once we have folks on the program,
I know many of our listeners like to follow them.
What is the beat like, you do more than just
the Super Bowl, I'm sure, because that is only a
once a year event.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
Oh yeah. So, as my title suggests, I cover travel
pretty broadly, and I'm actually really lucky. We have a
great travel team at USA today. I'm one of four
travel reporters, and we really look at all kinds of
things about the industry and how they affect the regular traveler.
My primary focus is aviation, which obviously for a number
(02:53):
of reasons, has been kind of top of the news
cycle recently. Sadly, but yeah, yeah, sadly, definitely. But we're
here to talk about the Super Bowl, and we also
all myself and all of my colleagues cover you know,
vacations and trends in the industry and kind of everything
the traveler needs to know. So I'm happy to talk
(03:14):
about the Super Bowl and in the future about other
travel topics.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Is absolutely well.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
You know, we used to think of it as the
the the annual postseason appearance of the Patriots, but for
the last few years it hasn't quite worked out that way.
I've had the privilege of attending two Super Bowls as
a fan. Didn't didn't work them it didn't work them.
But there First of all, there's still some cheap flights
(03:41):
in hotels. There may be people who listening tonight anywhere
in the thirty or so states thirty eight states that
hear our voice, some of which are a lot closer
to New Orleans than perhaps people would realize. If someone
happens to come into possession of a couple of tickets out,
it's going to be an arm of the lake to
get to. You know, it's obviously at seventy two hours
(04:03):
before the game. But what what advice would you have
someone The people who are already booked and on their way,
they don't need your advice.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
But if all of a.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Sudden someone called one of my listeners and said, hey,
I got two tickets to the Super Bowl. I can't
get there for whatever reason. They're yours if you want them.
What what's the advice you give? Last minute flights and
hotel arrangements. How you got the ticket, someone's got the tickets.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
How do you think?
Speaker 3 (04:29):
First you got a panic for a little while. Then
once you calm down, what do you do?
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Yeah, you know, I guess, like say or prayer over
your credit card or something. Because to be perfectly honest
with you and your listeners. This close into departure for flights,
and this close into booking around a major event for hotels,
you're going to be pretty hard pressed to find a deal.
That said, there are ways that you can at least
(04:55):
be sure that you're getting the best deal possible. If
you use a tool like Google Flights or Expedia, which
has some price prediction tools built in, it'll at least
show you how fares compare in terms of the flights
available and kind of in terms of historical trends. Again,
when you're booking just a couple of days before departure,
(05:17):
that is typically when flights are the most expensive. But
if you can be a little flexible about your itinerary,
you know, if you're willing to take that early morning
flight to New Orleans, or you're willing to have a
layover somewhere that may be a little inconvenient, you may
be able to find a better deal that way. And
similar with hotels, the hotels that are closest to the
(05:38):
stadium are probably going to be the ones that are
most expensive or the least likely to have availability. So
if you're looking for a deal on your lodging. You're
going to want to look in the surrounding area, kind
of the suburbs and the exurbs of New Orleans, and.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Zach, I'm thinking Mississippi.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
I mean, yeah, it's possible. Yeah, out in fly Dell
or something like that.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, yeah, I mean if you got if you got
the tickets, that's that.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
That is for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Obviously security is going to be heightened there as a
result of what happened the morning of New Year's when
you know, fifteen people died in that horrific attack for
which we have no understanding why or reasons, a terrorist
attack on Bourbon Street.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
But New Orleans is a fun city. Uh, it's you know,
they say it never sleeps.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
In New York City never sleeps.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Neither does No Orleans fall.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
So, uh, that's absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Have you been to a Super Bowl before, Zach.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
Or No, I have not. But actually, the nice thing
about USA today specifically, and I have to do a
little plug here, is even if you can't make it
to the big Game, which I can't make it this year,
we have a way that you can still sort of
participate and feel like you're part of the community and
part of the action. You know, one of the biggest
to try options to watching the Super Bowl from home,
(07:02):
obviously beyond the game itself, is the commercials, And so
if you want to take part in that and feel
like you're part of the community, you can register at
admeter dot USA today dot com and voting is open
And this is one of the biggest polls to register
which commercials people like to see the most during the
Super Bowl and the winner of our Super Bowl the
(07:24):
ad super Bowl is going to be posted Monday after
the game, and registration is open if you want to
be a voter, So if you can't make it down
to New Orleans, you can still participate and feel like
you're part of the community around the game.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Now, do you folks have previews at USA Today on
that website of the ads or do people have to
watch and sit there and take notes eagleide during the
run up to the game and during the game?
Speaker 5 (07:50):
Yeah, I think you know, it's going to be best
to like watch the commercials during the game. That's when
you're going to kind of get the best part of
the experience by watching it during the game.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
That yeah, all right, Well again, I love the well,
you know what I love about not going to Super
Bowl having gone to two is when I watch you
go home, I can get a beer. I don't have
to wear a wine and I figured out that the
beers cost about a buck. Okay, the Super Bowl they're
(08:22):
like twenty bucks of beer, you know, and for some
reason they don't taste this question anyway.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
Hey, look, that's true, and you know, I do want
to just make one quick correction to what I just said.
You can actually definitely watch the ads on our website
at ad meter dot USA today dot com. But I
think for the better experience to really feel like you're
getting that communal spirit is to watch it during the game.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Ad Meter at USA Today. Is that the deal is.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
That admeter dot USA Today.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Dot com, dot USA Today dot com. Okay, great, we'll
get it right. No one will ever be able to
beat the Clydesdale ad. So I mean, I have a
friend of mine who worked on that ad, just a
fellow named Brian Sweeney. It's in a brilliant, brilliant ad.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Zach enjoyed it very much. Hope to have you back.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Okay, yeah, thank you so much again. Really appreciate you
having me on and congrast some more time on four
thousand shows.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, thank you very much. And by the way, I
do love USA Today whenever I am on the road
and also when i'm home. But when I'm on the road,
particularly when there's a USA Today in the hotel, it
makes you feel like you're at home.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
So keep on keeping on, Okay, appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Yeah, definitely, thank you.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Welcome.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
We get back on to talk about a mere more
philosophical subject. Is American democracy working for all Americans? A
new national survey will evaluate how Americans perceive an experienced
democracy for the next hundred years.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
If I'm reading this properly, I believe i am.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
We talk with Brad Rourke, who's the chief external affairs
officer of a group called the Kettering Foundation. Back on
night's side. This is a Monday night. This is not
a Monday night for me, but a Thursday night for you.
February sixth, the anniversary, the forty seventh anniversary of the
Blizzard of seventy eight. We should probably talk about that
maybe a little bit tonight as well. I remember that
(10:13):
storm really well, and probably some of you do as well.
We'll get back to a more conversation here and again
Josh Kraft candidate for mayor coming up at nine oh
five tonight on Nightside. Back right after this.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
All right, welcome back.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
We are talking this segment with Brad Rourke, and the
big question is is America is American democracy working?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Brad? Welcome to night Said, how.
Speaker 6 (10:48):
Are you, Dan?
Speaker 7 (10:50):
Thanks for having me here.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So tell us about your foundations called the Kettering Foundation.
Speaker 7 (10:57):
Tell us a little bit Thereah, yeah, absolutely where the
I work for the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Where a nonprofit,
nonpartisan operating foundation. We're based in Dayton, Ohio, but we
also have offices in Washington, d C. We're partnering with
Gallup to do a new survey that we're calling the
(11:18):
Democracy for All Projects. And I'm really happy to be
talking about that with you.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So it sounds somewhat amorphous to me. Can you make
it a little bit?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
You know, when I Richard Charles Keering Foundation, I was
wondering if it was related to the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,
but obviously not.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Is it the same family by any chance at all?
Speaker 7 (11:42):
It is where we were founded by Charles F. Kettering,
who was an inventor in Dayton in the early nineteen hundreds, invented,
among other things, the electric car starter, which went on
to power the entire automobile industry. So if you drove
to work, you have Charles F.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Kettering to think, Okay, so that's what you I just
wanted to make that connection.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
I wasn't sure and they didn't want to ask it.
But I'm glad we made it.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Okay, So I guess Sloan is now going to do
for the next hundred years an annual survey is that?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Is that?
Speaker 6 (12:15):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (12:15):
Gallup is we were We were parted with Gallup, which
is you know, no no one, no one does surveys better.
And what we're focusing on is, you know, as as
you and everybody knows, Americans trust and uh feeling about
institutions right now, it's at an all time low. It's
(12:37):
been going down, down, down for for decades and decades
and decades, and so so America's Americans feel that like
democracy is not working for them, but there's disagreement about
why they feel that way and and what that means
to them. And so this Democracy for All project is
trying to get at understanding with more detail and more
(13:00):
nuanced how it is that Americans are experiencing the democracy
that we all share and what goes into these feelings
that they have. And we'll do it on a yearly
basis so that we can have an ongoing understanding of
how people feel and more importantly, why they feel that way.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
As someone who has been around for a while, just
to qualify myself, I worked for many years as a
television reporter here in Boston at the CBS affiliate, and
I've been doing a talk show for eighteen years. I
first got excited about government when I had a really
good Civics teacher in the ninth grade named mister Daugherty
(13:42):
at Boston Latin School in the nineteen sixties. Okay, now
I've aged myself dated myself for you, but I don't
think the average American understands because Civics is no longer
taught in high schools most high schools across America. They
don't even understand what democracy means or how this government
is supposed to work. The concept of checks and balances
(14:05):
and things like that. I've looked at this graph that
I believe Gallup has, which was in one of your
stories that talked about how they from nineteen eighty four
to I guess nineteen ninety one, but sixty percent of
the people in the country were satisfied with democracy. It
(14:26):
plummeted in nineteen ninety two around the time of the
Bill Clinton election when George Bush was turned out of office,
came back a little bit under Clinton, stayed pretty well
under Clinton, and since two thousand has been on a
downward trajectory to where it hit rock bottom in twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
You're familiar with.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
The graph, and I'm just trying to say, yes, I am.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
I could put a graph over that which would be
the arrival.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Of social media in this country. And I think that
most young people have no concept. And I know I'm
going to sound like a you know, get off my
law on Clint Eastwood type guy here, but I think
there's no coincidence that the dissatisfaction with democracy results from
the fact that people don't understand it, and the reason
they don't understand that it's not taught in schools, and
(15:16):
people find themselves in these silos, these philosophical silos liberal conservative,
right wing, left wing, Democrat, Republican on social media. So
I'm thrilled that big theory at you tell me why
I'm wrong.
Speaker 7 (15:30):
I don't know if you're wrong when you're right. I mean,
you may well have a good point at about a
piece of it. But it's also true that you know,
you can you can probably lay a lot of different
graphs over that one graph and and get a lot
of other similar correlations as well. So it's probably fair
(15:50):
to say that that, yes, the fragmentation of media and
social media may have something to do with that, but
also there might be other factors that work as well.
And what we're really trying to do with this work
and by really trying to ask a different set of
questions about how it is that people's daily lives affect
(16:12):
the way they see their government and institutions around them,
that we're trying to like recreate that connection that your
old Civics teacher had, which was which was figuring out
ways in which people's you know, daily lives and everyday
experience goes into how it is they feel about about
(16:35):
the society and which they live. So we're trying to
get past these sort of textbook definitions which are not incorrect,
but trying to get past the traditional textbook definitions of
democracy which has been evolving on the planet for hundreds
of years, and get at today and moving forward, how
(16:56):
it is that people are experiencing it, and how it
is they're experiencing there, you know, the struggles and opportunities
that they're facing in their community with the people around them.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Right in a country of three hundred and thirty million
or so people, I'm sure that there's a myriad of viewpoints.
You said that, I kin't think of another graph that
I could overlay this because your graph, the company graph,
runs from nineteen eighty four when there was very little
social media, to today when we're all overwhelmed by it.
(17:32):
I just see this. I mean, to me, this graft
is really clear. Do you think that civics? I'll ask
you the question, Brad, do you think that there should
be an effort in this country to teach civics. I'm
just talking about, you know, the rules of the road,
what a democracy, Our democracy is about. There are other
(17:52):
democracies in you know, ancient Greek rece which are a
little different than ours. But if you don't understand the
democracy in which you live and which you're blessed to live,
how can you possibly appreciate it if you don't understand it.
Speaker 7 (18:08):
I think us as you point out that, you know
what what the experts might call civic knowledge is also
you know, at an all time low, people need to
know how it is the system works, and also they
need to know how it affects them in their daily lives.
I keep going back to that, but I think it's
(18:29):
important that you know. It's one thing to say, oh,
the you know, the how how it is I feel
about the you know, the institution of Congress or the
Supreme Court is you know, and and how that all
works and how a bill becomes a lot that is
super important. Don't mean to diminish that in any way.
But it's also important to know that, you know, we
(18:51):
in our neighborhood, on our block or in our town,
are we together make up democracy? And so when we
solve problems together, and and and and you know, I'm
faced with a challenge and my neighbors come to my aid,
that's democracy too. And I've got to we want to
see if there's a way that we can see if
people understand and see how it is that daily life
(19:13):
can add up to democracy. Not to diminish anything about
about the structures that go into it, which are which
are critically important, and and the civic knowledge that people have.
But there's another another aspect to it, and it's one
that we think has been.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Oh, throw one more rejoinder at you, that I'll let
you go, and that is that. Yeah, I think what
you described as accurate. Many people today live in America.
They don't know who lives next door to them, they
don't know who lives in the in the building with them.
Speaker 8 (19:44):
And I think part of that is the amount of
time we're all spending on social media that we don't
have time to We do not make time to interact
with our neighbors and find out that the lady that lives.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Up the street lives in a wheelchair and she might.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Need some help to to cut her a long, to
cut her lawn, and to shovel her sidewalk. So anyway,
you and I could do an hour on this, We
could go on the road and could we could have
a pretty good conversation about this, because.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
I dan I'd love to. I hope that's an invitation.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well have you back?
Speaker 3 (20:14):
I mean that's seriously, I really mean that the place
that I'm coming from is.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Deeply felt, deeply felt. And I look at this and
I think this is a hugely huge.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Project, and I commend you and the Kettering Foundation and
Gallop for partnering in this one. But I just think
that until we bring civics back to every high school student,
every junior high school student across America and make that
an important part of our public education system, which was
founded by Horace Mann here in Massachusetts, we're doomed to
(20:53):
an ignorant populace about the way the way the system
under which you live functions and operates. I just I firmly,
so firmly believe it. I know I've been an antagonistic host,
and for that I apologize, Brad, but you more than
held your own.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
But I'd love to have you back for a.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
Longer, Count Dan, Dan, I'd love to be back. This
was a piece of cake. I've really enjoyed talking to you.
Let me tell your viewers we're going to be releasing
the results of the survey in the fall. They can
learn more by going to gallop dot com Flash Democracy.
And I really hope that we'll continue this dialogue.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I will, I'll have my producer get in touch with
you folks, and maybe we'll do a longer version. We
do hours with with you know, phone calls with our
guests as well. This segment is intended to be a
briefer ten or eight or nine or ten minute exposition,
and you just happen to catch me on something I
feel really strongly about. Thanks Brad, appreciate it.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
Thank you so much, Dan appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
So okay, good night, get back.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
We will pick up one other topic and this is
very important, just as democracy is, and that is food safety.
At your super Bowl get together this weekend, we're going
to talk with the USDA food safety expert.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
All right, thanks Madison. We are continuing with our eight
o'clock Nightside news update, and of course one of the
big news stories this weekend, perhaps the biggest story will
be the Super Bowl and many of us will be
having Super Bowl get together with our get togethers with
our family and friends. And joining us now is jesse Garcia.
(22:42):
He's a usa DA United States Department of Agriculture food
Safety expert. Jesse Garcia. Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 5 (22:51):
Good evening, Dan, how are.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You, sir, hope everything's well with you.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
I'm doing everybody.
Speaker 9 (22:57):
We're very busy, I'll bet you.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I bet you are.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
This is a big, big, big weekend forget togethers and
Super Bowl parties, and of course everybody's going to be
bringing their favorite dishes or whatever. But but this is
a big problem food born illnesses, and you're going to
tell us how to, if not eliminate them, at least
(23:24):
minimize for food born illnesses.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
What tips do you have, Jesse, Yes, sir.
Speaker 9 (23:30):
The USKA reminds party hosts to keep those pizzas, hamburgers,
and chicken wings out of the danger zone this Sunday.
Avoid keeping perishable food out for more than two hours
without heating or cooling sources. Remember, perishable food that stays
out for too long at room temperature allows back to
here to quickly multiply two unhealthy levels. So here's some tips.
(23:52):
If you want to keep your food out from four
hours or longer, make sure to have cold and heating
sources available on that buffday table. Cold foods like dairy
based dips and daily meat dishes. They should be placed
on top of bowls of ice to keep them chilled
at forty degrees are below. Hot items like pizza, chicken, wings,
and chili should be kept heated in warming trays, flow cookers,
(24:15):
and shaping dishes at one hundred forty degrees or more. Well, yeah,
we have an alternative.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah before you, let me just jump in.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
When you talk about pizza, I mean, if you gotta
have pizza, you want to make sure pizza is nice
and warm as far as I'm concerned. I mean, you
grab a piece of pizza and it's ice cold, it's
not nearly as good to eat. So does that aspect
I interrupted? Did Jesse go ahead? You had a few
more points, go.
Speaker 9 (24:43):
Ahead, Yes, we have an alternative. If you don't have
all those nice uh things to keep hot or stuff cold,
we have an alternative called the half time rule, which
means bring out the first set of portions that kickoff
and during the time show, bring up the second string
of your bussey for the remainder of the game. By
(25:05):
bringing food out in stages, this allows you to have
food out for less than two hours. So split those
portions into two and bring them out at different times
of the game.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Those that's a very practical suggestion because you put out
a huge spread and if half of it remains there.
You know, it could become an every second half sometimes
happens at super Bowl games. Uh yeah, that's that's that's
really a great idea when when you really think, when
(25:35):
you think about it. I had there been any studies
done jesse on. We know that that people tend to
call in sick on Super Bowl Monday, the day after
the Super Bowl, but we assume that probably has to
do maybe with things like alcohol consumption or wine, beer,
et cetera. Has there been any study done on how
(25:59):
many people end up with, you know, problems from food
born illnesses.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I don't want to get a.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
New descriptive here, jessup, but I think people know exactly
what we're talking about. What is there is there an
increase in food born illness problems on Saturday, Sunday evening
or Monday morning.
Speaker 9 (26:20):
There haven't been any studies, but I want to remind
folks that food born illness is no joke. What we
normally call food poisoning. It mirrors sometimes flu symptoms. They
don't actually hit you quickly. They might wait a day
or two, or it might happen sudden. You never know
that their diarrhea, nausea, headache, fever so it hits you,
(26:43):
and then if it hits you severely, you need to
go see a doctor as soon as possible. The CDC
estimates that forty eight million people get sick each year
with food born illness, and unfortunately, one hundred and twenty
eight thousand are hospitalized and three thousand people actually die
from groutborn. He'll just it's put born and illnesses in
the United States. So it's no joke. Let's wash our
(27:05):
hands before and after we touch raw meat and poultry.
Let's cook those items that we're cooking to the safe
internal temperatures. And let me share those temperatures with you
right now. Either you're cooking meat, whole beef, pork, or lamb,
it has to cook to one hundred and forty five
degrees fahrenheit. Any type of ground meats like sausages, hot dogs,
and hamburgers sliders, they have to cook to one hundred
(27:28):
and sixty and any type of poultry, whether it be turkey,
burger or chicken wings, you have to cook them to
a hundred and sixty five degrees. And if you're going
to be reheating anything that's already been cooked, like you
said that pizza that that delivered and you have to
put it away because your guests are not there, and
when you're ready to reheat it, make sure you reheat
to one hundred and sixty five. So it's a lot
(27:51):
of having to deal with a lot of dishes, especially
during Super Bowl when everybody brings their own dishes. So
make sure that you have your Futo marmeter available, your
seeding sources and cooling sources, and try to have a
good pardon.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
You kind of have a game plan.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Just like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles
have to have a game plan. You have to have
a game plan, particular if you're hosting. Anyway, Jesse, appreciate
the thoroughness of your presentation. You gave us a lot
of information. I hope everybody at least grabbed a little
bit of it. And everybody has a great Saturday, or
rather Sunday afternoon and evening, and may the best team win.
(28:33):
Thanks so much, Jesse, appreciate your time.
Speaker 9 (28:36):
Thank you, have a good night.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
You're very welcome. We get back.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
We're going to talk about a love story. It's an
interesting love story. We're going to talk with the former
governor Marty Schreiber, former governor of Wisconsin, whose wife passed
a couple of years ago suffering from Alzheimer's and his
book is My two Elane's Learning, Coping and Surviving as
an Alzheimer's caregiver. And I think that says it all.
(29:00):
Looking forward to talking with Governor Marty Schreiber, former governor
of the state of Wisconsin, and what he and his
wife went through together right after this break.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the window World
night Side Studios. I' WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 3 (29:18):
I am delighted to welcome to Nightside the former governor
of Wisconsin, Marty Schreiber. He's an author Alzheimer's caretaker of
his wife Elaine. Governor Schreiber, welcome to Nightside, sir.
Speaker 6 (29:32):
How are you well, Dan, Good evening too, and what
an honor for me to be with you. Thank you
so very very much.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Well, this may not be the first time we were together. Come.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
You were governor of Wisconsin in the summer of nineteen
seventy nine.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
Correct, yes, yes.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Did you attend the Governor's conference that summer in Louisville, Kentucky.
I did, I'll be I was there as a reporter.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
We met at the time, but Ed King was the
governor of Massachusetts at the time, and I remember his
first his first Governor's conference, and we went down to Louisville, Kentucky.
It was first time ever had a chance to meet
Bill Clinton.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
So, yeah, it's funny.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
I just looked it up and I saw you became
governor in nineteen seventy nineteen seventy seven when Pat Lucy resigned,
I believe to run as John Anderson's running mate.
Speaker 6 (30:29):
Yeah. Well, first, he's right. He spent some time as
ambassador of the Mexico and then he resigned that position
to run as vice president with John Anderson.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Yes, okay, you're right. I forgot about the ambassadorship to Mexico.
So let's talk about your wonderful wife Lane. I haven't
read the book, but I've read the excerpts of the book,
and this is a real love story, Governor, and I
got to tell you, having seen you know the ravages
(31:02):
of Alzheimer's, my hat's off to you, sir, for how
much you cared for your wife, who is now pasted sadly.
But boy, when you promised you know till death do
your part, you kept that promise, Governor, and I just
on behalf of a lot of people, men and women.
Thank you for that courage, and tell us about the
(31:23):
book My Two Elanes, Learning, Coping and Surviving is an
Alzheimer's caregiver.
Speaker 6 (31:29):
Yes, well, thank you first of all. So the book
My Two Elaines really tells the whole story. And the
first Elaine is this wonderful girl I met when I
was a freshman in high school and fell in love
with right away. And four children and thirteen grandchildren now
nine great grandchildren, my friend, my advisor, and my companion,
(31:52):
everything that you would ever want in a life's partner. Everything.
The second Elaine began to appear when the first Elane
was sixty three years old, and it was certainly the
same body in the beginning, the same person, but that
person back then as second Elaine, began to get lost
(32:12):
going to and from places she had been going to
and from for ten years. She was a great cook
and sometimes would mess up recipes so badly that she
would cry. She would come up with stories that just
never occurred. So that was a second Elane. And what
I found over the period of almost twenty years of
(32:33):
being her caregiver. I found that if there was one
thing worse than Alzheimer's DAN, it's ignorance of the disease
and ignorance of the disease by the medical profession and
others who don't understand that when there is a diagnosis
of Alzheimer's, there are two patients, a person who was
ill and the caregiver. A caregiver has a forty percent
(32:56):
chance of dying before their loved one because of stress
related illness. A caregiver has a sixty percent higher death
rate than non caregivers because of the very emotional, strong
toll that this disease takes from the caregiver as they
see their loved one pass away a little bit every day,
(33:17):
and as they try and cope with the frustration and
the anger and the grieving. And so I wrote the
book because I wanted to try and help people on
their journey.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Govin how long has the book been out? Is this
some relatively recently published?
Speaker 1 (33:33):
No.
Speaker 6 (33:34):
I self published the book back maybe around twenty thirteen,
and then Hyper Publishing picked up the book about three
years ago because they felt it was so important nationwide
that they felt that that book should should should have
a nationwide audience. And so that my two wayl ange
(33:55):
with Harper's has been out, as I said, about three years.
And what the feedback that I get from the book
is just such gratitude because what I try to do
in the book is point out to think things I
should have known, things that could have done better, And
people have told me that it has helped them so
(34:15):
much on their journey as they were trying to take
care of their loved one well governor.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
The thing that to me is interesting is that I
don't think that anyone can understand the amount of stress
pressures demians that are put upon a caregiver until they
become a caregiver. I've never been a caregiver in that circumstance,
(34:42):
but I've had friends and family who have found themselves
in that circumstance. And even while that's going on, it's
difficult for the non caregiver to even begin to appreciate
what the caregiver is dealing with. And I mean that
honestly when I say caregivers like you and others, we
(35:05):
have to become more supportive of people who find themselves
in that situation. You know, in the latter years of
a relationship and when someone like you stays as loyal
and as supportive, you know to your lifelong partner, this
has to be a special place that happened for both
(35:25):
of you. And I mean that from the bottom of
my heart. Well, thank you.
Speaker 6 (35:32):
It's tough, and my heart goes out to every caregiver
and in talking to caregivers to try and have them
understand that to go for help is a sign of courage.
To ask for help means you're not giving up, and
many caregivers just want to do it by themselves. They
(35:53):
don't want to ask for help. Or what happens is
they start off as a loving spouse, caring, loving and
they morphed into a caregiver, but they don't know that
they're morphing into a caregiver, and because of that, they're
not aware of the grieving that they're going through. They
(36:15):
are getting angry and upset because their loved one is
doing silly, crazy things that they told them not to
do for twenty different times, and all that anxiety builds up,
and then the guilt steps in because here I love
this person and I'm getting angry with them, and now
there's guilt associated with it, and so it keeps on
(36:37):
mounting and mounting. So caregivers please understand that if you
love your one who is ill, and if you love
your children and grandchildren, you've got to take care of
yourself because your loved one once and here this disease
twenty years ago could not be cured or prevented. Today,
(36:59):
as we talk on February sixth, it cannot not be
cured or prevented. So that's a dismal a forecast. But
what we can do is make the determination to help
our loved one live their best life possible. And how
do we do that by joining their world but also
making sure that the caregiver lives their best life possible
because if they don't, there court could be useless to
(37:23):
the one they love the most.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Governor Marty Schriber, thank you for your inspiration, thank you
for your courage, thank you for your honesty. The book
My Two Elanes Learning Coping and Surviving as an Alzheimer's
care Caregiver is available. I assume correct me if I'm
wrong through Amazon bookstores. I assume Amazon is always the
easiest place.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
To find a book. My Tools.
Speaker 6 (37:49):
Alzheimer's Caregiver, Yes, Alzheimer I mean, Amazon is good. We
have a website my two elanes dot com, and your
your audience may want to take look at that, just
to give a further insight. And I stress so much
the importance of letting go of the person who once
was so you can now embrace the person who now
(38:11):
is difficult.
Speaker 3 (38:14):
So well, I said, Governor Shiverer, Thank you so much
for your service to the people of Wisconsin and to
the to the to the love that you showed both
of your lanes. Thanks again, Governor. I hope to meet
you someday.
Speaker 6 (38:29):
Dan, thank you very much. I'm grateful for the opportunity
to visit with you.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
Okay, thanks again. We will hopefully talk again when we
come back. We're going to talk with Mayoral aspirin Josh
Kraft to be taking your phone calls as well. Again,
feel free to join the conversation. I'll speak with him
for probably a couple of segments and introduce him to you,
and then we'll open up those phone lines. My name
is Dan Ray, and this is the four thousandth edition
(38:55):
of Night Side