March 25, 2025 • 40 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Combatting High Food Prices with a Free app (called Flashfood) that’s partnering with groceries stores to offer nutritious food at affordable prices. Esther Cohn - VP of Communications & Public Affairs at Flashfood joined Dan.
James Brown Saves Boston Tribute Concert to be held April 5th at Prince Hall in Dorchester! Tony Wilson – aka Young James Brown -James Brown impersonator/performer checked in.
MBTA's South Coast Rail Is Up and Running After 34 Years In The Making. Nichole Davis – WBZ NewsRadio Anchor stopped by!
Beth Israel performs its first robot-assisted live liver transplant! Dr. Martin Dib – surgeon involved in the procedure and director of Beth Israel’s living liver transplant program explained.
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Combatting High Food Prices with a Free app (called Flashfood) that’s partnering with groceries stores to offer nutritious food at affordable prices. Esther Cohn - VP of Communications & Public Affairs at Flashfood joined Dan.
James Brown Saves Boston Tribute Concert to be held April 5th at Prince Hall in Dorchester! Tony Wilson – aka Young James Brown -James Brown impersonator/performer checked in.
MBTA's South Coast Rail Is Up and Running After 34 Years In The Making. Nichole Davis – WBZ NewsRadio Anchor stopped by!
Beth Israel performs its first robot-assisted live liver transplant! Dr. Martin Dib – surgeon involved in the procedure and director of Beth Israel’s living liver transplant program explained.
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Mark as Played
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 WBZ Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Cole looks like they're going to sweep the Sultan's get
the duck boats ready, That's what I say. We're ready.
My name is Dan Ray. I'm always ready, ready for
you from eight to midnight Monday through Friday, right here
on WBZ Boston's News Radio. Remind you to get the
new iHeart app. Pretty easy to get it, you know,
go up, get to your app store, get the app,
(00:27):
put it on your phone and whatever. And then we
will always beach us fingertip away. But make us your
first preset and no matter where you are on the world,
you can listen to us three sixty five twenty four
to seven. Rob Brooks, our great producer on this program,
is back at Broadcast Central at the Medford headquarters and
we are all set to start tonight. We have four
(00:49):
very interesting different guests here, including Nicole Davis will join
us at eight thirty, so you Nicole Davis fans want
to stick around for that, and we will talk about
an American woman from Massachusetts living in Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan.
We'll talk about that and talk about the big problem
(01:10):
that the Trump administration had with this signal app. The
Democrats are looking for a scalp and President Trump is
basically standing by his man or men whatever in this whole,
this whole kerfuffle. We'll get to all of that later
on tonight, but first let's talk about high food prices.
(01:31):
I think everybody, no matter what your status in life,
has experienced high food prices in recent months, going back
actually for a few years. Coming out of COVID with
US is Estra Cone. She's the vice president of communications
and public affairs at a very interesting app called flash Food.
(01:53):
Estra Cone, welcome to NIGHTSID. How are you?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
How are you Dan?
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Thanks so much for having me great.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
So tell us about flash Food is an app. So
people have to pull this down and I assume put
it on their phone. That's the first thing that has
to be done.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Correct, yes, yes, correct, But it is free, so whether
you have an Android or an iPhone, you could just
download it directly from the app store, but.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You have to have Just to make sure people understand
in my audience, you have to have a smartphone a device.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Do you do you have to have a smartphone, Yes, you
do have to have a smartphone. For now. Okay, So
how it works?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
What exactly? What exactly? Once you've pulled this down and
it's on your smartphone, how do you use it? As
I understand that this is a nationwide service which basically
gives people some opportunities to get to their local some
of the not all, but some of their local grocery
(02:56):
stores and purchase food at a deep all sorts of food,
particularly groceries and fruits and vegetables, all at a discounted price.
Tell us how it works, sure.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
So when you download the app, what you'll see is
a map of all the flash food locations in your area.
And how it works is we partner with grocery stores.
The goal is really to reduce the amount of food
that grocery stores throw away, which I don't know if
you or your listeners know, but there's a lot of
food that goes to waste in the United States. And
(03:30):
how it works is they lift items on the app
for fifty percent off. This can be items in surplus
or maybe it's nearing, it's best by date. It's mostly
fresh food, so produce meat, dairy, prepared foods, things like that,
and so groceries lift these items on the app and
then you shop them and go and pick them up
(03:50):
in store.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now, we heard in half the United States right now,
so in every amazing part of the country you have
specific grocery chains. And here in Massachusetts, I checked the
app out earlier. It looked as if your big partner
here in eastern Massachusetts is Stop and Shop, which is
(04:14):
a huge grocery chain here east of Worcester, you know,
right from central Massachusetts heading east. I give me a
couple of the other food chains that you might be
grocery chains you might be working with here in the northeast,
so that people who are listening in other some of
(04:34):
our contiguous states might take advantage of this app as well.
I don't want them to think it is just a
Boston or a Massachusetts benefit.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Go right ahead, Yeah, so yeah, definitely. So Tops is
another big one in sort of the upstate New York area.
We have the Giant Company and Giant Eagle down sort
of in Pennsylvania around those parts. And then we have
you know, as you head out west Meyer in the
Michigan area, Family Fair has patients all across. So we're
in about thirty three states right now, so not quite national,
(05:04):
but we're growing really quickly and adding new stores every day.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So you go from Massachusetts as far as California, I believe.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Correct, we do, Yes, we have. We just recently launched California,
I would say, in the last year or so. So, yes,
we do have some partnerships up in northern California. Mostly.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Any idea at this point as to how many members
you have or how many folks have downloaded your app,
or for that matter, any idea about how many people
have taken advantage of this and actually found great groceries again,
fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, I hope, maybe some day
(05:45):
old muffins and things like that for the sweet tooth,
for the sweet teeth there all of us have any
idea how much food has actually been circulated as a
result of this app.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Yeah, absolutely, We've got about a million and a half
users all across North America. We're pretty national in Canada
as well. Collectively, everyone saved about three hundred million dollars
on their groceries all in so it really is a
pretty meaningful app for a lot of people. And that's
whether you know, to your point, everyone across the income
(06:19):
spectrum wants to save money on groceries, right, So we've
got a lot of folks using the app. Some people
have a lot of fun, you know, finding good deals
and seeing what they can cook up with it. Some
people really use it as a utility and you know,
buy meat to serve their family meet at every meal.
So it's a really great app for a lot of people.
So yeah, we've diverted from landfill about one hundred and
(06:40):
thirty million pounds of food, which is pretty meaningful from
a environmental perspective, but really the biggest impact is the
economic one for a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
And how long has this app been available? I'm sure
obviously you started out slowly, but how how old is
the app?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Yeah, so we were founded in twenty sixteen in Canada
and we came into the States in late twenty eighteen
early twenty nineteen, so we're still relatively young, but we're
growing quickly and adding new partners every day.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I'll tell you it sounds like it sounds like a
win win win the stores as opposed to having having
to ship stuff out product out of their stores, they
have a chance to sell it and maybe recover or
break even. And people on the app have much tastier
meals and better presentations to their family. It's a great idea, Esther,
(07:40):
and so thank you so much for bringing up us
up to date on this. How can folks find it?
I mean, the average person who's listening tonight may have
a smartphone and they probably know how to go to
their app store. Any advice you might want to give
someone who is for the first time trying to find
an app, would you like to give them a little
(08:01):
bit more sure?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yep, yeah, great question. So Also, if it's easier, just
head to flash food dot com and there will be
links there to go download the app. That might be
easier for some folks, but just type flash food into
whatever app store you use, whether that's the Apple App
Store of the Google play Store, download the app, and
then first thing you'll see is a map of all
the locations in your area, and you can shop deals
(08:23):
right in there.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Sounds great, well, Esther, I appreciate you taking the time tonight,
and hopefully we've spread the word. It's not often we
can spread word to as many people who could benefit
from this and not only save money but eat a
lot better. So thank you so much, well, thank you
so much for having me.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
It's great talking to you.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
You bet you. We'll talk again now we can back
on the other side. We have a guest who was
with us about a year ago, Tony Wilson, aka the
Young James Brown. He is a James Brown performer and
he performs here in Boston every year around this time
in commemoration of a conco that James Brown, the hardest
(09:02):
working man in show business, conducted back in April of
nineteen sixty eight, which kept the top of the city
was a powder keg in the hours and days after
the assassination of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King. And there
is a concert coming up on April fifth which we
(09:22):
want to tell you about. And we'll be talking with performer, artist, singer,
impersonator Tony Wilson right after this break on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
On April fifth this year at the Prince Hall in Dorchester,
there will be yet again a James Brown Boston Tribute concert.
James Brown played an incredibly important role here in Boston
back in the April of nineteen sixty eight, after the
assassination of Reverend doctor Martin Luther King, who of course
(10:04):
had some roots here in Boston, wasn't born in Boston,
but went to school here, met his wife, Coreta Scott
King here in Boston. Uh And at the time that
uh doctor James assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, they were tinder
boxes all across America, including Boston. And with us is
Tony Wilson. Tony's been with us before. Uh. He is
(10:24):
the young James Brown, the godson of soul life. As
the young James Brown, Tony Wilson, you will be headlining
this program once again and welcome back to night, said,
how are you my friend?
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Thank you so much, Dad, I really appreciate it, you know,
And uh, this is gonna be a really good thing.
It's first of all, it's brought by Big Time Entertainment
and myself, young James Brown. And this, this whole entire
uh James Brosse Boston is dedicated to the innocent convicts
of Darrell Jones Make Hussin, Darren Howe fu kwan you know.
(10:59):
So we we just want to say this was a
historical moment in time that would never be forgotten. In
sixty eight, James Brown was set to perform at the
Boston Guarden April fifth, as you know in sixty eight
and one of the biggest tragedies occurred on April fourth,
and that was the assassination as you mentioned, the Martin
Luther King and so the city of Boston was shocked
and they rode up and they could feel attention in
(11:20):
the air. So there were many talks about stopping the
concert which was going on, performed by James Brown. And
it was a pioneer in black leadership with city Councilman
Tom Atkins, Deputy Mayor Jeep Jones, and the NIVO Mayor White,
Kevin White, and they had the discussion about the you know,
shutting down to James by performance in April fifth, but
listening to this team, they decided to go on with it.
(11:41):
So that was the day James Brown asked the Bostonians
to just keep it cool, stand down for what could
have been another tragic day for Bostonians. And that being said,
as you mentioned, April fifth, at Prince Hall from six
to ten, we will be having a free, free, free
concert celebrating James Well, you know, it's.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
An interesting story. I'm old enough to remember it. I
knew Kevin White, the mayor of Boston at the time.
Very well, he was only in his really his first year,
first few months. He served mayor as mayor up here
for sixteen years. He was elected four times, and he
was he really had a big impact on the city,
(12:23):
but no impact probably bigger than that night in which
he met personally with James Brown. And there was there's
a there's great stories about those meetings. But this gy
Kevin White, who probably was not I knew him well.
He probably was not a James Brown fan, meaning he
(12:43):
was not a guy he was politics all the time.
It was not somebody who probably was was sitting at
home listening to James Brown LPs. But he he was
a quick study and he figured out the importance of
James Brown, you know, the hardest working man in show business.
And James Brown put on a great concert and many
(13:03):
people give him credit with a little bit to Kevin
White and to Tom Atkins, who I also knew, who
was the Boston City councilor at the time, to keeping
the lid on a situation where Boston, which had had
a lot of activity in the nineteen sixties civil rights
activity and some sit ins, and there was some there
(13:25):
were some you know, what we would call minor, you know, disturbances,
but there was some disturbances, and it was it was
a very perilous moment in time and two people from
a very different background. James Brown, you know, great, great entertainer,
one of the greatest entertainers in the twentieth century, who
you got to know very well, you know, and I
(13:46):
think we want to emphasize your relationship with him. You
were with him on many of his concerts. You you
were pretty much designated by him as his as his
successor of his musical legacy. Don't don't be shy tell
(14:06):
us about that, Tony, because I think that's a big
important part of the story.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well yeah, well, see when when I was ten years old,
I jumped on the stage with James Brown, just like
the kids did in Boston, but only the police didn't
push us off because there was the Chitlin circuit. So
my godfather's Marshall Thompson for the Shylights and my godmother's
Martha Reis for Martin and Vandella. So I was on
that Chitlin circuit just coming because kids in those days
could you know, be in the tavern with their father
(14:33):
and their parents where they just consider the bar. So anyway,
I did that with James Brown, and of course I
lived in Chicago, and then the Jackson five would always
come to Chicago and do the shows, and so I
got to know Joseph and a lot of the Jackson guys.
So I had, you know, good times with those guys.
But you know, I got on there to do it.
And later on in the eighties, Don King contacted me
(14:55):
and wanted to be a decoy for Michael in the eighties,
so I was ended up being the top Michael Jackson
entertain on for Winfrey and all that fast forward to
James Brown. In nineteen ninety one, we met again with
a guy to jail. So but Lewis went on a
pay per view called the James Brown pay per View,
which Lewis pay per view and dan Aykroy and all
of the guys were there. So you know, from that
point he said, I want you to stick with me
(15:16):
and come and learn. So you know, he flew me everywhere.
I mean I had like three passports full of things
that he did and the places that he brought me.
So you know, from there, we did two movies together.
One is called funk Blast. If you just go on
to you can go on the YouTuber it's type of
funk blast. Tony Wilson in the other words Beat the
Devil BMW. Phil was one of the top actors in
(15:37):
the world. Gary Omen and Danny Drago Claive owns. So
it was a really keen good thing BMW Beat the Devil.
So you know, we, like I said, Big Time Entertainment
in myself put this thing together. We like to thank
the city of Boston for making James Brown say Boston
Day April fifth, and we're proud of that. You know,
(16:00):
we're still looking for things to do with we're providing
with a big time entertainment. They dedicated providing platform for
youth to express themselves, you know, the address social issues and
promote positive values, you know through these events. And so
you know, he has this thing called Youth and Crisis,
which are band the Brother Walk band has always done
(16:20):
the Scoop and Hoop events. So he has already made
an outlet for these kids so that they could be
able to you know, deal with whatever they're doing with
at home and then be able to be active outside,
you know, the time with the use in Christ and
the historical scoop and hooches every year. So this, James
Brown said, Boston is importance from Boston. Like I mentioned,
I'm from Chicago. I'm not here to make money. This
(16:43):
is free and this is why I'm doing it the
way that I got here. Dan, I'm on tour with
the Iceby brother If you type in Tony Wilson and
the Iceley Brothers, you'll see we were at in Detroit.
And when we came right here in twenty seventeen and
did the Wilber Theater, that's when I noticed it was
game Brown's fifty of Anna Blue Street and I went
to the city and at that time, I think Mayor
(17:04):
Wu was city console. She actually came to our first
show at Rothbury Community College.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Tell Marty Walsh was the mayor at that time. A
great guy. He's now the executive director of the Players
Association in the National Hockey League. So you need to
get hockey tickets sometime. You got to get in touch
with him. Let me give it one more time here
because I'm coming up on the newscast at the bottom
(17:31):
of the hour. April fifth, which is not this Friday
night but Saturday night. It is a week from Saturday night,
the first Saturday at April at the Prince Hall on
Washington Street in Dorchester. I think everyone knows where that is.
No tickets needed, you just show up, and you got
(17:51):
to show up a little early and get there and
grab a seat and enjoy the show. Tony Wilson, so
great to talk to you again, Huh, I said, so
great to talk to you again.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
Well, do I have another thirty seconds?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I'll give you about thirty go ahead.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Okay, yeah, because we got to bring out We got
the celebrity performer, got Janelle Silgar's performer, Tony Lend, the
legendary blues singer performing the OG's a performer. Uh with
the artist, we have a Christina the performant Pretty Poison,
and you know, we just have the foundation to be
named later as one of our sponsors along with Urban Heat.
(18:30):
Mark Harris is hosting it. So we have we even
have Mark White. Kevin White's son is going to get
up to say something. But this whole thing is dedicated
to the innocent Cobbage, Darrell Jones, Mack Hussin.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Do me a favorite, Do me one favorite, Tony, since
we had you all tonight when you see Mark White
on Saturday night, April fifth. Give him my best. He's
a good friend. I haven't talked to him in a
couple of years. Tell him. Dan Ray said, hello, and
you're always welcome here. Tony Wilson, thank you so much.
Thank young James Brown. Thanks, thanks Tony. Be well, be well,
stay safe. All right, when we get back right after
(19:05):
the news at the bottom of the air, we're going
to be talking with absolutely Nicole Davis, and we're going
to talk about the new MBT, a MBTA rail extension
down onto the South coast. We'll be back right We're
probably gonna hear from Nicole and we'll be back with
her in just a few minutes.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm w Boston's
News Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Speaking about the aforementioned Nicole Davis. She joins us for
a special stop by by Nicole. How are you?
Speaker 6 (19:38):
Did I get here?
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Oh? Hi?
Speaker 6 (19:39):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
It's just amazing, almost in two places simultaneously. The magic
of audio tape.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
It's like you tuck the words right out of my mouth,
the beautiful magic of radio. How are you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I'm doing just great? Uh, And I know that you
have some information on us on this the the Long
Away It's South Coast commuter rail has finally begun service
on Monday. Now, I don't think you were down there
for all of the activities and the festivities, But this
is really an extension of the MPTA. Is this going
(20:14):
to help the MPTA, which is just going to dig
the financial hole a little deeper that they've always found themselves.
It's going to be great for people down to the
South Coast, that's for sure. Well.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Yeah, and the Tea seems to believe that by getting
this commuter rail back up and running by the way
for the first time in almost seventy years, this is
offering commuter service to places like taunt and Fall River,
New Bedford, you know, and they are believing that this
is going to be eventually an economic boom. You're going
to have more people using the system. So, yeah, there's
a little bit of money you got to roll out first.
(20:45):
But this is connecting a part of the state where
the economy is up and coming. It's building itself back
and fishing and manufacturing area, and this is connecting people
to jobs in the Boston area, maybe the biotech belt.
Around one twenty eight all kinds of opportunities. And there's
a huge history behind this too.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Well, I don't understand that I have not briefed myself,
so I might ask you some questions here just out
of curiosity that you may not be aware, might not
know about. But you mentioned that that it's been seventy years.
Why did any idea why it ever stopped?
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Oh, let's go in the way back machine, Dan, we're
going to talk about this. So yeah, picture it summer
of nineteen fifty eight, and this is New Bedford, Fall River,
tot and again we're talking about this. At the time
they got to and from Boston on the train, there
was train service on the South Coast through the New
Haven Railroad's Old Colony line. So again it was just
(21:39):
like the commuter rail and the old Colony Line would
run right through the South Coast. Hop on the train
come to Boston. A big deal. But in the New
York Times, I did some research on this because on
my show New England Weekend, I did a segment on
this a few weeks ago. There is an article in
the New York Times from nineteen fifty eight, the summer
of that year saying Fall River and other cities at
the time didn't want to keep contributing to a subsidy
(22:01):
to keep the train running because the old Colony Railroad
was bleeding cash on this part of the railroad, and
so they reached out to the cities and said, look,
we need your help to keep this going. The city
said we can't afford this either, so in September they
cut the service. Done. Wow, And there has been no
rail service between that part of the state and Boston
(22:23):
since nineteen fifty eight. And of course, you know, trying
to get to Boston from the South coast, you got
to sit in traffic on the expressway, risk your life
on twenty four. I mean, it's not an easy drive.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
It's no fun.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
No, it's not fun at all. So back in the
early nineties this became.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
A going back to that. If you go back to
nineteen fifty eight, just to put it in some context, Yeah,
Ted Williams was still playing for the Red Sox. Yeah,
Kyle Yustreemsky had yet to make his major league debut.
Speaker 6 (22:52):
Right, and I had yet to make my own debut.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, right, Well I was around, but I certainly wasn't
studying the economic impact of the commuter rail or whatever,
But I can remember that time. It was a time
when the world was at peace. Dwight Eisenhower was president,
and I suspect that a lot of the old New
England cities, of which New Bedford and Fall River were
(23:17):
at the top of the heap, they had lost a
lot of the mills and that they had they were
they were cities in decline, and I'm sure that those
communities at the time didn't have a lot of extra
money to pony up to keep the rail line running.
And now here it is they have to put I
assume these are all new track beds and all of that,
(23:38):
that this is not something that that the track beds
just stayed there. I mean, I'm sure over time those
things had had had failed or or gone the way
of all things. Any idea, what sort of an investment
did again, I know you know this more than I been.
How much did the MBTA have to expend to get
(23:59):
it all built? At the rail extended, get the stages.
I think there's six stations that have been built along
the lines. Have to been hundreds of millions of dollars
at least I assume about a billion.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Not gonna lie. Yeah, I knew you were going to
say something about that number, and it's true, because the
thing is, this whole idea started back in the late
or the early nineties. Bill Weld actually was one of
the many who said, yeah, you know, let's do this,
let's get back South Coast service. And the whole project
has taken so long because there's been safety concerns, there's
(24:33):
been cost overruns. I don't know exactly how much of
the track had to be replaced, but some of it
was able to be used, some of it had to
be built. There were you know, you had to build
track over marshes and recreate areas to put the track,
and it takes a long time. I am certainly not
a rail expert, just an enthusiast, but yeah, it took
a lot of money and a lot of time, and
(24:55):
there were some times where a lot of people were saying,
is this ever going to happen? You know, we're put
all this energy and all this money and all this
time into this. But from what I saw, I have
a few friends who were down there riding the trains
on the first day, and my family lives on the
South Coast and they're all super excited the trains have
been running really well. For the most part, they're running
(25:16):
pretty much. I think it's like ten or twelve trains
a day. It takes about seventy minutes to get to
and from Boston, so it took a lot to get here.
But there is a lot of excitement I think in
New Bedford and Fall River for this access to the
city of Boston that they hadn't seen so long.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Just to put it in context, when you think about
the number of people along this line who will be
accommodated and won't have to get in their cars to
drive to Boston. They can just go in and come
out in the same day. Even if it did cost
a billion dollars, put it in the context the Big
Dig cost twenty two billion dollars, so this was a
fraction of the Big Dig. But it's going to serve
(25:56):
a lot of people who for decades have had well
no ETA service and no real train service. So I
think it's a It's a huge wind for the for
the economy down there, and a lot of these cities
are coming back. Fall Rivers, I think rebounding in New
Bedford's rebounding. I think maybe the worst times for these
cities maybe in their rear view mirror. Which is good
(26:17):
for the entire South coast. Oh, it's good state everything.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Yeah, it benefits all of us to have, you know,
flourishing economic areas in all parts of our state. And
you know, if you want to go down to the
South coast, taking some seafood at a restaurant in New Bedford,
or maybe go to Battleship Cove for a day, it's
a lot easier now just to hop on the train
as opposed to again sitting in the car and dealing
with the traffic. And imagine during the summer, it's going
to be a lot easier to get down to that
(26:42):
part of the state, to go to New Bedford, maybe
catch a ferry to the vineyard right there. It opens
up opportunities.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah. Yeah, when you look, when you really look at it,
I mean the vineyard is just looking at the map here,
it looks like about a very quick ferry ride, super
quick over to the vineyard and you can get down
there and see a part. There's a lot of people
in Massachusetts, Nicole who probably have never been to New
(27:10):
Bedford or Fall River. I would not have been except
I went there as a reporter. When I was working
in television and generally we're going down there for bad
news stories. I've never gone down there to spend a
weekend or to go down and have dinner on a
Saturday night. And it opens it opens everything up. It'd
be really interesting to see how it works out for
(27:31):
the for the whole South Coast area. And yeah, it's it's,
it's I think it's I think it's a plus. And
thanks so much for bailing us out here and joining
us tonight and giving us a perspective that I learned
a lot from you on this one, that is for sure.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
I am happy to talk train history with you anytime.
And yes, if I'm an enthusiast, I am not as
much of an enthusiast as many people I know, but
I do love public trans that I do love trains,
and I I've already been talking with my family about
taking a train trip down to the South Coast, So
I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Yeah. I had a cameraman who worked with me at
or I must say now cinematographer who worked at me
with me at two four for many years, got named
Eddie Dukes. And Eddie loved trains. I mean he would
he would get on a train. That's how he spent
his vacations and love trains. I've taken the train to
New York a couple of times, and it's a lot
easier than driving getting right into Penn Station. People should
(28:30):
should try trains. And I think someday when I when
I have a little more time, I'm going to spend
some time riding trains across the country.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
I would love to do that.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
You have the country from a different perspective. Normally we're
on airplanes flying to the West coast. I'd like to
see the see the country, you know, at at eye level,
and I'd like to be doing be doing it on
a train.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
So what easier than driving when you have to take
your eyes off the road. Maybe just get on the
train instead. Do yourself a favor.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
You got it. Nicole is always thank you so much.
We still owe each other a phone call.
Speaker 6 (29:03):
I know, I know we'll talk, so I promise.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Thanks Nicole. All right, Nicole Davis, who just does a
great job here on news at WBZ period and we're
delighted to have her working with us at night. When
we come back, we're going to talk about the first
robot assisted live liver transplant, and it happened right here
(29:30):
in the Greater Boston area. So we will will have
all that for you, and then we'll get to our
talk portions. And we have a woman coming on, Jill Kornetski,
who is a Harvard in Brandei's graduate and she is
one of the very few Western women living in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(29:53):
She's home here for a little R and R and
she's she has got an an amazing project out there
called Homestead Afghanistan and the Taliban I've actually have allowed
her to be there. This would be a great hour
coming up after the nine o'clock news, and we have
a great guest coming up right after the break, Doctor
(30:15):
Martin Dibb. Will be back on Nightside in just a
couple of minutes.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Now back to Dan Ray Mine from the Window World
Nightside Studios on w b Z News Radio.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Or you may have seen the story that Beth Israel
Hospital performs its first robot assisted live liver transplant with
us as doctor Martin Dibb. He's a surgeon who was
involved in the procedure results as the director of Beth
Israel's Living liver Transplant transplant program. Welcome doctor Martin Dibb
(30:48):
to Nightside, how are.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
You very good? Thank you so much for your interest
and support.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Well, yeah, explain to me the phrase living living liver
transplant program. Obviously there, I am smart enough to understand
that that people can actually donate a load of the liver.
So is that what we're talking about here. It's not
like a cadaver and the liver is harvested or explain
(31:19):
the difference to me and my audience, if you'd be
so kind.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
That's exactly right. So patients that are waiting for a
liver transplant, maybe patients that have liver disease or liver cancer,
and the solution and long term best treatment would be
a liver transplant. The problem we have in the country
and many other countries is that we don't have enough
(31:45):
donors to be able to do all the liver transant
so patients can wait for a long time on the list.
And so living donor liver transient is an alternative to
waiting for somebody to die to be able to get
a whole organ. And instead of that, you know, patients
(32:07):
can ask for the family members or friends that may
be able to donate half of the liver. So just
like in kidney yeah, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
No, no, no, So for the donor in that situation,
they surrender half of their liver or they volunteer to
give half of their liver. I assume there has to
be all sorts of compatibility between the donor and the recipient.
But what impact is there on the individual who surrenders
(32:40):
half of their liver or donates half of their liver.
Does their liver or what is left of their liver,
does that regenerate itself or do they live their life
with half a liver.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
No, that's exactly right. So the liver has this amazing capacity.
No other organ has to regenerate. So what happens is
that if we take half of the liver of a
donor and we give it to the recipient, that half
of the liver that stays in the donor regenerates up
to one hundred percent of what it was within six weeks.
(33:19):
And then the half of the liver that we implant
on the recipient also regenerates up to one hundred percent
of what the donor's liver was within six weeks. So
we're able to achieve, you know, two whole livers out
of one which is something that we know very much
(33:40):
about and we try to take advantage of it to
be able to transport more people and with healthy livers.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
How long has that capability been in use? I assume
that there was a point in time time where liver
transplants first appeared. I remember when I think there was
some controversy when the great Yankee baseball player Mickey Mantle
(34:12):
was able to get a liver transplant late in his life. Uh,
and there was a lot of uh controversy about it
because Mickey had spent a lot of I guess what
you call liver abuse as a young man, and people
were upset about that. So how long have how long?
(34:32):
When when was the first liver transplant? I just want
to put this in some sort of context. How long
have has the whole process of a full liver transplant
from a cadaver to to someone who was in need?
When when did that first one happen? Approximately?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Yeah, So it was doctor Starzl who did the first
liver transplants, and uh, this is back in the in
the sixties seventies, but it was definitely standard of care
starting in the eighties, and now living donor river transplants
(35:08):
has been getting more and more force and we have
been able to do this in a safe manner for
the donors to be able to save more lives, be
able to get good long term outcomes for the past
twenty years.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
For the past twenty years. So therefore we have some
statistical analysis, which do the people who are the donors
I know that their liver regenerates itself within six months.
Have there been any studies done as to whether or
not that either impacts their long the donors longevity either
(35:50):
positively or negatively.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Yes, So we take the safety of the donor very seriously.
So we have internet national registries of living donations, and
in fact, the mortality of the donors is something that
we have been tracking for a long time and internationally
(36:15):
is you know, the potential mortality of a living donor
is estimated as less than zero point one percent, so
one out of a thousand, which is still something that
we take very seriously and we make sure that we
minimize all the risks of the donor. But for the
(36:36):
most part, the vast majority of donors are able to
go home within five to seven days and they get
a full regeneration of the liver within six weeks and
go back to the regular activities.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
The longevity of life, and again, I know it's impossible
to predict that, but I'm just is there any disparity
between the life longevity of liver donors and those who
never donate a portion of the liver. Has there been
any study ever done on that or all?
Speaker 3 (37:10):
So, we do know from cancer surgery of the liver
that patients that had half of the liver removed they
live with a normal life expectancy. Since we have been
doing living donors for the most part the past twenty
(37:30):
thirty years, we don't know what's going to happen at
forty years, but we pretty much know from the from
all the experience of liver surgery that once they get
a full regeneration, they live as anyone else with a
regenerated liver and with a normal life expectancy.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
That's great, well, doctor, It's amazing what you and your
colleagues in medicine do for all of us, and it
gives all of us great hope. I just want I
wanted to say thank you for you doing what you do.
I do a talk show and I was a TV
reporter and all I've done is talk you work with
your mind and with your hands, not only to save lives,
(38:13):
but to benefit so many people during your career. I've
known who was a heart surgeon and he did I
think it was twelve thousand heart operations, and so I
stand in hor of you and your colleagues. I just
wanted to say.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
That thank you. We really appreciate you say it like
if it's not, but just getting the word out is
just really important. And you being interested in us showing
people what we can do and be able to people
that are waiting for a long time for an organ translant,
(38:51):
for them to know that we can do living donner
liver transplant. It's really important to be honest, like we
have the privilege of having this job, but the real
heroes here are the donors. Not anyone would you know
you would have a surgery that they don't need to
be able to save the life of their family member,
(39:13):
and these are very special individuals.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Absolutely well, doctor, I'd love to have you back, and
if we can ever do anything to spread the word
you talk to the folks there at the hospital and
we're standing by at your service. Thank you so much
for watching you.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
I did want to you know mention about the robotic part.
I think this is very exciting because we were able
to do the surgery of the donor minimally invasive, with
small incisions and using the latest technology, which is the
robotic surgery. Basically we're able to have those donors to
(39:51):
get to recover way quicker and get back to their
regular life.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
So what I'd like to do, doctor, I would so
focused on the procedure and the transplant procedure. How about
if you have I'll have my producer get in touch
with your public relations person and we'll have you back
maybe two or three weeks from now, and we'll focus
exclusively on the robotic aspect. Would that work?
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Leading would love?
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Okay, we will do we will We will do it
again in the not too not too long down the road.
Thank you very much, doctor Martin Dibb of Beth Israel's
Living Liver Transplant Program. Thanks again. Doctor. When we get
back right after the nine o'clock news is going to
talk about another person who is living a very interesting life,
the founder of Homestead Afghanistan, a woman from Massachusetts, Jill Kornetsky.
(40:40):
What a story coming back on Night Side
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Cole looks like they're going to sweep the Sultan's get
the duck boats ready, That's what I say. We're ready.
My name is Dan Ray. I'm always ready, ready for
you from eight to midnight Monday through Friday, right here
on WBZ Boston's News Radio. Remind you to get the
new iHeart app. Pretty easy to get it, you know,
go up, get to your app store, get the app,
(00:27):
put it on your phone and whatever. And then we
will always beach us fingertip away. But make us your
first preset and no matter where you are on the world,
you can listen to us three sixty five twenty four
to seven. Rob Brooks, our great producer on this program,
is back at Broadcast Central at the Medford headquarters and
we are all set to start tonight. We have four
(00:49):
very interesting different guests here, including Nicole Davis will join
us at eight thirty, so you Nicole Davis fans want
to stick around for that, and we will talk about
an American woman from Massachusetts living in Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan.
We'll talk about that and talk about the big problem
(01:10):
that the Trump administration had with this signal app. The
Democrats are looking for a scalp and President Trump is
basically standing by his man or men whatever in this whole,
this whole kerfuffle. We'll get to all of that later
on tonight, but first let's talk about high food prices.
(01:31):
I think everybody, no matter what your status in life,
has experienced high food prices in recent months, going back
actually for a few years. Coming out of COVID with
US is Estra Cone. She's the vice president of communications
and public affairs at a very interesting app called flash Food.
(01:53):
Estra Cone, welcome to NIGHTSID. How are you?
Speaker 3 (01:56):
How are you Dan?
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Thanks so much for having me great.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
So tell us about flash Food is an app. So
people have to pull this down and I assume put
it on their phone. That's the first thing that has
to be done.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Correct, yes, yes, correct, But it is free, so whether
you have an Android or an iPhone, you could just
download it directly from the app store, but.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You have to have Just to make sure people understand
in my audience, you have to have a smartphone a device.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Do you do you have to have a smartphone, Yes, you
do have to have a smartphone. For now. Okay, So
how it works?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
What exactly? What exactly? Once you've pulled this down and
it's on your smartphone, how do you use it? As
I understand that this is a nationwide service which basically
gives people some opportunities to get to their local some
of the not all, but some of their local grocery
(02:56):
stores and purchase food at a deep all sorts of food,
particularly groceries and fruits and vegetables, all at a discounted price.
Tell us how it works, sure.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
So when you download the app, what you'll see is
a map of all the flash food locations in your area.
And how it works is we partner with grocery stores.
The goal is really to reduce the amount of food
that grocery stores throw away, which I don't know if
you or your listeners know, but there's a lot of
food that goes to waste in the United States. And
(03:30):
how it works is they lift items on the app
for fifty percent off. This can be items in surplus
or maybe it's nearing, it's best by date. It's mostly
fresh food, so produce meat, dairy, prepared foods, things like that,
and so groceries lift these items on the app and
then you shop them and go and pick them up
(03:50):
in store.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Now, we heard in half the United States right now,
so in every amazing part of the country you have
specific grocery chains. And here in Massachusetts, I checked the
app out earlier. It looked as if your big partner
here in eastern Massachusetts is Stop and Shop, which is
(04:14):
a huge grocery chain here east of Worcester, you know,
right from central Massachusetts heading east. I give me a
couple of the other food chains that you might be
grocery chains you might be working with here in the northeast,
so that people who are listening in other some of
(04:34):
our contiguous states might take advantage of this app as well.
I don't want them to think it is just a
Boston or a Massachusetts benefit.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Go right ahead, Yeah, so yeah, definitely. So Tops is
another big one in sort of the upstate New York area.
We have the Giant Company and Giant Eagle down sort
of in Pennsylvania around those parts. And then we have
you know, as you head out west Meyer in the
Michigan area, Family Fair has patients all across. So we're
in about thirty three states right now, so not quite national,
(05:04):
but we're growing really quickly and adding new stores every day.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So you go from Massachusetts as far as California, I believe.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Correct, we do, Yes, we have. We just recently launched California,
I would say, in the last year or so. So, yes,
we do have some partnerships up in northern California. Mostly.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Any idea at this point as to how many members
you have or how many folks have downloaded your app,
or for that matter, any idea about how many people
have taken advantage of this and actually found great groceries again,
fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, I hope, maybe some day
(05:45):
old muffins and things like that for the sweet tooth,
for the sweet teeth there all of us have any
idea how much food has actually been circulated as a
result of this app.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Yeah, absolutely, We've got about a million and a half
users all across North America. We're pretty national in Canada
as well. Collectively, everyone saved about three hundred million dollars
on their groceries all in so it really is a
pretty meaningful app for a lot of people. And that's
whether you know, to your point, everyone across the income
(06:19):
spectrum wants to save money on groceries, right, So we've
got a lot of folks using the app. Some people
have a lot of fun, you know, finding good deals
and seeing what they can cook up with it. Some
people really use it as a utility and you know,
buy meat to serve their family meet at every meal.
So it's a really great app for a lot of people.
So yeah, we've diverted from landfill about one hundred and
(06:40):
thirty million pounds of food, which is pretty meaningful from
a environmental perspective, but really the biggest impact is the
economic one for a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
And how long has this app been available? I'm sure
obviously you started out slowly, but how how old is
the app?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Yeah, so we were founded in twenty sixteen in Canada
and we came into the States in late twenty eighteen
early twenty nineteen, so we're still relatively young, but we're
growing quickly and adding new partners every day.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
I'll tell you it sounds like it sounds like a
win win win the stores as opposed to having having
to ship stuff out product out of their stores, they
have a chance to sell it and maybe recover or
break even. And people on the app have much tastier
meals and better presentations to their family. It's a great idea, Esther,
(07:40):
and so thank you so much for bringing up us
up to date on this. How can folks find it?
I mean, the average person who's listening tonight may have
a smartphone and they probably know how to go to
their app store. Any advice you might want to give
someone who is for the first time trying to find
an app, would you like to give them a little
(08:01):
bit more sure?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Yep, yeah, great question. So Also, if it's easier, just
head to flash food dot com and there will be
links there to go download the app. That might be
easier for some folks, but just type flash food into
whatever app store you use, whether that's the Apple App
Store of the Google play Store, download the app, and
then first thing you'll see is a map of all
the locations in your area, and you can shop deals
(08:23):
right in there.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Sounds great, well, Esther, I appreciate you taking the time tonight,
and hopefully we've spread the word. It's not often we
can spread word to as many people who could benefit
from this and not only save money but eat a
lot better. So thank you so much, well, thank you
so much for having me.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
It's great talking to you.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
You bet you. We'll talk again now we can back
on the other side. We have a guest who was
with us about a year ago, Tony Wilson, aka the
Young James Brown. He is a James Brown performer and
he performs here in Boston every year around this time
in commemoration of a conco that James Brown, the hardest
(09:02):
working man in show business, conducted back in April of
nineteen sixty eight, which kept the top of the city
was a powder keg in the hours and days after
the assassination of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King. And there
is a concert coming up on April fifth which we
(09:22):
want to tell you about. And we'll be talking with performer, artist, singer,
impersonator Tony Wilson right after this break on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
On April fifth this year at the Prince Hall in Dorchester,
there will be yet again a James Brown Boston Tribute concert.
James Brown played an incredibly important role here in Boston
back in the April of nineteen sixty eight, after the
assassination of Reverend doctor Martin Luther King, who of course
(10:04):
had some roots here in Boston, wasn't born in Boston,
but went to school here, met his wife, Coreta Scott
King here in Boston. Uh And at the time that
uh doctor James assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, they were tinder
boxes all across America, including Boston. And with us is
Tony Wilson. Tony's been with us before. Uh. He is
(10:24):
the young James Brown, the godson of soul life. As
the young James Brown, Tony Wilson, you will be headlining
this program once again and welcome back to night, said,
how are you my friend?
Speaker 5 (10:36):
Thank you so much, Dad, I really appreciate it, you know,
And uh, this is gonna be a really good thing.
It's first of all, it's brought by Big Time Entertainment
and myself, young James Brown. And this, this whole entire
uh James Brosse Boston is dedicated to the innocent convicts
of Darrell Jones Make Hussin, Darren Howe fu kwan you know.
(10:59):
So we we just want to say this was a
historical moment in time that would never be forgotten. In
sixty eight, James Brown was set to perform at the
Boston Guarden April fifth, as you know in sixty eight
and one of the biggest tragedies occurred on April fourth,
and that was the assassination as you mentioned, the Martin
Luther King and so the city of Boston was shocked
and they rode up and they could feel attention in
(11:20):
the air. So there were many talks about stopping the
concert which was going on, performed by James Brown. And
it was a pioneer in black leadership with city Councilman
Tom Atkins, Deputy Mayor Jeep Jones, and the NIVO Mayor White,
Kevin White, and they had the discussion about the you know,
shutting down to James by performance in April fifth, but
listening to this team, they decided to go on with it.
(11:41):
So that was the day James Brown asked the Bostonians
to just keep it cool, stand down for what could
have been another tragic day for Bostonians. And that being said,
as you mentioned, April fifth, at Prince Hall from six
to ten, we will be having a free, free, free
concert celebrating James Well, you know, it's.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
An interesting story. I'm old enough to remember it. I
knew Kevin White, the mayor of Boston at the time.
Very well, he was only in his really his first year,
first few months. He served mayor as mayor up here
for sixteen years. He was elected four times, and he
was he really had a big impact on the city,
(12:23):
but no impact probably bigger than that night in which
he met personally with James Brown. And there was there's
a there's great stories about those meetings. But this gy
Kevin White, who probably was not I knew him well.
He probably was not a James Brown fan, meaning he
(12:43):
was not a guy he was politics all the time.
It was not somebody who probably was was sitting at
home listening to James Brown LPs. But he he was
a quick study and he figured out the importance of
James Brown, you know, the hardest working man in show business.
And James Brown put on a great concert and many
(13:03):
people give him credit with a little bit to Kevin
White and to Tom Atkins, who I also knew, who
was the Boston City councilor at the time, to keeping
the lid on a situation where Boston, which had had
a lot of activity in the nineteen sixties civil rights
activity and some sit ins, and there was some there
(13:25):
were some you know, what we would call minor, you know, disturbances,
but there was some disturbances, and it was it was
a very perilous moment in time and two people from
a very different background. James Brown, you know, great, great entertainer,
one of the greatest entertainers in the twentieth century, who
you got to know very well, you know, and I
(13:46):
think we want to emphasize your relationship with him. You
were with him on many of his concerts. You you
were pretty much designated by him as his as his
successor of his musical legacy. Don't don't be shy tell
(14:06):
us about that, Tony, because I think that's a big
important part of the story.
Speaker 5 (14:11):
Well yeah, well, see when when I was ten years old,
I jumped on the stage with James Brown, just like
the kids did in Boston, but only the police didn't
push us off because there was the Chitlin circuit. So
my godfather's Marshall Thompson for the Shylights and my godmother's
Martha Reis for Martin and Vandella. So I was on
that Chitlin circuit just coming because kids in those days
could you know, be in the tavern with their father
(14:33):
and their parents where they just consider the bar. So anyway,
I did that with James Brown, and of course I
lived in Chicago, and then the Jackson five would always
come to Chicago and do the shows, and so I
got to know Joseph and a lot of the Jackson guys.
So I had, you know, good times with those guys.
But you know, I got on there to do it.
And later on in the eighties, Don King contacted me
(14:55):
and wanted to be a decoy for Michael in the eighties,
so I was ended up being the top Michael Jackson
entertain on for Winfrey and all that fast forward to
James Brown. In nineteen ninety one, we met again with
a guy to jail. So but Lewis went on a
pay per view called the James Brown pay per View,
which Lewis pay per view and dan Aykroy and all
of the guys were there. So you know, from that
point he said, I want you to stick with me
(15:16):
and come and learn. So you know, he flew me everywhere.
I mean I had like three passports full of things
that he did and the places that he brought me.
So you know, from there, we did two movies together.
One is called funk Blast. If you just go on
to you can go on the YouTuber it's type of
funk blast. Tony Wilson in the other words Beat the
Devil BMW. Phil was one of the top actors in
(15:37):
the world. Gary Omen and Danny Drago Claive owns. So
it was a really keen good thing BMW Beat the Devil.
So you know, we, like I said, Big Time Entertainment
in myself put this thing together. We like to thank
the city of Boston for making James Brown say Boston
Day April fifth, and we're proud of that. You know,
(16:00):
we're still looking for things to do with we're providing
with a big time entertainment. They dedicated providing platform for
youth to express themselves, you know, the address social issues and
promote positive values, you know through these events. And so
you know, he has this thing called Youth and Crisis,
which are band the Brother Walk band has always done
(16:20):
the Scoop and Hoop events. So he has already made
an outlet for these kids so that they could be
able to you know, deal with whatever they're doing with
at home and then be able to be active outside,
you know, the time with the use in Christ and
the historical scoop and hooches every year. So this, James
Brown said, Boston is importance from Boston. Like I mentioned,
I'm from Chicago. I'm not here to make money. This
(16:43):
is free and this is why I'm doing it the
way that I got here. Dan, I'm on tour with
the Iceby brother If you type in Tony Wilson and
the Iceley Brothers, you'll see we were at in Detroit.
And when we came right here in twenty seventeen and
did the Wilber Theater, that's when I noticed it was
game Brown's fifty of Anna Blue Street and I went
to the city and at that time, I think Mayor
(17:04):
Wu was city console. She actually came to our first
show at Rothbury Community College.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Tell Marty Walsh was the mayor at that time. A
great guy. He's now the executive director of the Players
Association in the National Hockey League. So you need to
get hockey tickets sometime. You got to get in touch
with him. Let me give it one more time here
because I'm coming up on the newscast at the bottom
(17:31):
of the hour. April fifth, which is not this Friday
night but Saturday night. It is a week from Saturday night,
the first Saturday at April at the Prince Hall on
Washington Street in Dorchester. I think everyone knows where that is.
No tickets needed, you just show up, and you got
(17:51):
to show up a little early and get there and
grab a seat and enjoy the show. Tony Wilson, so
great to talk to you again, Huh, I said, so
great to talk to you again.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
Well, do I have another thirty seconds?
Speaker 2 (18:06):
I'll give you about thirty go ahead.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
Okay, yeah, because we got to bring out We got
the celebrity performer, got Janelle Silgar's performer, Tony Lend, the
legendary blues singer performing the OG's a performer. Uh with
the artist, we have a Christina the performant Pretty Poison,
and you know, we just have the foundation to be
named later as one of our sponsors along with Urban Heat.
(18:30):
Mark Harris is hosting it. So we have we even
have Mark White. Kevin White's son is going to get
up to say something. But this whole thing is dedicated
to the innocent Cobbage, Darrell Jones, Mack Hussin.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Do me a favorite, Do me one favorite, Tony, since
we had you all tonight when you see Mark White
on Saturday night, April fifth. Give him my best. He's
a good friend. I haven't talked to him in a
couple of years. Tell him. Dan Ray said, hello, and
you're always welcome here. Tony Wilson, thank you so much.
Thank young James Brown. Thanks, thanks Tony. Be well, be well,
stay safe. All right, when we get back right after
(19:05):
the news at the bottom of the air, we're going
to be talking with absolutely Nicole Davis, and we're going
to talk about the new MBT, a MBTA rail extension
down onto the South coast. We'll be back right We're
probably gonna hear from Nicole and we'll be back with
her in just a few minutes.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm w Boston's
News Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Speaking about the aforementioned Nicole Davis. She joins us for
a special stop by by Nicole. How are you?
Speaker 6 (19:38):
Did I get here?
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Oh? Hi?
Speaker 6 (19:39):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
It's just amazing, almost in two places simultaneously. The magic
of audio tape.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
It's like you tuck the words right out of my mouth,
the beautiful magic of radio. How are you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I'm doing just great? Uh, And I know that you
have some information on us on this the the Long
Away It's South Coast commuter rail has finally begun service
on Monday. Now, I don't think you were down there
for all of the activities and the festivities, But this
is really an extension of the MPTA. Is this going
(20:14):
to help the MPTA, which is just going to dig
the financial hole a little deeper that they've always found themselves.
It's going to be great for people down to the
South Coast, that's for sure. Well.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Yeah, and the Tea seems to believe that by getting
this commuter rail back up and running by the way
for the first time in almost seventy years, this is
offering commuter service to places like taunt and Fall River,
New Bedford, you know, and they are believing that this
is going to be eventually an economic boom. You're going
to have more people using the system. So, yeah, there's
a little bit of money you got to roll out first.
(20:45):
But this is connecting a part of the state where
the economy is up and coming. It's building itself back
and fishing and manufacturing area, and this is connecting people
to jobs in the Boston area, maybe the biotech belt.
Around one twenty eight all kinds of opportunities. And there's
a huge history behind this too.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Well, I don't understand that I have not briefed myself,
so I might ask you some questions here just out
of curiosity that you may not be aware, might not
know about. But you mentioned that that it's been seventy years.
Why did any idea why it ever stopped?
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Oh, let's go in the way back machine, Dan, we're
going to talk about this. So yeah, picture it summer
of nineteen fifty eight, and this is New Bedford, Fall River,
tot and again we're talking about this. At the time
they got to and from Boston on the train, there
was train service on the South Coast through the New
Haven Railroad's Old Colony line. So again it was just
(21:39):
like the commuter rail and the old Colony Line would
run right through the South Coast. Hop on the train
come to Boston. A big deal. But in the New
York Times, I did some research on this because on
my show New England Weekend, I did a segment on
this a few weeks ago. There is an article in
the New York Times from nineteen fifty eight, the summer
of that year saying Fall River and other cities at
the time didn't want to keep contributing to a subsidy
(22:01):
to keep the train running because the old Colony Railroad
was bleeding cash on this part of the railroad, and
so they reached out to the cities and said, look,
we need your help to keep this going. The city
said we can't afford this either, so in September they
cut the service. Done. Wow, And there has been no
rail service between that part of the state and Boston
(22:23):
since nineteen fifty eight. And of course, you know, trying
to get to Boston from the South coast, you got
to sit in traffic on the expressway, risk your life
on twenty four. I mean, it's not an easy drive.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
It's no fun.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
No, it's not fun at all. So back in the
early nineties this became.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
A going back to that. If you go back to
nineteen fifty eight, just to put it in some context, Yeah,
Ted Williams was still playing for the Red Sox. Yeah,
Kyle Yustreemsky had yet to make his major league debut.
Speaker 6 (22:52):
Right, and I had yet to make my own debut.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah, right, Well I was around, but I certainly wasn't
studying the economic impact of the commuter rail or whatever,
But I can remember that time. It was a time
when the world was at peace. Dwight Eisenhower was president,
and I suspect that a lot of the old New
England cities, of which New Bedford and Fall River were
(23:17):
at the top of the heap, they had lost a
lot of the mills and that they had they were
they were cities in decline, and I'm sure that those
communities at the time didn't have a lot of extra
money to pony up to keep the rail line running.
And now here it is they have to put I
assume these are all new track beds and all of that,
(23:38):
that this is not something that that the track beds
just stayed there. I mean, I'm sure over time those
things had had had failed or or gone the way
of all things. Any idea, what sort of an investment
did again, I know you know this more than I been.
How much did the MBTA have to expend to get
(23:59):
it all built? At the rail extended, get the stages.
I think there's six stations that have been built along
the lines. Have to been hundreds of millions of dollars
at least I assume about a billion.
Speaker 6 (24:11):
Not gonna lie. Yeah, I knew you were going to
say something about that number, and it's true, because the
thing is, this whole idea started back in the late
or the early nineties. Bill Weld actually was one of
the many who said, yeah, you know, let's do this,
let's get back South Coast service. And the whole project
has taken so long because there's been safety concerns, there's
(24:33):
been cost overruns. I don't know exactly how much of
the track had to be replaced, but some of it
was able to be used, some of it had to
be built. There were you know, you had to build
track over marshes and recreate areas to put the track,
and it takes a long time. I am certainly not
a rail expert, just an enthusiast, but yeah, it took
a lot of money and a lot of time, and
(24:55):
there were some times where a lot of people were saying,
is this ever going to happen? You know, we're put
all this energy and all this money and all this
time into this. But from what I saw, I have
a few friends who were down there riding the trains
on the first day, and my family lives on the
South Coast and they're all super excited the trains have
been running really well. For the most part, they're running
(25:16):
pretty much. I think it's like ten or twelve trains
a day. It takes about seventy minutes to get to
and from Boston, so it took a lot to get here.
But there is a lot of excitement I think in
New Bedford and Fall River for this access to the
city of Boston that they hadn't seen so long.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
Just to put it in context, when you think about
the number of people along this line who will be
accommodated and won't have to get in their cars to
drive to Boston. They can just go in and come
out in the same day. Even if it did cost
a billion dollars, put it in the context the Big
Dig cost twenty two billion dollars, so this was a
fraction of the Big Dig. But it's going to serve
(25:56):
a lot of people who for decades have had well
no ETA service and no real train service. So I
think it's a It's a huge wind for the for
the economy down there, and a lot of these cities
are coming back. Fall Rivers, I think rebounding in New
Bedford's rebounding. I think maybe the worst times for these
cities maybe in their rear view mirror. Which is good
(26:17):
for the entire South coast. Oh, it's good state everything.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Yeah, it benefits all of us to have, you know,
flourishing economic areas in all parts of our state. And
you know, if you want to go down to the
South coast, taking some seafood at a restaurant in New Bedford,
or maybe go to Battleship Cove for a day, it's
a lot easier now just to hop on the train
as opposed to again sitting in the car and dealing
with the traffic. And imagine during the summer, it's going
to be a lot easier to get down to that
(26:42):
part of the state, to go to New Bedford, maybe
catch a ferry to the vineyard right there. It opens
up opportunities.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah. Yeah, when you look, when you really look at it,
I mean the vineyard is just looking at the map here,
it looks like about a very quick ferry ride, super
quick over to the vineyard and you can get down
there and see a part. There's a lot of people
in Massachusetts, Nicole who probably have never been to New
(27:10):
Bedford or Fall River. I would not have been except
I went there as a reporter. When I was working
in television and generally we're going down there for bad
news stories. I've never gone down there to spend a
weekend or to go down and have dinner on a
Saturday night. And it opens it opens everything up. It'd
be really interesting to see how it works out for
(27:31):
the for the whole South Coast area. And yeah, it's it's,
it's I think it's I think it's a plus. And
thanks so much for bailing us out here and joining
us tonight and giving us a perspective that I learned
a lot from you on this one, that is for sure.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
I am happy to talk train history with you anytime.
And yes, if I'm an enthusiast, I am not as
much of an enthusiast as many people I know, but
I do love public trans that I do love trains,
and I I've already been talking with my family about
taking a train trip down to the South Coast, So
I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Yeah. I had a cameraman who worked with me at
or I must say now cinematographer who worked at me
with me at two four for many years, got named
Eddie Dukes. And Eddie loved trains. I mean he would
he would get on a train. That's how he spent
his vacations and love trains. I've taken the train to
New York a couple of times, and it's a lot
easier than driving getting right into Penn Station. People should
(28:30):
should try trains. And I think someday when I when
I have a little more time, I'm going to spend
some time riding trains across the country.
Speaker 6 (28:38):
I would love to do that.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
You have the country from a different perspective. Normally we're
on airplanes flying to the West coast. I'd like to
see the see the country, you know, at at eye level,
and I'd like to be doing be doing it on
a train.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
So what easier than driving when you have to take
your eyes off the road. Maybe just get on the
train instead. Do yourself a favor.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
You got it. Nicole is always thank you so much.
We still owe each other a phone call.
Speaker 6 (29:03):
I know, I know we'll talk, so I promise.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Thanks Nicole. All right, Nicole Davis, who just does a
great job here on news at WBZ period and we're
delighted to have her working with us at night. When
we come back, we're going to talk about the first
robot assisted live liver transplant, and it happened right here
(29:30):
in the Greater Boston area. So we will will have
all that for you, and then we'll get to our
talk portions. And we have a woman coming on, Jill Kornetski,
who is a Harvard in Brandei's graduate and she is
one of the very few Western women living in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(29:53):
She's home here for a little R and R and
she's she has got an an amazing project out there
called Homestead Afghanistan and the Taliban I've actually have allowed
her to be there. This would be a great hour
coming up after the nine o'clock news, and we have
a great guest coming up right after the break, Doctor
(30:15):
Martin Dibb. Will be back on Nightside in just a
couple of minutes.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Now back to Dan Ray Mine from the Window World
Nightside Studios on w b Z News Radio.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Or you may have seen the story that Beth Israel
Hospital performs its first robot assisted live liver transplant with
us as doctor Martin Dibb. He's a surgeon who was
involved in the procedure results as the director of Beth
Israel's Living liver Transplant transplant program. Welcome doctor Martin Dibb
(30:48):
to Nightside, how are.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
You very good? Thank you so much for your interest
and support.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Well, yeah, explain to me the phrase living living liver
transplant program. Obviously there, I am smart enough to understand
that that people can actually donate a load of the liver.
So is that what we're talking about here. It's not
like a cadaver and the liver is harvested or explain
(31:19):
the difference to me and my audience, if you'd be
so kind.
Speaker 3 (31:23):
That's exactly right. So patients that are waiting for a
liver transplant, maybe patients that have liver disease or liver cancer,
and the solution and long term best treatment would be
a liver transplant. The problem we have in the country
and many other countries is that we don't have enough
(31:45):
donors to be able to do all the liver transant
so patients can wait for a long time on the list.
And so living donor liver transient is an alternative to
waiting for somebody to die to be able to get
a whole organ. And instead of that, you know, patients
(32:07):
can ask for the family members or friends that may
be able to donate half of the liver. So just
like in kidney yeah, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
No, no, no, So for the donor in that situation,
they surrender half of their liver or they volunteer to
give half of their liver. I assume there has to
be all sorts of compatibility between the donor and the recipient.
But what impact is there on the individual who surrenders
(32:40):
half of their liver or donates half of their liver.
Does their liver or what is left of their liver,
does that regenerate itself or do they live their life
with half a liver.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
No, that's exactly right. So the liver has this amazing capacity.
No other organ has to regenerate. So what happens is
that if we take half of the liver of a
donor and we give it to the recipient, that half
of the liver that stays in the donor regenerates up
to one hundred percent of what it was within six weeks.
(33:19):
And then the half of the liver that we implant
on the recipient also regenerates up to one hundred percent
of what the donor's liver was within six weeks. So
we're able to achieve, you know, two whole livers out
of one which is something that we know very much
(33:40):
about and we try to take advantage of it to
be able to transport more people and with healthy livers.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
How long has that capability been in use? I assume
that there was a point in time time where liver
transplants first appeared. I remember when I think there was
some controversy when the great Yankee baseball player Mickey Mantle
(34:12):
was able to get a liver transplant late in his life. Uh,
and there was a lot of uh controversy about it
because Mickey had spent a lot of I guess what
you call liver abuse as a young man, and people
were upset about that. So how long have how long?
(34:32):
When when was the first liver transplant? I just want
to put this in some sort of context. How long
have has the whole process of a full liver transplant
from a cadaver to to someone who was in need?
When when did that first one happen? Approximately?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Yeah, So it was doctor Starzl who did the first
liver transplants, and uh, this is back in the in
the sixties seventies, but it was definitely standard of care
starting in the eighties, and now living donor river transplants
(35:08):
has been getting more and more force and we have
been able to do this in a safe manner for
the donors to be able to save more lives, be
able to get good long term outcomes for the past
twenty years.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
For the past twenty years. So therefore we have some
statistical analysis, which do the people who are the donors
I know that their liver regenerates itself within six months.
Have there been any studies done as to whether or
not that either impacts their long the donors longevity either
(35:50):
positively or negatively.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
Yes, So we take the safety of the donor very seriously.
So we have internet national registries of living donations, and
in fact, the mortality of the donors is something that
we have been tracking for a long time and internationally
(36:15):
is you know, the potential mortality of a living donor
is estimated as less than zero point one percent, so
one out of a thousand, which is still something that
we take very seriously and we make sure that we
minimize all the risks of the donor. But for the
(36:36):
most part, the vast majority of donors are able to
go home within five to seven days and they get
a full regeneration of the liver within six weeks and
go back to the regular activities.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
The longevity of life, and again, I know it's impossible
to predict that, but I'm just is there any disparity
between the life longevity of liver donors and those who
never donate a portion of the liver. Has there been
any study ever done on that or all?
Speaker 3 (37:10):
So, we do know from cancer surgery of the liver
that patients that had half of the liver removed they
live with a normal life expectancy. Since we have been
doing living donors for the most part the past twenty
(37:30):
thirty years, we don't know what's going to happen at
forty years, but we pretty much know from the from
all the experience of liver surgery that once they get
a full regeneration, they live as anyone else with a
regenerated liver and with a normal life expectancy.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
That's great, well, doctor, It's amazing what you and your
colleagues in medicine do for all of us, and it
gives all of us great hope. I just want I
wanted to say thank you for you doing what you do.
I do a talk show and I was a TV
reporter and all I've done is talk you work with
your mind and with your hands, not only to save lives,
(38:13):
but to benefit so many people during your career. I've
known who was a heart surgeon and he did I
think it was twelve thousand heart operations, and so I
stand in hor of you and your colleagues. I just
wanted to say.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
That thank you. We really appreciate you say it like
if it's not, but just getting the word out is
just really important. And you being interested in us showing
people what we can do and be able to people
that are waiting for a long time for an organ translant,
(38:51):
for them to know that we can do living donner
liver transplant. It's really important to be honest, like we
have the privilege of having this job, but the real
heroes here are the donors. Not anyone would you know
you would have a surgery that they don't need to
be able to save the life of their family member,
(39:13):
and these are very special individuals.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Absolutely well, doctor, I'd love to have you back, and
if we can ever do anything to spread the word
you talk to the folks there at the hospital and
we're standing by at your service. Thank you so much
for watching you.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
I did want to you know mention about the robotic part.
I think this is very exciting because we were able
to do the surgery of the donor minimally invasive, with
small incisions and using the latest technology, which is the
robotic surgery. Basically we're able to have those donors to
(39:51):
get to recover way quicker and get back to their
regular life.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
So what I'd like to do, doctor, I would so
focused on the procedure and the transplant procedure. How about
if you have I'll have my producer get in touch
with your public relations person and we'll have you back
maybe two or three weeks from now, and we'll focus
exclusively on the robotic aspect. Would that work?
Speaker 3 (40:15):
Leading would love?
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Okay, we will do we will We will do it
again in the not too not too long down the road.
Thank you very much, doctor Martin Dibb of Beth Israel's
Living Liver Transplant Program. Thanks again. Doctor. When we get
back right after the nine o'clock news is going to
talk about another person who is living a very interesting life,
the founder of Homestead Afghanistan, a woman from Massachusetts, Jill Kornetsky.
(40:40):
What a story coming back on Night Side
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