April 30, 2025 • 38 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Michelle Steinberg, National Fire Protection Association-wildfire division director joined Dan to discuss Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, Coming up May 3rd. 48 million homes in the U.S. at high risk of wildfire - easy steps to protect homes and communities from wildfire destruction.
Gerald Early, Professor of Modern Letters in the African and African American Studies Department at Washington University and Author of "PLAY HARDER: The Triumph of Black Baseball in America - how Black Americans have shaped baseball." stopped by.
Mike Deehan – Axios Boston Reporter checked in to discuss MBTA will use cameras to crack down on parking in bus stops and bus lanes.
Caroline Cory - Mental Health Expert &Co-Author of "The Silent Pandemic". Why Teen Anxiety Is Skyrocketing and How Early Energy Work Could Save Lives.
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Michelle Steinberg, National Fire Protection Association-wildfire division director joined Dan to discuss Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, Coming up May 3rd. 48 million homes in the U.S. at high risk of wildfire - easy steps to protect homes and communities from wildfire destruction.
Gerald Early, Professor of Modern Letters in the African and African American Studies Department at Washington University and Author of "PLAY HARDER: The Triumph of Black Baseball in America - how Black Americans have shaped baseball." stopped by.
Mike Deehan – Axios Boston Reporter checked in to discuss MBTA will use cameras to crack down on parking in bus stops and bus lanes.
Caroline Cory - Mental Health Expert &Co-Author of "The Silent Pandemic". Why Teen Anxiety Is Skyrocketing and How Early Energy Work Could Save Lives.
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 (00:00):
It's nice with Dan Ray. I'dell you Mazy Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you very much, Madison.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
As we begin a Wednesday night edition of night Side,
it is Wednesday night, April thirtieth, twenty twenty five. If
you stay with us for the entirety of this program,
I guarantee you we will bring you to within about
two minutes of the merry month of May. My name
is Dan Ray. April is fading into our rear view mirror,
(00:30):
and as such, we are really stepping into spring because
May is I think one of the most beautiful months,
if not the most beautiful month of the year. So
I'm very happy from that perspective. I hope you are
as well. I hope Rob Brooks is back in the
control room. He is all set to get us going.
Between now and midnight, we'll get you to about eleven
(00:51):
fifty eight, and you'll have to carry yourself the rest
of the way to get to May, but it'll be
well worth it. We are going to talk about the
continued delay by the defense lawyers for the Boston Marathon
Barmber two. We'll get to all of that a little
bit later on tonight. We'll talk about very interesting move
by the Department of Justice, the US Department of Justice
(01:13):
to arrest two judges, two state judges, one in New Mexico,
the second in Wisconsin for essentially obstruction of justice charges
certainly does take the heat up in the controversies that
do exist between various judges and the Trump administration. We
saved that for later. For this first hour, we have
(01:34):
a four people who we're going to talk to, all
of whom have information that you not only might need.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
But you can use.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We're going to start off with Michelle Steinberg. She is
the Wildlife Division director of the National Fire Protection Association.
And some of you may realize this, some of you
may not, that Wildlife Community Preparedness Day is coming up
this Saturday, May third, and forty eight million homes in
the United States are at a high risk of wildfire.
(02:04):
We saw what happened last fall in Los Angeles frightening.
So Michelle, welcome to night's att How are you.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
I'm great, Dan, It's so nice to be here talking
with you today.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
That's great you represent the National Fire Protection Association. But
in addition to that, I believe your program, or the
program we're about to talk about, is also sponsored by
State Farm Insurance, and I can understand why State Farm
Insurance would want people who would ensure their homes with
(02:38):
that insurance company running insurance company do whatever they can
to make the zone around their home immune from possible
ignition if a wildfire is involved in their areas. So
I think some of the things we have to do
are pretty obvious, but I'd love to hear you tell
us exactly what homeowner should be thinking about. We're now
(03:02):
getting out and the boat, and there's some work.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
To be done, right So, absolutely, and in Massachusetts and
certainly within your broad listening range, people can take action
very simply to clear up areas right around their home,
as you mentioned, looking at your gutters, around porches and decks,
to take any dead debris material. So you know, after
a long winter you're seeing leaves in the gutters, pine
(03:27):
needles piled up. These are those areas of your home
where the wind would normally blow those materials. That's where
embers will go in a wildfire. So if you picture
somebody uh uh, you know, uh, there's there's a wildfire coming,
or even an escaped campfire, those little pieces of burning
material can fly with the wind and they can land
(03:47):
in your gutter around your home and start fires there.
So just doing those simple cleanups gives us a lot
of a lot of effective ways to combat the wildfire.
And then working with your neighbors is also another really
key point that we have emphasized.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Sure if your neighborhood, if your neighbor's home catches on fire,
yours might not be far behind. You know, It's funny,
there's sort of a balance here when you think about it, Michelle.
On the one hand, you want to have you want
to fireproof your property as much as you can. But
here in a place like New England, where we do
have a lot of foliage, most of us get our
(04:25):
gutters cleaned professionally in the fall, or in some cases
if we're young enough and brave enough and have a
ladder and someone you can work with, they do it themselves.
But we don't think about that in the springtime because
what is coming down, as you know, there's always a
little bit of build up, nothing like what is in
(04:46):
my neighborhood. When the leaves and the trees fall, the
gutters are just packed and undone with my climbing up ladder.
So we have a company come in and they get
they clean the gutters out and around the Thanksgiving they
are they are, they're they're bereft of anything.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
But I can look out a window down on you.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Know, a first floor gutter and say to myself, oh,
there's a bunch of stuff that has that has reaccumulated.
So that's the fast I mean, obviously, if you can
do it, great, if it's not dangerous. If it is dangerous, well,
the same gutter companies that clean gutters in the fall
so that you don't have ice dams in the winter
here in New England, are they around also working in
(05:31):
the springtime, and they'll come back and clean your gutters
in the springtime and help you.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
I bet they'd love to clean your get us in
the springtime. But you know, we we have this event
that Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in the spring because a
lot of the we work nationally and so a lot
of the Western States use May as a wildfire awareness month.
It is often has been time to get out, but
we also preach wildfire safety and preparedness all year long.
(05:56):
So whenever it makes sense for your climate, your conditions,
your air to do these activities, you can do them.
Anytime of the year may just happens to be a
pretty good time of year for a lot of different
places in the US. To bring people together, get neighbors
working together, teach them about their risks, teach them about
what they can do to be stafe.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
So at a minimum, at a minimum this weekend on Saturday,
people don't have to I mean, you can do it
in conjunction with the neighbors.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
But take a walk around your house.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
See if there is leaves that have piled up against
one side of the house or the other. And you know,
even if you get a rake and pull the leaves
away a little bit, that will do something. Maybe the
wind will blow them back there, but maybe the wind
will blow them down the street.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Right, it's sure.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
And you know, for those of us who love gardening projects,
sometimes we get a little over zealous and you might
have a strub or something that didn't really make it
that's close to the house. You want to get any
dead or dying a healthy material away from right around
the house. And we always recommend five feet is actually
where the research is showing us that that's the critical
(07:04):
area from out from your foundation where you can make
a big difference. So thinking about maybe breaking out that
maultus right there. You can have multi in the yard,
but you don't want it right up against the house.
That's also in some climates like ours, it can be
a you know, attractive for insects and things like that.
So you want to take these steps. And we give
(07:24):
a lot of free information on our website at n
f PA, So you can go to Wildfireprep Day dot
org to get all of those checklists and information about
like where to start and what to do around your home.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So wildfireprep Day dot org. Okay, that makes a lot
of sense. So we spend money on uh, you know,
shrubbery and bushes and things like that in your yard,
and you realize that they may look beautiful, but they
also could be that that elements that plant that that
(07:56):
would ignite when there's a fire. We had a lot
of fires here in New England last fall, you know,
mostly wooded areas, but there was a lot of acreage
that in different spots were burned because it was a
pretty dry, dry summer. I hope we get more rain
this summer and we keep that down. Of course, none
of us could even imagine what went on in Los
(08:17):
Angeles do you know if that community is at least
beginning to rebuild itself. I mean, it was devastating the
video that all of us looked at last fall.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Sure I had the privilege to be able to go
out and visit about three weeks after the fire start
in January and toward the both communities Altadena and Specific
Palisades that were severely impacted, they are starting to rebuild.
It is a very long flow, difficult process, and it's
very hard when you're you know, really it's affecting most communities,
(08:51):
most homes in the neighborhood. But we did see firefighters
took us to sites where they knew that the homeworkers
had done the work ahead of time, and we saw
homes that survived with little or no intervention, meaning they
did they did enough work to where the embers came
in and didn't find anything to catch, and so those
homes survived. So we would love to have that be
(09:14):
the normal, rather than the normal being so many homes
destroyed and only a few surviving. So that's what we're
really trying to push for, is that people can prepare
enough have to go through these tragedies to be able
to thrive in their community.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I was recollecting that the fires were in the fall,
when normally the Santana wims come up. But those fires,
I guess occurred what in November and December, which was.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
The time actually the fires, the Eton fire and the Palisades,
the Pacific Palisades were January seventh on the start. That
was when the fires started.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
So it was very.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Strange text, strange time of the year to have it.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Definitely, Yeah, much later than you would normally think. You
would have thought that they might have thought they'd done that. Well, look,
thank you very much again. That website, Michelle, one more
time is.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
It's Wildfireprep Day DOTRG.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Sounds great. Appreciate you taking the time tonight. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
It was my pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Okay, good night. All right. So that's one down, three
to go.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
We're going to talk a little sports, a little baseball
when we get back on a talk with an author,
Gerald Early. He is also a college professor at Washington
University in Saint Louis, and he's written a book to
Triumph of Black Baseball in America. How Black Americans have
shaped baseball and they certainly have. There's no doubt about that.
(10:38):
Thank God for Jackie Robinson and his progeny. We'll be
back talking with Professor Gerald Early on Night Side right
after this.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
If you're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
All right, Red Sox are up for nothing. So it's
a good night for the Red Sox up in Toronto,
and it's going to be a good night for all
of us to learn a little bit more about how
Black Americans have shaped baseball. Professor Gerald Early. He's an
author and the world cling Professor of Modern Letters in
the African and African American Studies Department at Washington University,
(11:14):
which of course is in Saint Louis. Professor Early, welcome
to NIGHTSID.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
How are you.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
I'm very good, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
So I must tell you I've had the opportunity. I
never met Jackie Robinson, but when I was a little boy,
I met Larry Dobie, who, of course was the first
black player in the American League with the Indians. So
although I missed out on Jackie Robinson because he was
a little ahead of my time, I've got to meet
(11:41):
a lot of black professional baseball players. And when you
look at you know whether It's the Roberto Clemente's of
the world, the Hank Aarons, the Willie Mays, the mccovey's,
the Cepadas, the Elu Brothers. You know, just on on
and on and on. What a pipeline of great baseball players.
Jackie Robinson opened up and thank God for jack Jackie
(12:04):
Robinson and Branch Ricky.
Speaker 6 (12:07):
Yes, that's very true that Jackie Robinson did open it up.
But many of the players, such as Larry Dobe and
Jackie Robinson, the early player Satchel Page went into the
major leagues had been trained and played in the negro leagues.
(12:29):
The negro leagues are very important and helping develop players.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Oh absolutely, Hank Aaron played in the negro Leagues before he,
you know, came to the came to the Red Sox.
Uh No, no question about that. The Red Sox were
the last team to have a black player. Pumpsey Green
broke the so called color barrier here in Boston, and
(12:53):
it was I think the Yankees. I think Elson Howard.
I think the Yankees and Red Sox were the last
two teams that had a black player. And of course
the American League was kind of behind the National League
from the get go. I mean, you think of any team,
whether it's the Cubs, you think of Ernie Banks and
Billy Williams. When it's the Red Legs, you think about
(13:16):
Frank Robinson. You know, Clemente obviously on the Pirates, the Dodgers,
don nukeomb Joe Black, Jackie Robinson, Roy campanell At, Jim Gilliam,
Charlie Neal. I mean, they could almost have fielded an
entire black lineup as early as the nineteen fifties, just
(13:38):
the National League. Why was it that the National League
was so far ahead of the American League in the
infusion of black talent in the nineteen.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Fifties, That's hard to say. I think part of it
has to do with the fact that Brooklyn was in
the National League and Brooklyn broke the color line, and
I think that that propelled other teams to one to internationally,
(14:08):
to want to think about that and want to uh
some of the other teams that want to break the
color line as well because of Brooklyn doing that. I
think that if I also think that the American League
was just generally a little bit more conservative league and
(14:31):
how how it went about his business, That is to say,
how the style of baseball that the American League played
and so forth. And I think that it because they didn't.
They were slow at integrating and everything. I think that's
why I kind of imbalance happened between the two leagues,
which was demonstrated with the All Star Games, which for
(14:52):
many years the National League dominated, uh the All Star
Games with the American League because the black players that
came into the league were achieved at a very very
high level. It was the percentage of black who who
wound up being extraordinary players when they came into Major
(15:13):
League baseball was very high, and and so that caused
a kind of an imbalance between the two leagues because
more of those players were in the in the National
in the National League. But I do think it was
the influence of Brooklyn being in the National League and
breaking the color line. And as you say, they broke
(15:35):
the color line in a way that was quite dramatic
because it went beyond just Jackie Robinson and you know
with Don Newcombe, Roy Campanello and the others that the
Dodgers were really very serious about that, and also the
other teams conceded. It gave the Dodgers a kind of
competitive edge.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Now, the Dodgers had some, you know, great, great years
in the nineteen fifties because one story that I happened
to know about Jackie Robinson, which I think i've told
on this program before, but I want to know if
you've ever heard this story. It came to me from
a buddy of mine who pitched for the Yankees in
the nineteen sixties. There was a pitcher on the Phillies
(16:15):
when Robinson came up who was particularly brutal in the
things that were said to Jackie Robinson from the Phillies dogout.
I'm sure you know that the Phillies had a kind
of a nasty manager and he did not discourage some
nasty comments from his players. And this player eventually, in
the twilight of his career, became a teammate with a
(16:36):
friend of mine who played for the Yankees, and he
told me the story many years later that when he
was a teammate of this player, the player confided in
him that after having taunted Robinson from the Phillies bench,
he found himself traded to the Dodgers in the early
(16:56):
nineteen fifties, and when he walked into the Dodgers' line locker,
room with Nukom and you know, obviously Jackie Robinson and
all the other players Campanella and Charlie Neil and others.
No one looked at him, no one said a word,
and the locker room was completely silent. And he walked
to the far end of the locker room and sat
(17:18):
in front of you know, his stall or whatever you
want to call it, his locker, and he said, after
a couple of minutes, Jackie Robinson got up, walked across
the length of the locker room and simply stuck out
his hand and said, we're teammates now. And I think
(17:39):
that story, which I know to be true, is a
story that I've not heard others talk about. But it
showed the strength of character that Jackie Robinson had, that
he had an ability to forgive this guy for all
that the abuse that this guy had keeped upon him
from the safety of the dugout across the field, and
(18:00):
yet Robinson was man enough to go down and sort
of break the ice. Had you ever heard that story before?
Speaker 5 (18:08):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
This is the first time I've heard it.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I'll tell you the pitcher's name was a guy named
rus Meyer. You can look it up you can look
it up and just you know, an incredible leader both
on and off the field. Jackie Robinson. When is when
is the book out? I hope it's already out so
people can get a copy of it.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
Well, I it was officially published yesterday.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
So timing, timing and baseball very important. Timing and authorship
is very important. Professor Gerald Early, play harder the Triumph
of Black Baseball in America, How Black Americans have shaped baseball.
Major League Baseball now has to kind of reach back
to the black community and get a lot of black
kids back involved in the game. There's a lot of
(18:53):
Dominican players coming in and guys from from you know,
central even Central America, and you know, yeah, we we
had Mookie Bets here and we were so brilliant. We
traded Mookie Bets to the Dodgers, and it's been a
tough few years here in Boston without the great Mookie Bets.
Professor Early, I appreciate your time tonight, the book play
(19:14):
hard of the triumph Black Baseball in America, How Black
Americans have shaped baseball.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (19:20):
Thank you, You're welcome.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Will we get back right after the news going to
talk to you about the MBTA is now using cameras
to crack down on parking in bus stops and I
guess in bike lanes or bus lanes as well. Mike
Dian and Axio's Boston reporter, will join us with all
of the advice that I think all of us would
be well to take into consideration so we don't end
(19:45):
up with unnecessary tickets for doing something that we shouldn't
have been done doing in the first place.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
We'll talk about that on the other side.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
If you're on night side with Dan Ray on w
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
All right, back we go the MBTA. We all know
that there's.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
A lot of MBTA bus lanes that are now crisscrossing
our streets, not only in Boston in surrounding communities, and
the MBTA has decided to, I guess, equip the buses
with cameras so they can crack down on people who
park or stop in those bus lanes. With us is
(20:23):
Mike Dian. He's a reporter for Axios here in Boston. Mike,
welcome back, How.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Are you sir?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Good?
Speaker 5 (20:30):
Were you Dan here?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Just great?
Speaker 3 (20:32):
So the MBTA plans to ticket people for parking in
bus stops and bus lanes. Uh, I can understand that.
But boy, when they're starting to go to cameras, they're
they're stepping up their game.
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely something that new technology is enabling
them to do. Not only is there some kind of
you know, machine element to identifying the license plates. Think
of it as like you know, the the pike and
you know different places where those stanchions take pictures of
the license plate and toll you based on that. It's
(21:10):
similar technology. The camera identifies the number on the plate.
You get mailed a ticket, you know, in the regular
postal mail. But this is the kind of thing that
couldn't really exist without newer technology and just the technology
to mount this kind of camera system to the bus itself.
You know, this isn't going to be a camera at
the bus stop or at the lane. It's going to
be on the bus. So you know, a bus approaches,
(21:32):
somebody's idling, you know, maybe with their blinkers on or
something in the lane, that's going to trigger the system
to go into effect.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So those of us.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Who are Boston drivers have always functioned under the belief
that let's say you can't find a parking space and
you pull into where a hydrant is and you stay
in the car because you've got to pick someone up,
and you put your blinkers on or whatever the motor
is running or whatever. You can get out of that
hydrant parking space in two seconds if a fire truck
(22:06):
needed to come by. So that's something that all of us,
if we're truthful, have done at some point. You park
in front of, as they said, a hydrant or a
yellow wine or whatever. So what you're saying here is
even if you are parked in a MBTA bus lane
to pick up somebody on a day when it's pouring
(22:26):
rain and you're there for thirty seconds and a bus
happens to come by, even though your blinkers on and
you're in the dry and you're in the car, and
you could move the car if necessary, you still might
get a ticket.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
It might. You know, you better be looking in the
rear view when that bus comes. They tail it out
of there. I wouldn't risk it. They were looking at
tickets from between twenty five to one hundred and twenty
five dollars, And there's going to be a grace period
to you know, educate people and let them know.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Three days, how long how long as the three day
grace period.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
We're talking about two months that's by statute, and the
TEA is still deciding if they want to extend that
grace period into you know, like the first the first
notice kind of a thing. And listening to the board meeting,
the NBTA board when they talked about and adopted this
measure or kind of moved it forward, you know, they
were really you know, they're not They say they don't
(23:20):
want it as necessarily like a revenue generator. They don't
necessarily want to you know, use it to raise money,
but they do want to change people's behavior. I think
on the MBTA side, they're frustrated. The drivers have been
frustrated for years just because enforcement hasn't really been possible
because it's been up to the municipalities. It's been up
to you know, Boston Parking Enforcement or Boston PD in
(23:44):
the other you know, communities in the MBTA area to
write these tickets when people are there and it's just
you know, a cop happens to be there when a
bus goes by to write this kind of infraction. There
are they get written. There's an awful lot of them
given out, but not nearly as much as as the
tea and the drivers would want. Actually, he gives you
an interesting, you know example there if it's pouring rain
(24:06):
and you're in the bus lane, well, that means that
the bus would have to stop in the middle of
the road, and you know, five to twenty people have
to trudge out into the gutter to get to the
sidewalk if someone's in that bus stop.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
You know.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
So I think the bus stops in the bus lanes
are kind of two different elements here. But yeah, it's
it's cracking down on scoff laws, I guess.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And I guess that the final regulations, thank god, won't
be promulgated until August. And then quoting and I think
this is your article, so I'm kind of, you know,
clipping from your article. And the camera installations would begin
sometime in the fall, so all of us can kind of,
you know, maybe we shouldn't park and park in bus
(24:51):
lanes or even stop in bus lanes. I mean, that's
the point by getting the story out, but maybe we
have a little bit of a grace period. I'm assuming
that they'll be no cameras taken of people who are
riding the mini bikes and bus lanes or their bicycles,
because those folks are never held to account for any
violation that they might participate in.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
If you get yeah, that's a good point, I think, yeah,
there's definitely a lot of those violations going on. It's
not quite the same as an idoling car. But I
hear what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
No, it could be.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I mean, if somebody pulls their bike there and parks
the bike in to make a food delivery, you know
the bus is not going to run over the bike.
I just think that part of this is the most
bedraggled people in Boston right now are anyone who has
to drive into the city. They just make it more
miserable every time you drive into the city. I understand it,
(25:46):
I get it, but I just think when you think
of the amount of space and consideration that's being given
to the bike riders and the mope hit riders. They
have their designated lanes. In some days there'll be six
people who will use.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
A bike lane. But you.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Know, if if a car were ever to drive in
a bike lane, I mean, that's a that's a mortal
sin here. And yeah, they they want they want cars.
I think they want cars out of Boston. That's that's
the that's that's I know you you're a reporter, so
you can't commented this, but that's my view of it.
That that said, you know, look, let's get the cars
out of Boston, and everybody except the drivers will be happy,
(26:28):
everybody being MBTA buses except the seventeen people who ride
bikes in all the bike lanes.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
I would say if drivers said drivers were most kind
of down ridden, but.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
We're at the bottom of the you know, nor.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
Politely, I think the people on the buses have it
worse than the drivers, and I think that that's what
this is about. If you're making it a little easier
for you know, potentially disabled people, elderly people trying to
get from bus to the sidewalk, you know, and there's
a there's a Ford explorer in the way. You know.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
I understand that point. I do understand that point. But
remember you also have the n b t A ride
for people who are older, uh or or or have
some disability. So uh they they're able, if they're smart,
take advantage of the n b t A ride because
that that is that is a wonderful, you know activity
that the m b t A makes available to to
(27:28):
folks who are really trying to deal with You know,
if you're somebody who deals with the mobility issue, please
if you're not taking the ride, get used to it
and be aware of it. And now you know there
are always going to be rides that are missed and
all of that. But but but the as much as
I want to criticize the n b t A, the
n b t A ride is very much a positive
(27:48):
for the people who need the most assistance to get
to where they got to have to get to, whether
it's to go shopping or to get to get Mike
has always appreciate your time. My friend will talk soon. Okay, well,
thanks very much, Mike Dean Boston Axios Axios reporter. And
they do great job. They do a great job on
(28:09):
a lot of these stories that maybe maybe the media
either missus or doesn't take note of. We get back
when we talk about teenage anxiety, which is skyrockety. This
is an anxiety which I can understand. We'll see what
my guest author, Caroline Corey has to say. She's a
mental health expert and an author. Back on Nightside right
(28:30):
after this.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
All Right, welcome back. We're talking now with author Carol
and Corey. She co wrote a book entitled The Silent Pandemic.
Her co author is Philip Declare, Solving the world's mental
health crisis, The Silent Pandemic. Welcome Caroline, How are you tonight?
Speaker 7 (28:58):
Hi? Dan, Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I'm great, very well, You're very welcome.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Now, look, this is not a book that's written about
American teenagers. I guess this is a worldwide as you
see it, a worldwide silent pandemic.
Speaker 7 (29:13):
Yes, correct. You know, we started writing the book about
for teenagers because we were looking at all the school shootings,
the teen suicide that's skyrocketing. So that was the original intention.
And then the more we got into it, we realized,
wait a minute, this is not just America, this is
our civilization, this is pretty much humanity. And we ended
(29:38):
up writing the book in three sections, one for teenagers,
one for adults, and one for later, you know, late adults.
Because we realized that the brain, the way it processes
information and mental health issues is very different at different
stages in our life. So it turned it turned into
(30:02):
a worldwide very comprehensive book with new perspectives and new
ideas and new tools.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Okay, so a couple of questions. I would assume that
when you're a teenager and your brain isn't fully formed,
that there are a lot of things that are going on.
Hormonal changes, changes in relationships with other people, puberty, all
of that. You're just a mess.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
I get that. Okay.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Then you're working, and maybe you're working in a job
that you really don't like, or maybe the hours aren't great,
you've got a louse your boss. That causes anxiety. Maybe
you've found yourself in a bad relationship.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Who knows.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
And then as you get older, you start to look back,
probably and have some regrets and say, well, gee, what
should have I done with my life? I'm now, you know,
more than halfway or maybe I'm three quarters of the
way through from a life expectancy point of view, and
so maybe there's anxiety with regret the sort of three
stages that that that influences. Because I think that the
(31:04):
three stages that you mentioned teenagers, people you know who
are in the who are working, and then people who
are retiring. I would assume that's what's going to get
people worried at I mean, you're not thinking about puberty
when you're when you're eighty, and hopefully you're not thinking
about your old age when you're eighteen.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
Yeah, exactly. That's precisely the point, not only that the
situation is different and of course the issues are different,
but also the tools are different, because when you're a teenager,
you know, you can't really tell someone logically, yeah, you
are the way you are, you're depressed, or your teammate
(31:46):
committed suicide at the you know, at sixteen, or what
have you because of a trauma. Because when you are
years old, your dad like that's too much. It's almost
like their brain can't process so much from because it's
still forming. But then as an adult, I can sit
with you and say, Okay, you're struggling with this chronic
(32:07):
depression or anxiety because as a child, here's the one
trauma that triggered you to change your belief system about
your life from that point on, where at the age
of seven your dad left home, and then your mom
did this, and then your brother was born with a handicap.
What have you created this new pattern that created the
(32:30):
current health issue that you're struggling with today, so the
adult can process the information differently. If anything, they appreciate
the logic that you're presenting to them, you know what
I mean. And so yeah, let.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Me ask you a different question. Okay, you said this
is a world wife phenomenon. Obviously, people wherever they live
in the world, life expectancy is a little different, but
it's probably pretty similar. You know that they're a no
populations which are the life expectancy is under thirty and
there's no population with the life expectancies over ninety. So
(33:09):
how much of a difference is there in terms of anxiety?
Different parts of the world are quite different, you know,
a little bit more laid back than maybe here in America.
Are the parts of the world where people are experiencing
this generational anxiety at a different degree of impact? Are
there countries around the world that are handling it better
(33:31):
than we are? Or is it or is it similar
whether you're in Finland, in France or in Phoenix And
I know Phoenix is spelled with a pen and.
Speaker 7 (33:43):
Right, well that's precisely it. So as you do your research,
you realize you think that more advanced civilized countries that
have you know, a good medical system healthcare system in
place would have less cases of anxiety or depression in
our suicide, and it turns out not to be the case.
(34:03):
There are you know, country Thurdboll countries that seem to
cope with mental health better or have different solutions are
better than with more advanced countries. So there is not
one kind of rule, if you will, that you know,
(34:25):
because this country is more advanced to what have you,
that you will have less problems or your healthcare is better.
I think it's a human issue and it's prioritizing. Yeah,
it's prioritizing. It's kind of like I feel more the
more digital age, the more digitized. If you will, you know,
(34:45):
the society is different problems arise, so I think you
have to look at it from a different perspective.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
From a different perspective. With you, I guarantee you that
every year you'll you will see some sort of poll
worldwide pole that the happiest people in the world, and
they will try to explain that live in places like Norway, Sweden,
Deadmark and Finland the skin would you agree with me?
That is how the pole always.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
Comes out, Yeah, exactly, And you know, and then it's
based on what it's based on income.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Yeah right, okay, Yeah they're happy, So they're happy.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah, okay. They don't have a lot.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Of the the economic and the racial strife that some
different you know countries have around the world. Political they
kind of seem to be consensual. We live in a
socialist society. We pay a lot of taxes, but we
get our medications.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
So are they happier or do they even living in
the so called socialist paradise countries where the weather is beautiful,
people are always outdoors skiing and in the winter and
net and everything's so perfect. Are they less stressed or
are they equally as stressed as all of us?
Speaker 7 (35:59):
I actually I think at one point, Sweden, that has
one of the best you know structures in place, I believe,
had the one of the highest suicide rate or one
of those countries. So it doesn't really mean anything, you know,
And I don't even know how these polls are.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yeah, no, I've been skeptical of them for a long time.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
I would think I would think that the people in
who have the most stress in the world, this is
my humble opinion, are people that live in North Korea
because I'm assuming over there you have no idea who's
who's watching you, who's working for the government, And it's
a miserable but we'll we'll do we'll deal with that
another night. You probably don't have much data from North.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Korea in your study.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
No, the name.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Of the book is The Silent Pandemic Solving the World's
Mental Health Crisis. You know, Carolina, I think you've You've
picked a really interesting subject and if anybody could solve it,
I think it's going to be you and your co
author here.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I really.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
I'd love to have you back and talk about it
a little bit more. And again, it's easier for me
to do the interview with one person. Please extend my
apology to you co author, Philip Declare. It's easier because
we can kind of stay at least one train of thought.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
Oh thanks having me and the book, by the way,
officially launches on May twenty seven, So this is out there.
You can get it ahead of time. You can get
autograph copies whatever you need called the Silent Pandemic. Go
to the Silent Pandemic dot com and there's some exclusive
early access autograph books. If you pre order all right,
thanks so much. Appreciate it, Caroline, it was great. I
(37:39):
enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 7 (37:41):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
By bye bye bye.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
We came back.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
We're going to talk about some subjects that hit kind
of close to home, including why is the Boston bomber
Number two still alive and living on the taxpayer dime.
I think I have an answer.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
We'll ex play
It's nice with Dan Ray. I'dell you Mazy Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you very much, Madison.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
As we begin a Wednesday night edition of night Side,
it is Wednesday night, April thirtieth, twenty twenty five. If
you stay with us for the entirety of this program,
I guarantee you we will bring you to within about
two minutes of the merry month of May. My name
is Dan Ray. April is fading into our rear view mirror,
(00:30):
and as such, we are really stepping into spring because
May is I think one of the most beautiful months,
if not the most beautiful month of the year. So
I'm very happy from that perspective. I hope you are
as well. I hope Rob Brooks is back in the
control room. He is all set to get us going.
Between now and midnight, we'll get you to about eleven
(00:51):
fifty eight, and you'll have to carry yourself the rest
of the way to get to May, but it'll be
well worth it. We are going to talk about the
continued delay by the defense lawyers for the Boston Marathon
Barmber two. We'll get to all of that a little
bit later on tonight. We'll talk about very interesting move
by the Department of Justice, the US Department of Justice
(01:13):
to arrest two judges, two state judges, one in New Mexico,
the second in Wisconsin for essentially obstruction of justice charges
certainly does take the heat up in the controversies that
do exist between various judges and the Trump administration. We
saved that for later. For this first hour, we have
(01:34):
a four people who we're going to talk to, all
of whom have information that you not only might need.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
But you can use.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We're going to start off with Michelle Steinberg. She is
the Wildlife Division director of the National Fire Protection Association.
And some of you may realize this, some of you
may not, that Wildlife Community Preparedness Day is coming up
this Saturday, May third, and forty eight million homes in
the United States are at a high risk of wildfire.
(02:04):
We saw what happened last fall in Los Angeles frightening.
So Michelle, welcome to night's att How are you.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
I'm great, Dan, It's so nice to be here talking
with you today.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
That's great you represent the National Fire Protection Association. But
in addition to that, I believe your program, or the
program we're about to talk about, is also sponsored by
State Farm Insurance, and I can understand why State Farm
Insurance would want people who would ensure their homes with
(02:38):
that insurance company running insurance company do whatever they can
to make the zone around their home immune from possible
ignition if a wildfire is involved in their areas. So
I think some of the things we have to do
are pretty obvious, but I'd love to hear you tell
us exactly what homeowner should be thinking about. We're now
(03:02):
getting out and the boat, and there's some work.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
To be done, right So, absolutely, and in Massachusetts and
certainly within your broad listening range, people can take action
very simply to clear up areas right around their home,
as you mentioned, looking at your gutters, around porches and decks,
to take any dead debris material. So you know, after
a long winter you're seeing leaves in the gutters, pine
(03:27):
needles piled up. These are those areas of your home
where the wind would normally blow those materials. That's where
embers will go in a wildfire. So if you picture
somebody uh uh, you know, uh, there's there's a wildfire coming,
or even an escaped campfire, those little pieces of burning
material can fly with the wind and they can land
(03:47):
in your gutter around your home and start fires there.
So just doing those simple cleanups gives us a lot
of a lot of effective ways to combat the wildfire.
And then working with your neighbors is also another really
key point that we have emphasized.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Sure if your neighborhood, if your neighbor's home catches on fire,
yours might not be far behind. You know, It's funny,
there's sort of a balance here when you think about it, Michelle.
On the one hand, you want to have you want
to fireproof your property as much as you can. But
here in a place like New England, where we do
have a lot of foliage, most of us get our
(04:25):
gutters cleaned professionally in the fall, or in some cases
if we're young enough and brave enough and have a
ladder and someone you can work with, they do it themselves.
But we don't think about that in the springtime because
what is coming down, as you know, there's always a
little bit of build up, nothing like what is in
(04:46):
my neighborhood. When the leaves and the trees fall, the
gutters are just packed and undone with my climbing up ladder.
So we have a company come in and they get
they clean the gutters out and around the Thanksgiving they
are they are, they're they're bereft of anything.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
But I can look out a window down on you.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Know, a first floor gutter and say to myself, oh,
there's a bunch of stuff that has that has reaccumulated.
So that's the fast I mean, obviously, if you can
do it, great, if it's not dangerous. If it is dangerous, well,
the same gutter companies that clean gutters in the fall
so that you don't have ice dams in the winter
here in New England, are they around also working in
(05:31):
the springtime, and they'll come back and clean your gutters
in the springtime and help you.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
I bet they'd love to clean your get us in
the springtime. But you know, we we have this event
that Wildfire Community Preparedness Day in the spring because a
lot of the we work nationally and so a lot
of the Western States use May as a wildfire awareness month.
It is often has been time to get out, but
we also preach wildfire safety and preparedness all year long.
(05:56):
So whenever it makes sense for your climate, your conditions,
your air to do these activities, you can do them.
Anytime of the year may just happens to be a
pretty good time of year for a lot of different
places in the US. To bring people together, get neighbors
working together, teach them about their risks, teach them about
what they can do to be stafe.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
So at a minimum, at a minimum this weekend on Saturday,
people don't have to I mean, you can do it
in conjunction with the neighbors.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
But take a walk around your house.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
See if there is leaves that have piled up against
one side of the house or the other. And you know,
even if you get a rake and pull the leaves
away a little bit, that will do something. Maybe the
wind will blow them back there, but maybe the wind
will blow them down the street.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Right, it's sure.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
And you know, for those of us who love gardening projects,
sometimes we get a little over zealous and you might
have a strub or something that didn't really make it
that's close to the house. You want to get any
dead or dying a healthy material away from right around
the house. And we always recommend five feet is actually
where the research is showing us that that's the critical
(07:04):
area from out from your foundation where you can make
a big difference. So thinking about maybe breaking out that
maultus right there. You can have multi in the yard,
but you don't want it right up against the house.
That's also in some climates like ours, it can be
a you know, attractive for insects and things like that.
So you want to take these steps. And we give
(07:24):
a lot of free information on our website at n
f PA, So you can go to Wildfireprep Day dot
org to get all of those checklists and information about
like where to start and what to do around your home.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So wildfireprep Day dot org. Okay, that makes a lot
of sense. So we spend money on uh, you know,
shrubbery and bushes and things like that in your yard,
and you realize that they may look beautiful, but they
also could be that that elements that plant that that
(07:56):
would ignite when there's a fire. We had a lot
of fires here in New England last fall, you know,
mostly wooded areas, but there was a lot of acreage
that in different spots were burned because it was a
pretty dry, dry summer. I hope we get more rain
this summer and we keep that down. Of course, none
of us could even imagine what went on in Los
(08:17):
Angeles do you know if that community is at least
beginning to rebuild itself. I mean, it was devastating the
video that all of us looked at last fall.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
Sure I had the privilege to be able to go
out and visit about three weeks after the fire start
in January and toward the both communities Altadena and Specific
Palisades that were severely impacted, they are starting to rebuild.
It is a very long flow, difficult process, and it's
very hard when you're you know, really it's affecting most communities,
(08:51):
most homes in the neighborhood. But we did see firefighters
took us to sites where they knew that the homeworkers
had done the work ahead of time, and we saw
homes that survived with little or no intervention, meaning they
did they did enough work to where the embers came
in and didn't find anything to catch, and so those
homes survived. So we would love to have that be
(09:14):
the normal, rather than the normal being so many homes
destroyed and only a few surviving. So that's what we're
really trying to push for, is that people can prepare
enough have to go through these tragedies to be able
to thrive in their community.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I was recollecting that the fires were in the fall,
when normally the Santana wims come up. But those fires,
I guess occurred what in November and December, which was.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
The time actually the fires, the Eton fire and the Palisades,
the Pacific Palisades were January seventh on the start. That
was when the fires started.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
So it was very.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Strange text, strange time of the year to have it.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Definitely, Yeah, much later than you would normally think. You
would have thought that they might have thought they'd done that. Well, look,
thank you very much again. That website, Michelle, one more
time is.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
It's Wildfireprep Day DOTRG.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Sounds great. Appreciate you taking the time tonight. Thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
It was my pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Okay, good night. All right. So that's one down, three
to go.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
We're going to talk a little sports, a little baseball
when we get back on a talk with an author,
Gerald Early. He is also a college professor at Washington
University in Saint Louis, and he's written a book to
Triumph of Black Baseball in America. How Black Americans have
shaped baseball and they certainly have. There's no doubt about that.
(10:38):
Thank God for Jackie Robinson and his progeny. We'll be
back talking with Professor Gerald Early on Night Side right
after this.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
If you're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
All right, Red Sox are up for nothing. So it's
a good night for the Red Sox up in Toronto,
and it's going to be a good night for all
of us to learn a little bit more about how
Black Americans have shaped baseball. Professor Gerald Early. He's an
author and the world cling Professor of Modern Letters in
the African and African American Studies Department at Washington University,
(11:14):
which of course is in Saint Louis. Professor Early, welcome
to NIGHTSID.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
How are you.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
I'm very good, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
So I must tell you I've had the opportunity. I
never met Jackie Robinson, but when I was a little boy,
I met Larry Dobie, who, of course was the first
black player in the American League with the Indians. So
although I missed out on Jackie Robinson because he was
a little ahead of my time, I've got to meet
(11:41):
a lot of black professional baseball players. And when you
look at you know whether It's the Roberto Clemente's of
the world, the Hank Aarons, the Willie Mays, the mccovey's,
the Cepadas, the Elu Brothers. You know, just on on
and on and on. What a pipeline of great baseball players.
Jackie Robinson opened up and thank God for jack Jackie
(12:04):
Robinson and Branch Ricky.
Speaker 6 (12:07):
Yes, that's very true that Jackie Robinson did open it up.
But many of the players, such as Larry Dobe and
Jackie Robinson, the early player Satchel Page went into the
major leagues had been trained and played in the negro leagues.
(12:29):
The negro leagues are very important and helping develop players.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
Oh absolutely, Hank Aaron played in the negro Leagues before he,
you know, came to the came to the Red Sox.
Uh No, no question about that. The Red Sox were
the last team to have a black player. Pumpsey Green
broke the so called color barrier here in Boston, and
(12:53):
it was I think the Yankees. I think Elson Howard.
I think the Yankees and Red Sox were the last
two teams that had a black player. And of course
the American League was kind of behind the National League
from the get go. I mean, you think of any team,
whether it's the Cubs, you think of Ernie Banks and
Billy Williams. When it's the Red Legs, you think about
(13:16):
Frank Robinson. You know, Clemente obviously on the Pirates, the Dodgers,
don nukeomb Joe Black, Jackie Robinson, Roy campanell At, Jim Gilliam,
Charlie Neal. I mean, they could almost have fielded an
entire black lineup as early as the nineteen fifties, just
(13:38):
the National League. Why was it that the National League
was so far ahead of the American League in the
infusion of black talent in the nineteen.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
Fifties, That's hard to say. I think part of it
has to do with the fact that Brooklyn was in
the National League and Brooklyn broke the color line, and
I think that that propelled other teams to one to internationally,
(14:08):
to want to think about that and want to uh
some of the other teams that want to break the
color line as well because of Brooklyn doing that. I
think that if I also think that the American League
was just generally a little bit more conservative league and
(14:31):
how how it went about his business, That is to say,
how the style of baseball that the American League played
and so forth. And I think that it because they didn't.
They were slow at integrating and everything. I think that's
why I kind of imbalance happened between the two leagues,
which was demonstrated with the All Star Games, which for
(14:52):
many years the National League dominated, uh the All Star
Games with the American League because the black players that
came into the league were achieved at a very very
high level. It was the percentage of black who who
wound up being extraordinary players when they came into Major
(15:13):
League baseball was very high, and and so that caused
a kind of an imbalance between the two leagues because
more of those players were in the in the National
in the National League. But I do think it was
the influence of Brooklyn being in the National League and
breaking the color line. And as you say, they broke
(15:35):
the color line in a way that was quite dramatic
because it went beyond just Jackie Robinson and you know
with Don Newcombe, Roy Campanello and the others that the
Dodgers were really very serious about that, and also the
other teams conceded. It gave the Dodgers a kind of
competitive edge.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Now, the Dodgers had some, you know, great, great years
in the nineteen fifties because one story that I happened
to know about Jackie Robinson, which I think i've told
on this program before, but I want to know if
you've ever heard this story. It came to me from
a buddy of mine who pitched for the Yankees in
the nineteen sixties. There was a pitcher on the Phillies
(16:15):
when Robinson came up who was particularly brutal in the
things that were said to Jackie Robinson from the Phillies dogout.
I'm sure you know that the Phillies had a kind
of a nasty manager and he did not discourage some
nasty comments from his players. And this player eventually, in
the twilight of his career, became a teammate with a
(16:36):
friend of mine who played for the Yankees, and he
told me the story many years later that when he
was a teammate of this player, the player confided in
him that after having taunted Robinson from the Phillies bench,
he found himself traded to the Dodgers in the early
(16:56):
nineteen fifties, and when he walked into the Dodgers' line locker,
room with Nukom and you know, obviously Jackie Robinson and
all the other players Campanella and Charlie Neil and others.
No one looked at him, no one said a word,
and the locker room was completely silent. And he walked
to the far end of the locker room and sat
(17:18):
in front of you know, his stall or whatever you
want to call it, his locker, and he said, after
a couple of minutes, Jackie Robinson got up, walked across
the length of the locker room and simply stuck out
his hand and said, we're teammates now. And I think
(17:39):
that story, which I know to be true, is a
story that I've not heard others talk about. But it
showed the strength of character that Jackie Robinson had, that
he had an ability to forgive this guy for all
that the abuse that this guy had keeped upon him
from the safety of the dugout across the field, and
(18:00):
yet Robinson was man enough to go down and sort
of break the ice. Had you ever heard that story before?
Speaker 5 (18:08):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 6 (18:09):
This is the first time I've heard it.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I'll tell you the pitcher's name was a guy named
rus Meyer. You can look it up you can look
it up and just you know, an incredible leader both
on and off the field. Jackie Robinson. When is when
is the book out? I hope it's already out so
people can get a copy of it.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
Well, I it was officially published yesterday.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
So timing, timing and baseball very important. Timing and authorship
is very important. Professor Gerald Early, play harder the Triumph
of Black Baseball in America, How Black Americans have shaped baseball.
Major League Baseball now has to kind of reach back
to the black community and get a lot of black
kids back involved in the game. There's a lot of
(18:53):
Dominican players coming in and guys from from you know,
central even Central America, and you know, yeah, we we
had Mookie Bets here and we were so brilliant. We
traded Mookie Bets to the Dodgers, and it's been a
tough few years here in Boston without the great Mookie Bets.
Professor Early, I appreciate your time tonight, the book play
(19:14):
hard of the triumph Black Baseball in America, How Black
Americans have shaped baseball.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (19:20):
Thank you, You're welcome.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Will we get back right after the news going to
talk to you about the MBTA is now using cameras
to crack down on parking in bus stops and I
guess in bike lanes or bus lanes as well. Mike
Dian and Axio's Boston reporter, will join us with all
of the advice that I think all of us would
be well to take into consideration so we don't end
(19:45):
up with unnecessary tickets for doing something that we shouldn't
have been done doing in the first place.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
We'll talk about that on the other side.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
If you're on night side with Dan Ray on w
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
All right, back we go the MBTA. We all know
that there's.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
A lot of MBTA bus lanes that are now crisscrossing
our streets, not only in Boston in surrounding communities, and
the MBTA has decided to, I guess, equip the buses
with cameras so they can crack down on people who
park or stop in those bus lanes. With us is
(20:23):
Mike Dian. He's a reporter for Axios here in Boston. Mike,
welcome back, How.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Are you sir?
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Good?
Speaker 5 (20:30):
Were you Dan here?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Just great?
Speaker 3 (20:32):
So the MBTA plans to ticket people for parking in
bus stops and bus lanes. Uh, I can understand that.
But boy, when they're starting to go to cameras, they're
they're stepping up their game.
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely something that new technology is enabling
them to do. Not only is there some kind of
you know, machine element to identifying the license plates. Think
of it as like you know, the the pike and
you know different places where those stanchions take pictures of
the license plate and toll you based on that. It's
(21:10):
similar technology. The camera identifies the number on the plate.
You get mailed a ticket, you know, in the regular
postal mail. But this is the kind of thing that
couldn't really exist without newer technology and just the technology
to mount this kind of camera system to the bus itself.
You know, this isn't going to be a camera at
the bus stop or at the lane. It's going to
be on the bus. So you know, a bus approaches,
(21:32):
somebody's idling, you know, maybe with their blinkers on or
something in the lane, that's going to trigger the system
to go into effect.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So those of us.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Who are Boston drivers have always functioned under the belief
that let's say you can't find a parking space and
you pull into where a hydrant is and you stay
in the car because you've got to pick someone up,
and you put your blinkers on or whatever the motor
is running or whatever. You can get out of that
hydrant parking space in two seconds if a fire truck
(22:06):
needed to come by. So that's something that all of us,
if we're truthful, have done at some point. You park
in front of, as they said, a hydrant or a
yellow wine or whatever. So what you're saying here is
even if you are parked in a MBTA bus lane
to pick up somebody on a day when it's pouring
(22:26):
rain and you're there for thirty seconds and a bus
happens to come by, even though your blinkers on and
you're in the dry and you're in the car, and
you could move the car if necessary, you still might
get a ticket.
Speaker 5 (22:38):
It might. You know, you better be looking in the
rear view when that bus comes. They tail it out
of there. I wouldn't risk it. They were looking at
tickets from between twenty five to one hundred and twenty
five dollars, And there's going to be a grace period
to you know, educate people and let them know.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Three days, how long how long as the three day
grace period.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
We're talking about two months that's by statute, and the
TEA is still deciding if they want to extend that
grace period into you know, like the first the first
notice kind of a thing. And listening to the board meeting,
the NBTA board when they talked about and adopted this
measure or kind of moved it forward, you know, they
were really you know, they're not They say they don't
(23:20):
want it as necessarily like a revenue generator. They don't
necessarily want to you know, use it to raise money,
but they do want to change people's behavior. I think
on the MBTA side, they're frustrated. The drivers have been
frustrated for years just because enforcement hasn't really been possible
because it's been up to the municipalities. It's been up
to you know, Boston Parking Enforcement or Boston PD in
(23:44):
the other you know, communities in the MBTA area to
write these tickets when people are there and it's just
you know, a cop happens to be there when a
bus goes by to write this kind of infraction. There
are they get written. There's an awful lot of them
given out, but not nearly as much as as the
tea and the drivers would want. Actually, he gives you
an interesting, you know example there if it's pouring rain
(24:06):
and you're in the bus lane, well, that means that
the bus would have to stop in the middle of
the road, and you know, five to twenty people have
to trudge out into the gutter to get to the
sidewalk if someone's in that bus stop.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
You know.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
So I think the bus stops in the bus lanes
are kind of two different elements here. But yeah, it's
it's cracking down on scoff laws, I guess.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
And I guess that the final regulations, thank god, won't
be promulgated until August. And then quoting and I think
this is your article, so I'm kind of, you know,
clipping from your article. And the camera installations would begin
sometime in the fall, so all of us can kind of,
you know, maybe we shouldn't park and park in bus
(24:51):
lanes or even stop in bus lanes. I mean, that's
the point by getting the story out, but maybe we
have a little bit of a grace period. I'm assuming
that they'll be no cameras taken of people who are
riding the mini bikes and bus lanes or their bicycles,
because those folks are never held to account for any
violation that they might participate in.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
If you get yeah, that's a good point, I think, yeah,
there's definitely a lot of those violations going on. It's
not quite the same as an idoling car. But I
hear what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
No, it could be.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I mean, if somebody pulls their bike there and parks
the bike in to make a food delivery, you know
the bus is not going to run over the bike.
I just think that part of this is the most
bedraggled people in Boston right now are anyone who has
to drive into the city. They just make it more
miserable every time you drive into the city. I understand it,
(25:46):
I get it, but I just think when you think
of the amount of space and consideration that's being given
to the bike riders and the mope hit riders. They
have their designated lanes. In some days there'll be six
people who will use.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
A bike lane. But you.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Know, if if a car were ever to drive in
a bike lane, I mean, that's a that's a mortal
sin here. And yeah, they they want they want cars.
I think they want cars out of Boston. That's that's
the that's that's I know you you're a reporter, so
you can't commented this, but that's my view of it.
That that said, you know, look, let's get the cars
out of Boston, and everybody except the drivers will be happy,
(26:28):
everybody being MBTA buses except the seventeen people who ride
bikes in all the bike lanes.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
I would say if drivers said drivers were most kind
of down ridden, but.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
We're at the bottom of the you know, nor.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
Politely, I think the people on the buses have it
worse than the drivers, and I think that that's what
this is about. If you're making it a little easier
for you know, potentially disabled people, elderly people trying to
get from bus to the sidewalk, you know, and there's
a there's a Ford explorer in the way. You know.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
I understand that point. I do understand that point. But
remember you also have the n b t A ride
for people who are older, uh or or or have
some disability. So uh they they're able, if they're smart,
take advantage of the n b t A ride because
that that is that is a wonderful, you know activity
that the m b t A makes available to to
(27:28):
folks who are really trying to deal with You know,
if you're somebody who deals with the mobility issue, please
if you're not taking the ride, get used to it
and be aware of it. And now you know there
are always going to be rides that are missed and
all of that. But but but the as much as
I want to criticize the n b t A, the
n b t A ride is very much a positive
(27:48):
for the people who need the most assistance to get
to where they got to have to get to, whether
it's to go shopping or to get to get Mike
has always appreciate your time. My friend will talk soon. Okay, well,
thanks very much, Mike Dean Boston Axios Axios reporter. And
they do great job. They do a great job on
(28:09):
a lot of these stories that maybe maybe the media
either missus or doesn't take note of. We get back
when we talk about teenage anxiety, which is skyrockety. This
is an anxiety which I can understand. We'll see what
my guest author, Caroline Corey has to say. She's a
mental health expert and an author. Back on Nightside right
(28:30):
after this.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
All Right, welcome back. We're talking now with author Carol
and Corey. She co wrote a book entitled The Silent Pandemic.
Her co author is Philip Declare, Solving the world's mental
health crisis, The Silent Pandemic. Welcome Caroline, How are you tonight?
Speaker 7 (28:58):
Hi? Dan, Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I'm great, very well, You're very welcome.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Now, look, this is not a book that's written about
American teenagers. I guess this is a worldwide as you
see it, a worldwide silent pandemic.
Speaker 7 (29:13):
Yes, correct. You know, we started writing the book about
for teenagers because we were looking at all the school shootings,
the teen suicide that's skyrocketing. So that was the original intention.
And then the more we got into it, we realized,
wait a minute, this is not just America, this is
our civilization, this is pretty much humanity. And we ended
(29:38):
up writing the book in three sections, one for teenagers,
one for adults, and one for later, you know, late adults.
Because we realized that the brain, the way it processes
information and mental health issues is very different at different
stages in our life. So it turned it turned into
(30:02):
a worldwide very comprehensive book with new perspectives and new
ideas and new tools.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Okay, so a couple of questions. I would assume that
when you're a teenager and your brain isn't fully formed,
that there are a lot of things that are going on.
Hormonal changes, changes in relationships with other people, puberty, all
of that. You're just a mess.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
I get that. Okay.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Then you're working, and maybe you're working in a job
that you really don't like, or maybe the hours aren't great,
you've got a louse your boss. That causes anxiety. Maybe
you've found yourself in a bad relationship.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Who knows.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
And then as you get older, you start to look back,
probably and have some regrets and say, well, gee, what
should have I done with my life? I'm now, you know,
more than halfway or maybe I'm three quarters of the
way through from a life expectancy point of view, and
so maybe there's anxiety with regret the sort of three
stages that that that influences. Because I think that the
(31:04):
three stages that you mentioned teenagers, people you know who
are in the who are working, and then people who
are retiring. I would assume that's what's going to get
people worried at I mean, you're not thinking about puberty
when you're when you're eighty, and hopefully you're not thinking
about your old age when you're eighteen.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
Yeah, exactly. That's precisely the point, not only that the
situation is different and of course the issues are different,
but also the tools are different, because when you're a teenager,
you know, you can't really tell someone logically, yeah, you
are the way you are, you're depressed, or your teammate
(31:46):
committed suicide at the you know, at sixteen, or what
have you because of a trauma. Because when you are
years old, your dad like that's too much. It's almost
like their brain can't process so much from because it's
still forming. But then as an adult, I can sit
with you and say, Okay, you're struggling with this chronic
(32:07):
depression or anxiety because as a child, here's the one
trauma that triggered you to change your belief system about
your life from that point on, where at the age
of seven your dad left home, and then your mom
did this, and then your brother was born with a handicap.
What have you created this new pattern that created the
(32:30):
current health issue that you're struggling with today, so the
adult can process the information differently. If anything, they appreciate
the logic that you're presenting to them, you know what
I mean. And so yeah, let.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Me ask you a different question. Okay, you said this
is a world wife phenomenon. Obviously, people wherever they live
in the world, life expectancy is a little different, but
it's probably pretty similar. You know that they're a no
populations which are the life expectancy is under thirty and
there's no population with the life expectancies over ninety. So
(33:09):
how much of a difference is there in terms of anxiety?
Different parts of the world are quite different, you know,
a little bit more laid back than maybe here in America.
Are the parts of the world where people are experiencing
this generational anxiety at a different degree of impact? Are
there countries around the world that are handling it better
(33:31):
than we are? Or is it or is it similar
whether you're in Finland, in France or in Phoenix And
I know Phoenix is spelled with a pen and.
Speaker 7 (33:43):
Right, well that's precisely it. So as you do your research,
you realize you think that more advanced civilized countries that
have you know, a good medical system healthcare system in
place would have less cases of anxiety or depression in
our suicide, and it turns out not to be the case.
(34:03):
There are you know, country Thurdboll countries that seem to
cope with mental health better or have different solutions are
better than with more advanced countries. So there is not
one kind of rule, if you will, that you know,
(34:25):
because this country is more advanced to what have you,
that you will have less problems or your healthcare is better.
I think it's a human issue and it's prioritizing. Yeah,
it's prioritizing. It's kind of like I feel more the
more digital age, the more digitized. If you will, you know,
(34:45):
the society is different problems arise, so I think you
have to look at it from a different perspective.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
From a different perspective. With you, I guarantee you that
every year you'll you will see some sort of poll
worldwide pole that the happiest people in the world, and
they will try to explain that live in places like Norway, Sweden,
Deadmark and Finland the skin would you agree with me?
That is how the pole always.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
Comes out, Yeah, exactly, And you know, and then it's
based on what it's based on income.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Yeah right, okay, Yeah they're happy, So they're happy.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Yeah, okay. They don't have a lot.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Of the the economic and the racial strife that some
different you know countries have around the world. Political they
kind of seem to be consensual. We live in a
socialist society. We pay a lot of taxes, but we
get our medications.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
So are they happier or do they even living in
the so called socialist paradise countries where the weather is beautiful,
people are always outdoors skiing and in the winter and
net and everything's so perfect. Are they less stressed or
are they equally as stressed as all of us?
Speaker 7 (35:59):
I actually I think at one point, Sweden, that has
one of the best you know structures in place, I believe,
had the one of the highest suicide rate or one
of those countries. So it doesn't really mean anything, you know,
And I don't even know how these polls are.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yeah, no, I've been skeptical of them for a long time.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
I would think I would think that the people in
who have the most stress in the world, this is
my humble opinion, are people that live in North Korea
because I'm assuming over there you have no idea who's
who's watching you, who's working for the government, And it's
a miserable but we'll we'll do we'll deal with that
another night. You probably don't have much data from North.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Korea in your study.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
No, the name.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Of the book is The Silent Pandemic Solving the World's
Mental Health Crisis. You know, Carolina, I think you've You've
picked a really interesting subject and if anybody could solve it,
I think it's going to be you and your co
author here.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I really.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
I'd love to have you back and talk about it
a little bit more. And again, it's easier for me
to do the interview with one person. Please extend my
apology to you co author, Philip Declare. It's easier because
we can kind of stay at least one train of thought.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
Oh thanks having me and the book, by the way,
officially launches on May twenty seven, So this is out there.
You can get it ahead of time. You can get
autograph copies whatever you need called the Silent Pandemic. Go
to the Silent Pandemic dot com and there's some exclusive
early access autograph books. If you pre order all right,
thanks so much. Appreciate it, Caroline, it was great. I
(37:39):
enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 7 (37:41):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
By bye bye bye.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
We came back.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
We're going to talk about some subjects that hit kind
of close to home, including why is the Boston bomber
Number two still alive and living on the taxpayer dime.
I think I have an answer.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
We'll ex play
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