June 2, 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!
Lowell Summer Music Series Set To Kick Off The 35th Season – Produced by the Lowell Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. With James MacDonald – Lowell Music Series Director.
AAA Travel’s Money-Saving Hacks for Summer Trips - ways to save on both big-ticket items and the smaller purchases that can quickly add up. With Mark Schieldrop – AAA Senior Spokesperson.
Study reveals decline in mental health among US mothers… Only 25% of moms report "excellent" mental health, down from 38% in 2016. A 64% increase in mothers reporting fair/poor health. With Christi Taylor Jones - Marriage & Family Therapist & author of "Touched by Suicide: A Personal and Psychological Perspective on the Longing for Death and Rebirth".
Rare 1-in-30-million orange lobster is found at The Union Oyster House in Boston! The Restaurant donates it to a NH Aquarium! With Rico DiFronzo - Executive Chef at the Union Oyster House.
Listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the NEW iHeart Radio app and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Lowell Summer Music Series Set To Kick Off The 35th Season – Produced by the Lowell Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. With James MacDonald – Lowell Music Series Director.
AAA Travel’s Money-Saving Hacks for Summer Trips - ways to save on both big-ticket items and the smaller purchases that can quickly add up. With Mark Schieldrop – AAA Senior Spokesperson.
Study reveals decline in mental health among US mothers… Only 25% of moms report "excellent" mental health, down from 38% in 2016. A 64% increase in mothers reporting fair/poor health. With Christi Taylor Jones - Marriage & Family Therapist & author of "Touched by Suicide: A Personal and Psychological Perspective on the Longing for Death and Rebirth".
Rare 1-in-30-million orange lobster is found at The Union Oyster House in Boston! The Restaurant donates it to a NH Aquarium! With Rico DiFronzo - Executive Chef at the Union Oyster House.
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 size, Dan Ray. I'm going easy Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you so much, Susan. And the bad news is
the Red Sox are losing six to one. The good
news is it's only the bottom of the third and
good evening everyone. For me, it's the top of the
first to night, the first show of the week. My
name is Dan Ray. We're here five nights a week.
We being myself, Dan Ray, the host of the show,
and producer Rob Brooks. We're here every Monday through Friday
night from eight until midnight. Occasionally Rob gets the night
(00:29):
off and occasionally I get a night off.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
But for the most part, what.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You see is what you get, or what you hear
is what you get everybody, So welcome on in as
we start off another week here on WBZ. We are
sort of wrapping up your number eighteen doing this for
a while, and we should be doing it for a
little while longer, at least, I promise you on that.
And what we do in the eight o'clock hours, we
talk to four we call kind of like newsmakers. They're
(00:55):
not the biggest news stories in the world, but they're
interesting stories that are put together just about every day.
Either by our producer Marita, our executive producer, Marita McKinnon
Lorosa or by days when she's not with us, Karen Pussemi.
So that's the deal. And then later on tonight we'll
be talking about some other subjects which are probably a
(01:17):
little bit more serious we're talking about. We'll be talking
about the ice surge here in Massachusetts and its implications.
We expect to talk about a poll out of New
Hampshire which says that Governor Heally may not be in
as good of shape politically as perhaps some might think.
And hope to get to Ukraine's sneak attack on Russia,
(01:37):
which was very successful based upon all of the information
that we have at this point, and I guess I'd
like to talk at some point, if possible, about that
horrific attack out in Boulder, Colorado. It just seems that
every week there's another anti Semitic attack, anti Israeli, anti
Jewish attack in this country, and this one was particular horrific,
(02:00):
and the guy that did it should go away for
a long time, and if I had mind, brothers take
go away for a short time, but eventually would be eliminated.
But that's a story for another time. Let's start off
on a happier note and let's talk about the low
Summer Music Series, which is going to kick off it's
thirty fifth season, produced by the low Festival Foundation, which
(02:21):
is a five oh one seed three nonprofit with us
as the low Music Series Director. James McDonald, James McDonald,
welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
How are you, sir, thy Dan?
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It is great to be here to talk about the
Lowell Summer Music Series.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, talk about music in summer. How can we go wrong? Now?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
This series operates without taxpayer funding by LOLL and it
is sustained by ticket sales and sponsorships and grants and
some community support.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
And it's been going now for thirty five years. So
let's start at the beginning. How did it start?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I'm sure you probably weren't there when it started, but
you must have some knowledge of how it started.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Sure, well, you know there there was a group of
people and they they there was a lot of opportunity
in Lowell. There's still opportunity in Lull. But you know
there was a parking lot downtown surrounded by mill buildings,
you know that were built in the eighteen hundreds, quite
historic mill buildings and This land eventually became the low
(03:21):
National Historical Park and part of that land. Members of
the community said this would be a great place for concerts,
and a beautiful, green, lush park was built right surrounded
by these you know, eighteen hundreds and beautiful boarding house
mill buildings, and thirty five years ago, these concerts began
(03:43):
as small as they were, and it's really grown over
the years and now we're you know, bringing world class
talent to the stage, and you know, we like to
feel that we're doing something really special for the community.
As a nonprofit, we're self sustaining, and it is a
pleasure to be able to bring live music to a
place that beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So let's let's talk about some of the First of all,
I love Lowell, Okay, I've been in a little many
many times, particularly when I worked as a TV reporter,
and a beautiful city. It's it's come back very strong.
Former Senator Paul Songus did a great job helping that
city grow and prosper. Let's the late great Paul song
As I should say, Let's talk about some of the shows.
(04:24):
I mean, I look at some of these names. I'm
not a big music guy. To be really honest with you.
But some of these names I recognize. Tell us some
of the some of the shows that are coming in, don'nat.
It gives the day and time because we'll direct people
to the website.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
But you got some heavy hitters coming in.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, we're thrilled to be bringing in some great names
and we're you know, we're kicking off the summer on
June twentieth with Celtic rockers Gaelic Storm and they're really
you know, a great blend of Celtic music and a
little bit of punchy rock and roll. And you know
that's highlighted actually by Natalia Kay. He's their fiddle player
who grew up in Lowell and performed every year at
(05:02):
the Banjo and Fiddle Contest, which we helped post in
the park. So it's a bit of a homecoming for
for Gaelic Storm, and that's followed in Junia.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
By the way, are they James?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Are they primarily Irish band?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
They like you know, actually they're an American band, but
they play and they love and they honor, you know,
the sounds of Celtic music. So it's a great blend. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Great, who else you got we're.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Bringing in Los Lobos, a great you know, Mexican American
rockers from La Story career. They may have even been
doing it longer than we have in our thirty five years.
So that's the kickoff weekend. We have Celtic rock and roll,
we have Mexican American rock and roll. It's a great bland.
But you know, early in the summer, we're bringing in
Darlene Love, one of the icons from the nineteen sixties.
(05:48):
She'll be bringing that famous wall of sound you know,
to Lowell and bringing the hits, and you know, we're
really thrilled about that. And later in the summer we've
got some great Americana sounds from the Wood Brothers and
Sierra Hall, who's just a virtuoso mandolin player and really
an incredible talent. And then later in the summer, as
we look ahead, we've got Grace Potter coming in. She's
(06:11):
really made a name for herself out of the state
of Vermont. She's certainly gone worldwide and global now. And
then towards the end of the summer, a really fun
night called Let's Sing Tailor, and that night is a
live band tribute to the music of Taylor Swift. We
had them last year, it was just a really fun
sing along families of all ages and great to see
(06:32):
the kids out having some fun and singing along to
the music.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
So this is great.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
It's great for folks who are going to spend summer
you know in Lowell. They can pick, they can find
the schedule. You got to it looks to me like
a pretty a very impressive website Lowellsummer Music dot org.
And we should emphasize that this is a nonprofit. But
(06:56):
in order to go, the tickets are not free. This
is you got to buy the tickets that you can
get a season pass. What should folks expect to spend
for most of these events? Is every event the same
or are some a little bit more expensive than others?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Every event is a little different, and you know that's
factored into the price of the talent that they've partnered with,
and you know the cost of specific shows to produce.
But we are also selling a season pass which gets
you into all twelve of our ticketing concerts and that
price is only forty one dollars a ticket. So we
work really hard to keep this affordable. This is not
(07:31):
a mega concert, you know, in a mega you know
park or an arena. This is really a great, down home,
kind of a lo fi experience in terms of concert going.
You bring your own share, you can bring in a picnic.
It's a really wonderful way to see music that we
don't get to do as much anymore. So we like
to think that we're we're kind of holding down the
(07:51):
fort for that easy going concert experience. It's hard to
come by.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
But by the.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Way, I've counted the dates here, I count fourteen. You
keep talking about twelve. Are there a couple that perhaps, yes,
we've missed a couple that that perhaps are open to
the public and there's no charge.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
What's going on there?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I see some great other free events. So now, in
addition to the ticket and twelve concerts, the Lowell Festival
Foundation which is the nonprofit umbrella that we're a part of.
They are responsible and run the real, the legendary lowl
Folk Festival, which is an amazing weekend of free music
(08:31):
all across Lowell. So we play a small part in that,
although that is really run by the Lowll Festival full
festival team. But we also host the Banjo and Fiddle Contest,
which I mentioned earlier, which is really just a wonderful
get together of string players of all ages. It's that's
a multi generational affair. Song circles happening, traditional music, banjos, fiddles,
(08:54):
you know you know sessions if you will, happening in
the park. So up, James.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
James, thank you for the information. Again.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That website is simply low. Summer Music are one word
dot org and you have a really good website. They
can get a lot of information. James, I appreciate you
spending some time with us. Best of luck with the
summer concert series.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Thank you, Dan, I appreciate it. And thanks for kicking
off the show tonight with us.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
A pressure, not a problem, my pleasure as well. Right
back at you. Thanks thanks again, James. Will we come
back for those of you are going to be traveling
this summer, We're going to be talking with Mark shield
Drop of Triple A and he's going to talk to
us and to you about some ways maybe maybe you
can save some money this summer ways to say on
(09:45):
both some big ticket items and also smaller purchases. So
Mark shield Drop with some free information offering tips for
a budget friendly summer getaway. Coming back here on nightside
by the way, if you haven't pulled down the iHeart app.
It is free, the new and improved iHeart app, and
you can make us your first preset on that app,
whatever device or devices you pull it down on, so
(10:07):
that you'll always be a fingertip away wherever you are
in this wide wide world from WBZ and your home
here in New England. Back on Nightside, Dan Ray is here,
Rob Brooks is back in the control room.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
You were there.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
We'll get the phone calls. After nine, we have three
more guests coming up.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
It's Night Side with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Back with one of my favorite guests, Mark shield Drop Triple,
a senior spokesperson, and he has some tips for a
budget friendly summer getaway. Mark, I have no idea what
we're going to be talking about here, but I am
all ears at this point. If there's any way to
save a few dollars and have a little bit of
(10:51):
fun during the summertime, who can be posed to that?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah, definitely. So I'm going to go down the list
on the road, in the air and where to stay.
All right, well, yeah right, let's do it. So it's
a big deal to save money this year, especially because
prices are up domestic flights are more expensive. Hotels are
a bit more expensive. International hotels and more expensive, so
full traveling might be seeing higher prices across the board.
(11:17):
So let's say you're on the road. Gas prices are
a lot lower than over last year, but you can
still save take a little bit off the beaten path.
The gas stations are a lot more expensive right off
the interstate. We all know that if we drive a
mass pike, we see an action in Massachusetts every day.
And then fuel economy, you know, I think a lot
of folks don't realize how much fuel economy you lose
(11:39):
above about fifty five to sixty five miles an hour.
After that you're dealing with a lot of drags. So
just five to ten miles an hour over, or let's
say you cut your average cruising speed by five to
ten miles an hour, you can save as much as
fifteen percent on your fuel economy.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
So that's going to save you some money if you
normally drive I mean, which is, if you're a comfortable
driving seventy, cut it back to sixty or sixty five,
I guess is what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Yep, yeah, definitely, and you'll save a little bit. You know,
and that it does add up over time. I think
that the impulse to save money on field economy. It's
a little bit weaker now with gas at about three
dollars a gallon, but if gas was like it was
last year at three fifty one, maybe we feel a
little more a little more incentive to save a little.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Bit just saving money, let me tell you not.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
And also, yeah, you're got to probably be a little
safer to go right ahead.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yep, all right, So the old advice about booking a
flight on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, that still applies. You save
a little bit of money doing that, so you can
balance your vacation days. Leave in the middle of the week,
come back in the middle of the week. You're gonna
save a lot more money than than trying to fly
out over the weekend. And then if you they're packing,
pack why you know, sometimes it's cheaper just to take
(12:51):
less clothes and use the coin laundry at the hotel
that you're staying at just to get those essentials clean.
You know, you can wear jeans two days in a row.
I think sometimes we overpacked, and if you can cut
a bag out or just the amount you're carrying. That's
gonna see a lot of money, especially with airlines really
squeezing people on those bag fees more and more. So
(13:11):
that's a big one.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Every time I travel, I realize I overpack. I mean,
I bring more.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Stuff than I need, and I just just.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You just take if you take.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
When I do take the time, maybe I take an
hour and sometimes even make a little list to make
sure you.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Don't forget anything.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
But you know, all the stuff that you need you
should have, but not a heck of a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
More, right, And then you get there and you buy
more stuff, and then you're in the hotel trying to
pack to go home, and you're trying to figure ot, well,
what am I going to leave behind? Don't want to
you can avoid that buy back in life. Yeah, And
then the other flying tips. You know, when you're looking
at your where you're gonna go, public transportation, taking an
over to the airport, you know, sometimes it is cheaper
(13:54):
just to park at the airport book ahead. I know
when I fly at a logan, there's a couple of
lots right there with shuttles, and you look in your
credit card, look at those offers you get sometimes, especially
with travel cards, a lot of times you can. And
there's a couple that right outside of Logan that I've
done business with, where if you spend one hundred bucks
one hundred twenty bucks, you can save twenty or thirty
right there on your credit card statement. So that'll save
(14:15):
you some money, especially with a trip where you're gonna
leave your car for three or four days and then
picking where to say you're right on that mark.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Logan's pretty expensive.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I think it's up to like seventy five or eighty
five dollars a day.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
It is, it is, so every dollar helps. You can
get a ride to the airport and back from a
far or family member. That's the way to go.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I don't think you can give them twenty a week.
Don't do it for free. They never drive you. Give
them some gas money. If they're kind enough to do
that for you or for you and your family, give
them some gas money.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Go ahead, I'm sorry many exactly. Yeah, you bet. And
then when you're booking a trip and you say you're
gonna go to Europe and you're going to a big city.
Europe has an incredible transportation, you can save a lot
of money in your hotel if you look for a
little bit outside of the city center, or they're really
hot tourist area or or the you know, the main
(15:07):
city center, because a lot of times, if you book
hotel just in walking distance to a public transit stop,
you can hop on a train and be right where
you want to be really quickly. So don't underestimate that
it does take a little bit more legging and footwork.
You've got to research and do a bit more planning.
Some people really get into that and they love it.
Other people they not big planners, you know, they just
kind of want to figure it out and go. So
(15:30):
you might have to a little bit, but you can stay.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Stay. If you stay outside of the city center in
those European cities and you stay four or five miles
out of town, you're actually going to deal with some
people who actually live in that community. Supposed to when
you stay at the expensive hotels downtown, you're going to
be interacting mostly with other tourists, you know, and you
get get out of out of the cities a little
(15:53):
bit and get a sense of what the community is
that you're visiting. I think that's yeah, you save some
money and you get real taste of what it's like you.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Do when the locals tell you, like, don't go to
the tourist trap, here's where you want to go. You know,
they give you the insight scoop on the best restaurants
and the times to go to avoid the crowds, and
then you feel really insider and.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, great advice. Now let me ask, is there a
way in which people can access the Triple A site.
There must be some site we can send people to
so they can. Probably, yeah, they weren't taking notes necessarily, so, but.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
A lot of yeah, a lot of the spools don't
have a great travel advisory Triple A member that's free
that comes with your membership. We have travel advisors that
will help you figure all this stuff out with you
go to triple a dot com. Your zip code has
to be punched in, but once you're there to click
on travel. We have all sorts of great articles and
all kinds of great content there.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
But the way, I've been a Triple A member for
a long time, for a long time and my family,
I have the family deal, and I got to tell
you it's one of the best investments I've ever made.
Huge Triple A supporter and a huge Triple A member,
I guess would be.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
The best way to describe it. For years and years
and years.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
You would be surprised if you had access and google
back and see how long I've been a member at
Triple A. At Triple A, I think you'd be very
pleased and very surprised.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Mark oh Dan, I wouldn't be surprised, but I am
very pleased, and you're so kind and we appreciate it.
You know, a Triple A we really just value our members.
We're a membership organization, you know, so we're we're there
to serve our members. And it means a lot to
me that you're you can speak so highly of an organization,
and there's a lot of pressure on me representing an
organization that that gets that feedback.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
So well, I'm telling you the truth, right, And I
have used Triple A resources. They have been they have
been great. I'm a I'm a big believer in Triple A.
And as they say, if you check out, I'm no lie.
I've been a member of that probably for twenty five
years at least at least, and I think, yeah, I
view it as as a real good investment because over
the course of the years I'm probably ahead of you
(18:00):
guys in terms of the services that I've been able
to take advantage of.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
So thanks very much for being there.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Okay, Hey Dan, thanks a lot. And you know, flash
that triple A card you get a discount at your
hotel or a museum. You never know this funny heels. Yeah,
just by flashing that card.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
I like it, Hey begs Mark, We'll talk soon.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Thanks very much, appreciate it great.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Here comes the news at the bottom of the eyre.
We'll take a quick break for a news break, and
then we have two more guests coming up. Going to
be talking with a very interesting woman who's a marriage
and family therapist. He's also the author of a new
book and she talks that makes the point that the
number of moms who are reporting their mental health is
(18:43):
being excellent now is down a little bit from twenty sixteen.
I don't know if COVID had much to do with this,
but we'll get the skinny from Christy Taylor Jones when
we come back after the break, and we will also
talk about a one in thirty million orange lobster with
the executive chef of the chef at the Union Oyster House.
(19:04):
They're not cooking this baby. Opp trust me, we'll explain.
Coming back.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Welcome back everyone, Thank you very much, Suzanne. We are
joined by Christy Taylor Jones. She's a marriage and family therapist,
also the author of a book entitled Touched by Suicide,
a personal and psychological perspective on the longing for death
and rebirth. Christy, we'll get to the book in a moment,
(19:36):
but I guess we're going to talk about the fact
that US moms are facing, according to a recent study,
sharp decline in their own self described mental health. Tell
us about it. First of all, welcome to Night's Side,
and feel free to take the conversation in whatever direction
you'd like.
Speaker 6 (19:55):
Yeah, well, thank you, and I'm happy to be here. Yeah,
the study is disturbing, but I think it's mostly disturbing
because there hasn't been a lot of research, and what
it says is something that most of us on the.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Front lines kind of already knew.
Speaker 6 (20:16):
And research often comes out and confirms what a lot
of us already know, is that motherhood is becoming a
more and more stressful endeavor. And as the study indicated,
only twenty five percent of moms report excellent mental health,
(20:38):
which is down thirty eight percent.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
From twenty sixteen.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
So we're talking about a period of time that includes
the pandemic but precedes the pandemic, So it isn't just
pandemic driven, and it's physical as well as mental health.
But I think that they've been focusing more on the
mental health.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Let me ask you.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Let me ask you a question, which as a guy,
it's difficult to ask, but I'm going to ask it
anyway because I like to ask tough questions, and that is,
have we reached a point where moms are beginning to
realize that what they hope to be able to accomplish
both having a career and motherhood and good marriage and
all of that, that maybe there's a little bit of
(21:27):
a sacrifice of happiness for what was described as self fulfillment.
And I'm not asking that question antagonet antagonistically, I want you.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
To understand that.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Sure, well, it's an interesting question because actually the mental
health of fathers has also gone down, but.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Just not as much as mothers.
Speaker 6 (21:48):
So you know, there's there's that. But the other thing
is that when you talk about and I think you're
suggesting that a mother's trying to juggle a career and
motherhood and everything else that.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I'm a baby boomer, so I'm not saying that mothers
in the fifties or sixties had an idyllic life. But
there was the idea that mothers needed to do more,
and there was a clearer division. And again, I know
I'm sounding like a really old guy when I ask
that I'm asking it is I assume we don't have
(22:22):
legitimate statistics to compare this to do to how happy
moms were in let's say the fifties.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
The Sixtiesison.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah, but it.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Just seems to me that that a lot that that
women aspired to. Maybe it's it's it's not provided what
they had hoped for. It's really my question if the
if the drop has been it's a precipitous drop. At
sixty four percent increase in mothers reporting of fear to
(22:57):
poor health, I guess mental health.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
Well, I think the way I would answer that is
that women did work in the fifties and the sixties
and so on. But what is happening now is that
the positions that women are rising to are much more demanding.
I mean, we sort of got what we wanted, right,
(23:24):
We got to you know, break that barrier between men
and women.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
In terms of you know, job.
Speaker 6 (23:33):
Equality, we're much more equal to men. But the problem
is that also the stresses, the long hours, the energy
that goes into those jobs is much more. And sometimes
women are the primary bread winner. I have I work
(23:53):
with a couple and the woman is makes most of
the money. The husband is no slackers in you know,
the industry, the Hollywood industry, but she makes most of
the money and she has to.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Do it all.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
So what is the solution or do we just keep
heading down this road.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
To unhappiness? Again?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
This is I'm trying to find a light at the
end of the tunnel here and make sure it's not
a train.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
If you know what I'm saying, well, absolutely, And I
think there are things that not just women but couples
can do because this, you know, parenthood is a shared responsibility.
And I think that mothers feel like they have to
be the nineteen fifties mother. I feel guilty if they
(24:50):
have a nanny, or if they're coming home late at night,
if they're not there for all of their children's events.
And also I think women are not trusting their instincts.
They look to all the experts, which is great because
you know, we need education, but there's a tendency to
(25:14):
lose track of what are a basic maternal instincts and
not to trust them, and I think that's a piece
of it too.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
And the other thing is self care.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
If women are trying to do it all, they're probably
not taking care of themselves. And that old adage of
you know, you have to have the oxygen for the
parent first before the child on the airplane, it's that
kind of thing. Is that mothers really do have to
make sure that they get the rest they need. And
(25:52):
this is a huge problem in the first few months
because women don't get the rest that they need and
that is a a big source of mental health problems.
But they also need time alone, time together and redefining
(26:14):
their identity as being different than their parents. The other
thing that women need, and I think actually couples need,
is support. They really need a support system, and when
their kids are little, they may not have a parent
(26:35):
or a family member, anybody to be there. Babysitters and
that kind of thing are hard to come by, and
you would like for a family member to be there,
but often you know, couples live far away from their
family and from their parents, not isolated.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
That concept of the extended family again in the nineteen fifties,
where grandma grandma lived upstairs and there was another grandma
or granddad around the block. I do want to give
you a chance to mention your book because it is
touched by suicide personal and psychological perspective, and the longing
for death and rebirth.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
My understanding is that you have had a couple of
personal experiences with suicide or potential suicide.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
I have.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
I've had personal and professional experiences with it. And I
think that there are two parts in the book where
I talk about myself and another family member, and then
another part in the book where I talk that two
(27:41):
different clients. In both of those cases, one of the
two committed suicide, and the other cases they attempted it,
sometimes several times, and yet they came out head they
(28:01):
did not. They not only were able to survive the suicide,
but to transcend and to transform themselves.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Another thing was that the other things which I wanted
to mention just briefly, I worked as a television reporter
for many years, thirty one years for the CBS affiliate
here in Boston, when people don't realize that that suicide
is a lot more prevalent than people realize because suicide
cases i'm not reported by television, local broadcasts, if there's
(28:34):
a shooting somewhere, if there's a right, you know, some
sort of even they've only gotten to the point of
reporting murder suicide. So again, somehow, some way, we have
to take off that sense of shame, and hopefully your
book I Suspect probably does it. And so I'd like
(28:54):
to make sure that people remember the title Touched by Suicide,
a personal psychological perspective on.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
The longing for death and rebirth.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
So I hope that some of our listeners tonight, who
might be ever contemplating any thought of self harm, might
take an opportunity to read what you've written.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
In your book.
Speaker 6 (29:16):
Well, I'm glad you mentioned shame because I have a
whole chapter on it, and I think shame is one
of the biggest factors in suicide. I really do, Christie.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I thank you so much. We could talk longer, but
I think we have probably raised more questions in people's
minds that we've answered tonight. But hopefully we've got people
thinking about it, and can I have to ask some
of those questions, which were some are going to say, oh,
why would you even ask that question? I think that
if you don't ask questions, you never get answers.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Thanks Christy Taylor.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Joe appreciate, Thank you, very welcome.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Okay, good night. When we get back, we're going to
talk about one in thirty million shot. No, this is
on a lottery ticket. This is an orange lobster. We'll
be back on night Side right after this.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
All right, it was a one in a thirty million
shot with me is Rico de Fronzo. He's the executive
chef at the Union Oyster House, a landmark location in
Boston owned by the Great Joe Mulano. Rico, how did
you guys get an orange lobster?
Speaker 3 (30:29):
You didn't order that one? I don't think.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
No, No, we didn't know it. And Dan, thanks for
having me on. Yeah. Basically, what it is we buy,
you know, hundreds of lobsters a day and just open
up a box and there it was just looking right
up at us. So we separated it, put it in
the tank and we had in here about a week
before we found a nice home for it.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
How how yeah, and it was it wasn't the stomach
of a customer. I'm sure that's that's for sure.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
No, no, no, no, that's this little guy actually will
he himself up in New Hampshire, up in basically at
Hampton Beach in a place called the Explore the Ocean
Ocean Aream, and we'll stay there until about Labor day.
And then after labor day what they do is they
take all the seafood lobsters, clams, crabs and so what
(31:18):
they take them and put them back in the ocean
and give them an opportunity to live.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Really, so this guy, this guy is going to be
he's going to be.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Paroled or released. Wow.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, So you've been around this business for a long time.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
How many.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
How many orange lobsters have you seen in your career?
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Three? Total? Two? We actually got two, believe it, about
a year and a half ago. We received two in
a box, a male and a female, and we basically
same thing. We looked for a place to put it.
New England Quarium already had an orange lobster, so we
reached out to this group here and they took them
and placed them back. The ocean sent me a great
(32:01):
video of them popping them right back in, so it
was kind of cool to see them actually put them
back and not be someone's dinner.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Okay, so what create I mean most lobsters all of us?
Who have you been Toister House or or any other
restaurants where there's a lobster pound. You look at them
and they all look the same for the most part.
I mean different sizes.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
And all of that.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
But there's blue lobsters and orange lobsters. Is there any
other variety that that that I've missed here besides the
regular rubs?
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Yeah, you missed? You know the calico, which is basically
a spotted lobster.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
We also have basically we call them kind of Halloween
lobsters where you take a line right down the center
of the lobster. One side is orange and one side
is black. The most rare lobster is a white lobster
in albino, which is like fifty million to one. Some
people say one hundred million to one. I haven't seen those.
So I've seen blue and I've seen orange, but i
(32:57):
haven't seen any other ones. I'm into the union Oister
House okay.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
The orange the second rarest or, A blue lobster's even
more rare.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
No, blue are only about one in two million. They're
relatively common compared to the orange and the cali.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
As I try to find one person out of two
million people in Greater Boston.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I mean it's yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
It is. And then there's also yellow as well, by
the way too, the yellow as so the yellow, the orange,
and the calico about one in thirty million.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Okay, so let me ask you this. I get paid,
you know, money to ask dumb questions. Sometimes, do these
lobsters that are different colors and rare different colors, do
they live longer lives?
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Shorter lives?
Speaker 5 (33:43):
You know?
Speaker 3 (33:44):
What's their life expectancy?
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Honestly, it's it's pretty much the same as any other lobster.
That the key is if someone throws them in a
pot and cooks them.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Caught, right, I caught?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Well, you know, jokingly, this lobster is lucky because obviously
it landed with us, and you know, we had the
space in our tank to keep it, you know, separated
from the others, and and we found a home for it,
which is unique.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
You know, Now, would a lobster that's a blue lobster
or an orange lobster. I don't know if anyone's ever
cooked one to taste them. Did they taste different than
other lobsters.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
They all taste the same. But the difference is that
when you take a blue lobster or a colored lobster
and you cook it. Once you put it in the pot,
it basically the hot water and the boiling breaks down
the protein and actually changes the lobster back to red. Okay,
so it's actually they all look red in the end.
But because lobsters technically are actually red to blue in
color underneath the shell, and then depending on what they eat,
(34:39):
the diet and basically genetics mutation, that's how these lobsters,
you know, become different colors.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
And again I'm asking questions that I have no reight
to ask you. I'd rather excuse me, Rico, but Joe
will tell you I asked, I asked too many questions.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Are orange lobsters?
Speaker 2 (35:01):
Are they endemic to our part of the world, or
could you find one anywhere in the world?
Speaker 3 (35:07):
And thirty millions?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
All right, Well, those lobsters, which are called American lobsters,
they're off the East coast. You can catch you know,
our American lobses probably a little south of Connecticut, New
York that area and north and the Canadians obviously have
the bulk of the lopsters because the waters colder up
in North America than it is down here. So we
(35:31):
don't catch as many lobsters as we used to off
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, even in the Gulf of Maine, compared
to we did probably ten or fifteen years ago. Just
because the ocean is starting to warm up, the lobsters
are actually migrating further north.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Knowing how slowly a lobster moves.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Take that migrating north, that they have to have some
great instincts to do that which way we're going.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
I mean, they don't move quickly.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
They're not like fish, right, No, No, obviously they swim backwards.
I mean, you know, they propel themselves with their tail,
and that's how they actually moved through the water pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Oh some of them.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Oh really, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I thought they would just be crawling on the on
the bottom of the of the ocean.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Well, Dan, when you come by the restaurant, I'll show
you in the tag when I drop one in how
they actually swim across the tank.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Okay, that sounds great.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
I just think it's wonderful when you have a story
and the fact that you guys are going to donate this.
People have a chance to see it. I don't know
if they'll be able to hold it. Hopefully they probably won't.
But but to know that this lobster will end up
back in nature, I think that's great. And I say,
you know, hats off to you and hats off to Joe.
(36:43):
That's that's for sure. When you opened up went you
had it for a week. I got to assume when
you opened that. But are they coming to crate? I
assume all the lobsters.
Speaker 4 (36:52):
Yeah, yeah, they're come in a large uh really most
of them can large board cardboard boxes basically a vendor
basically so many packs them with ice packs wet wet
paper and that's how they come into the restaurant. About
thirty in a box, depending on the size.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I really appreciate Riky you taking the time. Please say
hi to Joe for me tonight, and congrat.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I definitely will deft thank you.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
As they say.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Anybody, when you're downtown Boston, check out the Union iceed
to house one of the great treats in Boston as
always for a long time.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
But it's it's good.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
Thanks for having us. We really appreciate the support, and
I really appreciate you being a great friend of the restaurant.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
So thank you my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
How could you not be a great friend of the
union iused to house. The food is so good. Thanks Rico.
We'll talk soon.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
Okay, all right, thank you, Bye bye, Dan.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
You're very welcome. Will we get back.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
We're going to talk about the big story of the
day here locally is the immigration, the ICE news conference,
and also the controversy over the arrest of a student
at Milford High School, not at Milford High School, but
the arrest of a student from Milford High School. To
all of that, and we'll have a positive conversation in
(38:05):
which all points of view will be respected. We're coming
back on Nightside right after this.
It's nice size, Dan Ray. I'm going easy Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you so much, Susan. And the bad news is
the Red Sox are losing six to one. The good
news is it's only the bottom of the third and
good evening everyone. For me, it's the top of the
first to night, the first show of the week. My
name is Dan Ray. We're here five nights a week.
We being myself, Dan Ray, the host of the show,
and producer Rob Brooks. We're here every Monday through Friday
night from eight until midnight. Occasionally Rob gets the night
(00:29):
off and occasionally I get a night off.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
But for the most part, what.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
You see is what you get, or what you hear
is what you get everybody, So welcome on in as
we start off another week here on WBZ. We are
sort of wrapping up your number eighteen doing this for
a while, and we should be doing it for a
little while longer, at least, I promise you on that.
And what we do in the eight o'clock hours, we
talk to four we call kind of like newsmakers. They're
(00:55):
not the biggest news stories in the world, but they're
interesting stories that are put together just about every day.
Either by our producer Marita, our executive producer, Marita McKinnon
Lorosa or by days when she's not with us, Karen Pussemi.
So that's the deal. And then later on tonight we'll
be talking about some other subjects which are probably a
(01:17):
little bit more serious we're talking about. We'll be talking
about the ice surge here in Massachusetts and its implications.
We expect to talk about a poll out of New
Hampshire which says that Governor Heally may not be in
as good of shape politically as perhaps some might think.
And hope to get to Ukraine's sneak attack on Russia,
(01:37):
which was very successful based upon all of the information
that we have at this point, and I guess I'd
like to talk at some point, if possible, about that
horrific attack out in Boulder, Colorado. It just seems that
every week there's another anti Semitic attack, anti Israeli, anti
Jewish attack in this country, and this one was particular horrific,
(02:00):
and the guy that did it should go away for
a long time, and if I had mind, brothers take
go away for a short time, but eventually would be eliminated.
But that's a story for another time. Let's start off
on a happier note and let's talk about the low
Summer Music Series, which is going to kick off it's
thirty fifth season, produced by the low Festival Foundation, which
(02:21):
is a five oh one seed three nonprofit with us
as the low Music Series Director. James McDonald, James McDonald,
welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
How are you, sir, thy Dan?
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It is great to be here to talk about the
Lowell Summer Music Series.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, talk about music in summer. How can we go wrong? Now?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
This series operates without taxpayer funding by LOLL and it
is sustained by ticket sales and sponsorships and grants and
some community support.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
And it's been going now for thirty five years. So
let's start at the beginning. How did it start?
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I'm sure you probably weren't there when it started, but
you must have some knowledge of how it started.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Sure, well, you know there there was a group of
people and they they there was a lot of opportunity
in Lowell. There's still opportunity in Lull. But you know
there was a parking lot downtown surrounded by mill buildings,
you know that were built in the eighteen hundreds, quite
historic mill buildings and This land eventually became the low
(03:21):
National Historical Park and part of that land. Members of
the community said this would be a great place for concerts,
and a beautiful, green, lush park was built right surrounded
by these you know, eighteen hundreds and beautiful boarding house
mill buildings, and thirty five years ago, these concerts began
(03:43):
as small as they were, and it's really grown over
the years and now we're you know, bringing world class
talent to the stage, and you know, we like to
feel that we're doing something really special for the community.
As a nonprofit, we're self sustaining, and it is a
pleasure to be able to bring live music to a
place that beautiful.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
So let's let's talk about some of the First of all,
I love Lowell, Okay, I've been in a little many
many times, particularly when I worked as a TV reporter,
and a beautiful city. It's it's come back very strong.
Former Senator Paul Songus did a great job helping that
city grow and prosper. Let's the late great Paul song
As I should say, Let's talk about some of the shows.
(04:24):
I mean, I look at some of these names. I'm
not a big music guy. To be really honest with you.
But some of these names I recognize. Tell us some
of the some of the shows that are coming in, don'nat.
It gives the day and time because we'll direct people
to the website.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
But you got some heavy hitters coming in.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, we're thrilled to be bringing in some great names
and we're you know, we're kicking off the summer on
June twentieth with Celtic rockers Gaelic Storm and they're really
you know, a great blend of Celtic music and a
little bit of punchy rock and roll. And you know
that's highlighted actually by Natalia Kay. He's their fiddle player
who grew up in Lowell and performed every year at
(05:02):
the Banjo and Fiddle Contest, which we helped post in
the park. So it's a bit of a homecoming for
for Gaelic Storm, and that's followed in Junia.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
By the way, are they James?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Are they primarily Irish band?
Speaker 4 (05:14):
They like you know, actually they're an American band, but
they play and they love and they honor, you know,
the sounds of Celtic music. So it's a great blend. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Great, who else you got we're.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Bringing in Los Lobos, a great you know, Mexican American
rockers from La Story career. They may have even been
doing it longer than we have in our thirty five years.
So that's the kickoff weekend. We have Celtic rock and roll,
we have Mexican American rock and roll. It's a great bland.
But you know, early in the summer, we're bringing in
Darlene Love, one of the icons from the nineteen sixties.
(05:48):
She'll be bringing that famous wall of sound you know,
to Lowell and bringing the hits, and you know, we're
really thrilled about that. And later in the summer we've
got some great Americana sounds from the Wood Brothers and
Sierra Hall, who's just a virtuoso mandolin player and really
an incredible talent. And then later in the summer, as
we look ahead, we've got Grace Potter coming in. She's
(06:11):
really made a name for herself out of the state
of Vermont. She's certainly gone worldwide and global now. And
then towards the end of the summer, a really fun
night called Let's Sing Tailor, and that night is a
live band tribute to the music of Taylor Swift. We
had them last year, it was just a really fun
sing along families of all ages and great to see
(06:32):
the kids out having some fun and singing along to
the music.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
So this is great.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
It's great for folks who are going to spend summer
you know in Lowell. They can pick, they can find
the schedule. You got to it looks to me like
a pretty a very impressive website Lowellsummer Music dot org.
And we should emphasize that this is a nonprofit. But
(06:56):
in order to go, the tickets are not free. This
is you got to buy the tickets that you can
get a season pass. What should folks expect to spend
for most of these events? Is every event the same
or are some a little bit more expensive than others?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Every event is a little different, and you know that's
factored into the price of the talent that they've partnered with,
and you know the cost of specific shows to produce.
But we are also selling a season pass which gets
you into all twelve of our ticketing concerts and that
price is only forty one dollars a ticket. So we
work really hard to keep this affordable. This is not
(07:31):
a mega concert, you know, in a mega you know
park or an arena. This is really a great, down home,
kind of a lo fi experience in terms of concert going.
You bring your own share, you can bring in a picnic.
It's a really wonderful way to see music that we
don't get to do as much anymore. So we like
to think that we're we're kind of holding down the
(07:51):
fort for that easy going concert experience. It's hard to
come by.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
But by the.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Way, I've counted the dates here, I count fourteen. You
keep talking about twelve. Are there a couple that perhaps, yes,
we've missed a couple that that perhaps are open to
the public and there's no charge.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
What's going on there?
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I see some great other free events. So now, in
addition to the ticket and twelve concerts, the Lowell Festival
Foundation which is the nonprofit umbrella that we're a part of.
They are responsible and run the real, the legendary lowl
Folk Festival, which is an amazing weekend of free music
(08:31):
all across Lowell. So we play a small part in that,
although that is really run by the Lowll Festival full
festival team. But we also host the Banjo and Fiddle Contest,
which I mentioned earlier, which is really just a wonderful
get together of string players of all ages. It's that's
a multi generational affair. Song circles happening, traditional music, banjos, fiddles,
(08:54):
you know you know sessions if you will, happening in
the park. So up, James.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
James, thank you for the information. Again.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That website is simply low. Summer Music are one word
dot org and you have a really good website. They
can get a lot of information. James, I appreciate you
spending some time with us. Best of luck with the
summer concert series.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Thank you, Dan, I appreciate it. And thanks for kicking
off the show tonight with us.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
A pressure, not a problem, my pleasure as well. Right
back at you. Thanks thanks again, James. Will we come
back for those of you are going to be traveling
this summer, We're going to be talking with Mark shield
Drop of Triple A and he's going to talk to
us and to you about some ways maybe maybe you
can save some money this summer ways to say on
(09:45):
both some big ticket items and also smaller purchases. So
Mark shield Drop with some free information offering tips for
a budget friendly summer getaway. Coming back here on nightside
by the way, if you haven't pulled down the iHeart app.
It is free, the new and improved iHeart app, and
you can make us your first preset on that app,
whatever device or devices you pull it down on, so
(10:07):
that you'll always be a fingertip away wherever you are
in this wide wide world from WBZ and your home
here in New England. Back on Nightside, Dan Ray is here,
Rob Brooks is back in the control room.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
You were there.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
We'll get the phone calls. After nine, we have three
more guests coming up.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
It's Night Side with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Back with one of my favorite guests, Mark shield Drop Triple,
a senior spokesperson, and he has some tips for a
budget friendly summer getaway. Mark, I have no idea what
we're going to be talking about here, but I am
all ears at this point. If there's any way to
save a few dollars and have a little bit of
(10:51):
fun during the summertime, who can be posed to that?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah, definitely. So I'm going to go down the list
on the road, in the air and where to stay.
All right, well, yeah right, let's do it. So it's
a big deal to save money this year, especially because
prices are up domestic flights are more expensive. Hotels are
a bit more expensive. International hotels and more expensive, so
full traveling might be seeing higher prices across the board.
(11:17):
So let's say you're on the road. Gas prices are
a lot lower than over last year, but you can
still save take a little bit off the beaten path.
The gas stations are a lot more expensive right off
the interstate. We all know that if we drive a
mass pike, we see an action in Massachusetts every day.
And then fuel economy, you know, I think a lot
of folks don't realize how much fuel economy you lose
(11:39):
above about fifty five to sixty five miles an hour.
After that you're dealing with a lot of drags. So
just five to ten miles an hour over, or let's
say you cut your average cruising speed by five to
ten miles an hour, you can save as much as
fifteen percent on your fuel economy.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
So that's going to save you some money if you
normally drive I mean, which is, if you're a comfortable
driving seventy, cut it back to sixty or sixty five,
I guess is what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Yep, yeah, definitely, and you'll save a little bit. You know,
and that it does add up over time. I think
that the impulse to save money on field economy. It's
a little bit weaker now with gas at about three
dollars a gallon, but if gas was like it was
last year at three fifty one, maybe we feel a
little more a little more incentive to save a little.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Bit just saving money, let me tell you not.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
And also, yeah, you're got to probably be a little
safer to go right ahead.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yep, all right, So the old advice about booking a
flight on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, that still applies. You save
a little bit of money doing that, so you can
balance your vacation days. Leave in the middle of the week,
come back in the middle of the week. You're gonna
save a lot more money than than trying to fly
out over the weekend. And then if you they're packing,
pack why you know, sometimes it's cheaper just to take
(12:51):
less clothes and use the coin laundry at the hotel
that you're staying at just to get those essentials clean.
You know, you can wear jeans two days in a row.
I think sometimes we overpacked, and if you can cut
a bag out or just the amount you're carrying. That's
gonna see a lot of money, especially with airlines really
squeezing people on those bag fees more and more. So
(13:11):
that's a big one.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Every time I travel, I realize I overpack. I mean,
I bring more.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
Stuff than I need, and I just just.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You just take if you take.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
When I do take the time, maybe I take an
hour and sometimes even make a little list to make
sure you.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Don't forget anything.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
But you know, all the stuff that you need you
should have, but not a heck of a lot.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
More, right, And then you get there and you buy
more stuff, and then you're in the hotel trying to
pack to go home, and you're trying to figure ot, well,
what am I going to leave behind? Don't want to
you can avoid that buy back in life. Yeah, And
then the other flying tips. You know, when you're looking
at your where you're gonna go, public transportation, taking an
over to the airport, you know, sometimes it is cheaper
(13:54):
just to park at the airport book ahead. I know
when I fly at a logan, there's a couple of
lots right there with shuttles, and you look in your
credit card, look at those offers you get sometimes, especially
with travel cards, a lot of times you can. And
there's a couple that right outside of Logan that I've
done business with, where if you spend one hundred bucks
one hundred twenty bucks, you can save twenty or thirty
right there on your credit card statement. So that'll save
(14:15):
you some money, especially with a trip where you're gonna
leave your car for three or four days and then
picking where to say you're right on that mark.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Logan's pretty expensive.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I think it's up to like seventy five or eighty
five dollars a day.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
It is, it is, so every dollar helps. You can
get a ride to the airport and back from a
far or family member. That's the way to go.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I don't think you can give them twenty a week.
Don't do it for free. They never drive you. Give
them some gas money. If they're kind enough to do
that for you or for you and your family, give
them some gas money.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Go ahead, I'm sorry many exactly. Yeah, you bet. And
then when you're booking a trip and you say you're
gonna go to Europe and you're going to a big city.
Europe has an incredible transportation, you can save a lot
of money in your hotel if you look for a
little bit outside of the city center, or they're really
hot tourist area or or the you know, the main
(15:07):
city center, because a lot of times, if you book
hotel just in walking distance to a public transit stop,
you can hop on a train and be right where
you want to be really quickly. So don't underestimate that
it does take a little bit more legging and footwork.
You've got to research and do a bit more planning.
Some people really get into that and they love it.
Other people they not big planners, you know, they just
kind of want to figure it out and go. So
(15:30):
you might have to a little bit, but you can stay.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Stay. If you stay outside of the city center in
those European cities and you stay four or five miles
out of town, you're actually going to deal with some
people who actually live in that community. Supposed to when
you stay at the expensive hotels downtown, you're going to
be interacting mostly with other tourists, you know, and you
get get out of out of the cities a little
(15:53):
bit and get a sense of what the community is
that you're visiting. I think that's yeah, you save some
money and you get real taste of what it's like you.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
Do when the locals tell you, like, don't go to
the tourist trap, here's where you want to go. You know,
they give you the insight scoop on the best restaurants
and the times to go to avoid the crowds, and
then you feel really insider and.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, great advice. Now let me ask, is there a
way in which people can access the Triple A site.
There must be some site we can send people to
so they can. Probably, yeah, they weren't taking notes necessarily, so, but.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
A lot of yeah, a lot of the spools don't
have a great travel advisory Triple A member that's free
that comes with your membership. We have travel advisors that
will help you figure all this stuff out with you
go to triple a dot com. Your zip code has
to be punched in, but once you're there to click
on travel. We have all sorts of great articles and
all kinds of great content there.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
But the way, I've been a Triple A member for
a long time, for a long time and my family,
I have the family deal, and I got to tell
you it's one of the best investments I've ever made.
Huge Triple A supporter and a huge Triple A member,
I guess would be.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
The best way to describe it. For years and years
and years.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
You would be surprised if you had access and google
back and see how long I've been a member at
Triple A. At Triple A, I think you'd be very
pleased and very surprised.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Mark oh Dan, I wouldn't be surprised, but I am
very pleased, and you're so kind and we appreciate it.
You know, a Triple A we really just value our members.
We're a membership organization, you know, so we're we're there
to serve our members. And it means a lot to
me that you're you can speak so highly of an organization,
and there's a lot of pressure on me representing an
organization that that gets that feedback.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
So well, I'm telling you the truth, right, And I
have used Triple A resources. They have been they have
been great. I'm a I'm a big believer in Triple A.
And as they say, if you check out, I'm no lie.
I've been a member of that probably for twenty five
years at least at least, and I think, yeah, I
view it as as a real good investment because over
the course of the years I'm probably ahead of you
(18:00):
guys in terms of the services that I've been able
to take advantage of.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
So thanks very much for being there.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
Okay, Hey Dan, thanks a lot. And you know, flash
that triple A card you get a discount at your
hotel or a museum. You never know this funny heels. Yeah,
just by flashing that card.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
I like it, Hey begs Mark, We'll talk soon.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Thanks very much, appreciate it great.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Here comes the news at the bottom of the eyre.
We'll take a quick break for a news break, and
then we have two more guests coming up. Going to
be talking with a very interesting woman who's a marriage
and family therapist. He's also the author of a new
book and she talks that makes the point that the
number of moms who are reporting their mental health is
(18:43):
being excellent now is down a little bit from twenty sixteen.
I don't know if COVID had much to do with this,
but we'll get the skinny from Christy Taylor Jones when
we come back after the break, and we will also
talk about a one in thirty million orange lobster with
the executive chef of the chef at the Union Oyster House.
(19:04):
They're not cooking this baby. Opp trust me, we'll explain.
Coming back.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Welcome back everyone, Thank you very much, Suzanne. We are
joined by Christy Taylor Jones. She's a marriage and family therapist,
also the author of a book entitled Touched by Suicide,
a personal and psychological perspective on the longing for death
and rebirth. Christy, we'll get to the book in a moment,
(19:36):
but I guess we're going to talk about the fact
that US moms are facing, according to a recent study,
sharp decline in their own self described mental health. Tell
us about it. First of all, welcome to Night's Side,
and feel free to take the conversation in whatever direction
you'd like.
Speaker 6 (19:55):
Yeah, well, thank you, and I'm happy to be here. Yeah,
the study is disturbing, but I think it's mostly disturbing
because there hasn't been a lot of research, and what
it says is something that most of us on the.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Front lines kind of already knew.
Speaker 6 (20:16):
And research often comes out and confirms what a lot
of us already know, is that motherhood is becoming a
more and more stressful endeavor. And as the study indicated,
only twenty five percent of moms report excellent mental health,
(20:38):
which is down thirty eight percent.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
From twenty sixteen.
Speaker 6 (20:43):
So we're talking about a period of time that includes
the pandemic but precedes the pandemic, So it isn't just
pandemic driven, and it's physical as well as mental health.
But I think that they've been focusing more on the
mental health.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Let me ask you.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Let me ask you a question, which as a guy,
it's difficult to ask, but I'm going to ask it
anyway because I like to ask tough questions, and that is,
have we reached a point where moms are beginning to
realize that what they hope to be able to accomplish
both having a career and motherhood and good marriage and
all of that, that maybe there's a little bit of
(21:27):
a sacrifice of happiness for what was described as self fulfillment.
And I'm not asking that question antagonet antagonistically, I want you.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
To understand that.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Sure, well, it's an interesting question because actually the mental
health of fathers has also gone down, but.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Just not as much as mothers.
Speaker 6 (21:48):
So you know, there's there's that. But the other thing
is that when you talk about and I think you're
suggesting that a mother's trying to juggle a career and
motherhood and everything else that.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
I'm a baby boomer, so I'm not saying that mothers
in the fifties or sixties had an idyllic life. But
there was the idea that mothers needed to do more,
and there was a clearer division. And again, I know
I'm sounding like a really old guy when I ask
that I'm asking it is I assume we don't have
(22:22):
legitimate statistics to compare this to do to how happy
moms were in let's say the fifties.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
The Sixtiesison.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah, but it.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Just seems to me that that a lot that that
women aspired to. Maybe it's it's it's not provided what
they had hoped for. It's really my question if the
if the drop has been it's a precipitous drop. At
sixty four percent increase in mothers reporting of fear to
(22:57):
poor health, I guess mental health.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:01):
Well, I think the way I would answer that is
that women did work in the fifties and the sixties
and so on. But what is happening now is that
the positions that women are rising to are much more demanding.
I mean, we sort of got what we wanted, right,
(23:24):
We got to you know, break that barrier between men
and women.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
In terms of you know, job.
Speaker 6 (23:33):
Equality, we're much more equal to men. But the problem
is that also the stresses, the long hours, the energy
that goes into those jobs is much more. And sometimes
women are the primary bread winner. I have I work
(23:53):
with a couple and the woman is makes most of
the money. The husband is no slackers in you know,
the industry, the Hollywood industry, but she makes most of
the money and she has to.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
Do it all.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
So what is the solution or do we just keep
heading down this road.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
To unhappiness? Again?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
This is I'm trying to find a light at the
end of the tunnel here and make sure it's not
a train.
Speaker 6 (24:27):
If you know what I'm saying, well, absolutely, And I
think there are things that not just women but couples
can do because this, you know, parenthood is a shared responsibility.
And I think that mothers feel like they have to
be the nineteen fifties mother. I feel guilty if they
(24:50):
have a nanny, or if they're coming home late at night,
if they're not there for all of their children's events.
And also I think women are not trusting their instincts.
They look to all the experts, which is great because
you know, we need education, but there's a tendency to
(25:14):
lose track of what are a basic maternal instincts and
not to trust them, and I think that's a piece
of it too.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
And the other thing is self care.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
If women are trying to do it all, they're probably
not taking care of themselves. And that old adage of
you know, you have to have the oxygen for the
parent first before the child on the airplane, it's that
kind of thing. Is that mothers really do have to
make sure that they get the rest they need. And
(25:52):
this is a huge problem in the first few months
because women don't get the rest that they need and
that is a a big source of mental health problems.
But they also need time alone, time together and redefining
(26:14):
their identity as being different than their parents. The other
thing that women need, and I think actually couples need,
is support. They really need a support system, and when
their kids are little, they may not have a parent
(26:35):
or a family member, anybody to be there. Babysitters and
that kind of thing are hard to come by, and
you would like for a family member to be there,
but often you know, couples live far away from their
family and from their parents, not isolated.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
That concept of the extended family again in the nineteen fifties,
where grandma grandma lived upstairs and there was another grandma
or granddad around the block. I do want to give
you a chance to mention your book because it is
touched by suicide personal and psychological perspective, and the longing
for death and rebirth.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
My understanding is that you have had a couple of
personal experiences with suicide or potential suicide.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
I have.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
I've had personal and professional experiences with it. And I
think that there are two parts in the book where
I talk about myself and another family member, and then
another part in the book where I talk that two
(27:41):
different clients. In both of those cases, one of the
two committed suicide, and the other cases they attempted it,
sometimes several times, and yet they came out head they
(28:01):
did not. They not only were able to survive the suicide,
but to transcend and to transform themselves.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Another thing was that the other things which I wanted
to mention just briefly, I worked as a television reporter
for many years, thirty one years for the CBS affiliate
here in Boston, when people don't realize that that suicide
is a lot more prevalent than people realize because suicide
cases i'm not reported by television, local broadcasts, if there's
(28:34):
a shooting somewhere, if there's a right, you know, some
sort of even they've only gotten to the point of
reporting murder suicide. So again, somehow, some way, we have
to take off that sense of shame, and hopefully your
book I Suspect probably does it. And so I'd like
(28:54):
to make sure that people remember the title Touched by Suicide,
a personal psychological perspective on.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
The longing for death and rebirth.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
So I hope that some of our listeners tonight, who
might be ever contemplating any thought of self harm, might
take an opportunity to read what you've written.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
In your book.
Speaker 6 (29:16):
Well, I'm glad you mentioned shame because I have a
whole chapter on it, and I think shame is one
of the biggest factors in suicide. I really do, Christie.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I thank you so much. We could talk longer, but
I think we have probably raised more questions in people's
minds that we've answered tonight. But hopefully we've got people
thinking about it, and can I have to ask some
of those questions, which were some are going to say, oh,
why would you even ask that question? I think that
if you don't ask questions, you never get answers.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Thanks Christy Taylor.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Joe appreciate, Thank you, very welcome.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Okay, good night. When we get back, we're going to
talk about one in thirty million shot. No, this is
on a lottery ticket. This is an orange lobster. We'll
be back on night Side right after this.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
All right, it was a one in a thirty million
shot with me is Rico de Fronzo. He's the executive
chef at the Union Oyster House, a landmark location in
Boston owned by the Great Joe Mulano. Rico, how did
you guys get an orange lobster?
Speaker 3 (30:29):
You didn't order that one? I don't think.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
No, No, we didn't know it. And Dan, thanks for
having me on. Yeah. Basically, what it is we buy,
you know, hundreds of lobsters a day and just open
up a box and there it was just looking right
up at us. So we separated it, put it in
the tank and we had in here about a week
before we found a nice home for it.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
How how yeah, and it was it wasn't the stomach
of a customer. I'm sure that's that's for sure.
Speaker 4 (30:56):
No, no, no, no, that's this little guy actually will
he himself up in New Hampshire, up in basically at
Hampton Beach in a place called the Explore the Ocean
Ocean Aream, and we'll stay there until about Labor day.
And then after labor day what they do is they
take all the seafood lobsters, clams, crabs and so what
(31:18):
they take them and put them back in the ocean
and give them an opportunity to live.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Really, so this guy, this guy is going to be
he's going to be.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Paroled or released. Wow.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, So you've been around this business for a long time.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
How many.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
How many orange lobsters have you seen in your career?
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Three? Total? Two? We actually got two, believe it, about
a year and a half ago. We received two in
a box, a male and a female, and we basically
same thing. We looked for a place to put it.
New England Quarium already had an orange lobster, so we
reached out to this group here and they took them
and placed them back. The ocean sent me a great
(32:01):
video of them popping them right back in, so it
was kind of cool to see them actually put them
back and not be someone's dinner.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Okay, so what create I mean most lobsters all of us?
Who have you been Toister House or or any other
restaurants where there's a lobster pound. You look at them
and they all look the same for the most part.
I mean different sizes.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
And all of that.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
But there's blue lobsters and orange lobsters. Is there any
other variety that that that I've missed here besides the
regular rubs?
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Yeah, you missed? You know the calico, which is basically
a spotted lobster.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
We also have basically we call them kind of Halloween
lobsters where you take a line right down the center
of the lobster. One side is orange and one side
is black. The most rare lobster is a white lobster
in albino, which is like fifty million to one. Some
people say one hundred million to one. I haven't seen those.
So I've seen blue and I've seen orange, but i
(32:57):
haven't seen any other ones. I'm into the union Oister
House okay.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
The orange the second rarest or, A blue lobster's even
more rare.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
No, blue are only about one in two million. They're
relatively common compared to the orange and the cali.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
As I try to find one person out of two
million people in Greater Boston.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I mean it's yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:20):
It is. And then there's also yellow as well, by
the way too, the yellow as so the yellow, the orange,
and the calico about one in thirty million.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Okay, so let me ask you this. I get paid,
you know, money to ask dumb questions. Sometimes, do these
lobsters that are different colors and rare different colors, do
they live longer lives?
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Shorter lives?
Speaker 5 (33:43):
You know?
Speaker 3 (33:44):
What's their life expectancy?
Speaker 4 (33:46):
Honestly, it's it's pretty much the same as any other lobster.
That the key is if someone throws them in a
pot and cooks them.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Caught, right, I caught?
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Well, you know, jokingly, this lobster is lucky because obviously
it landed with us, and you know, we had the
space in our tank to keep it, you know, separated
from the others, and and we found a home for it,
which is unique.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
You know, Now, would a lobster that's a blue lobster
or an orange lobster. I don't know if anyone's ever
cooked one to taste them. Did they taste different than
other lobsters.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
They all taste the same. But the difference is that
when you take a blue lobster or a colored lobster
and you cook it. Once you put it in the pot,
it basically the hot water and the boiling breaks down
the protein and actually changes the lobster back to red. Okay,
so it's actually they all look red in the end.
But because lobsters technically are actually red to blue in
color underneath the shell, and then depending on what they eat,
(34:39):
the diet and basically genetics mutation, that's how these lobsters,
you know, become different colors.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
And again I'm asking questions that I have no reight
to ask you. I'd rather excuse me, Rico, but Joe
will tell you I asked, I asked too many questions.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Are orange lobsters?
Speaker 2 (35:01):
Are they endemic to our part of the world, or
could you find one anywhere in the world?
Speaker 3 (35:07):
And thirty millions?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
All right, Well, those lobsters, which are called American lobsters,
they're off the East coast. You can catch you know,
our American lobses probably a little south of Connecticut, New
York that area and north and the Canadians obviously have
the bulk of the lopsters because the waters colder up
in North America than it is down here. So we
(35:31):
don't catch as many lobsters as we used to off
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, even in the Gulf of Maine, compared
to we did probably ten or fifteen years ago. Just
because the ocean is starting to warm up, the lobsters
are actually migrating further north.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Knowing how slowly a lobster moves.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Take that migrating north, that they have to have some
great instincts to do that which way we're going.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
I mean, they don't move quickly.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
They're not like fish, right, No, No, obviously they swim backwards.
I mean, you know, they propel themselves with their tail,
and that's how they actually moved through the water pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Oh some of them.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Oh really, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I thought they would just be crawling on the on
the bottom of the of the ocean.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Well, Dan, when you come by the restaurant, I'll show
you in the tag when I drop one in how
they actually swim across the tank.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Okay, that sounds great.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
I just think it's wonderful when you have a story
and the fact that you guys are going to donate this.
People have a chance to see it. I don't know
if they'll be able to hold it. Hopefully they probably won't.
But but to know that this lobster will end up
back in nature, I think that's great. And I say,
you know, hats off to you and hats off to Joe.
(36:43):
That's that's for sure. When you opened up went you
had it for a week. I got to assume when
you opened that. But are they coming to crate? I
assume all the lobsters.
Speaker 4 (36:52):
Yeah, yeah, they're come in a large uh really most
of them can large board cardboard boxes basically a vendor
basically so many packs them with ice packs wet wet
paper and that's how they come into the restaurant. About
thirty in a box, depending on the size.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I really appreciate Riky you taking the time. Please say
hi to Joe for me tonight, and congrat.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
I definitely will deft thank you.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
As they say.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Anybody, when you're downtown Boston, check out the Union iceed
to house one of the great treats in Boston as
always for a long time.
Speaker 3 (37:23):
But it's it's good.
Speaker 4 (37:25):
Thanks for having us. We really appreciate the support, and
I really appreciate you being a great friend of the restaurant.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
So thank you my pleasure.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
How could you not be a great friend of the
union iused to house. The food is so good. Thanks Rico.
We'll talk soon.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
Okay, all right, thank you, Bye bye, Dan.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
You're very welcome. Will we get back.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
We're going to talk about the big story of the
day here locally is the immigration, the ICE news conference,
and also the controversy over the arrest of a student
at Milford High School, not at Milford High School, but
the arrest of a student from Milford High School. To
all of that, and we'll have a positive conversation in
(38:05):
which all points of view will be respected. We're coming
back on Nightside right after this.
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The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.