Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBS Boston's.
Speaker 2: News radio Nicole. Who is this Taylor Swift person you're
Speaker 2: talking about. Hi, good evening, everybody. Welcome on any and
Speaker 2: there for the football game or what are you there for?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know. I'm not watching a
Speaker 2: football game, that's for sure. I'm doing the show. My
Speaker 2: name is Dan Ray, and we are here every Monday
Speaker 2: through Friday night from eight until midnight. We start off
Speaker 2: the first hour talking with four guests. They're all newsmakers
Speaker 2: of some sort. Some of them are breaking newsmakers, others
Speaker 2: are topics that provide very important information. My most important
Speaker 2: information tonight, besides telling you my name is Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: I'm the host of Nice Side with Dan Ray as
Speaker 2: we work our way through year number eighteen here in WBZ,
Speaker 2: Boston's news radio. But Rob Brooks, our producer, is back.
Speaker 2: We had some nice work last week by Dan and
Speaker 2: Noah who were in the booth, and Rob is always
Speaker 2: welcome back, Rob, We always mischief. Dan and Noah did
Speaker 2: a nice job throughout the week. Allow you the well
Speaker 2: deserved vacation week. Rob is a big Halloween guy. In
Speaker 2: case you haven't figured this out and that becomes sort
Speaker 2: of his holiday week every year. You know it's going
Speaker 2: to be Halloween. So let us start off with our
Speaker 2: guests tonight. Later on tonight, we're gonna talk a lot
Speaker 2: of politics. Obviously, this is election eve, there's no question
Speaker 2: about that. We'll be talking the first hour about the
Speaker 2: Massachusetts ballid questions. We may hear from you on one
Speaker 2: if you're particularly interested in one that you particularly support
Speaker 2: or oppose. And then a little bit later on we'll
Speaker 2: get into maybe some predictions. Maybe we'll ask some people
Speaker 2: to tell us what the magic number will be in
Speaker 2: which candidate will get to seventy or more. We'll explain
Speaker 2: all of that. We have lots to talk about, and
Speaker 2: of course tomorrow night we will have some great programming
Speaker 2: here during nightside. We're going to be joined by the
Speaker 2: news team. We're going to be joined by national reporters.
Speaker 2: I've lined up some special guests, so we got lots
Speaker 2: going on. But first off, let's welcome doctor Janet Chortz.
Speaker 2: Doctor Kortz, you are a psychologist who specializes in treating
Speaker 2: patients in high pressure careers, and you're also founder of
Speaker 2: the Boston Psychiatry Practice ASIMA welcome to Nightside. First of all,
Speaker 2: how are you tonight?
Speaker 3: I'm doing well. How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm doing great. I'm doing great at least it's but
Speaker 2: it's early, it's only Monday. Let's let's look at it
Speaker 2: like that, right. Tell us about Asimuth Psychological, which I
Speaker 2: guess is your practice or you're with a group at
Speaker 2: that at that practice.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, I'm the founder of the practice and it's
Speaker 3: a group of psychologists and we help people in high
Speaker 3: pressure careers. So we're pretty familiar with the nuances of
Speaker 3: a lot of different domains of a lot of high
Speaker 3: pressure careers. You know, law, finance, consulting, certainly those are
Speaker 3: heavy ones, but academ you a startups, biotech show hosts,
Speaker 3: taka well, entertainment is another industry we actually see quite
Speaker 3: a few people, and so we are able to sort
Speaker 3: of help people navigate the nuances and stresses of those things.
Speaker 3: But often that's about a lot of other things. So
Speaker 3: we're also able to help with us step underneath as well.
Speaker 2: Okay, so the subtopic is here the physical risks of
Speaker 2: the always overachieving work life and how to avoid them.
Speaker 2: So there are a lot of people who take their
Speaker 2: jobs very seriously. I'm sure that you take your job
Speaker 2: very seriously. How do you know when you have gone
Speaker 2: over the edge and all of a sudden your job
Speaker 2: is interfering with the rest of your life. It has
Speaker 2: to interact with the rest of your life. At what
Speaker 2: point do you cross that rubicon from acting and interacting
Speaker 2: with to interfering.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So we talk a lot about career enveashment, which
Speaker 3: is when people's whole identity becomes wrapped up in their
Speaker 3: career and so they don't really have anything else. And
Speaker 3: so the way in which we sort of have people
Speaker 3: self identify that is by three main questions. One is,
Speaker 3: if you go to a party or you know, meet
Speaker 3: some friends with friends, or really go anywhere social and
Speaker 3: people are introducing each other, what do you say about
Speaker 3: yourself if someone asks about you? Can you come up
Speaker 3: with anything that's not about your job? So that's a
Speaker 3: big one that we talk about. Another one is how
Speaker 3: would you feel if you lost your job today? Because
Speaker 3: you know, a lot of times people go the way
Speaker 3: people arrived us is their company is acquired, or they've
Speaker 3: missed a promotion or something like that, and they no
Speaker 3: longer have this job that they've so heavily relied on,
Speaker 3: and so then they sort of fall apart because their
Speaker 3: whole identity is now in question. That's another one. How
Speaker 3: do you spend your time when you're not really supposed,
Speaker 3: you know, when you don't have to be working. Because
Speaker 3: even people in high pressure careers are over two years
Speaker 3: as you call them, there's always time in someone's day
Speaker 3: when one does not have to be working. And so
Speaker 3: what is happening during that time? Are people choosing to work,
Speaker 3: do they feel compelled to work, do they like to work?
Speaker 3: And what's going on in that time? Is there anything
Speaker 3: else that people are doing to spend their time. So
Speaker 3: those are kind of the three main ways we sort
Speaker 3: of enter into that conversation.
Speaker 2: Okay, now, if you talk about, for example, the people
Speaker 2: that we know about, let's say, the successful football coaches,
Speaker 2: the Bill Belichicks of the world. They obviously Belichick was
Speaker 2: known for showing up at work, the first guy there
Speaker 2: and the last guy out of the room. Dustin Pedroia
Speaker 2: when he played for the Red Sox, he was always
Speaker 2: the first guy in the locker room and the last
Speaker 2: to leave. And a lot of that is the commitment
Speaker 2: that people have to excellence. So how do you distinguish
Speaker 2: between someone who has a commitment to excellence an an
Speaker 2: overachiever who has gone too far? How do you draw
Speaker 2: that line? I mean, there's a lot of people, as
Speaker 2: you know, who go to work, they work their eight hours,
Speaker 2: they go home and that's it. They really turn it off.
Speaker 2: That's one extreme, or people who have never worked could
Speaker 2: be in one extreme, and then you have the over
Speaker 2: achievers on the other. Look, you look at the job
Speaker 2: of you know that will be contested tomorrow, the President
Speaker 2: of the United States twenty four seven, the toughest job
Speaker 2: in the world. Yeah, I mean, don't we as Americans
Speaker 2: always aspire to doing the best job we can, whether
Speaker 2: we're an auto mechanic or Taylor Swift for example.
Speaker 3: Well, you're talking about specific roles and jobs that are
Speaker 3: sort of unique and one off, if you will. You know,
Speaker 3: there aren't that many professional athletes, there aren't that many
Speaker 3: football coaches. There's only one president, and so there are
Speaker 3: certain jobs that require a lot more o.
Speaker 2: The lawyers you taught you mentioned lawyers, Sure, so doctors
Speaker 2: in that situation that you always cat continuing education and
Speaker 2: all of that. I'm sure you know of what.
Speaker 3: I speak well, right, So The second part of what
Speaker 3: I was going to say is that commitment to excellence
Speaker 3: does not necessarily it does not equal more time. That
Speaker 3: those two things are not always the same. So just
Speaker 3: because you want to be excellent at your job does
Speaker 3: not mean to spend twenty four hours day doing your job.
Speaker 3: Those things don't necessarily go together, and in fact, oftentimes
Speaker 3: they do not go together, because most people don't function
Speaker 3: their best when all they're doing is one thing, especially
Speaker 3: if that thing is extremely stressful, because aside from psychological
Speaker 3: impacts that we know about, you know, the physical impacts
Speaker 3: of chronic stress are well documented as well, and so
Speaker 3: people literally fall apart from the inside out when they
Speaker 3: work that hard that often. And so.
Speaker 2: I started, I didn't mean to go ahead, you were
Speaker 2: completing No.
Speaker 3: No, no, that's okay, go ahead, no. No.
Speaker 2: What I was trying to get at was I think
Speaker 2: you've provided with us with a lot of good information
Speaker 2: and something to think about. I'm wondering if there's a
Speaker 2: website because a lot of people who listen to our
Speaker 2: interviews here, which in some cases should be longer, and
Speaker 2: maybe we'll have you back if you'd be willing to
Speaker 2: do an hour with phone calls. This is an hour
Speaker 2: which is for interviews, so I don't get the interaction
Speaker 2: of my audience, which I like to do in some
Speaker 2: with some topics including this, is there a website you
Speaker 2: can refer people too where they could kind of follow
Speaker 2: up on their own tomorrow or a book that you
Speaker 2: that you'd suggest that people might want to also avail
Speaker 2: themselves off.
Speaker 3: Well, if you're interested in our website, I picked the
Speaker 3: world's most difficult name of a company to spell out,
Speaker 3: but as mepsyche dot com, so it's easy. I m
Speaker 3: U t hpsych dot com. That's where all of our
Speaker 3: central hubs. You'll find all of our clinicians, things we've written,
Speaker 3: all of our media. Also, we have some really great
Speaker 3: free tools, including a career meshment test, a burnout test,
Speaker 3: and a values navigator because we do a lot of
Speaker 3: values based work, so that's a good one. And we
Speaker 3: have some other things coming out like apps and things
Speaker 3: coming in the new year. But that's where the most
Speaker 3: of our central hub of publication is to get to
Speaker 3: figure out more about what we do and if all
Speaker 3: of these things might apply to you. There's also some
Speaker 3: resources there about other places books to read, things like that.
Speaker 2: So, and asthmuth, what what brought you to that term?
Speaker 2: I'm looking the definition up at angle between a fixed
Speaker 2: point and the vertical circle that passes through the center
Speaker 2: of an object. Well, I can see how you get
Speaker 2: the site. Trust me on that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yes, So we kind of took a little
Speaker 3: liberty in in the definition. But basically people often use
Speaker 3: that mathematical calculation for navigating boats way back when before
Speaker 3: all the GPS and all ourself ones and such, and
Speaker 3: so basically that's right. So asthmas is basically the difference
Speaker 3: between where you are and where you want to be.
Speaker 3: The difference between those two things is an asthma, and
Speaker 3: so we're just trying to help people get from where
Speaker 3: they are to wherever it is they want to be.
Speaker 2: That's great, doctor Janet Koritz of Asimuth Psychological A z
Speaker 2: I m U T H psych P s y cch
Speaker 2: dot com. Thanks so much. I really enjoyed the conversation
Speaker 2: and it will make me reconsider how hard I'm marking.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much, doctor, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4: Right, You're welcome, Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: November, of course, every month has some causes. In November
Speaker 2: is Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and we're going to talk with
Speaker 2: doctor Lakelan Ikeenburger. She's a gerontologist and a here giving expert.
Speaker 2: Right after the break again, this is the Alzheimer's Awareness Month,
Speaker 2: and it's something that affects a lot of people and
Speaker 2: a lot of families. We'll talk with doctor Eikenberger right
Speaker 2: after this break here on a Monday night edition of Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray Live from the Window World
Speaker 1: nights Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: November, amongst other things, is Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and we're
Speaker 2: going to talk with doctor Lakelan Iickenberger, who's a gerontologist
Speaker 2: and a caregiving advocate. Doctor Eichenberger, welcome to Nightside. How
Speaker 2: are you?
Speaker 5: By damn well? Thanks? How are you?
Speaker 2: Which is great? How many people in America are directly
Speaker 2: impacted by Alzheimer's not talking about familiar relations, but how
Speaker 2: many individuals have Alzheimer's.
Speaker 5: Well, there's nearly six milllion people living with Alzheimer's or
Speaker 5: another type of dementia here in the US. And you're right,
Speaker 5: that's not even including family members that are also impacted.
Speaker 5: Sometimes people say when one person has a diagnosis, the
Speaker 5: family has a diagnosis because there is a lot that
Speaker 5: impacts the family as well as the individual. So you know,
Speaker 5: six million people living with the disease, and then there's
Speaker 5: about sixteen million caring for those that are living with
Speaker 5: the disease.
Speaker 2: So we talk about Alzheimer's, I assume that under that
Speaker 2: phrase or that title is dementia. Correct, you know, it's.
Speaker 5: Actually the reverse. So Alzheimer's is a type of dementia.
Speaker 5: So dementia is kind of an umbrella term, and then
Speaker 5: there's different types, but Alzheimer's is the most common form
Speaker 5: of dementia.
Speaker 2: So if Alzheimer's impacts six million individuals out of a
Speaker 2: population of three hundred and thirty million people, that's a
Speaker 2: little less than two percent. How much greater? How bigger
Speaker 2: is the umbrella dementia? Just so I understand which is bigger?
Speaker 5: You know, that's a really good question. I think as
Speaker 5: we're learning more about the various types of dementia, we're
Speaker 5: realizing that, you know, while there's the six million that
Speaker 5: are diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it likely also includes a lot
Speaker 5: of the other dementias as well. A lot of people
Speaker 5: they're living with some sort of cognitive impairment, but maybe
Speaker 5: aren't getting that official diagnosic, So it is actually kind
Speaker 5: of hard to pinpoint the exact number, but we are
Speaker 5: looking in the millions, probably around the six to eight
Speaker 5: million marks.
Speaker 2: Is Alzheimer's a spectrum disease? And when I say a
Speaker 2: spectrum disease, I think of something like multiple sclerosis, where
Speaker 2: you can have people who get on a scale of
Speaker 2: zero to ten, they get a ten and it's horrific.
Speaker 2: And yet there are people who are diagnosed with multiple
Speaker 2: sclerosis and they live a fairly normal life. I'm assuming
Speaker 2: that with Alzheimer's the diagnosis is always progressive.
Speaker 5: Yes, generally that is the case. So you will see
Speaker 5: somebody progress through the various stages, and some have more
Speaker 5: symptoms or dementilated behaviors than others. You know, some might
Speaker 5: have no still kind of a mild manner about them
Speaker 5: as they progress to the disease. Others will have a
Speaker 5: severe change in their personality and perhaps get aggressive or angry.
Speaker 5: So there are different symptoms that can show up amongst
Speaker 5: different individuals. But you're right, it is progressive in nature,
Speaker 5: meaning that over time the person will eventually experience decline.
Speaker 5: And because there's no cure, the person will eventually pass
Speaker 5: away from Alzheimer's disease or complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker 2: Is there any way to slow down the Has there
Speaker 2: been any advances in slowing down the progress of Alzheimer's And.
Speaker 5: That's what's really exciting. I think about this point in
Speaker 5: time as we're starting to see more treatments for Alzheimer's disease,
Speaker 5: and most recently we're seeing treatments for the very early
Speaker 5: stages of Alzheimer's disease, and certain people would qualify.
Speaker 4: So you know, if you've.
Speaker 5: Progressed far enough into the disease and that treatment likely
Speaker 5: is it right for you? But if you're able to
Speaker 5: get that diagnosis early on and you're a candidate for
Speaker 5: that type of treatment, there are some treatments that are
Speaker 5: showing a slowing in the progression of the disease. So
Speaker 5: it's really an exciting time now.
Speaker 2: My understanding is that there was a period of time
Speaker 2: when Alzheimer's disease could not definitively be diagnosed except in
Speaker 2: a post modem ought because they were looking for evidence
Speaker 2: of I believe plaque on the brain, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2: Has that now changed.
Speaker 5: You know, we are seeing more sophisticated methods of diagnosis.
Speaker 5: So you're right, at one point in time, you know,
Speaker 5: the most definitive way to diagnosis after someone has passed
Speaker 5: away to you know, open up the brain and examine it.
Speaker 5: But now there are various diagnostic tools like pet scams
Speaker 5: that can help really provide a more clear image of
Speaker 5: the brain and help identify those plaques entangles, amyloid and
Speaker 5: how in the brains that are kind of the hallmark
Speaker 5: symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. So we are seeing more sophisticated diagnosis,
Speaker 5: and I think what's really exciting is and this is
Speaker 5: not out yet for public use, but researchers are looking
Speaker 5: into various blood tests or other biomarkers that could make
Speaker 5: the diagnostic process, you know, more accessible and just kind
Speaker 5: of an easier process as opposed to having to travel
Speaker 5: to where a pet skin is available and that sort
Speaker 5: of thing. So I think if you if we fast
Speaker 5: forward five years from now, we'll be having a very
Speaker 5: different conversation. I think there will be a lot more
Speaker 5: in the realm of diagnostics for Alzheimer's and other types
Speaker 5: of dimensions.
Speaker 2: What percentage of the Alzheimer's diagnoses are genetic, and are
Speaker 2: any of the diagnoses non genetic? And of the ones
Speaker 2: that are not genetic, can they be avoided by diet exercise?
Speaker 2: Is that? What can anyone do either who has been told, hey,
Speaker 2: it runs in your family, or is fearful that, even
Speaker 2: though it doesn't run in their family, that they may
Speaker 2: feel what can I do to prevent that? Or is
Speaker 2: there is there any Is there any magic potion? When
Speaker 2: I say potion, I better diet, exercise, better sleep patterns?
Speaker 4: An yes.
Speaker 5: So as far as kind of the the risk factors
Speaker 5: i'll call them of Alzheimer's use, I don't have the
Speaker 5: exact percentages right in front of me, but we do
Speaker 5: know the greatest risk factor is age, so as we
Speaker 5: get older, the risk of developing Alzheimer's for me does increase.
Speaker 5: We also know that family history can increase your risk,
Speaker 5: So if it runs in your families, you have a
Speaker 5: parent or sibling, you could have an increased risk of
Speaker 5: Alzheimer's or another type of dementia. There's also a gene,
Speaker 5: the apo lea four gene that could increase the risk
Speaker 5: of dementia. But for all of those cases that I've
Speaker 5: just mentioned, it doesn't ever guarantee that you will get it.
Speaker 5: It just increases your risk. And then there is a
Speaker 5: gene that's in a very very small percentage of the
Speaker 5: population that significantly increases your risk, if not guarantees that
Speaker 5: evil develop it. But again it's a very very very
Speaker 5: small subset of the population. But the good news is,
Speaker 5: and you alluded to it, Dan, is lifestyle. There's so
Speaker 5: much we are learning about how our lifestyle can reduce
Speaker 5: our risk of developing the mentioned down the road. So
Speaker 5: even if you do have a family history, even if
Speaker 5: you do have that equalia for gene, if you start
Speaker 5: these kind of lifestyle risk reduction habits early on in
Speaker 5: your life, you can reduce the risk. And it's actually
Speaker 5: never too late to start these risk reduction habits, things
Speaker 5: like diet, as you mentioned exercise. Exercise is so good
Speaker 5: for the brain. Also making sure you're getting enough sleep,
Speaker 5: that you continue to engage socially and to challenge your
Speaker 5: brain to learn new things. So those kinds of lifestyle
Speaker 5: interventions can again help reduce the risk, which I think
Speaker 5: is good news for us all.
Speaker 2: It's always great to end on a positive and you
Speaker 2: certainly provided a lot of clear information I just am delighted.
Speaker 2: We don't rehearse these interviews. You obviously know exactly how
Speaker 2: to present yourself. You did a great job, Dr Eichenberger.
Speaker 2: And maybe some night I can have you back and
Speaker 2: we can do an hour and take phone calls in
Speaker 2: this hour of the program. We specifically avoid phone calls
Speaker 2: because the time for the interviews for separate interviews are
Speaker 2: relatively short. But I might have my producer reach back
Speaker 2: if possible. Is there anywhere that you'd like to refer
Speaker 2: people to a website, a book of any sort that
Speaker 2: people could use as an additional resource to this interview
Speaker 2: or to just I guess at Alzheimer's website, Alzheimer's Foundation
Speaker 2: of America, for example.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, Dan, I would be happy to come back anytime.
Speaker 5: And there are various Alzheimer's related organizations. The Alzheimer's Association
Speaker 5: ALV dot org is a great one. And then on
Speaker 5: our home instead dot com website, we also have some
Speaker 5: informative resources on kind of those risk reduction lifestyle factors,
Speaker 5: but also all types of dementia related care tips as well.
Speaker 5: So you can visit home in said dot com to
Speaker 5: learn about those. When that went, buy me a little
Speaker 5: home home what dot com home instead? Like, do you
Speaker 5: want to stay home instead of going anywhere else?
Speaker 2: YEP, okay, H O, M E I N S T
Speaker 2: A D dot com Dotdikenberg really enjoyed the conversation. Tough subject,
Speaker 2: but I think you've you've made some people think tonight,
Speaker 2: which is what we're all about here on Nightside.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much, Thank you, very welcome.
Speaker 2: When we get back, we're going to talk with the
Speaker 2: CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate.
Speaker 2: It's located right over by the JFK Library. I'm going
Speaker 2: to talk with Adam Hines, former state senator here in Massachusetts,
Speaker 2: who is the CEO of their effort to educate the
Speaker 2: public about the important role of the Senate and foster
Speaker 2: participatory democracy, civil discourse, and good government. Of course, this
Speaker 2: on the eve of the twenty twenty four presidential election.
Speaker 2: Timing is perfect. We'll talk with former Massachusetts state Senator
Speaker 2: Adam Hines right after this break at news at the
Speaker 2: bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w b Z,
Speaker 1: Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Delighted to welcome Adam Hines. He's the CEO of the
Speaker 2: Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate, Former Massachusetts
Speaker 2: State Senator Adam Welcome to Nightside. How are you, sir.
Speaker 6: Great to be here. The timing is good for talking
Speaker 6: about elections and all things democracy.
Speaker 2: No doubt, no doubt. One of the themes of this show,
Speaker 2: and I think you'll identify with that, is that when
Speaker 2: you and I were in school, and I was in
Speaker 2: school probably long before you, we actually look learned about
Speaker 2: the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and the way
Speaker 2: the government works, and the balance of power and the legislative,
Speaker 2: the judicial, and the executive and all of that. And
Speaker 2: I think that a lot of schools have backed off
Speaker 2: of that. Now. I've been at the Kennedy Institute, as
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, was able to moderate a program
Speaker 2: there a few years ago, and tell us about the
Speaker 2: role that this institute, which is right next door to
Speaker 2: the JF. Kennedy Library out of Columbia Point, plans to play.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful facility, by the way, and the room
Speaker 2: that is it was the epitome of the United States Senate.
Speaker 2: You felt you were on the floor of the US Senate.
Speaker 2: It's a magnificent room. Tell us about it all.
Speaker 6: That's right. It's an exact replica, one to one scale
Speaker 6: of the United States Senate. There's only one other one
Speaker 6: in the world that exists, and that is the center
Speaker 6: of a lot of our programming. And every year we
Speaker 6: work with twenty thousandstudents. They become a Senator for a day,
Speaker 6: and it's powerful and important. To your point. One of
Speaker 6: the first bills that I voted on was the Massachusetts
Speaker 6: Civics Reform and Requirement. But Massachusetts is in the minority.
Speaker 6: Civics education is being cut across the country, and so
Speaker 6: we shouldn't be surprised when we see some of the
Speaker 6: polls that have come out that show, you know, less
Speaker 6: than one third of millennials think that it is essential
Speaker 6: to live in a democracy. I mean, it's just amazing.
Speaker 6: And it's one poll after another show that either our
Speaker 6: understanding amongst our youth or their commitment to democracy is
Speaker 6: being undermined. And so that's that's a big piece of
Speaker 6: the Institute. Really. In the last couple of years, we've
Speaker 6: we've stood up a range of new programs focusing on democracy.
Speaker 6: We've we've locked elbows with the Institute of three former
Speaker 6: Republican senators being McCain, Dole, and Hatch to really dig
Speaker 6: into ways that we can make sure that the United
Speaker 6: States Senate is functioning. We're working with former senators and
Speaker 6: current senators and making sure that we're modeling deliberation and
Speaker 6: so that our governing institutions function well. And that's just
Speaker 6: as critical protecting democracy as anything else. If folks don't
Speaker 6: see that the government is representing them and standing up
Speaker 6: for them, then their faith and democracy starts to be
Speaker 6: tested as well. So an incredible set of programs that
Speaker 6: we have running right now, and it feels as timely
Speaker 6: has ever given the state of our democracy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one of the numbers you quoted, how many high
Speaker 2: school students get an opportunity to visit your institute every year?
Speaker 2: What's the number right now?
Speaker 6: Sixteen thousand come through the doors, and then we do
Speaker 6: about then we work with about six thousand more across
Speaker 6: the country virtually. I'll give you an example. Just last week,
Speaker 6: we had about thousand students from across the country talking
Speaker 6: with each other in eight different states, or from eight
Speaker 6: different states talking with each other about the pros and
Speaker 6: cons of the electoral college. And and so that's a
Speaker 6: new since COVID, a new way we're engaging and making
Speaker 6: sure that we were getting into just about every state
Speaker 6: in the country and teaching them and working with them
Speaker 6: on their their understanding of our democracy.
Speaker 2: So the students that come through the doors, because when
Speaker 2: you come through the doors and again you experience the Senate,
Speaker 2: it's it's just an amazing experience. Are they all from
Speaker 2: Massachusetts or from across New England? What's what's the sort
Speaker 2: of geographical reach And obviously with zoom and all of that,
Speaker 2: you can reach everywhere around the world, but what is
Speaker 2: the geographical reach of people student programs that come in
Speaker 2: through the doors.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you wouldn't be surprised to hear that there's a
Speaker 6: large concentration in Massachusetts and New England. But boyle boy,
Speaker 6: I'm surprised because we the given year, we can probably
Speaker 6: have twenty one different states represented in the students coming
Speaker 6: into the institute itself, and so the you know, there's
Speaker 6: a real commitment amongst teachers and schools across the country
Speaker 6: and we get to work with them one on one,
Speaker 6: which is just gram Now.
Speaker 2: I think most people in Massachusetts and certainly well New England,
Speaker 2: but certainly Massachusetts have at some point visited the Kennedy Library.
Speaker 2: I actually it was the Channel four's host the day
Speaker 2: that the Kennedy Library was formerly open, when President Jimmy
Speaker 2: Carter came and spoke back in fifteen seventy seventy nine,
Speaker 2: which was a very memorable memory of that occasion. Well,
Speaker 2: that was the time when Ted Kennedy was about to
Speaker 2: announce his challenge of Carter. It was very it was
Speaker 2: a historic moment, obviously in a very significant moment, but
Speaker 2: it is people. People can visit the Kennedy Library as
Speaker 2: individuals and his families can that be done at the
Speaker 2: Kennedy institut t as well the Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Speaker 2: for the Senate as well.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's great to hear you talk about opening day.
Speaker 6: We're at our ten year anniversary is coming up to
Speaker 6: twenty twenty five, and so keep on the lookout. We'll
Speaker 6: be giving you updates on the major events that we'll
Speaker 6: be taking on throughout the year.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: So our bread and butter right now is the students
Speaker 6: that come through and we do a number of public
Speaker 6: programs and right now anyone can come in by appointment,
Speaker 6: and we're about to restore a broader set of hours
Speaker 6: during the week, during business hours for a walk in.
Speaker 6: So we have a pretty lively museum. You know, we
Speaker 6: mentioned the Senate Chamber, but there's also the Senator's office,
Speaker 6: and the vision has been how do you make sure
Speaker 6: that people know how the Senate functions even though we're
Speaker 6: working across the government on people's awareness specific education, and
Speaker 6: so the museum aspects have this interactive advanced technology to
Speaker 6: allow you to interact with how the Senate functions as well.
Speaker 2: I'm going to throw an idea, right, I'm sure you
Speaker 2: probably have thought of this and you have dismissed it.
Speaker 2: What are the chances do you think of actually having
Speaker 2: a US Senate session fly the US the United States
Speaker 2: Center up and have them spend I'm serious, I know
Speaker 2: I love that. Have you thought I'm sure if someone has,
Speaker 2: I'm not the first who suggested that. Obviously, logistically it
Speaker 2: would be very difficult.
Speaker 3: I assume it is.
Speaker 6: Well, here's an exciting thing that we did this summer.
Speaker 6: We had two senators debating each other. Chuck Todd moderated
Speaker 6: between Bill kaz the Republican of Louisiana, and Sheldon white House,
Speaker 6: Democratic Rhode Island, and they were on c SPAN debating
Speaker 6: from the chamber and so that it had a feel
Speaker 6: of being the actual Senate session, and we do that regularly.
Speaker 6: I should say that that's one of our programs we
Speaker 6: do with the Hatch Foundation and our news partners, typically
Speaker 6: Fox News. It's also been CBS and c SPAN to
Speaker 6: model deliberation and debate for the nation. And we haven't
Speaker 6: talked about having the full Senate session in there, but
Speaker 6: we have talked about, you know, maybe hearings and other
Speaker 6: high profile events that could benefit from the location like that.
Speaker 2: What were Cassidy and white House debating, I hope with
Speaker 2: something more exciting than the name of a post office.
Speaker 2: The subject was in dispute, if you recall.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it was basically the climate and energy China. We
Speaker 6: allow the senators to choose one topic each and the
Speaker 6: moderator to choose a topic. And you know, last September
Speaker 6: we had Marco Rubio and Chris Coons debating on CBS
Speaker 6: and they similarly went the direction of having a foreign
Speaker 6: policy topic and a domestic policy topic. And I'll say this,
Speaker 6: when they get in person and talk, they often say
Speaker 6: thank you for doing this because right now division is
Speaker 6: impacting the Senate to such a dramatic degree that we
Speaker 6: can't even you know, have this debate in the arena
Speaker 6: of the Senate itself. We can't bring bills to the
Speaker 6: floor effectively and even filing amendments. Now, the division in
Speaker 6: our country is starting to impact the functioning of our Senate.
Speaker 6: And that's what we're working on with the McCain Institute
Speaker 6: and making sure that you know our group of we
Speaker 6: have a group of former senators who are really working
Speaker 6: with us to see what we can do to make
Speaker 6: for changes in the Senate so that it's working well.
Speaker 6: And so we have a pretty robust and growing setup.
Speaker 6: Programs focus on democracy. I should say this. The third
Speaker 6: one is because tomorrow's election day. With the Bob Dole
Speaker 6: Institute out in Kansas, we're about to announce next week,
Speaker 6: I guess I'm announcing it now, a report that's on
Speaker 6: the horizon around how do we bolster the funding of
Speaker 6: our elections infrastructure because right now tomorrow, eight thousand jurisdiction
Speaker 6: elections jurisdictions across the country are largely going to be
Speaker 6: run by volunteer years, largely going to be run in
Speaker 6: small towns by clerks and others who take on four
Speaker 6: or five different jobs, and it's a lot of work,
Speaker 6: and we don't invest in our basic foundations of our democracy,
Speaker 6: and that's a problem. So we're doing a lot of
Speaker 6: work in that regard as well.
Speaker 2: All right, well, Adam, I appreciate it very much. Adam Hines,
Speaker 2: who is the CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Speaker 2: for the US Senate. If you get a chance, folks,
Speaker 2: it's a wonderful trip to go to both the Kennedy
Speaker 2: Library and the Kennedy Institute for the US Senate. Adam,
Speaker 2: thanks very much, appreciate your time tonight.
Speaker 6: Thanks love, Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. We'll come back and talk about November
Speaker 2: being National Family Caregiver Month. Yes, different subjects can be
Speaker 2: the focus in particular months. Early we talked about Alzheimer's
Speaker 2: who were in this month. This is similar National Family
Speaker 2: Caregiver Month. Going to talk with Bob Coughlin. He is
Speaker 2: the co host of a podcast called In Sickness Men
Speaker 2: in the Culture of Caregiving. Back on Night's Side right
Speaker 2: after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Mine from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightsides CEOs on WBZ.
Speaker 2: The news radio November is, amongst other things, National Family
Speaker 2: Caregiver Month, an event that is recognized with an official
Speaker 2: proclamation by the White House with us as Bob Coughlin,
Speaker 2: he is the co host of a podcast entitled In
Speaker 2: Sickness Men in the Culture of Caregiving. Bob Coughlin, Welcome
Speaker 2: to Night's Side. You are a caregiver. You've also been
Speaker 2: very much involved in the Massachusetts political scene and also
Speaker 2: you the CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Organization, but you
Speaker 2: have had the caregiving experience. Tell us about your experience
Speaker 2: as a caregiver and why it is so important for
Speaker 2: men also to understand that they have a role in
Speaker 2: the culture of caregiving.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and thanks for having me Dan. And you know,
Speaker 4: I was involved in government here in Massachusetts and the
Speaker 4: CEO of mass and a lot of people didn't realize
Speaker 4: the reason I got into that line of work and
Speaker 4: was an advocate in the House and an advocate at
Speaker 4: mass Bio for Patients is because twenty two years ago
Speaker 4: my wife and I found out we were going to
Speaker 4: have a child with cystic fibrosis. And you know, immediately
Speaker 4: both her and I were thrust into that role of
Speaker 4: caregivers and it's such an important thing and there's a
Speaker 4: lot of areas that needed to be addressed, and that's
Speaker 4: how we got into the idea of having this podcast.
Speaker 4: It was actually Paul Kidwell, someone who I met while
Speaker 4: at mass Bio. He was in the communications team over
Speaker 4: at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and his wife is battling chronic illness
Speaker 4: and he was a caregiver and we would talk about
Speaker 4: it quite a bit, and just as of lady said,
Speaker 4: wouldn't it be great to create a platform and a
Speaker 4: place for men who are caregivers to you know, get
Speaker 4: feedback and be part of the discussion and learn from
Speaker 4: some successes and some mistakes. And it's been quite successful.
Speaker 4: It's been very therapeutic and enjoyable.
Speaker 2: How long have you been involved in the podcast.
Speaker 4: We've had the podcast. Yeah, they've been doing it for
Speaker 4: about a year now, and you know, it's been real
Speaker 4: interesting and it's you know, it says in sickness men
Speaker 4: in the culture of caregiving. And this isn't about men
Speaker 4: versus women or anything like that. I mean, women have
Speaker 4: predominantly been known as caregivers, but there's so many times
Speaker 4: when you know, spouses, a wife will get sick or
Speaker 4: a mom or dad will get sick, or a child
Speaker 4: is sick, and you know, we just thought that would
Speaker 4: be really interesting to bring in men caregivers and women
Speaker 4: caregivers and talk about how we can learn from them.
Speaker 4: So when they're doing about a year, we've had some
Speaker 4: real interesting guests on the show, and we've focused on
Speaker 4: cancer and Alzheimer's and you know, as of late, we've
Speaker 4: been talking a lot about caregiver burnout, you know, and
Speaker 4: what is it that you can do to avoid burning
Speaker 4: out when you're trying to work, provide for a family
Speaker 4: and care for a loved one.
Speaker 2: I think all of us are familiar with the name
Speaker 2: cystic fibrosis. Your son has made tremendous progress, has recently
Speaker 2: graduated from college and is now out in the workplace
Speaker 2: on his own. So yours is a story of great
Speaker 2: sacrifice but also great success.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's amazing. It's really come full circle, Dan and
Speaker 4: the advances and your earlier guests, when doctor Eichenberger was
Speaker 4: talking about Alzheimer's. In hopefully five years from now, it's
Speaker 4: going to be a totally different story. Well, the transformation
Speaker 4: that we've seen in the care for cystic fibrosis. With
Speaker 4: local biotech companies like Vertex and local heroes like Joe
Speaker 4: O'Donnell who has raised so much money for research for
Speaker 4: cystic fibrosis, we've been able to transform this disease. And
Speaker 4: my son Bobby took his first dose of a DOUG,
Speaker 4: a drug cult tri Capita that took eighteen years to invent.
Speaker 4: It took his first dose it would be five years
Speaker 4: November eight and since that day, he's grown, you know,
Speaker 4: twelve inches, gained about fifty pounds, his lung function's gone
Speaker 4: back to what it was when he was just four
Speaker 4: years old, and he's graduated from college and now he's
Speaker 4: actually working as a patient advocate and membership professional at
Speaker 4: mass Bio here in Massachusetts. So it's just truly we're
Speaker 4: filled with gratitude and and yeah, it is a great ending.
Speaker 4: A lot of the times these stories don't have a
Speaker 4: good ending like that, but that's something you know that
Speaker 4: my wife and I and our family's very grateful for.
Speaker 2: Well, we all know the success of the Joey Fund,
Speaker 2: and with Joe and Kathy O'Donnell, yes, I went through
Speaker 2: as well as their son Joey. And as you said,
Speaker 2: the millions of dollars that Joe O'Donnell raised, unfortunately lost.
Speaker 2: Joe was such a great many here and you know
Speaker 2: from Boston, you know great you know, Harvard football and
Speaker 2: baseball player, tremendous business success, and yet they were they
Speaker 2: were caregivers.
Speaker 6: Just that's right.
Speaker 2: There has to be for all the families out there
Speaker 2: to understand the sacrifice. But also, I guess the satisfaction
Speaker 2: of knowing that they're standing by their child or they're
Speaker 2: standing by their spouse. Talk about the satisfaction number one,
Speaker 2: and then let's talk about what needs to be done
Speaker 2: going forward.
Speaker 4: If you can, well, you know, in my whole life,
Speaker 4: there's nothing more rewarding than being able to provide and
Speaker 4: be there for my child. I think that's what any
Speaker 4: parent would do. And you know, when you talk with
Speaker 4: other folks who are taking care of a parent or
Speaker 4: a spouse or a child, you know, to have that
Speaker 4: group of folks that you can share the successes and
Speaker 4: more importantly, dan share some of the failures. And you know,
Speaker 4: when we talk about some of the challenges that caregivers face,
Speaker 4: when you think of the mental stress, the physical exhaustion,
Speaker 4: the isolation, that loneliness, never mind the financial burden and
Speaker 4: trying to balance your job and when you feel like
Speaker 4: nobody else in the world understands what you're going through.
Speaker 4: There are so many people out there that do understand,
Speaker 4: because in some shape or form, we all become a
Speaker 4: caregiver at some point. Right, it's inevitable that that's never.
Speaker 2: I'm running out of time. We should have okay, more time,
Speaker 2: but let me ask you give us the podcast and
Speaker 2: how can folks find it?
Speaker 4: Yeah, the podcast is called In Sickness Men in the
Speaker 4: Culture of Caregiving. It's available on all podcast platforms, including iHeartRadio.
Speaker 4: You can visit our websites insickness dot org for any
Speaker 4: other information. And it's it's really everybody should listen. It's
Speaker 4: it's really a good program to listen to for anyone
Speaker 4: who's going to be in the caregiving mode.
Speaker 2: Bobble, congratulations to you a family, you and your family,
Speaker 2: and congratulations to your son on his perseverance and success.
Speaker 4: Really enjoy Thanks so much, Dan, thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for everything you've done. Bob Coughlin,
Speaker 2: the podcast host of In Sickness Men and the Culture
Speaker 2: of Caregiving. When we get back, we're going to talk
Speaker 2: about the story of the night in that selection eve,
Speaker 2: A lot going on in the next twenty four forty
Speaker 2: eight seventy two hours. We'll see. We will start our
Speaker 2: special election coverage right after the nine o'clock news are
Speaker 2: on night Side