Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's Radio.
Speaker 2: Nicole, you had me worried. I thought there might have
Speaker 2: been another person sitting in. Yeah, I'm here. My name
Speaker 2: is Dan Ray.
Speaker 1: How are you I need more coffee?
Speaker 2: Clearly? So I'm gonna go do that.
Speaker 1: Well, you take over, you can drive.
Speaker 2: Okay, You're good to go. You've got the show, I
Speaker 2: think so. I think so.
Speaker 1: Can you take the wheel for the next four hours.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna get out of here.
Speaker 2: No, you deserve it. You've always worked too hard. No,
Speaker 2: the great Nicole Davis, ladies and gentlemen, my name's Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: They're not so great. Dan Ray here everybody through Friday
Speaker 2: night from eight until midnight. Rob Brooks, the Great Rob Brooks,
Speaker 2: is in the control room. He will set you up
Speaker 2: for phone calls. Beginning after the nine o'clock news first
Speaker 2: hour tonight, we'll be introducing your four guests. They will
Speaker 2: be a variety of topics, a little bit of a
Speaker 2: Pope prie every night, and it gives you some sense
Speaker 2: of what's coming up, what's going on, and maybe what's
Speaker 2: happening something like that. And then later on this evening
Speaker 2: you'll get into some real discussions about the new Massachusetts
Speaker 2: gun law that goes into effect on October twenty third.
Speaker 2: We'll also have a guest talking about the history of
Speaker 2: the American Mafia and so well, well, well, we certainly
Speaker 2: will inform, we will even maybe entertain you a little bit,
Speaker 2: because I think it's important for people to have their
Speaker 2: minds stimulated in whatever way, in whatever point of view
Speaker 2: you have. If you're in favor of the mafia, you
Speaker 2: can call if you're posting them, only kidding, only kidding,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. Let us begin tonight with
Speaker 2: Nikki Stewart. She's the executive director of the Old North Illuminated,
Speaker 2: which operates the Old North Church and historic site. Nikki Stewart,
Speaker 2: Welcome to Night's Side. How are you.
Speaker 4: I'm good, Thanks for having me my pleasure.
Speaker 2: So this Friday the thirteenth, which is tomorrow, and that
Speaker 2: gets us almost halfway through September, which means we're a
Speaker 2: month and a half away from Halloween. Okay, I'm here. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's that time of year. The some after hours crypt
Speaker 2: tours below the Old North Church. Now they're not every day,
Speaker 2: so we want to make sure that people are not
Speaker 2: showing up there on days when these tours aren't running,
Speaker 2: we'll get to the schedule. But first of all, I
Speaker 2: didn't realize what are there eleven hundred people buried uh.
Speaker 5: In the Old North Church. Wow?
Speaker 2: I that a few of those names probably are familiar
Speaker 2: to most of us. M H. I want to run
Speaker 2: a couple of bids.
Speaker 4: Paul re is not with us, although Old North is
Speaker 4: most known for the two if I see lantern signal
Speaker 4: on the night of ye well.
Speaker 2: Also, I'm not mistaken, was a shopkeeper very near the
Speaker 2: Old North Church as well. It was near and he
Speaker 2: kind of brings into the into town for a for
Speaker 2: a religious feast one Sunday or Saturday night. No so
Speaker 2: so us who's who's there? I assume some of the
Speaker 2: religious leaders of the Old North Church.
Speaker 4: Yes, so the first rector is under the church and
Speaker 4: the tomb under the altar. Of course, I think our
Speaker 4: most famous occupant is Major General John Pitcairn, who was
Speaker 4: the commander of the British Marines at the Battle of
Speaker 4: Bunker Hill and unfortunately was mortally wounded in the battle
Speaker 4: and was brought back to Old North which had been
Speaker 4: serving as a field hospital at the time, and then
Speaker 4: was Yes, was interred in one of the tombs under
Speaker 4: the church.
Speaker 2: So this is really a dumb question, but I get
Speaker 2: to ask all sorts of questions. How deep do these
Speaker 2: crypt does this crypt go? Or these tombs? If there
Speaker 2: are eleven hundred of them. I didn't realize that there
Speaker 2: was that much space beneath the old North Church.
Speaker 4: Oh, that's a great question, and the answer is surprising.
Speaker 4: So there are thirty seven tombs under the church, and
Speaker 4: as you say, eleven hundred burials. So people very quickly,
Speaker 4: you know, pull out their calculators and say, that doesn't
Speaker 4: make sense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's about thirty there's thirty spots in each tomb.
Speaker 4: I guess, well, each tomb could hold up to twenty burials,
Speaker 4: give or take. And what is an unpleasant piece of
Speaker 4: history is that the church sexton would have to rearrange
Speaker 4: the coffins and the burials every time a new roommate,
Speaker 4: if you will, was put into a tomb. But what
Speaker 4: the church would do, and this was totally a legitimate practice,
Speaker 4: is that every few decades, and at least once or
Speaker 4: twice in the church's history, they would clean out the
Speaker 4: older tombs and the burials would be placed very respectfully
Speaker 4: into what was called the charnal pit, very common in
Speaker 4: churches in Europe and practice here at Old North. So
Speaker 4: they knew that that would happen. But then the tomb
Speaker 4: would be cleaned out, swept, the remains would go into
Speaker 4: the charnal pit, and then the tomb could be used again.
Speaker 2: What let me ask you this, what is the phrase
Speaker 2: I'm hearing the word pit? Is it like the eternal pit?
Speaker 2: Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 4: It's a so it's called the charnal pit or sometimes
Speaker 4: a charnel house, and it's just an underground you know.
Speaker 4: The pit is I guess a very informal word, but
Speaker 4: a consecrated place where the remains would come out of
Speaker 4: the tombs and go into the pit in the ground,
Speaker 4: but they'd be placed, you know, in a respectful way.
Speaker 4: And folks knew that that would happen eventually and that
Speaker 4: the tomb would be reused.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, so are the well again? I don't I
Speaker 2: don't want to get too specific here, but I assume
Speaker 2: that it's done with great respect hopefully. And it wasn't
Speaker 2: like everybody just kind of got dumped into this pit, right.
Speaker 4: Nope, Nope, you'd be carefully carefully arranged and placed appropriately.
Speaker 2: Yep, excellent, excellent. That is good to know. Now, so
Speaker 2: tell us about the tours. Apparently they have been restoring
Speaker 2: the portion of the church underground for the nine months.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we partnered with the National Park Service to
Speaker 4: do a very extensive restoration project in the in the
Speaker 4: crypt in twenty twenty three, and so the crypt had
Speaker 4: actually been closed for most of last year. And it
Speaker 4: was a fascinating project because as part of that work,
Speaker 4: some of the original wooden doors were restored, and so
Speaker 4: they were removed and taken off site, which allowed a
Speaker 4: team of archaeologists to to see into the tombs for
Speaker 4: the first time, you know, in decades, if not centuries.
Speaker 4: It gave us a lot of new and very interesting
Speaker 4: information and so we're incredibly thankful to the National Park
Speaker 4: Service for that opportunity. But this these after hours tours
Speaker 4: are actually the only opportunity that folks will have to
Speaker 4: take a guided tour in the crypt this year, so
Speaker 4: it's a very special time.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about timing. First of all, people I
Speaker 2: assume can go to the website and sign up.
Speaker 4: Right yep, Oldnorth dot com and they will sell out.
Speaker 4: So people do want to sign up in advance.
Speaker 2: Oldnorth dot com. That's that's NICs been easy. Now, what
Speaker 2: what's sort of the availability because I understand this is
Speaker 2: going to run through the end of October.
Speaker 4: M So starting on as you say, is Friday the
Speaker 4: thirteenth tomorrow torsally running on Friday and Saturday nights at
Speaker 4: five thirty and at six fifteen, and then starting on
Speaker 4: October eighteenth and running through November two, they'll be running
Speaker 4: every night at those times five thirty and six fifteen.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, so again the website one more time
Speaker 2: for people who missed it the first.
Speaker 4: Time is Old North dot com.
Speaker 2: That's perfect, Nikki, this is fascinating. I'm I know that
Speaker 2: it's not sometimes easy to find parking spaces around the
Speaker 2: only church.
Speaker 4: But it's actually never easy to find parking.
Speaker 2: So I know that I was speaking I was speaking
Speaker 2: a little metaphorically there, but this is this is a
Speaker 2: tremendous opportunity, and I hope that a lot of people
Speaker 2: will will get to that website night side listeners and
Speaker 2: sign up. The ticket prices are very reasonable. I've looked
Speaker 2: at them. They're they're not a lot of money whatsoever.
Speaker 2: You can have dinner in the North End and and
Speaker 2: tour the have an after hour cryptour below the old
Speaker 2: North Church, and it'll be an evening that people will never,
Speaker 2: never ever forget. Nikki Stewart. You're a great representative. You
Speaker 2: explained it. You've answered all of my questions as impertin
Speaker 2: as some of them were. But thank you for joining
Speaker 2: us tonight.
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2: You're more than welcome. Well we get back. If you're
Speaker 2: a historian, you're going to like our second guest too.
Speaker 2: We're gonna be talking with Bill Benson. He is a
Speaker 2: Freedom Trail player and actor and he's about to tell
Speaker 2: us how the Freedom Trail Historic Lanton Tours are back.
Speaker 2: We'll have that right after this break on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio'd.
Speaker 2: Like to welcome Bill Benson, who's a Freedom Trail player
Speaker 2: and actor. Bill Benson, Welcome to Knights Aid. How are you, sir?
Speaker 5: I'm doing well.
Speaker 6: Thank you Dan for having me on pleasure.
Speaker 2: Now, the Freedom Trail Historic Lantin Tours are back. How
Speaker 2: long have they run away? First of all, let's start
Speaker 2: at the beginning.
Speaker 6: They have been away for a year. We run them
Speaker 6: in September and October each year. So it's our one
Speaker 6: of our specialty tours that we run in the fall
Speaker 6: leading up to Halloween.
Speaker 2: Okay, So what happened last year that there were no
Speaker 2: no with It toys last September and October there were?
Speaker 6: Yes, Yes, we ran them last fall.
Speaker 2: For ten months. Okay, so this is the annual return.
Speaker 2: Now they all Lanta tours. Does this mean there at night?
Speaker 6: They are? They are on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays this
Speaker 6: year from mid September. Today was actually the first night.
Speaker 6: I gave the inaugural one of the year just a
Speaker 6: few hours ago. And they will run through October twenty sixth,
Speaker 6: and then we'll do an additional one on Wednesday, October thirtieth,
Speaker 6: and they begin at six pm, departing from the Visitor
Speaker 6: Information Center on Boston Common.
Speaker 2: Okay, now you play as I understand that my producer
Speaker 2: told me doctor Samuel Prescott, and I cheated a little bit.
Speaker 2: I just checked doctor Prescott out. He only lived to
Speaker 2: the age of twenty six. He was famous for having
Speaker 2: met Paul Revere as Revere was trying to alert the
Speaker 2: countryside what happened that he was your character. Why did
Speaker 2: you not get any more than twenty six years doctor Prescott?
Speaker 6: Well, unfortunately, Dan, we're not really sure. He was twenty
Speaker 6: four years old on the night of the Midnight Ride.
Speaker 6: He was not supposed to be part of the Midnight Ride.
Speaker 6: He was one of those accidents of history. Paul Revere
Speaker 6: and and William Dawes, both members of the Sons of Liberty,
Speaker 6: were riding through the countryside, warning the countryside, and they
Speaker 6: were on their way from Lexington toward towards Conquered and
Speaker 6: they just happened to bump into doctor Prescott, who was
Speaker 6: from Conquered and he was on his way home from
Speaker 6: visiting his fiance and Lexington. It was about one in
Speaker 6: the morning, and now he happened to be a member
Speaker 6: of the Sons of Liberty as well. And you know,
Speaker 6: I think he probably figured, Hey, I'm going there anyways,
Speaker 6: I might as well ride with you, and the it's
Speaker 6: a it's a good thing he did, because further up
Speaker 6: the road was a patrol of Redcoats. They you know,
Speaker 6: they shouted out to stop because the men were up
Speaker 6: past curfew, and so they scattered and the soldiers pursued.
Speaker 6: Paul Revere. William Dawes and doctor Prescott both escaped, but
Speaker 6: William Dawes was bucked off his horse and Prescott's the
Speaker 6: only one who made it that night.
Speaker 2: Wow. And he was a physician. So so you, I'm
Speaker 2: sure incorporate his story. How long are the tours? How
Speaker 2: long are the Lantern tours? What is it? Are they
Speaker 2: an hour or so?
Speaker 6: The Lantern tours are ninety minutes, So they go from
Speaker 6: six to seven thirty.
Speaker 2: Okay, And so they begin you said on the Common,
Speaker 2: and I assume they come back to the Common.
Speaker 6: No, they'll actually end at Fanuel Hall. So we run
Speaker 6: through part of the Freedom Trail and we you know,
Speaker 6: we try to do some of the stories that are
Speaker 6: not often told about Boston's history.
Speaker 2: Well, you've been doing this for a few years, Bill,
Speaker 2: I assume this is a real passion for you. Yeah.
Speaker 6: I've been with the Freedom Trail Foundation for about twelve
Speaker 6: and a half years now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you are very much a historian and you're
Speaker 2: one of the tour guides. You've done this for twelve years.
Speaker 2: On your tours, I assume that there's a lot of
Speaker 2: New Englanders, but probably a lot of New Englanders. Sometimes
Speaker 2: we don't take advantage of great things that are in
Speaker 2: our backyard. We will go to Disney World, we will
Speaker 2: fly to somewhere in Nashville or something to see, or
Speaker 2: to whatever. But the people who come to Boston and
Speaker 2: come to are on your tours from all over the
Speaker 2: country for that manner, perhaps even somewhere in other parts
Speaker 2: of the world.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, I get guests from all over the world, all
Speaker 6: over the country, and yes, like you said, sometimes our
Speaker 6: own backyard. And often they'll they'll tell me, they'll say,
Speaker 6: I haven't been on the Freedom Trail since you know,
Speaker 6: I was in third grade and we went on a
Speaker 6: field trip. So it's really cool to show them around,
Speaker 6: especially on the Lantern Tour, because the Lantern Tours, you know,
Speaker 6: it's part of the Freedom Trail that that most people
Speaker 6: don't see. It's we like to say, it's you know,
Speaker 6: it's the darker store worries of Boston's history, a bit
Speaker 6: more gruesome. The stories that I like to say, kind
Speaker 6: of lurk in the shadows. But it's important to note
Speaker 6: that it's it's not a ghost tour. You know, everything
Speaker 6: you hear on the Land and Tour is true and
Speaker 6: and really shows I think that history can be sometimes
Speaker 6: just as or even more chilling than a ghost ghost story.
Speaker 2: I love the imagery, I really do love the imagery,
Speaker 2: and I think that a lot of families could could
Speaker 2: take advantage of this. On an average tour, how many
Speaker 2: folks are with you as you as you walk along
Speaker 2: the trail, You.
Speaker 6: Know, it can really vary. It depends, you know, on
Speaker 6: the time of day. If we're at one of our
Speaker 6: peak times on our standard walk into History tour, the crowds,
Speaker 6: especially in the summer, can get quite large. When they're
Speaker 6: at peak times. We do try to send out more
Speaker 6: than one guide to split the group. We are also
Speaker 6: wearing microphones. But then at other times they can be
Speaker 6: a little bit smaller, a bit more intimate. The Lantern
Speaker 6: tour that I just gave tonight at six o'clock had
Speaker 6: seven people on it, so we had a really great
Speaker 6: experience where I could really tell them and the stories
Speaker 6: and cater to what they wanted to hear and the
Speaker 6: questions that they wanted to ask.
Speaker 2: So so you're you're you have a microphone on it
Speaker 2: so people can hear you, which is great. Okay, do
Speaker 2: they have headsets as well? Or is it? Or is
Speaker 2: it they simply rely upon your microphone.
Speaker 6: It does rely on the microphone. But I will say
Speaker 6: Dan that I can project quite well with the microphone,
Speaker 6: so I don't think you'll have trouble hearing me.
Speaker 2: No, I and you sound like you have a great
Speaker 2: a great voice for this.
Speaker 6: And thank you again.
Speaker 2: Let's let's tell people how they can get information, because
Speaker 2: I'm sure there are people listening right now who are interested.
Speaker 2: But what what can they do to get tickets? Can
Speaker 2: they just show up? I assume it's better to get
Speaker 2: tickets in advance.
Speaker 6: Yes, so I would definitely recommend getting tickets in advance.
Speaker 6: While our normal tours you can purchase them at the site.
Speaker 6: The visitor information center is closed by the time this
Speaker 6: tour is departing, so you can purchase tickets in advance
Speaker 6: on our website. Thusfreedomtrail dot org pretty easy.
Speaker 2: And again the information center on the common. Is that
Speaker 2: close to the Park Street station.
Speaker 6: Yes, it's very close to Park Street station. That's one
Speaker 6: thirty nine Tremont Street. It's a green building right along
Speaker 6: Tremont Street. You can't miss it.
Speaker 2: Perfect, Okay. I just wanted to locate it for people
Speaker 2: so they wouldn't be lost so if they're coming into
Speaker 2: the MBTA to get off the Park Street station and
Speaker 2: they're ready to go. I just think it's great. And
Speaker 2: I admire folks like you who not only historians, but
Speaker 2: also you want to replicate history and make and spread
Speaker 2: history to other people. And I do hope that a
Speaker 2: lot of people this would be really great for families
Speaker 2: with kids in the fourth, fifth, sixth grade who maybe
Speaker 2: know a little bit about the Revolutionary War, but really
Speaker 2: we'll be able to kind of become almost part of
Speaker 2: it by being on one of these lantern tours. So
Speaker 2: I would highly recommend it, and and it sounds to
Speaker 2: me like you'll do a great job. You did a
Speaker 2: great job for me tonight, Bill Benson, thanks so much
Speaker 2: for being with us on night side.
Speaker 6: Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Dan, all right, my friend, we'll talk soon. Will we
Speaker 2: get back right after the news. At the bottom of
Speaker 2: the hour here in WBS, we're going to talk about outreach.
Speaker 2: This is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and we're going
Speaker 2: to be talking with a doctor for the Mass General
Speaker 2: Brigham about outreach, very important issue. And then later on
Speaker 2: at eight forty five, we're going to talk about Hispanics
Speaker 2: had Heritage Month, with the owner of El Mundo Boston,
Speaker 2: Hispanics Hispanic Heritage Breakfast sponsored by Al Mundo. We'll be
Speaker 2: talking with Alberto Vassalo, So stay with us. And then
Speaker 2: we're going to be talking at nine o'clock tonight about
Speaker 2: a piece of legislation that a lot of people are
Speaker 2: happy with and a lot of people are unhappy with,
Speaker 2: and we'll play that one out for you, as well
Speaker 2: as talk about a history of the American mafia a
Speaker 2: little bit later on tonight as well. So we have
Speaker 2: lots of information. Stay with us. My name is Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: You know, if ever you have problems getting us on
Speaker 2: the radio, and there's no reason why you should, because
Speaker 2: we have such a big, powerful radio station, what they
Speaker 2: call the over the air terrestrial radio station, you can
Speaker 2: always get us on iHeartRadio app. It's free and it's available.
Speaker 2: You can listen to WBZ News Radio on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2: Just go to iHeartRadio app download it for free. Back
Speaker 2: on Nightside right after.
Speaker 1: This, You're on night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ
Speaker 1: Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Thanks to call. September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month,
Speaker 2: and to reemphasize that point, we are delighted to be
Speaker 2: joined by doctor Quak Trin. He is with the Massachusetts
Speaker 2: General Brigham and he urges all men to get screenings
Speaker 2: for prostate cancer this month. He is a doctor also,
Speaker 2: he has a master's of Business Administration. He's the co
Speaker 2: founder of the Prostate Cancer Outreach Clinic at mass General
Speaker 2: Brigham and your anc urology surgeon, uh, doctor trind, Welcome
Speaker 2: to night set. How are you, sir?
Speaker 7: I am doing well, good evening.
Speaker 2: How are you doing great? Thanks, thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Prostate cancer obviously is a cancer that affects men. How
Speaker 2: what percentage of men in America at some point in
Speaker 2: their life are likely to deal with prostate cancer?
Speaker 7: Actually a fair number of men, you know, depending on
Speaker 7: which stat you're looking at, we're talking about one in
Speaker 7: seven one and eight men will deal with prostate cancer
Speaker 7: at some point in their life.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 7: What's interesting though, is that to some the if you
Speaker 7: live long enough as a man, you will get process cancer.
Speaker 7: There's been some studies that looked at men above eighty
Speaker 7: years old, and actually probably more than half the male
Speaker 7: population that's eighty and above has a little bit of
Speaker 7: prossa cancer that you know, ultimately our job is to
Speaker 7: find the prostate cancers that can potentially cause harm, and
Speaker 7: that's the whole idea of screening.
Speaker 2: Yes, and I am aware of those studies and those statistics,
Speaker 2: and I think it's important. I assume, first of all,
Speaker 2: if if you're taking if a man is taking an
Speaker 2: annual physical in the in the blood work that a
Speaker 2: general practitioner would order for a physical, they would check
Speaker 2: for any evidence of elevated risks of prostate cancer. I
Speaker 2: assume that's correct. I don't want to give bad information,
Speaker 2: but yeah, explain it.
Speaker 7: No, absolutely, it's slightly you know, it is a controversy topic.
Speaker 7: I think that the current recommendations, what they say is
Speaker 7: that a man should have some form of shared decision
Speaker 7: making about should they get tested for profty cancer or not.
Speaker 7: It's not something that you necessarily have to do on
Speaker 7: a yearly basis, but it's definitely something worth discussing what
Speaker 7: you're a primary care physician, especially if you are at
Speaker 7: risk of profit and cancer.
Speaker 2: So my understanding, and again, you know, I've been very
Speaker 2: fortunate in this regard, but my doctors have always said
Speaker 2: to me, pay attention to that number and make sure
Speaker 2: that number is low and when that number comes back elevated.
Speaker 2: That's when that is a sign that someone may be
Speaker 2: developing or have developed prostate cancer. As I understand that.
Speaker 2: If I'm wrong there, please set me straight.
Speaker 7: Yeah, no, no, you're apt to correct. What makes it
Speaker 7: a little bit complicated is that this market you're talking about,
Speaker 7: which is the proceeds specific antigen or PSA, it's specific
Speaker 7: to the proceeds you know, as a name implies, but
Speaker 7: it's also produced by normal prosthetic cells, and they it
Speaker 7: will also be produced by inflame process cancer proceeds cells.
Speaker 7: So sometimes what's difficult is trying to make the difference
Speaker 7: between is this person's PSA is high because they have
Speaker 7: a big prostate, because they have a lot of inflammation,
Speaker 7: or because they have cancer or some combination of these.
Speaker 2: Right, Okay, so what would be the if there is
Speaker 2: because you said to me there was some controversy. Obviously,
Speaker 2: a false positive is something that can cause people tremendous anxiety.
Speaker 2: But it's I assume better to get a false positive
Speaker 2: to make sure it's not a positive. I'm just trying
Speaker 2: to understand why this controversy over checking for it annually.
Speaker 7: Yeah, there's I'd say that the controversy comes from two
Speaker 7: different angles. So one of them is that you mentioned
Speaker 7: it actually the whole idea of anxiety, how many people
Speaker 7: are you going to make anxious to find profit cancer?
Speaker 7: And some of it implies also that if the PSC
Speaker 7: is high, we have to do a workup, and a
Speaker 7: workup may lead to an invasive test like a biopsy,
Speaker 7: and all that whole process is a concern the editor.
Speaker 7: The other thing you also need to know is that
Speaker 7: a lot of men will have profty cancer and will
Speaker 7: die with proftate cancer rather than.
Speaker 5: Off profit cancer.
Speaker 7: So there's also the question about trying to find the
Speaker 7: cancers that are problematic and leaving some of these smaller,
Speaker 7: slow growing cancers alone. And then you know, if you
Speaker 7: screen a lot and then you find a lot of
Speaker 7: these smaller cancers, then that causes a lot of anxiety
Speaker 7: for nothing, because these cancers may not do anything right.
Speaker 2: So what is the most important age? We often hear
Speaker 2: for women and mammograms that they have. They seem to
Speaker 2: lower that age now I think it's forty. It used
Speaker 2: to be fifty. I might be off a little bit there,
Speaker 2: But is there an age at which men should at least,
Speaker 2: if not annually periodically be checked. What is the age
Speaker 2: that I assume that there are young men who can
Speaker 2: develop prostate cancer? But is there an accepted age in
Speaker 2: the medical community when there should really be at least
Speaker 2: an effort to determine if any sort of a cancer exists.
Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely, I think, you know, in early fifties would
Speaker 7: be a ballpark figure. And there's not like an asset time.
Speaker 7: Like if you look at some recommendations, they'll talk about
Speaker 7: fifty five years.
Speaker 5: Older and above.
Speaker 7: Some of them will move it a little bit earlier
Speaker 7: to forty five, and some of it also depends on
Speaker 7: risk factors like race and family history. But I think
Speaker 7: that's the age range that you should be at least
Speaker 7: having a conversation with your primary care provider about, you know,
Speaker 7: is this worth checking? Am I at risk of prosty cancer?
Speaker 2: What do you My understanding is that black American men
Speaker 2: are at a higher risk for this particular cancer. I
Speaker 2: don't understand why, but I've read that consistently accurate or
Speaker 2: are not accurate.
Speaker 7: Yes, it is accurate, you know. Actually, that's that's part
Speaker 7: of the field that I am doing a lot of
Speaker 7: research in. I think that it is fair to say
Speaker 7: that black men are more likely to develop processing cancer.
Speaker 7: I think some of the controversy of is about are
Speaker 7: black men more likely to die of processing cancer? So
Speaker 7: if you look at the facts, the answer is yes,
Speaker 7: because there's a more than twofold higher mortality rate in
Speaker 7: black men compared to white men. The question is like why, right,
Speaker 7: is it because of biology or is it about utter
Speaker 7: factors like social determines of health, access to care, access
Speaker 7: to treatment, and all the things that you know.
Speaker 2: Or die initial diet? Is diet considered a factor there?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Absolutely so. So all these factors are being studied and
Speaker 7: make that conversation about why black men are more likely
Speaker 7: to die of profitty cancer? Uh, you know, controversial, right,
Speaker 7: there's a lot of conversation about that.
Speaker 2: So what can we suggest again, you're the the co
Speaker 2: founder of the Prostate Cancer Outreach Clinic at mess General Brigham.
Speaker 2: You're also a surgeon, neurology surgeon. What can men take
Speaker 2: away from our conversation tonight? Of whatever background they are,
Speaker 2: of whatever age they are, what what should they do?
Speaker 2: You know, yeah, reaching out to you, not to you personally,
Speaker 2: but I mean what should they do? No?
Speaker 7: I think I think men should be empowered and be
Speaker 7: informed about profety cancer. And you know, you have to
Speaker 7: do your research, you have to understand and and you
Speaker 7: have to ask your primary care physician if this is
Speaker 7: something that is worth pursuing, because you know, as I
Speaker 7: said earlier, a lot of men die with prosy cancer.
Speaker 7: They don't die of prosy cancers, but there's still a
Speaker 7: significant number of men. It is a significant cause of
Speaker 7: death for men of cancer, and we as physicians and
Speaker 7: the medical community, we want to be sure that we
Speaker 7: find those cancers that are potentially lethal and take care
Speaker 7: of them. And part of that is having this conversation
Speaker 7: tonight about screening and its importance and talking to your
Speaker 7: primary care provider.
Speaker 2: So let me ask you one final tough question, doctor Trendon.
Speaker 2: That is, if someone's listening tonight and they don't have
Speaker 2: a primary care physician, and there are people who do
Speaker 2: not have primary care physicians, what can they take away
Speaker 2: from this conversation that they can do about this issue.
Speaker 2: You know, short of getting a primary care physician, which
Speaker 2: is becoming increasingly more difficult by the way.
Speaker 7: There are other ways to potentially get screening for prostly cancer.
Speaker 7: You know, one of the things that we do as
Speaker 7: part of our outreach efforts is to do some screening.
Speaker 7: You know, you what you mentioned is absolutely true. We've
Speaker 7: definitely done some outreach events.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 7: And one recently in the construction site and a lot
Speaker 7: of people mentioned that is that I don't have a
Speaker 7: private care provider, and you know, this is something that
Speaker 7: we are happy to provide. But I do want to
Speaker 7: emphasize having a primary a primary care position is very important.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 7: You know, ultimately it will you know, we're talking about
Speaker 7: proceed cancer screening, that are so many other things and
Speaker 7: maybe this conversation we're having right this minute is a
Speaker 7: good opportunity to tell that to everyone that you know, men,
Speaker 7: we have to take care of our health and have
Speaker 7: and that starts with having a primary care.
Speaker 2: Physician, no doubt. Doctor Trent, thank you so much for
Speaker 2: your time and also thank you for what you do. Uh.
Speaker 2: Doctor Quadtrin of the Mass General Brigham talking about the
Speaker 2: fact that this is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and
Speaker 2: whether you're a man or a woman. If you're a
Speaker 2: woman and there's there's there are men in your life,
Speaker 2: please have them take note of this and you can
Speaker 2: play this for them. Just go to a nightside on
Speaker 2: demand tomorrow and you can play this on our website,
Speaker 2: This conversation with the men in your in your lives,
Speaker 2: in your lives. Thanks so much, doctor, I really appreciate
Speaker 2: the opportunity you you You've been really wonderful to spend
Speaker 2: the time with us tonight.
Speaker 5: Hey, it's my pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Okay, talk So when we get back, we're going to
Speaker 2: talk about Hispanic Heritage Month with the The owner of
Speaker 2: El Mundo, Alberto Asalo, will join us coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 2: Stay right with us.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Proud to be in the Window World Nightside Studios for certain.
Speaker 2: My name is Dan Ray, the afore mentioned Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: And now I am delighted to welcome Alberto Asalio, the
Speaker 2: owner of El Mundo. Most people in Boston know ALBERTA.
Speaker 2: Asalio because he's done so many things, and not only
Speaker 2: in the field of journalism, but in sports broadcasting. Alberto Walgman, Nightside.
Speaker 5: How are you, Dan?
Speaker 3: How are you today?
Speaker 5: How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm doing great. I'm doing great. First of all, I
Speaker 2: think everyone knows El Mundo, which has been around Boston
Speaker 2: for decades it was your dad, if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 2: who founded El Mundo. Is that correct?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Fifty two years ago, nineteen seventy two. Almundo Boston started
Speaker 3: in a basement in Cambridge. My father had just come
Speaker 3: over from Cuba as a young twenty three year old
Speaker 3: and there was much smaller community, but there was no
Speaker 3: real way for folks who spoke Spanish in Boston to communicate,
Speaker 3: so he started El Mundo newspaper.
Speaker 2: Pretty courageous and also probably fortunate young man to get
Speaker 2: out of Cuba at that point in time. That was
Speaker 2: a tough time to try to get out of Cuba
Speaker 2: in nineteen seven. Yeah, he didn't.
Speaker 3: He didn't get out.
Speaker 5: He escaped.
Speaker 2: Oh I know that. No, that that's exactly what I mean.
Speaker 2: So this was this was not like going to the
Speaker 2: airport and buying a ticket from Havana to Boston. It
Speaker 2: was a little tougher than that.
Speaker 3: So yeah, and my dad's wanted you know, and I
Speaker 3: think you met my dad. But my dad's one of
Speaker 3: those one of those old Cuban guys who always tells me,
Speaker 3: even though I was born in Boston, that he's more
Speaker 3: American than me, because he's an American by choice. He
Speaker 3: became a citizen as soon as he could. And I
Speaker 3: was just lucky to have been born in Boston.
Speaker 2: He said, Roberto, I happened to agree with you. Dad,
Speaker 2: I must tell you I was I was born in
Speaker 2: Boston too. I was lucky. I was born at the
Speaker 2: Farcdone Hospital. You probably were born at one of the
Speaker 2: great Boston hospitals. But we were lucky because we were
Speaker 2: born here. Those people I had a great friend, Alberto
Speaker 2: Salazar's dad, Jose and Maria Salazzau. I don't know if
Speaker 2: you remember them, but they.
Speaker 3: Know he wanted he won the marathon and eight eighty one.
Speaker 2: Yes he did, Yes he did. But I knew his
Speaker 2: dad and his and his mom and Jose had to
Speaker 2: escape from from Cuba. So we forget that those were
Speaker 2: tough times. I mean that that was a point in
Speaker 2: time for someone to be able to get off that island,
Speaker 2: that island prison and come here a man of great courage.
Speaker 2: So I'm sure the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.
Speaker 2: This is Hispanic Heritage Month, and there's a big Boston
Speaker 2: Almundo Boston Hispanic Heritage Breakfast coming up, not tomorrow, but
Speaker 2: a week from tomorrow, tell us all about it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I stole this idea from the Irish.
Speaker 2: That's okay. So a lot of people stole from the Irish,
Speaker 2: that's no problem.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I.
Speaker 2: Could say that because I'm Irish too, by.
Speaker 5: The way, I know, I know, I love it.
Speaker 3: Thanks to you guys. This was born because I grew
Speaker 3: up in Boston. Every Saint Patrick's Day, I'd wake up
Speaker 3: and I'd watched Saint Patrick's State but East and I see,
Speaker 3: you know, all these elected officials having a great time.
Speaker 3: You know, you're seeing them in a different light. And
Speaker 3: I said, hey, wait a minute, why can't we start
Speaker 3: this tradition. You know, at that time was Mayo Menino
Speaker 3: and Governor Deval Patrick, And I said, why don't we
Speaker 3: do this breakfast with the same format. So it is
Speaker 3: a roast format, but we'll just change up the theme,
Speaker 3: change up the food a little bit the music.
Speaker 2: But no cornbath and cabbage next Friday.
Speaker 3: I'm sure, right, no, no, no, no, I mean it's great,
Speaker 3: but it's a little more spicy. And the truth, you.
Speaker 2: Know, corn beef and cabbage is like the last meal
Speaker 2: I want any day of the year, particularly on Saint
Speaker 2: Patrick's Day. But that's neither here under there.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And you know we started this, you know, roast format, uh,
Speaker 3: and it's grown. It's in its fifteenth year and now
Speaker 3: each year we pick a different theme. We get over
Speaker 3: six hundred four. I mean, it's a total wall to
Speaker 3: wall sold out of event, a sixth straight sellout. We
Speaker 3: get more than six hundred people at the Boston Park Plaza.
Speaker 3: And it's a fun event because I get to make
Speaker 3: fun of Governor Haley Mayor woo Ayana Pressley, all your favorites, all.
Speaker 2: Of my favorites what I call a target rich environment Alberto, Yes, yes,
Speaker 2: so so, but you've got to be a little light
Speaker 2: with their guests. I mean, you don't want me out
Speaker 2: there as the toastmaster, if you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but we have fun with it, and really, at
Speaker 3: the end of the day, it's really it's really about
Speaker 3: celebrating commonalty and unity more than differences. Right, We're all Bostonians.
Speaker 3: We're all living in what I consider the greatest city
Speaker 3: in the world. And although we make differences on how
Speaker 3: to run it and do things, you know, we have
Speaker 3: way more in common and difference.
Speaker 5: And that's the theme. And you know, this year.
Speaker 3: You know, Dan, I can probably tell you that most
Speaker 3: of your audience probably does. You know, when they hear
Speaker 3: veterans of war and lawn, the word Hispanic or Latino
Speaker 3: probably doesn't come to mind because they don't know that
Speaker 3: many Hispanics have proudly served this country for many years,
Speaker 3: especially Puerto Rican's work citizens, right, they're natural citizens and
Speaker 3: have done so. And there's a vibrant Latino Veterans Puerto
Speaker 3: Ricans monument here in Boston. And there's a great Latino
Speaker 3: law enforcement group of Boston of young guys and they're.
Speaker 5: Very happy and proud of being.
Speaker 3: Officers, and they want to recruit more guys like that
Speaker 3: and more and women.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely, we need a couple of hundred more. I
Speaker 2: talked with Larry Calderon, the president of the VPPA, and
Speaker 2: we need more officers. And we're down about three hundred officers.
Speaker 2: And the ranks need to be filled, and they're being
Speaker 2: filled by young black officers, young Hispanic officers. And just
Speaker 2: as the face of the city changes, so does the
Speaker 2: face of law enforcement and the fire department. Absolutely, that's
Speaker 2: that's that's what happened. Weapons in a great city, and
Speaker 2: and and Boston remains a great city. By the way,
Speaker 2: I I just earlier tonight for the final was watching
Speaker 2: your Ted Talk uh and it was a fabulous open
Speaker 2: anybody who could could could find that Ted Talk. It
Speaker 2: really did epitomize your experience, who you are, and it
Speaker 2: is also reflective of what the city of Boston is becoming.
Speaker 2: You know. It's funny. I was thinking tonight before I
Speaker 2: came on with you. I know that you've done sportscasting,
Speaker 2: uh for you know, on Spanish network Radio network for
Speaker 2: the Red Sox, and I look at the Red Sox
Speaker 2: lineup these days and we have more Hispanic players, you know,
Speaker 2: both we're talking about the pitching staff, third base, center field, wherever,
Speaker 2: second base, then system.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and you know they spouse uh number
Speaker 3: one sporting countries like Dominica, Republic, Venezuela for years, Cuba
Speaker 3: for years before you know, you know, they can't come over,
Speaker 3: like you said.
Speaker 5: It's total.
Speaker 3: Things haven't changed much in Cuba, so it's not like
Speaker 3: they can come over here. But yeah, we have a
Speaker 3: rich history. And I've got a I've got a quiz
Speaker 3: for you, a trivia Who is the first Latino inducted
Speaker 3: into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: I'm guessing Roberto Clemente.
Speaker 5: You would guess incorrectly.
Speaker 2: Huh.
Speaker 5: I'm going to tell you who it is, Ted Williams.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a good show because his mom was Mexican. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: you got it exactly that I knew. But I didn't think,
Speaker 2: you know, I gotta be honest with you, I didn't
Speaker 2: think of Mexico as being Latin America. But obviously, you
Speaker 2: know my great pal, and I know it's a great
Speaker 2: pal of yours, Altiante. You know, he and he and
Speaker 2: his beautiful wife, they are a you know, they are
Speaker 2: just a fabulous couple. And you think about you know, Eltiante,
Speaker 2: his career, he had like three careers career with the Indians,
Speaker 2: you know, great season with the Twins, then he came
Speaker 2: to the Red Sox. I mean, Louis Tan should be
Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame. That's what we have to do.
Speaker 2: We have to work together get Louis Tan in the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame.
Speaker 5: We really do.
Speaker 3: I mean, if you look at his career and you know,
Speaker 3: I was working at the sixty eight year and he are,
Speaker 3: you know, and then you'll look sure, and then you
Speaker 3: look at you know, you know most of his games
Speaker 3: he'd pitched one hundred and forty hundred and fifty sixty pitches.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was an easy outing. Yeah he was. Who's
Speaker 2: ready to go? Four days later? This is one this
Speaker 2: five day stuff, Bruno, I could talk to you all night,
Speaker 2: man about sports and heritage. Keep on doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2: Best of luck. How could folks get tickets to the
Speaker 2: breakfast if if there are any still available?
Speaker 3: No, it is sold out. It is a sold out event. Okay,
Speaker 3: We thank you for bringing it to light and maybe
Speaker 3: one day.
Speaker 5: You can make it out to our event.
Speaker 3: And and if I see you coming down the aisle,
Speaker 3: I may have a few light hearted jabs throwing your.
Speaker 2: Way anytime, anytime. You just let me know, okay, as
Speaker 2: long as it's like in the winter time, I'm broadcasting
Speaker 2: remotely during the summer. As you get my drift all
Speaker 2: about it off here, okay.
Speaker 3: All right, take care of thank you, all right.
Speaker 2: Alberto Berto Vasilio uh the the owner of elm Mundo.
Speaker 2: We are coming back right after the nine o'clock news.
Speaker 2: Whenever I get a chance to talk a little bit
Speaker 2: of baseball, hey, it makes it makes a good night.
Speaker 6: For me.
Speaker 2: I hope it does for you coming back on nightside