From cafe, and the vocs media pack has network welcome to stay to humphrey bernard from time to time. We re era conversation that stuck with us. It stay tuned this week we revisiting a conversation. I had with frank rooney in january of this year.

Brooding has worn many different distinguished had to the new times over the last twenty five years, from metro reporter to white white house to chief restaurant critic and now to opinion writer rider he a weekly newsletter reflecting on politics, culture, food, the use of language and many other topics of interest. Interest is also a professor of journalism and public policy. A duke university can the author of many books, including his most recent memoir, the beauty of dust on vision, lost and found. We spoke about polarizing political rhetoric heading into twenty twenty four. How is changing the fabric of writing and how an unusual medical ailment he experienced and twenty seventeen changed. His outlook on life That's coming up stay tuned. Support, for this show comes from crack in reply was like them financial system, but different. It does

care where you come from what you look like you're credit score or your outrageous food delivery. Abbots ripped out was fine. that's for everyone everywhere. Time racket see what crypto can be not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss, gripper currency services are provided a? U s in? U s territory, customers by heyward ventures, incorporated gps disclosures at cracking, dotcom, slash, legal, slash, disclosures support. The show comes from into the mix abandoned juries pie cast about joy, injustice produced with vocs creative, twenty one years ago, when creasy isaacs walked. Yet another logging truck enter her community grassy narrows fascination. She does did enough was enough, so she along with her sister and friend, created kate, on the only road to the reserve and kicked off decades of change. here. Have one woman took a stand against logging in chains the community forever and the later

episode of into the mix. Frank bruening welcome to the show thanks for having me it's a great honor to have you way overdue. I've been a fan for a very long time, and I, like everything that you put out my first question to you, is given. What's going on in our politics, that you write about politics and public policy, you teach policy, a duke doo, doo long for the simpler days of being a restaurant critic. even if the item didn't mean to presume that those were simpler dave, but no. No. It just strikes me that if you can luxuriate in a bisque Maybe this is nicer and more pleasant than what you have to figure out now. The thoughts are certainly kind of prettier I've. Pretty yours, weren't we can use, as relates to

food yeah. I I guess I long for them in that sense, but but I tell you what people I don't think appreciate unless they've been in the hot seat of restaurant critic for an influential newspaper is as angry as politicians get it. You praetors angry as politicians get at me. Nothing compared to mr terrific matters, I received a bad review, nothing You were disguises like how their work I reserved and fake names. I had credit cards In fact, names for the times actually had to have a put my kind of personal conversation with an agreement with american express cause. I I changed my fate credit cards bed every six months, right, but I didn't wear disguise- is because a it's really hard to pull off a good disguise, and so they are not always successful. But on top of that it takes an enormous amount of work. The one I'm I do disguised myself arrest. Her tour had made a public proclamation tat he. So

He did my reviews of his restaurants that he was not going to. Let me review the next one and he had offered a reward to any staff member who saw me come to the door and correctly spotted me and threw me out, and so for that restaurant for the three visits I made. Ere I wore elaborate disguises. I had witnessed that from my head and adjust it can against me of something I knew already, which is you cannot disguise yourself night after night and get the job done and not be distracted by not spend your entire life inherent make up. Essentially, what percentage of the time when you are not disguised did the folks at the restaurant know who you are so the first year of the job, maybe forty percent of the time by the fifth year, probably eighty five percent of the time. It just it's just unavoidable. You know in silk. So what does that introduce What what distortions that introduce internet processing. In other words, you are, they are they laugh. jeanne, more love and flavour on your food. Are they

serving you better today seem nervous. You have you account for whatever distortion, your presence creates. Well, I mean you you noticed certain things and you and your temper. The amount of weight you give them in a review. There are things that good news? Is there are things that can't change? They can't go out and find a new supplier. They can't go out and find a new line cook, and they can't you know they can't remake the recipes. What they can and do and what they do- and I learned all about this later is really real. nervous self regarding restaurants would to use kid, and then they would fire two versions of your entire tables order right and then they would unwell, and then they working with you on your which duck came out better, which which stake, looks better and they would bring you that see. You know that's happening, and you have to kind of account for that any would be hilarious, simeon idea, I would walk in and they often didn't spot you until like minute, ten or minute twenty five and

One of the ways I could always tell is, if I had a female server and they figured out twenty five minutes in that it was me because they also knew I was gay all of a sudden, the best looking mail server arms in the place had taken over the table. Yet We you're talking about reminds me of a pack ass. I did a few years ago with my friend David Chang, and he talked about something that I thought it was fascinating. I wonder if you experiences, there was a he's: an owner of restaurants and a chef of of great repute, He said you know people, he knows him and in restaurants it is run Sometimes when a reviewer or vip person was coming in the internet, I have sometimes have the chef with the head. Chef would be. I need to personally prepare the meal and chop the vegetables into all the preparatory work, because I'm the chef when, as day points out it's been awhile, since the chef has done that- and you know, the line. Cooks

are actually very, very good at that and they shouldn't be replaced just because you have a review or a vip. Does that scenario making sense to you? Oh makes total sense A restaurant is really about sister. She knew what someone like David Chang, who is as great chef, great restaurant, with someone like him does. Is they put systems in place? They put people in place. It's it's a mess. the general role as much as it is the role of an artist, and I agree with him. I think a chef can actually make the mistake of showing up getting involved in disrupting what has become a sort of spontaneous effortless system after exacting set up. I'm sorry. That makes a lot of sense him in another way, I cut off until I had been made, was if a restaurant haven't open kitchen, often halfway through the meal, but not before, I would notice owe their job george VON direct, and he wasn't here at the beginning, but he is he has taxi over from whichever other restaurant. He was apt to make sure that the restaurant critics.

I am standing in the kitchen and gets the sense that he's never of neglecting this particular restaurant in his empire. A couple more cautious about restaurants and fully milk will come back to it have to do some. some politics in language- and there are few things I asked you about your yourself, restaurants in america gun appreciably better over the last twenty years, overall, absolutely Why is that? Well, because more and more americans have I have become- I hate the word, but it's a convenient one. Foodies right I mean this tracks exactly with the expansion of food coverage in our magazines and in our newspapers and it tracks exactly with the explosion of the food net and all the food television. In the last twenty thirty years, americans became much more interested in food. Many americans became much more sophisticated about food and that created a market for restaurants. and a set of standards for restaurants that was different from twenty five forty years ago. Last question about restaurants. At this moment,

Do you agree with me that restaurants, you go back? All of them should go back to the actual paper menu I'd. Do I agree with you. I look out for personal every time. I don't know about you prepare every time they have one of those. Damn camera codes right and you hold your phone over. I get it open forty percent, the time it doesn't work and then, like your your your meal, spell of the meals been broken, because your first ten minutes are one of the servers trying to see if it works on their phone trying to handle your phone. I mean it's like a bad laid and those with a vulgar ground trying to pull your phone out for it. meal, your family or with colleagues or friends. Then you get it or notification, and yet you down a bad path right from you ok. So I am, I also enjoy the aesthetics of looking at a menu I mean in before, before menu started to go away. You can kind of get some of your first act impressions of a restaurant and what it was trying to do and what its style insensibility were.

from looking at the way they put together the menu everything about it. Yeah some menus are are well actually scratch that I want to learn something else. So frank, let's talk about politics, which I know you're a keen observer of It's just a part of the podcast. It's uplifting yeah. Well, I thought we'd begin with the food. We might come back to food period, maybe we'll periodically to come that we might need to continue to destroy a random set of, because I have a lot of questions about that. We could do a whole episode just on that experience, but does the person who asked you about some people might say pre. We talk about him too much between twenty four on far away. That's rhonda santa's. It's all as various guests about rhonda santas anomaly known to me the guy I dont know if he has a glass jar or not, I mentioned before, but you ve written colorful. It

What about a lot of the higgs fat frondist centres? And you describe him as what's the phrase you as you say, he's the seething protagonist of revenge, thriller, What does that mean? What I find fascinating about run? Descent isnt, I do not mean fascinating in the positive sense. Is we live This era, where so much of politics is negative. So much of the appeal that partisans make the politicians make to the partisans whom they want to have voting for them. The appeals negative. These are enemies. This is how I will torture our enemies and ron dissent is. Is the poster board for that everything that he does? That makes news if you think about it's, not about constructive stuff, it's not about a positive point see vision, it's all about defining and naming enemies and torturing that Walt disney I'm gonna remove your special status, gay teachers.

I'm gonna shut. You up. Vaccine makers, I'm gonna, take you to court. He kind of has tried to figure out whom His base is most hateful towards whom they hit the most and he those after them in his peaches. Essentially, no one Workers are enemies like I torture, our enemies and its. scary spectacle, because if that's what politics becomes about, how we ever find any common ground again, I don't know we ever reclaim any civility. Who isn't a lot of politics about define, in yourself in terms of your enemies, I mean I do it sort of good naturedly and in in good humor. Even in my twitter bio, you know I I in my twitter bio, have fired by trump fan, I putin- and I have said on occasion, I'm not running for office in it and it's not a platform of mine, but I'm a little bit proud of who my enemies are including some some crazy.

people on on twitter and on social media and people on the left do it. They may be, it's deserved, maybe it's not, but they identify their enemies as wall street and sometimes a rich, sometimes powerful is. Is there something inherently wrong with the idea. delineating yourself in if we are enemies are, I think, tat Something inherently danger: it's about it, and I think it's a matter of proportion. Yes, we all do it. It's it's it's part of human nature and it is one way to define yourself, but I think you have to define yourself in numerous ways, and Joe Biden is a good example of that there was a kind of freak out. We started giving speeches and started denouncing maga republicans and the reason people freaked out and were so struck by. It is because Joe Biden had actually taken a much different tack to get to the presidency. His whole pitch to americans was you know I I I'm not going to speak in that way, I'm going to turn down the temperature on everything, and that was his pitch.

cause. He understood how important it is and was and how important it was an is if we only to find ourselves in terms of our enemy if we only rally and roused support by talking about how and make sure enemies. I can't enter the public square or don't have vote et cetera, et cetera, there's no way ever gonna be able to forge the sorts of compromises that legislation requires and there no way where we're going to find common ground again. In these countries, in a perilous place in all of those regards, it seems to be to be cynical. None of that is gonna matter so long as defining yourself by virtue of your enemies is effective. Political strategy is rising to suggest that will in the near future, ceased to be ineffective. Political strategy binds election. If you look at spread of democrats who ran, I would say he spoke of all of them, and perhaps the softest an end, not conciliatory, but he spoke and perhaps the softest voice as

pertains to naming enemies, inventing any sort of kind of disapproval discuss toward them anymore, kids at that moment in time decided they wanted. That see. I think, there's some hope the there's more coming up after this hmm, support for stay tuned comes from planet money, labour strikes climate change, the impossible office printer. What connects them? the almighty dollar, Economics is interwoven into every facet of our lives. If you're NATO listener and are interested in exploring new and riveting economic insights, empires, planet, money well worth a lesson? planet money aims to demystify economics, consider this Obtaining a licence to breed here may seem. Excessive

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The. this is not a phenomenon that you also talk about, and it's it's not just the juxtaposition of a particular figure. as against his or her enemies. It's also the can harrison of someone in the spectrum of other political figures. And there is this phenomenon this dynamic in which dissenters people have does, he know, may appear so blunt centrist. I think that's mosques, phrase. Your height in what universe he sensible and said first, only by the warped yardsticks, trump marjorie taylor, green, carry lake and the like, but those yards it will be used frequently, as various republicans join the twenty twenty four freight. The introduction of people like empty g and others describe how warped that causes the political sort of competition to become well. I mean they. They in stretching the kind of measuring stick of possibility. You see this happen

already innocent enormous danger for the media for journalism as the twenty twenty four reese take shape you're, not moderate, just because you're, not marjorie, taylor green. I saw this in the coverage of Kevin Mccarthy's constipated assent to have speaker. Ladys are I'm sorry his is what his hated adsense I'll, I'm gonna. I'm gonna ponder that for a minute I mean I'd like it's like areas it's a fair description right, it was there was constipated and I would I would read stories about it and after a story had talked about Matt gates and endo lauren bo bird and in that case law- the retailer dream is not blocking Kevin Mccarthy's way, but they would talk about those in my in I view whack doodle republicans staging a tantrum or snared end and trying to block him. Then they would, your view, another republican and say a moderate republican, but as a rule that there are,

really many modern republicans in the republican party of this particular moment that party as moves so far to the right that there very few. Genuine moderates there any more, certainly very few genuine moderates who have any say in sway, but we sometimes put that label on people who are not marjorie taylor green, who are not talking about space reasoned q and on an microchips and vaccines. and that's a real danger. We have to be careful of that. That was Joe Biden amount or is he to does he to appear to be a moderate because there are people are Bernie sanders and a c and others in the democratic party, Joe I'd is a mixed. I think it's a great question and I think you could get smart people to argue answer that either way, if we look at some The economic solutions coming out of the pandemic, an that's an important distinction coming out of the pandemic. If we

get some of his economic prescriptions? They certainly are far more liberal than Joe Biden had previously seen seemed and they're pretty far the left. If look at the totality of Joe Biden Weena, which includes a whole lot more in terms of the way he speaks about cultural issues, etc. I think it's hard to paint him as being anywhere near the extreme left, but it's a mixed bag and it's a mixed bag. That's harder to analyze and pin because circumstances are so different than they were I've years ago and everybody kind of governs in response to the circumstances of his or her time. That's part of what you're saying with him. Yet I find it interesting that there are people on the right in what everything a job. I like him, not like him, one about from going to vote from, think he's too, old. Think he's just fine that there are people who seem to say with sincerity, the Joe Biden is a crazy extra, miss now unbiased and favours palaces. But how Zat resonate with people who

in the real universe. I don't think it resonates at all. I dont think they experience him that way. I think that that's a lot of rhetoric that is aimed at getting far right and an enclosed too far, at republicans, to turn out for primary elections and to flood the twitter sphere, or whatever will after the terrific twittersphere etc, but I also think we're falling into a little bit of a trap here. Preet- and I I do it all the time in my writing and then I kind of look back and I catch myself. I think we are too frequently talking in a left right binary. We're too we're too often looking at the spectrum of possibility solely in terms of left and right, and I think there's kind of different thing that comes into play and I'm not sure most americans outside of the people who are allowed social media outside of the people who are you know enormous. I will rogers and primary? I'm not sure most americans look at Joe Biden in particular by other politicians and ask exactly where they are on the left right spectrum. I think they ask.

This person, solution, oriented or destruction oriented? Is this person someone who seems like they're trying to promote a rational caution or someone who seems to be throwing attention. I think those are binaries for bet lack of a better word that are every bit as britain, and relevant to many voters as the right left thing, I want to talk about writing in language for a little bit. That relates to politics some, but I don't want to talk about it in that vein. In my intro, to talking about. Writing is the thing that now we have to talk about on every episode apparently, and that's chat, g p, t nerf was that sound. Let the record reflect that that frank rooney made a weird sound when I mention that won't do that. That was the sound of someone who who is professor and teachers, students and now, on top of play, reason which you're a duke I've, never encountered one of my students in it. But now, on top of a worrying about,

plagiarism and worrying about other sorts of stuff. I have to worry as anybody teaching at I was going to say at the college level, but it's truth. High school or middle school level, too, as I have to worry about what chat. Jpg means in terms of the authorship of a piece of work that is subject to you for grading, so does for people who have not been following chacha deputy in particular. Chat bought by open? I it's artificial intelligence. You can query it and it do things for you, including in writing, papers or writing in doing other kinds of right. Silence in the style that you want their limitations, but else of something that still pretty nascent are impressive. You have written. The chechen bt is quote a surprisingly competent writer. And sometimes even a clever one to the point where early users regarded as some mix of software and sorcery. Have you seen these stories about how catchy bt lies? Yes, and makes up studies obvious, quite human. After all, he asked

Thirdly, wholesale makes up studies, and even one instruct not to lie, it will still lie yeah. Well, I've seen those stories, and also I mean, I think, we're all of us here a little. the two focused right now, because this is way? Things work in kind of media and public discussion on chat, jpg, he as as as a fake author riotous as an author of things that human beings should be authoring themselves, but I think it's the kind of tip of the iceberg. This is this is when we talk about what what sort of jobs automation will come for and what sort of machines and computers can do that once required human beings since this is an example and a metaphor and the kind of front edge of all of that, and that's what really freaked me out beyond just once. the tools, my students for using, which is a minor question in the scheme of things and how many jobs that exists today, how many of us who have what we? What we

he'll what we feel and experiences meaningful labour that gives us a sense of pride and purpose. What happens to this? of human purpose machines do more and more of the things that we used to do. I think that's such a huge spiritual crisis, but some people would say- and it depends on the exact function- that's being taken over by the machine. It frees you up to in higher pursuit him. Some people might say depending on what kind of writing you do in your profession that Chechnya, but he's not, can replace the chat. Jpg can do that, for draft, and then you layer in human personality and cleverness and style and additional substance, and maybe you have more time to do the research, etc, etc. So, like I dunno it remains, I mean you do have some optimism that it can be. You know it can give us greater liberty or not. Well, it certainly could give us great free time and greater liberty. But I have questions so here's your salary coming from if the machine

in doing so now you have greater freedom of more free time and greater liberty. Do you have the echo make agency to do something with every time that liberty, also we're living in an era where people's attachment to religion has waned. People's communities have many people lost any kind of sense of of connections, communities as they moved on line as life has become fractured in various ways, freed from work, which is often a source of connection identity, pride, productivity purpose for people freed up in what takes its place. So many of the things that might take its place on the decline of modern life. What makes a good sense, I mean I don't know I'm no expert on that, but I think a good sentence is lucid. It accomplishes whatever task the tens to I mean you were in accomplishes whatever task it intends to accomplish with ace with with vigour with vividness.

directly, and it stands out from the sentences around it. Good sentences along sentence. If it's coming after a bunch of staccato sentences, a good sentences, a short sentence if it is coming on the heels of a lot of rocco syntax, I'm snob about the written word because I grew in a family that revere the written word and because I've made a life in words, and I hope that I sometimes right in a competent and even compelling way, but there are men Many many other ways to express yourself and today's young people may b as fluent or is fluid with the written word as their as their kind of analogues twenty or thirty years were but they're much. Much better with other media, and there are many different ways to communicate. That's pretty good, that's good silver lining it could also a good sense doesn't have what you call words.

they're worth side lining and you have this feature in and you talk about words that using kind of shock or phrases a kind of shock and I want to point to one important particular. Could I use it a lot, and I have often thought and say the phrase. It is what it is right. We use it all the time which in a language, observers and experts and practitioners of writing decry, am I just think it's a pretty good totality. Why do you dislike it partly because of its ubiquity. You know something becomes as over used as it is what it is or any number of other phrases it. Just This sounds like white noise. It sounds like a meaningless can't ride, isn't it that it is what it is kids exact like that about the phrased in a moment and I've I've heard I've heard too many people. say it is what it is as if they have just just, hail the summit of philosophy and hence her, and that drives me crazy, but

I know I do in my weekly new york times newsletter, which I'd love people to read, and I I have an occasional feature called wordsworth sidelining and it is but it is one of the most nominated phrases are words I I I I the readers please write in with words that you think should be rich words and phrases she retired forever, and some what I choose as a reflection of what people write in, because I'm I'm blessed enough every We were very, very engaged in do right in by the scores and hundreds and long with the phrase at the end of the day, The end of the day, that's a little crazy right at the end of the law With that phrase, which I wrote about the most nominated phrase by readers who are like, will you please sound the death knell for fill in the blank? It is what it is was. It was a very popular choice, the one thing that I also railed against. In that feature, I mean railed in a good natured sense. I hope that features. I try to write that feed in a humorous way. I begged

the retirement of no worries right as nanny like a thank you no worries her. It was nice of you to do. that no worries and in those days I'm syllable still come out of my mouth, although now it's like a comedy reaching, I search say no work and then I then I kind of catch my self, and I learned myself on the back, and I would ask what is the sole let's say in an email correspondence. This happens all his the context in which it used you're going to meet someone for lunch or a drink or dinner and their running five I hate running five minutes late. What is the appropriate response and why isn't it no worries? I mean no worries is a perfectly fine responses just again so threadbare and and and nauseating with ovaries. Why me, you could say, don't worry. About a mean. Thank you. Thank you. It is over used to, but we ll say don't use. Thank you because its overused that's fair, that's the way of letting people knowers, but nowhere

these were not an australian, you no worries comes from a crocodile Dundee in australia right. You know what, if your meeting somewhat, I mean our house, in which I mean pre, you're, you're, here It states not in england how often do you say, cheerio late, probably never right, so why, no worries, but it's become americanized. I don't know and I like do you find yourself using exclamation marks in email and text correspondence more than you did before did for a while, and then I realized how mannered and sort of just just faddish that had become so either surely been on an exclamation point diet for about five years now in is being perceived poorly by your colleagues, who think you're being more blunt and not as effective as they want you to be. I don't know where to get a good question. They may feel I might ashen. They may feel like I'm, I'm a milk toast person with no effect no and no gusto for anything, because I've exile

Exclamation points from my love, I feel a little time to thank you a minute ago that the end of it, the text or an email to colleagues, if you end with a mere thank you with either no punctuation or a period, maybe maybe that's dismissive and not thankful enough to think that the evolution that we ve had, it might be because you know it's it's sort of it in a weird way, were sort of back to the to the distorting aspects of having marjorie taylor, greens and Matt gates's in the world. You know it standard when the standard, changed word. How does everything seem in relation to it? I don't know I mean I have reached a point where it clear to me: everybody communicates in a different way when comes to courtesies and how to end an end and end an email. I much prefer a seemingly flash said. Thank you without an exclamation point, without all sorts of modifiers, I prefer that to an x,

though exo exo from someone who are set for someone who are I'm not really in a position to want or get kisses and hugs from you know, but exo so ex always become some sort of like Oh, that no longer means what it used to me, which is kisses and hugs, which I would argue are not appropriate in the professional got hear more about recession in just a moment. Support for the show is brought to you by robin higher there lots of ways to potentially booster investments these days and even more options on where to stash m make smart move by transferring your brokerage account over to robin hood, whether your transferring one thousand or two million dollars, don't

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down in the coming days that I had a very rare sort of stroke of my right optic nerve that the vision, from my right. I was ruined forevermore and at the science of this, the litter, This suggests that there was a twenty percent chance. The coming years or at some point in the future- that the same exact thing would happen with my left eye. So I was in a position where I was suddenly having to learn to operate with compromised vision, learn a kind of sea with one eye and edit my right eye out of the equation and everything entail which was slower, reading more error prone right. and I also had to come to terms with the fact that there is a twenty percent chance and there remains, as I talk with you right now, a twenty percent chance uncle blind and that's a lot to deal with an in one fell swoop down there, you wrote a book recently opened the paper bag is coming out soon and call the beauty of dusk explain the title after this happened to me.

reed. I had. I had the kind of work ahead of me. I mean emotional work, that's sort thing that anybody who has the sort of their all sorts of of medical, I'm traumas mishap, It happened, especially as we age and part of the book is about aging. I mean I had to say about how to deal with limitations and how to look at the changes in my life in a positive way. Pose two from the framework of kind of loss and the boy we have dusk, which is the name of my book, that is a reference to both lifespan kind of being closer to the end, the day than the beginning of the day, but also a reference to how you can take a different kind of invent, torreon survey of your life and focus on what blue, things. You still have focused on the beauty in it, as opposed to as opposed to the hardships and the challenges. I found that in income

Hunting these new challenges in in meeting them head on in not falling prey to self pity and not being undone by them. I found sorts of ways and satisfactions and sense of pride that I haven't before an ape. No, they can sound a little pollyanna issue, but I- but I think it's true for a lot of people have been through the kind of thing I've been through, and so the book is is basically about reading a life challenge in that fashion and trying to come out the other side of it has as whole as positive in his grateful as possible. I will point out for the record that, in your answer, you correctly and in the non trite way use phrase. At the end of the day, I notice that myself there, when we know what you know where he thou wert breed lonely results that were aroused. Thank you. That's what the exclamation work is hard to convey yet silk.

want to ask you a little more about that, because not everybody in the face of distress or a physical change like that or risk of you know what many would consider quite debilitating physical limitation would look to the positive you know. You have said that you are terrified of the idea that you would lose all all of your eyesight and you're, not any more. You hope you never do, but you're just not tear. How do you get over being tariff about that. And how can you explain it in a way that people who are listening to this, who themselves are experiencing hardship or at risk of greater hardship, lose the fear of it? for starters, I dont think everybody can get over the terror of it all or the anxiety or the self pity. I mean think we're all wired, indifferent ways, and one of my group things it turned out, one of my great bits of good fortune is that I was able to anne and that's not a triumph of character. That's probably the grace of the of biochemistry Whatever endowment I've been given,

But I was someone who is often a pessimist. I was someone who viewed out If you told me this was going to happen to me, I would have said well, I'm just going to be undone by that, I'm just going to live the rest of my life curled into a fearful ball in the fetal position in bed. But if you have disability- and you should certainly test yourself and see. If you have this ability, you have to kind of think and realise there is no point to the terror right. What is that gets? You there's no point to self pity what does that get you? None of that changes, your tomorrow's and, if you plan on having in spain those tomorrow's and you're gonna, be in a much better position and you're gonna be much higher fear within the realm of possible bits of happiness. You can have. If you, if you move feeling sorry for yourself, to the best extent you can, if you move past the terror, you know we're talking about

Also, the fact that I still live with his twenty percent chance that I'll go blind and I can sit here and focus on that and say you know holy crap. That's going to be so hard but it's going to be hard, whether I worry about it now or not, and the other thing is, it's not gonna. Take everything away from me. I have lost things already, and there is so much left there. So that remains I choose to focus on that soon, a pre. To give you an example, we're talking here, you know cause I'm a journey lest in your interested in a current affairs in journalism, and all of that it takes me longer to write than it used to, because I have to circle back and find and fix all these typos that were never there before. Because of my compromised vision takes me longer to read the material that I'm consuming and What are the right I can reach about that? I can feel really sorry for myself about that or I can say holy shit than you, time still runs my stuff. It's still wants to my work given given the but I still have this this microphone and given the fact that I still have

this. You know this invitation to share my thinking and work with the world. I would be some kind of in great and moron to focus on the fact that it takes me longer than it used to, and that's the kind of thinking that I think it's important to try to get too. If you're able when you are in a situation like this. Does this mean and at the risk of raising your ire, that you sometime? think about your situation. You accept it in, you save yourself not out loud, but you said yourself. You know it is what it is. I will never say it in those syllables pre, but I suppose I say the philosophical equivalent today in less over used- and I hope, more poetic language. You does it yourself, you consider do. Do you see differently now oh yeah, I mean I I see. Well, I see differently in every which way that's why the it's, why the subtitle, the book, which is a little what kind of gimmicky is on vision, lost and found. I see different

in the sense that there are blurry patches of my vision and I dont have I dont have the sort of kind of death the field I it's her. I can't parallel park anymore which, among the were among the losses and a life is not a terrible one. Well, I have eyesight and both my eyes and I can't parlor park either the sea there you go it's an over that's an important perspective, but I also see differently. I I have when I go through the day, when I go. My favorite thing every day is when I go into the woods near my house and explore the trails with my dog regan who's, the love of my life. I see differently. I see the creek that we cross over differ I see the trees ahead of us differently. I am, bull in a way I wasn't before it's a shame that this had happened to me for this. For me to get this place, I see everything with a sort of emotional priest, vision and gratitude that was absent from my life before because in a very clear

headway way. I'm I realized, by dint of what happened to me and how quickly things can change and how fast things can be taken away from you. Do you worry that that will fade and that you will just become accustomed to the new normal and not feel the same zest for looking at things that you do now? I don't because I I catch. I feel that happening to a certain point all the time and I catch myself. I was always a champion Stuart, create like I was wish. I were I was someone who cannot see not sure Stu or I could see I could stew and marinate in my disappointments and resentments like nobody else right I was I was you know my What kind of emotional piece of beef borg in yonder something just to bring us back to restaurants and food? Now, when that, when that old, trope ism comes back, when I feel What happening time and again I am able- this many years into this experience to say, frank, you're doing that ridiculous thing, I'm an you, know,

at or now, and I correct myself over and over again, and I have no reason to believe our stock correcting myself. You said something that I've been thinking about, since I saw it as commencement speaker, you're, on the moderate you and see last year about the choice the people make their will have as much bearing on your decency as a human being on your happiness as any choice that you will make and the choices you describe it, as quote whether you're going to be somebody who counts her blessings or somebody who tallies slights, exactly campbell amplify that that's what I met when I talked about my blessings are my slates are on its harder for me to do. The work I have chosen to do in my life, and that has been my my my my purpose in my life, but it's harder for me to do that than ever before. That's a slight! I can focus on that, or I can focus on the blessing of the fact that I still have an invitation to do that work by focusing on that blessed.

Having a much more contented person, but I am also more decent person because that's the truth of the situation. Yeah. The other thing I realized, preet pretend I wish we would all do this in our lives, and I I write a whole chapter of the book about this, which I call the sandwich board theory of life and if we all would pause and do a truly honest and open eyed inventory of all the people in our immediate circle of all the people in the circle. Beyond that, everyone has dealt with or is dealing with. Some very profound disappointments and challenges in their lives. Most of them are not visible to the naked eye; most of them are are no emotional things they ve been through even diseases. They battle that we can't see on the surface. It is struggle is a part of life. Setbacks are a part of life illness. You know, infirmity is a part of life and once you and of realize that and stop. Judging where you I buy the lacquered images you get over people's instagram and facebook fees

You are able, I think, to adjust toward the blessings and to see yourself in a more truthful fashion and to kind of fire the sort of gratitude you should have for those asked. Save your life would have gone well. So going back to restaurants and eating, you ve been very forthright in candid about your struggles with weight at various times of your life. one would think that during the years that you were eating professionally, that would have been difficult in terms of your relationship with your weight. In fact, you have written. The opposite is true. How can that be? yeah? No, the opposite was totally true. I I've never been fitter and thinner in my life than the years of his restaurant critic. I wish I could get back to that fitness in the way when the we're going to restaurants. I'm adapting this earlier One reason why you might be given away. Is it you problem, I'm guessing as a critical simple. A lot of food, your ordering more than the average person, my daughter, correct

oh yeah, I mean you're right, you you're you're, going with three other people. Usually that forests are the perfect table, says you're, telling everybody in order different dishes. your treating the tables on this kind of like a lazy, sousa rotating things around is your job is critical. you're trying to sample as much of the menu as possible, so you knocking weight in and by the way, it's free right. The times is paying for your meal. Oh he has a free food is a big budget item at the tides. Basically, you haven't you hadn't all you can eat job and yes, and yet you may trained trimness in an all. You can eat job. I'm confused well own party, answer is I used the verb sample before you're, not picking out on this stuff, you're sampling it, and when you approach food as something that europe praising when it is a job you're not eating, as heedlessly

as you do in other situations, and so there's an almost automatic portion control that happens because you're not approaching food as you'll. Let me stuff myself you're, pushing it with much more discernment and that kind of is a is a hedge against over it belgians, but the other thing is most of us. When we fail to control our waits says I'm as unfailing some right now, you know is because we can say you tomorrow I'll be good next week ago, on a diet when you're restaurant critic, you can't diet- and you can't tell yourself the lie- you're gonna make up with an asceticism tomorrow for the indulgence if today and once you remove that once you realize no like everything today and tomorrow, I cannot give up food. I have to I have to my only choice here is eat in a measured fashion. You you and doing that because of the lies, you can't tell yourself and then the other thing is when you know that every day need

as a matter of your profession, to be full of a certain amount of food. I never kept to precise regiments. The way I do, then, I ran probably six miles most days along with paying for my restaurant bills the times my Jim membership, because these There is a legitimate part of the restaurant critic. Job friend I probably spent I probably spent too have hours a day working out, because I viewed that is part of my job. For me to have the appetite that I needed to have to go into this france and enjoy food in the vicarious way that my readers wanted me to for me to be able to keep doing it in a healthy fashion. Day after day Those hours of exercise I viewed as part of my job, and so that's how it all worked out in a in a fit fashion, is bizarre, it deserves, stand out in your mind, a singer. their worst meal tat. You waited a restaurant that you had to review. I remember yes, I wish it wasn't

the meal was so singularly bad. It was at the whole experience, seem to me so grading and nonsensical, but there there was a restaurant that I wrote what many people told me years later, they thought was my was my most amusing negative review and it's a restaurant in new york ninja and I, think it's already ready this problem and I think it's still exists and it's funny cause after that review came out. Many of my my friends said well that restaurant has a couple of weeks left and I think ninja is still going strong, but it's going strong, because parents with a lot of money are children there because it is a bastard His version of of sushi and japanese cuisine served in the, sort of labyrinth. It's like a walt disney ride and and servers where, where what I guess we're supposed to be ninja costumes, I'm now, I'm no authority on on an authentic ninja, where you know, and they can

scream at you and jump out of corners and and deliver, Your food and clouds of smoke and and I just I wanted. I want and my life right there in that restaurant rather than endure the next several hours, but there is a market for that, know what I mean great great will do When things turn us all on, follow your bless, you know any embrace. What makes you api and if and if yelping and gyrating server trust supposedly isn't injures and carrying media pursue she. If, if that's your bliss great, I want to end with a question about how you felt about in depreciation, you had for the power you had potentially of this As for failure of restaurant, obviously ninjas rights. Have you said Anne and the reason I asked the question is not many people know this. I mention it before in the package My dad and my uncle and a friend of my dad's opened up. The second indian restaurant in the state of new jersey, I think back in nineteen, seventy seven, something like that

before indian food was what it is today and in widely popular, not just in urban areas, but in urban areas too, and if a lot a hint to it to to recreate what they experience is great indian meals from the country of our birth one day and ancillary fanfare in her house was the fact that there was gonna be a restaurant review. Were, and it was gaining bob leap lapd so remember his name was the restaurant critic, for w b c local television of fretting that my my data, my uncle, did in worrying about how that review would come out with something that I had never seen before deep. How did you think about that? and I thought very seriously about it, because it is. It is a job, much More than many other critics jobs, because there are so many film critics there, so many people who review it le vision shower a book, whereas the areas restaurant critic is often the only person who who reviews restaurant most

bad meals. I had preet, I never wrote about, because if it was a terrible meal at the kind of establishment that was going to be killed, off by a review that nobody was curious about that wasn't well capitalized. I just moved on When I wrote a negative review, it was written after at least three visits to the restaurant was it was written after giving restaurants every benefit of the doubt, and it was most and written about a kind of restaurant that had a degree of capitalization or degree of public curious the about it that really meant it. fair game morally and the other I thought as well, I wanted to always be entirely respectful and cognizant of the economic consequences of writing a negative review. I also wanted to be respectful and cognizant of people's hard earned money. You know there are many peoples one into a restaurant with a corporate expense account, and it doesn't really hurt much if they feel they have wasted their money, there are also a great many people who are making

budgetary decision to spend money, that they don't have hyper abundance on this meal, in the hope that they will have a wonderful before evening, and if You can save those people, I'm from he's doing their hard earned money. Well, I mean that that's a moral good, that's part of the picture as well frank, rooney, real delight and entreat you have you think so much totally my pleasure. Thank you pretty! Well, that's it! For this episode of statehood, thanks again to my guest frank bruening. If you like what we do great and review the show. One apple pie costs or wherever you listen. Every positive review helps new listeners, find the show may your questions about news, politics and justice tweet them to me had prepared with the hashtag asked preach. You can also now reach me on.

Threats, for you can call me a message at six: nine to four seven, seven, three, three, eight, that six, six nine to four praetor or you can send an email to letters. A cafe, dotcom stay tuned is pretty, ended by cafe and the box media podcast network. The executive producer is tomorrow supper. The technical director is david, tat ashore, the senior producers are adam, waller, and Matthew billy and the cafe team is no oscillating david curl andor, not wiener, Jake, kaplan, number to Natasha and Claudia Hernandez. Our music is by andrew dost. I'm your host pre baronne stay tuned. Support for state comes from mobile if you're looking to give yourself a little give this holiday season maybe considered the gift of savings now, when you switch to mint mobile and by any three month plan you'll get in the three months for free

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