“Ron & Jen’s Great Escape” – 11-3-2021 – Ron St. Pierre & Jen Brien

by Ron St. Pierre & Jen Brien

Rhody’s Biggest Fear

A Best Life report listed what scares people the most, state by state. Overall the “fear of being alone” was the most common fear. But for Rhode Island, it was the fear of  “a cluster of small holes.” Now while that may have residents of the other 49 states saying “huh?”, Rhode Island drivers have long had to tolerate potholes big enough to loosen the fillings of our teeth. We “get” it.

Holiday Precursor?

Halloween spending jumped 25% from last year on candy, costume, and décor sales, thanks to a little less fear of trick or treating and costume parties. Does that bode well for retailers with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon? A NEW Deloitte survey says 70% of consumers plan to spend more for the holidays this year. The average holiday shopper will spend about $1,463 dollars per household which is up 5% from last year. Deloitte are the fine people who brought Rhode Island UHIP so I’d take their numbers with a big grain of salt.

Gobbling up your wallet

A New York Times report says nearly EVERY COMPONENT of our Thanksgiving Day dinner will cost more this year. The costs are up… all together now… due to “a knotted supply chain, high transportation expenses, labor shortages, trade policies, bad weather and inflation.” That covers just about every reason.

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Bird

The pandemic dominos continue to fall. According to one major poultry distributor, if you’re looking for a smaller size turkey, good luck. The pandemic has led to scaled down Thanksgiving get togethers, increasing the demand for a smaller bird again this year.

You Wanna???

We’re both dog lovers. Jen has Molly and Ron’s lab, Hazel, often makes cameos on our podcast, RON AND JEN’S GREAT ESCAPE, so we’re big on getting our hounds to tilt their heads. But… why do they do that? One study suggests it’s a simple matter of “processing relevant and meaningful stimuli” with a word. While some breeds are smarter than others and have bigger doggie vocabularies, most can connect the dots to a food item, a walk or a favorite toy.

CHA-CHING from the Grave

Forbes has come out with a list of Highest Paid Dead Celebrities from 2021. British author Ronald Dahl, creator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, tops the list at $513 million bucks. Prince follows with $120 million, then Michael Jackson at $75 million, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz at $40 million, and Dr. Suess at $35 million. Rounding out the top ten it’s Bing Crosby at $33 million, The King, Elvis Presley, at $30 million, Arnold Palmer $27 million, lyricist Gerry Goffin $23 million and Luther Vandross $21 million.

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Ron St. Pierre is a veteran broadcaster whose career has spanned over four decades. Ron has programmed, performed on and managed WHJJ, WPRO, WWRX, 790 The Score in Providence, as well as WBZT and WKGR in West Palm Beach and WABC in New York City. Ron also anchored sports on WPRI Ch 12 in Providence. He is a member of both the Rhode Island Radio and Television and the City of Pawtucket Halls of Fame. He was born and raised in Pawtucket.

Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.

Hazel, Ron’s dog, makes regular appearances.

“Ron and Jen’s Great Escape” podcast, a more lighthearted reaction to the events happening around us, can be found on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes premiering Mondays and Wednesdays.