The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - A Wednesday End-Bits Special

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

At popular request, no encore this Wednesday, but instead an end-bits special. News you can use, and some you probably will choose to ignore! Everything from what's best to do - shower in the morning or evening, to which car colour holds it resale value best? And a lot more -- enjoy. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Wednesday, no encore edition today. Instead, we've got an up-to-date end-bit special. All kinds of interesting stuff. Coming right up. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. Welcome to the midweek.

Welcome to Wednesday. And as you know, most Wednesdays, we run an encore edition. But occasionally this year, we've been throwing in something different. Sometimes it's a feature interview. Last week, the week before last, Lees Doucette from the BBC was here. And occasionally we do what we call an in-bit special. So I was saying yesterday, those of you who are regular followers, of the bridge.

I know what an N-bit special is. N-bits are those little pieces of news that we used to cram into into programs that needed a little extra space. Well, we still collect them. We have lots of them, and sometimes they can turn out to be a show on their own.

Well, today is one of those days. Got some good stuff. We got to it a minute, but first of all a reminder of our question at the week and you only have until later today 6 p.m. Eastern time today to get your answers in on this question and it is a it's different than normal I usually have a straight up question but here you need a little research

we need you to go to Google or whatever search engine you use and look up Neo N-E-O the home robot. Now, this is just one of a number of robots that are on the market today. They're incredibly expensive. And they're not really ready for prime time yet. But you can see the concept. And the reason I want to look at this is because it kind of fits in with the AI story.

A lot of AI used for developing this robot, it would seem. And if you believe that this is going to happen, then you believe that our world is really changing in terms of technology. I mean, I think we all agree it is. But this is like a whole other step. And it fits along with some of the predictions by some of the big tech giants that within a decade, within 10 years, human robots or human type robots are going to be as much a part of our world as your next door neighbor

that when you're walking down the street 10 years from now it's entirely possible that alongside you won't be some stranger it'll be a robot off on some kind of chore that's been, they've been sent on by their owner. So I want you to look at this video. Keep in mind that a number of you already written already, oh, it's not really ready yet. If you search more on the internet, you'll see it's not, well, yeah, that's right. It's not 100% ready yet.

They're still working on it. And they're trying to raise money to do that work. I'm not advocating that. I'm just getting you to look at this to see. Is this the future? Is this a future you want to be a part of? So have a look. Neo, N-E-O, the home robot.

That'll get you to their little video. It's a couple of minutes long. And you can see what the idea is. So there you go. That's the question of the week. And you send it to the Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. Keep it to 75 words or fewer.

Have it in by 6 p.m. Eastern time today. And please remember to include your name and the location you're writing from. There's still room for more letters. So if you got some ideas on this, please let me know and get it in today. All right. First end bit today. It comes from the telegraph, the British newspaper. Okay?

So a lot of the research on this is British. That's okay. Because here's the headline. The dangers of driving after too much coffee. Now, I think all of us have probably, at times in our lives, those of us who drive, have, you know, said, oh, man, I need a coffee. I got to stay wide awake on this drive.

Or I'm starting to doze off. I need a coffee. I know I certainly have a history of that. Going back years. I remember... Excuse me, I had to have a sneeze there. I remember in the... I guess it would be the...

I want to make sure I get my dates right here. It would be the fall of 1967 or the spring of 1968 or both. I think it was more of the spring of 68. I was working in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, you know, north of Saskatoon, the big federal penitentiary there. It was before I started working for the CBC. It was before I was in journalism. I was working for a small airline called Trans Air.

It was a regional carrier based out of Winnipeg, but serving Manitoba, Saskatchewan, northwest of Ontario, and the Arctic. So up in what's now called Nunavut. So I was based in Prince Albert. And, you know, it was kind of an outpost for, Trans Air. They had a flight that went Winnipeg,

Brandon sometimes, Winnipeg, Brandon, Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and then return. And I think we used a DC3 on that flight. So we're talking a long time ago.

Anyway, I was based in Prince Albert, but my girlfriend lived in Portisville Prairie, Manitoba. And so the only way I would get to see, we didn't have flights on the weekend. So the only way I would get to see here was that I have to drive down

on my old 62 Chevy 2 to Portage from Prince Albert. Now, that's not a short drive. That's a long drive. And I would leave as soon as I finish work on a Friday evening and I would drive like a crazy man

from PA to Portisle-Sourri drive straight down to Regina and then cut across on the trans Canada you know from Regina to Brandon

to Portage. I can't remember how long that drive took, but it took a long time. I wouldn't end up in P.A. in Portis or Prairie until about, you know, 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. And I was tired. And the only way to make that drive

was to load up on coffee. So I drank a lot of coffee. And I did that for, I don't know, three or four months until they called me up one day and said, hey, we need you to go fill in for the guy in Churchill, Manitoba. It was off on holidays. So I went to Churchill. It was supposed to be for two weeks.

After I'd been there a week, they called me up and said, hey, the guy quit. Guess what? You're staying. So that's how I ended up in Churchill. there was no way to drive from Churchill to Portage of Prairie. In fact, there was no highway from Churchill down to Gillum and Thompson before you could get to a highway that would take you to Winnipeg

and onwards to Portage. So that eventually led to the end of that relationship, sadly. but I digress. We're talking about coffee. We're talking about coffee. And the headline in the telegraph, the British newspaper, is the dangers of driving after too much coffee. So let me read you at the beginning of this.

Coffee has long been a go-to for tired drivers. That's right. A quick shot of bean juice at the Moto services, that's like a gas station, right? Acts as a lifener on a long journey. And thanks to our national habit, this is talking Britain again, right? And thanks to our national habit

of drinking 98 million cups of coffee a day. Coffee, by the way, in Britain has overtaken tea as that nation's favorite hot drink. Do you believe that? Coffee pushes out tea in Britain. All this meaning we are consuming more caffeine than ever. Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, that's British once again, recorded average adult caffeine intakes in 2008 to 2010 of around 130 milligrams a day,

well below the maximum limit of 400 milligrams a day, recommended by the Food Standards Agency. But as far back as 2013, researchers were warning that the growing popularity of stronger coffee and caffeinated energy and sports drinks would lead to a rise in caffeine consumption. So just a couple of basic facts here as we get into what the dangers are. Caffeine is a stimulant. It blocks the effects of the neurotransmitter adenosine, which makes you feel tired. relaxed and sleepy. A typical cup of instant coffee contains 30 to 90 milligrams,

while a single shot of espresso in Costa coffee. Cost of coffee in the UK, it's kind of like Tim's, okay? It contains 100 milligrams. However, most chains use multiple shots in different drinks. A cost of flat white, for example, contains 241 milligrams of caffeine. Factor in an energy drink or two, and it's easy to get over caffeinated.

One 330 milliliter can of prime energy, that's one of those energy drinks, right? Contains 140 milligrams of caffeine, while a 250-millimeter can of Red Bull contains 80 milligrams of caffeine. All I can say is and this is nothing against Red Bull but I'm sure glad they didn't have Red Bull

back when I was that kid driving his Chevy 2 on the highway to Portaer-Prairie back in 68 Okay Okay Let's get to the study by Laosbury University in Britain It found that lorry drivers, you know, truck drivers, who had consumed large amounts of coffee and energy drinks, reported having crashed more compared with those who had drunk only small amounts of caffeine.

The high-use group also had poor general health. Let's get to some of the risks here. Which is what the headline is all about, the dangers. And they highlight four dangers of drinking too much coffee, consuming too much caffeine. One. This is for drivers, right? One, poor decision-making. James Gibson, the executive director of road safety, Great Britain, explains

neurological symptoms such as anxiety, dizziness, and headaches can lead to poor decision-making and reduce concentration. Drivers are making decisions on a second-by-second basis. For example, deciding if it's safe to exit a junction or to change lanes. Poor decision-making can have a significant safety implication for drivers, their passengers, and other road users. Second risk, tremors. Caffeine can over-stimulate the central nervous system, resulting in hand or leg tremors,

which make it harder to perform smooth, precise movements, such as steering, gear-changing, or maintaining a steady pressure on pedals. Shaking can translate into jerky steering inputs or over-corrections. Three, slowed reaction. While moderate caffeine use improves alertness, excessive doses can tip you into jitters, anxiety, and over-arousal, leading to delayed reaction times because of overexcited neural activity. It can also cause poor judgment of distance or speed.

And finally, here's the fourth one of the top four. Risks from drinking too much coffee while driving. visual disturbances. High caffeine levels can cause eye muscle twitching and difficulty focusing, particularly when combined with fatigue or dehydration. These symptoms can cause blurred vision, rapid blinking, or increased distraction. You know who I'm going to hear from on this? I've got a lot of truckers who listen to the bridge

because they write they write to me every once in a while and these are the long distance cross-country in some occasions truckers they listen to the bridge on the radio on Sirius XM or they download us and listen to the podcast

and I get some great letters from truckers talking about various issues that are confronting the country and I'm sure I hear from on this because there's no doubt that there have been a few coffees poured in the life of some of the long-distance truckers I love to hear from you guys

so don't be shy. Okay, next end bit. This one comes from Associated Press. The headline here is Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15. Now, excuse me, we've seen a number of stories about

access to social media in different countries or jurisdictions saying, you know what we're going to put an age limit here well Denmark's done it they just announced I think it was last week an agreement to ban access to social media for anyone under 15 ratcheting up pressure on the big tech platforms as concerns grow the kids are getting too swept up in a digitized world of harmful content and commercial interests

The move would give some parents, after a specific assessment, the right to let their children access social media from age 13. It wasn't immediately clear how such a ban would be enforced. Many tech platforms already restrict preteens from signing up. Officials and experts say such restrictions don't always work. Such a measure would be among the most sweeping steps yet by a European government. Speaking to the AP, the Associated Press, Denmark's Minister for Digital Affairs said children under age 13 have profiles on at least one social media platform. And clearly, some have more than that. The amount of time they spend online, said the minister,

the amount of violence, self-harm that they are exposed to online, is simply too great a risk for our children. The greatest companies that we have, they have an absurd amount of money available, but they're simply not willing to invest in the safety of our children, invest in the safety of all of us. So that's a pretty direct hit on the, the tech companies.

Now, the minister also said a ban won't take effect immediately. Allied lawmakers on the issue from across the political spectrum who make up a majority in Parliament will likely take months to pass relevant legislation. I can assure you, said the minister, that Denmark will hurry, but we won't do it too quickly because we need to make sure that the regulation is right and that there are no loopholes for the tech giants to go through. All this follows a move in December in Australia. Remember, I think we mentioned this,

where Parliament enacted the world's first ban on social media for children, setting the minimum age at 16. That made platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, and Instagram, subject to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars. that's kind of in the ballpark of what Canadian dollars are worth. Australian and Canadian dollars are basically the same. $50 million for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts. You know, how you enforce this is the trick, right?

And officials in Denmark aren't saying yet how much such a ban would be enforced. in a world where millions have easy access through social media accounts through their screens. So they're working on that. Some other places in the world, a couple of anyway. China, which actually manufactures many of the world's digital devices, as you know, has set limits. on online game time and smartphone time for kids.

Prosecutors in Paris, France, just last week announced an investigation into allegations that TikTok allows content promoting suicide and its algorithms may encourage vulnerable young people to take their own lives. This is, you know, How quickly things have changed, right? When we were kids, and when our kids were kids,

this wasn't a problem. But technology has changed everything. Look at our question of the week. We're actually discussing that. Home robots, like real robots. We're not talking about vacuum cleaners here. We're talking about humanoid robots. all right um oh i got a good one about salt but um let's get to salt on our end bit special today

after we take a break so we'll be right back after this Welcome back. You're listening to The Bridge for this Wednesday. It's an N-Bit special to stay instead of our regular Wednesday Encore edition. So glad to have you with us. You're listening on Sirius XM, Channel 167, Canada Talks, or on your favorite podcast platform. Okay, next story. This one comes from the New York Times. So we're hopping around the world from our source base here. And this story is the headline is, Well, it's very straightforward. Four ways to cut back on salt. Now, the New York Times says about 90% of Americans eat too much. We probably won't argue with that. I'd imagine the figure is somewhat similar in Canada.

So the New York Times decided to ask experts how to consume less. We're talking salt here, right? that we eat too much salt. So Simar Bejal from the New York Times writes this to open up his article. Salt is magical. It can reduce bitterness, increase sweetness, and enhance overall flavor.

But 90% of people in the United States eat too much of it. The U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. But the average American consumes 3,400 milligrams. Almost 50% more than is suggested. And that increases their risk of heart disease, strokes, kidney issues, and death.

The good news now is that you can retrain your palate to crave less salt, but many people don't know where to begin. So, the New York Times asked experts for their best tips and tricks. So here we go. I'm just skimming this, okay? It's a good article. You can find it. In general, taste follows two flavor sensing pathways, One for sour and salty, and another for sweet, bitter, and umami.

So you can use lemon juice, apple cider vinegar. You know, I take apple cider vinegar every once in a while. That can wake you up in a hurry. And other sour ingredients to make food taste saltier, said Janina Pippino, a professor of nutrition of the University of, of Illinois, based in Urbana Champagne. To cut the downsides of table salt, try potassium salt. Potassium allows your blood vessels to relax and helps your kidneys flush out extra sodium.

But 72% of Americans don't get enough. While potassium salt can be bitter on its own, Many grocery stores sell it mixed with table salt, and most people can't tell the difference when using a 25% potassium salt and 75% table salt mixture. In a 2021 trial of 21,000 adults, replacing table salt with this mixture led to 14% fewer strokes and a 12% lower risk of premature death, over about five years of follow-up.

So you got that? Potassium salt, instead of table salt. Given these benefits, the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association have recommended using potassium salt to reduce blood pressure. But before making this switch, check with your physician. This substitute can push potassium levels, too high for people with kidney disease

and on certain blood pressure medications, said Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the author of The Formula for Better Health. So, look, this is important. The bridge does not exist to give you health advice. We like talking about some of the articles we see, but the important thing here is you don't change

what you're doing here. without at least checking in with your physician. Especially in this case, if you deal with high blood pressure and a lot of people do, I do, or kidney disease. So if you're going to consider switching the kind of salt you have,

you might want to talk to your doctor first. Experiment with herbs and spices. Try seasoning your food with mushroom, powder, nutritional yeast, and MSG, monosudium glutamate, since they're packed full of umami, which is characterized by a savory, meaty flavor, and add depth and body to the dish. with MSG is it that's usually when I'm having certain kinds of oriental food which I love but if there's MSG in it I end up getting a headache but MSG has one-third the amount of sodium as table salt I can also try incorporating certain fermented foods

tomato products, and aged cheeses into your meals to replace a bit of salt with a boost of umami. U-M-A-M-I, umami. Watch out for sodium bombs. While you can cut back on table salt when cooking, about 70% of the sodium you eat comes from packaged, prepared, or restaurant foods. Okay, that's important to. now. Packaged foods, prepared foods, or restaurant foods. 70% of the sodium you eat comes from those. Frozen meals, soups, deli meats, and other ultra-process foods are some of the obvious sodium bombs.

But bread, rolls, buns, and bagels are the biggest driver of sodium consumption, not necessarily because each serving is so salty, but because Americans eat so much. And you can include us on that, right? For some families, ultra-processed foods are, they're really convenient. They're affordable or tasty to stop eating. They're too, all of those things to stop eating. But you can still diffuse these sodium bombs by comparing nutrition labels and choosing a product with the least sodium per serving. For example, going for low sodium soy sauce or chicken broth.

You know, there's a reason they have labels on almost all foods that tell you the consumption levels for certain things in that food. There's a reason it's there. It's for you to read. So check it out. Now, I know that most of the bridge listeners do that already. The conclusion of this article is that anything that lowers your judgment, daily salt intake counts. You don't have to be perfect.

Just do a check. It's your health. Okay, let's see. We should have time for one more here. Oh, I like this one. I got a kick out of this one. Have you got a pet? A dog or a cat?

Are you just getting a new dog or a cat? And you're going, what am I going to call this dog? You know, I remember after my sister and I and my little brother bugged our parents, we've got to have a dog. other people have a dog we'd move to Canada we'd never had a pet and our friends had pets

and we didn't have one and we really wanted a dog and my dad kept saying it's work it's you're going to have to do so you have to walk the dog you have to clean up after the dog you go this that and the other thing and oh of course dad we'll do that absolutely

we can't wait to do that yeah of course until we got the dog Anyway, I had to have a name for the dog. So we came up with a great original names like Spot. Anyway, those names are long gone, right? So every year, there are various different organizations that do the top 10 trending puppy names. So these are the top 10 trending puppy names in Canada. Number one, cedar, like the tree.

Cedar is the top, number one, trending puppy names. Number two is EV. I have no idea. E.V.E. W.E.W.E. Number three is Rio. I like Cedar. I like Cedar. That's nice.

E.V. Rio, not so sure. Number four, Chester. Chester, the dog. Number five, Goose. Goose, the dog. Six is Charlotte. there's a tie in seventh place how do they work this stuff out number seven is so the tie is between sully and clover eight is macy nine is holly ten is tucker and bertie both tied i i don't think a lot of those names i like cedar that's interesting i kind of like chester

The rest seem like they're not going to last. Cedar is also the number one trending male puppy name. It doesn't even make the top ten in female puppies. Evie is the top female puppy name. Okay, let's get to kittens. Really? You're sitting there going, Mansbridge is talking about pet names. It's come to this on Wednesdays. Sorry.

But let's do kittens now. The number one, trending kitten name, is marshmallow. You're kitty kitty, kitty, you're marshmallow. Followed by Eddie, Bailey, Tony, Charlie, Nimbus, Kiwi, Cheeto, Louise, and Sky. Sky like in the Isle of Sky. S-K-Y-E, so obviously I would like that. Sky.

But marshmallows look kind of cute, depending on what kind of catch you guys. And now you're saying, okay, can we move on? And I'm saying, just a minute, this is a Canadian survey. So let's break it down into provinces. What are your favorite names per province? So don't reach for. that switch yet because would you really want to go without knowing what the top

trending puppy name is in Alberta? It's Gemma. Go figure. In BC, it's pickle. They got to make this stuff up. Somebody's sitting there going, oh, what crazy name can we do here? Nova Scotia it's Aspen I'm not going to read them all here

I'll just give you a few of these I guess none of them makes sense except Quebec Quebec's I like Quebec's Maverick Maverick's the top trending puppy name in Quebec PEI is Lily

Ontario it's Elsie there you go I'm not sure if you're confronted right now with this pressing issue of what are you going to call your pet I'm not sure where any of that helped you although cedar

that's nice you know if you're walking in the park and you hear a person with their dog saying Come here, Caesar. Come here, Cedar. You know, that person was obviously listening to the bridge. I got the idea to call their Doc Cedar from listening to Mansbridge. Which gives the top 10 trending puppy names.

Or not. All right, that's going to wrap up this special Wednesday, N-Bits edition. of the bridge. Quick reminders, tomorrow is your turn. You've heard the question of the day. You've heard how to get involved in giving your answers. Don't be shy.

The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com is where you can write. And as I said, we still have room for a few more. So get those answers in. Also tomorrow, the random ranter, I do not know what the rander is going to be talking about tomorrow yet. He usually files his rant with me by late Wednesday. He's a busy guy, you know.

As we said before, he travels the prairies. He's kind of a one-man band in his business. And he manages mainly because of his driving around and his contact with people to come up with a rant each week. it's quite remarkable. We greatly appreciate it. Because he, like so many of the guests on the bridge, makes us think. Don't have to agree, but it does make us think.

And then Friday, of course, is good talk with Chantelle-Bear and Bruce Anderson. And it's been another crazy week in Canadian politics, and it's only Wednesday. So we'll see what's happened by the end of the week. have our discussion a big once again another really good Raj Russo yesterday

the Tuesdays have really worked out well on the bridge whether it's more butts one week or Raj Russo the next

the conversations have been great and you've been tuning in in record numbers so we appreciate that all right I'm Peter Mansbridge

it's been good to spend some time with you again today. The bridge will be back in less than 24 hours. Thanks for listening today. We'll talk to you tomorrow.