Banter Bites

Music – The Best Medicine?

Tony's Bennett's legendary singing has touched millions of people, and now his singing's helping him battle Alzheimer's disease … proving the power of music.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Every weekday morning Red has "CBS This Morning" on in the background as she starts her workday by going through emails...

Yesterday, the announcement that Tony Bennett has been battling Alzheimer's since 2016 caught her attention as news of any legendary celebrity battling something so serious would. Red was aware that the disease steals people of their memories and cognitive abilities but was touched by the upbeat nature of Gayle King's interview with Tony Bennett's wife, Susan.

Just as the interview was ending, Red saw an email from Black that linked to an AP announcement about Tony's Bennett's diagnosis and it referenced a newly released feature article in AARP, The Magazine. Although the AP piece was short, it had a quote that made Red stop and smile.

He's not the old Tony anymore," his wife, Susan, told the magazine. "But when he sings, he's the old Tony.

Tony Bennett's singing has touched generations of music lovers, but whether you're familiar with his music or not, this chapter of his life's an inspiring one – of family, of hard work, of joy in what you do, and of the power of music. If you want to learn more about Tony Bennett and his amazing journey – as a musician, as a painter, as a father, as an Alzheimer patient – the AARP article may have everything you want and more.

This is one of Red’s favorite Banter Bites in large part because of Black’s “corny” puns, but also because fresh corn is a summer staple – whether cooked on the grill or in the microwave, whether eaten on its own or as a primary ingredient in refreshing summer salads


This may be one of the corniest things you’ll ever read.

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: It’s just a vegetable, so how can it possibly elicit such a strong reaction from Red, while, for Black, it’s more a source of amusement and even, it turns out, admiration?

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Think you can avoid artificial intelligence? Think again …

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Red already fights technology at every turn, preferring to keep her ostrich head in the sand, plus, she finds Artificial Intelligence (AI) scary; whereas Black knows ignoring reality merely postpones the inevitable, so she’s started playing with AI to understand it better …

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A man better known for his death than his life, although Red, the straight-A student and history lover, immediately thinks of the costly and controversial movie of his life. (Well, technically, it was the life of Cleopatra.) Black, of course, focuses on business – leadership lessons, including the power of words, although she surprises Red with some food trivia. But the fact July’s named after him is the perfect excuse to rerun one of Red’s favorite Banter Bites …

Quick! If someone says "Julius Caesar," what comes to mind?

BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: Almost everyone has heard of Julius Caesar, but how many of us really know much about him, or at least that's what Red starts to wonder when she receives the usual flippant, but still accurate, reply from her sister, after feeling very proud that she knew that July was named after the famous Roman.

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