PLATE & PONDER: Empty-Nesting with Jen & Chris Fenton

Send us Fan Mail

Empty-Nesting? Say what? We don't have that today! It's Thanksgiving, and we have a FULL HOUSE, so our son, Dylan Fenton, joins the podcast to share his insights from Montreal, Canada, where he attends McGill University, playing lacrosse with some living legends (lots of shoutouts) and studying international business (while also finding some time to be a bro at Zeta Psi)....

Serious topics today include (FYI, THE STOKE WAS SICK!):

AI use at McGill University...

The stressful experience of Car Buying (and when the best time of year is to actually buy a car)...

The differences between the USA & Canada, and what do Canadians think of us down South...

The beer selection up North and the beauty of the 5.9!

Oh, and of course, how much Dylan loves and cherishes his amazing parents...

Download, Follow, Review, and Enjoy......And HAVE A FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING!!!

Send us Fan Mail

EMPTY NESTING HIATUS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!

We have one kid back from Tulane - Kaylie!

One more, Dylan, coming home later this week!

It's Thanksgiving! AND WE HAVE A FULL HOUSE IN THE WORKS! So why not talk to our kids about life and global issues over dinner and a drink.... 

Serious Topics Include:

Fake Plastic Christmas Trees vs The Real Thing

AI as a Tool for College

AI vs Human Interaction for Things That Are REAL!

Nothing better than the perspective of an 18-year-old. Let's go! 

Enjoy, Follow, Review, and Download........ And thank you!

Send us Fan Mail

Oh boy......

We have fans around the world, and we have fans who are also VERY close friends (and fellow empty nesters!)..... How about having two of our most favorite friends join us on Episode 11???

Well, that's what we did! Manhattan Beach's finest people, Katie & Phil Brodkin. EMPTY NESTERS who love to plate, ponder, and gab... so we have LOTS in common!!!

Serious subjects include:

Jeffrey Epstein

Black Friday Madness

Pickleball

And the Art of Sharing!..........  

Enjoy, Follow, Download, and Review. It's PLATE & PONDER!!!!!!!!

Send us Fan Mail

We are back... Been a week, but the NOLA SET Conference & Tulane Parents Weekend interrupted our flow.... But all for good reasons.

Yeah, it rained in LA (not kidding!), and we got a leak in our roof. So it goes...

But on the fun-side, we met some great football recruits, chugged beers at The Boot, ate insanely good Gumbo, hung with our epic daughter, met her friends, danced to some groovy beats, and just soaked-up some life moments...

On this episode we hit the serious topics of:

Creative Surplus vs. Side Hustle (Credit: Erik Lokkesmoe)

& 

The Importance of Trade Schools (Hint: Jen is on the board of one, so she KNOWS what she's talking about.)

Enough of the banter....... IT'S GO TIME!

Send us Fan Mail

Yes, lacrosse season is over in Montreal (HUGE SHOUT-OUT TO THE MCGILL REDBIRDS MEN'S LACROSSE TEAM!), but don't you worry, we can still helicopter parent with the best of them. This empty-nester team is heading to NOLA to see our daughter! 

Get ready for us, Kaylie!!

On a serious note, we do talk FAA delays that affected our Canada trip last weekend. AND THEY RAN OUT OF ALCOHOL ON THE FLIGHT! Hopefully we get the skies back to normal soon! 

DC, are you listening??? We know Amsterdam is!

But how about the importance of travel?... An industry vital to keeping the magic of humanity together thru people-to-people engagement! Chris heads to a conference this week to speak about just that! The MAGIC OF CULTURAL & COMMERCIAL CONNECTION! A glue that bonds countries and keeps the world in harmony... or at least keeps us all from war............  

Enjoy...

Follow, Review, and SPREAD THE WORD!

Send us Fan Mail

We're handing over the keys to friends to watch our dog and home for the weekend, but before we go:

1 - Can we pay the people in the control tower? Please! If anyone deserves their regular paycheck, it's the people who keep us safe in the skies!

& 

2 - What is the meaning of life? What makes someone truly happy? 

We know a few answers to those questions for us - a) watching our daughter play violin in her orchestra or leading her cheer team on the sidelines of a BIG game, and b) rooting on our son in lacrosse games... Which we are going to do this weekend... In Toronto... In the snow... But it is for the National Championship of Canada. GO REDBIRDS!

Send us Fan Mail

It's a solo performance, so we'll call this one "Episode 7.5"...

Chris does an early morning tv appearance on Yahoo Finance to discuss:
1) The Industry's anxiety around the expected Warner Brothers Discovery sale.
2) Solutions for the terrible trend of off-shoring tv & film production.
3) The importance of engaging consumers worldwide now that Hollywood lost the China market.

Enjoy... and don't you worry! A fully populated, brand new PLATE & PONDER episode is coming soon!!

Send us Fan Mail

Just when we thought it was other people who had the problem, Jen & I realized we have the same manic issue. We may actually take the outcomes of games our children play way too seriously...

Hmmm... No way... That couldn't be true... Or is it? 

We discuss the adrenaline rush.  Cortisol Release.  And the physiological response of watching sports.  Go Dodgers.  Go Redbirds.  And go any team our kids are playing on!!!

Boy are we are spent after this weekend. But boy was it fun too!

Send us Fan Mail

Anyone else upset that no one opens the window shades on planes anymore? 

And how about the EPIC southern hospitality in Nashville!!!

And, oh yeah, the Village People were caught, but they didn't have France's crown jewels on them... That story will just continue to occupy our consciousness... 

HOT IMPORTANT TOPICS:

Macro themes learned from research group sessions with under-30's re: Social Media addictions.

&

Xi Jinping's Trump card on America.

And so much more....... Let's get going. It's empty nesting time w/ Plate & Ponder!

Send us Fan Mail

Drinking an ambrosial glass of wine, enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon, staring at my gorgeous wife, and trading some jovial, yet highly engaging, banter...

Our topics of the day include:

MOVIE REVIEW:  "HOUSE OF DYNAMITE"

& 

THE POWER OF NARRATIVE:  INSIDE A DEMOCRACY & A COMMUNIST COUNTRY

And smartly, just before the eyes of our listeners glaze over, we wrap it up, promising to return with more fresh & civil discourse later this week...

We truly love EMPTY NESTING! Please join us on our EPIC journey!!