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

Send us Fan Mail Yeah, we were an empty house for only a beat... That Thanksgiving to Christmas return to school barely lasted more than a blink of an eye, and now the kids are back!  Game on!  First one back to the South Bay is the VIP of VIP's, Lauren Crotty. Part of the family of South Bay Royals known as The Crottys!!! She's a Georgia Bulldog, and once we get thru the catching-up chi...

Send us Fan Mail A final Sunday evening before we go FULL-HOUSE for the next month with the kids home for the holidays... That means one last leisurely dinner with our friends Katie & Phil Brodkin (and our epic dogs). Then the chaos of college kids will sweep thru our little beach town! Most importantly on this episode, we celebrate the TENTH BIRTHDAY of our favorite furry friend, FLYNN! Then...

Send us Fan Mail Yes, Los Angeles has tunnels, and we've used them! Want to know where they are? We tell you! And what happened to the old Water Cooler? You know, the one that we all gathered around and conversed about who-knows-what -- regardless of political affiliations, religious beliefs, or what-have-ya... And what about the television shows we discussed around those said-coolers? And, o...

Send us Fan Mail For all of us newbie empty-nesters, our small town felt completely overrun by college kids returning home to get some free meals, have mom do their laundry, catch-up with old friends at their former stomping grounds, and, eventually, leave a little bit of havoc in their wake... And it all repeats again in a few weeks after Finals! So yes, we discuss that a bit... But we also hit s...

Send us Fan Mail EMPTY NEST = FULL NEST = OUR TOWN IS PACKED WITH KIDS HOME FROM COLLEGE! AND WE LOVE IT!!!! We have Eric & Jenna Brodkin, Dash Seiffer, and Kaylie & Dylan Fenton as our VIP GUESTS on this amazing episode. It's a short one, because they all have things to do (PG-13 Kind of Stuff), but we do cover: Some Glazing... Puppies... Thanksgiving Favorites... COVID Connections.....

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)...

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...

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!!! Seriou...

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 t...

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...

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) w...

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 Hollywoo...

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....

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...

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 wra...

Send us Fan Mail A cold beer, a Mandarin song, and a groovy new beat... then the banter hits airport & sleep divorces... and more fun.... The two choice topics tonight are: THE GREAT LOUVRE & SHANGHAI DIAMOND HEISTS &  AMERICA'S DEBT SPIRAL And then when... the coast is clear... we go back to some personal questions re: "who's most likely too?"... Fade to Black (wit...

Send us Fan Mail Yeah, we have our usual, epic, empty-nesting banter... and yes, it's over some wine... but we do get serious........  The two choice topics tonight are: TIPPING &  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE And then when... the coast is clear... we go back to the fun banter to close...

Send us Fan Mail We hit it all in this epic episode: We glaze:  Apple Fritters, REO Speedwagon, Roller Skating Parties, Kings & No-Kings, Old Fashioned Glazed Donuts, Protests, Coldplay, Cole Crotty, Phil Brodkin, USC, Dr. Lawrence Flechner, Dirk Diggler, 70's vibes, Surf Sessions, No-Pants, Dogs, College Football, Cote Du Rhone, Ritalin, Burnt Orange Teams, Vandy, Rebuilding Inner City P...

Send us Fan Mail Dinner, Dialogue & Debate Welcome to the VERY FIRST EPISODE of "Plate & Ponder" — where a longtime married couple, now proud empty nesters, pour a glass of wine, share a meal, and tackle the biggest stories shaping our world. She's ( Jen Fenton ) an inner-city charter school director, elected official, and former school board president. He’s ( Chris Fenton )...