Iran at War, ER Nightmares, High School Heartbreak, Civil Discourse, Trump, & Choosing Joy

Plate & Ponder w/ Special Guests FARNAZ GOLSHANI & DR. LAWRENCE FLECHNER: “The Forbidden Dinner Table Bomb: Iran at War, ER Nightmares, High School Heartbreak, Civil Discourse & Why We’re Still Choosing Joy”

What happens when the most dangerous conversation in America collides with the most terrifying moments of parenthood?

In this raw, unfiltered dinner-table episode, we finally pull up a chair to the forbidden topic: Iran, the escalating war, and why nobody’s allowed to talk about it without getting canceled. But we don’t stop at geopolitics. We weave it straight into the chaos of real life — the ER nightmares that every parent dreads, the broken system of modern medicine that’s failing our kids when they need it most, and the gut-wrenching fear that hits when your high-schooler is suddenly the one on the gurney.

We talk raising teens in a world that feels like it’s on fire. We explore why civil discourse is dying… and how to bring it back to your own kitchen table. And through it all, we ask the hardest question of 2026: 

How do you keep choosing joy — really living life to the fullest — when the headlines scream otherwise?

No screaming. No talking points. Just FOUR friends over plates of food AND WINE, doing what we do best: pondering the un-ponderable with honesty, heart, and zero filter.

This one might get us in trouble.
It might also be the most important conversation you hear all month.

 Hit play. Pour the wine. Bring the tissues… and maybe a second helping of courage.

#PlateAndPonder #ForbiddenDinnerTalk #IranWar #ParentingInCrisis #ChooseJoy

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:01

Oh yeah, we got that corporate music going on right now because we got a really special plate under Empty Nesty with Jenna Crispin. Yes, don't worry, it's not just Chris Ben. Hi! It's Jen. I know everybody wants that because we're in 50 nations around the world and we are growing. So tonight, Jennifer. What do we have that's really special?

SPEAKER_01 0:25

We have two very special guests that I'm gonna let introduce themselves, but I'm gonna give like a lead up into it. I met this human probably right after we moved to Manhattan Beach, and we worked together at the Ed Foundation, and we traveled to Sacramento and we did legislative advocacy, and our friendship grew, and she hired me actually, and she became my boss.

SPEAKER_04 0:51

Wait, what is the Ed Foundation though?

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Say the Manhattan Beach Ed Foundation, and we raised money uh to grant to Manhattan Beach Unified School District to basically pay for the things that the state isn't giving us funds for. But this human became my boss. So not only is she one of my closest friends, but she was also my boss. Say hello. Hello. Introduce yourself. This is Farnaz. And yay! And who is Farnaz's plus one?

SPEAKER_03 1:20

Hello, this is Lawrence. I'm the token husband.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

I love that. You almost sound like Dr. Drew from Love Line.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Yeah, it's Dr. Lawrence. Should we say Dr. Lawrence? Like Dr. Phil?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yeah, I mean it's it's definitely impressive. Wait a minute. Wait, Lawrence, uh, you're doctor. I'm a doctor for law. Uh for Nas, you went, aren't you a doctor?

SPEAKER_02 1:43

I'm a mistress.

SPEAKER_04 1:44

Okay. And I'm a doctor of love. All right. So um, well, you should give a quick story about Dr. Lawrence and how um he, you know, helped save the life of our of our son from a lacrosse injury.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Can I tell you I was actually thinking about that when I was making the bed, knowing that you guys were coming over tonight? Although, wait, that sounds really weird. This morning when I was making the bed, knowing that we were having company this evening, um, I was like, gosh, I remember the time when Dylan got hit in the stomach with a lacrosse ball. He went down and you could hear him groaning on the floor uh while we were in the stadium, and it was a very traumatic experience. So ironically, I was supposed to meet Farnaz and Lawrence at the orchestra, uh, recital the concert. I went after Dylan left for the hospital. I ran into them. I was a little frantic. Lawrence has privileges at the hospital we took Dylan to. So within, I don't know, a very few minutes of Dylan getting checked in, there Lawrence was behind the curtain, checking his vitals, checking all of his stats, checking all the tests. And he made us feel so much better knowing that Dylan was okay.

SPEAKER_04 3:00

Well, by the way, I'll never forget being up in the booth, calling the game, playing my DJ stuff, and then suddenly over the walkie-talkie. Chris Fenton, um, your son is in you need to come down on the field immediately. Please get down here. And I was like, oh my God, what happened? And you know because you didn't even see it.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

You were busy DJing.

SPEAKER_04 3:23

It was well, no, I remember seeing it, but I don't remember seeing it as frightening as it actually was. And we didn't call the ambulance. We had to bring my car up on the field and take him away.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

He was probably mortified by that.

SPEAKER_04 3:37

I think he was really in pain. He was.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

I mean, when the kid goes down, he you know, you know he's in pain because he fights through a lot.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

But I mean, well, Dr. Lawrence, I'm gonna call you Dr. Lawrence from now on because it's like Dr. Phil. Like, so this was uh what what night was it? It was a Friday night? Or no, Wednesday night. It was a Wednesday night. Uh you're at uh at Torrance uh hospital, which is I arguably I would think one of the most uh well-run hospitals I've ever been to, having fortunately not been to a lot of them, but I've seen like UCLA Med Center on uh whatever that was a Friday night. The emergency room in LA, no matter where you are, is always pretty chaotic, right?

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Right. It's a scary, uh, it's a scary time. You you know, your kid gets hit. We're moving the mic now it's the kid gets hit, you don't know what's going on. You didn't did he suffer any kind of injury that that you don't know about? You want and so you're you're you're scared. So going to the emergency room, there's always that kind of you know uncertainty and fear, and you're dealing with the it's not you, it's your child too. So I knew, and you know, I I know and love you guys. And we love you. I'm not you know an emergency physician, but I I could, you know, you know, read some, you know, I I can read a chart and see what's going on, and I wanted to just kind of give you guys some support and make sure he was doing okay. And thank goodness he was, and he did.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Thank goodness.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

And he's he's a tough kid. My God, I saw, you know, he got hit in the chest, and my god, he has like, you know, absolutely. There's many more inches of muscle and you know, skelet, you know, skeletal muscle tissue than I than many of us have. And so he he had a lot of buffer there. And uh he did great, but fortunately, I it's just doing the right thing and being with the people you love, and especially when there's some some fear around it. And it was nice to kind of just give you guys hugs, and that's all I really did.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Thank you. I actually have a question. So, growing up for Nas, or actually with kids, right? Knowing that you had a husband who was in the medical profession, did it make you feel a little better when one of your kids was sick or took a hard fall or something happened?

SPEAKER_00 5:48

It definitely makes you not be too worried some of the time, but then other times I'm scared that it's like their illness is being dismissed too quickly.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Really?

SPEAKER_00 6:00

And so I need to pay attention to this. I need to not ignore it because he's like, Oh, this is nothing. It's just a fever of 103.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Little background. I I'm a urolog I'm a urologist, but I'm a urologic surgeon is the operative word. So surgeons are a little bit of you know, we have this, this if if it you don't need to take a person to the operating room, they're gonna be okay and they're gonna get through it. So sometimes if a kid has a fever or if a kid has a sneeze or a runny nose, you kind of dismiss it like they're gonna get through it. It'll be okay. And the parents want a little bit more of a well, some supportive measures. And you know, you learn over time to that's you know, the supportive measures is important, but in you know, when you're training and in surgery, you don't really learn that stuff. You learn how to kind of cut people open and stuff.

SPEAKER_04 6:47

Well, the important thing is that we're we're not given medical advice on plate and ponder, but we we can't talk macro about it, and I we were tweedledy and tweedledumb when it came to our kids.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

No, well we'll make it a lot of people.

SPEAKER_04 6:58

Well, you actually wiped out in the Port of Iarta um uh airport. I did, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Wait, are you saying that's the reason our kids have issues?

SPEAKER_04 7:08

Well, it could be why Kaylee seemed a little touched for a bit. Um I think she also fell down the stairs onto our marble floor once or twice, too. Yeah. Dylan was bam bam, so like I I don't know. Like, I do think there's a um when you have twins, there's just so much going on. You sort of at some point just give up trying to worry about everything, which is I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it sounds like as a doctor, you sort of have to know how to prioritize um what's really serious and what is probably very odds uh oriented, not a serious thing. Like the probabilities come into play a lot, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Lair, don't they usually say that like the children of doctors or the family members of doctors are frequently the ones who miss things because they're they're doctors, they're they're more a hypochondriac, you're the opposite, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Is that a record score?

SPEAKER_03 8:10

No, you know, I I will I actually it it's a good point to make. I always tr I um I'm my parent, I'm my kids' parents, I'm not their doctors. So if there were ever any times where Farnas was concerned about something, um you know, let them go to the go to their pediatrician. And the pediatrician knows a lot more, you know, hears all this stuff more than I do. I mean, I'm I guess I told you I'm a urologist. So if I was a pd if I were a pediatrician, I may, you know, say a few things differently. But yeah, I kind of let them if they had issues, go to their doctors, and that was sort of the right thing to not be that.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

So you're not a know-it-all.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

I definitely not a know-it all.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Right, but aren't surgeons usually know-it-alls, and they they're like, I don't want to say God complex.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Yeah, they play God, right? The good surgeons know their limits, and I I think have humil I think anyone who is an expert in anything knows you know, brings a lot of humility to it. So no, I'm I don't know everything.

SPEAKER_04 9:08

So if you're uh an expert at being president of the United States, you bring humility. Is that is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Okay, can we just discuss the tweet that went out existence of politics? What about the tweet that went out today after somebody died? I know.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

Well okay, we we're we're not me. This the the show is not about politics, but but it is yeah, I was quite um I I guess you know, you you could argue the same kinds of things came out when, say, Charlie Kirk was assassinated, too. We're in a a light uh in a world where society's norms of the old days don't seem to be completely It's human decency.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

When somebody dies, you don't say good.

SPEAKER_04 9:51

Well, I I'm sure there's some people we are okay with.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Like when I mean uh maybe Trump didn't like polar, I get it, but he you don't say good when somebody dies.

SPEAKER_04 10:02

Well I I think uh well if Epstein actually was killed, which we don't know yet.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Okay, but like speaking of Epstein, and I know your Mueller is not the same as Epstein. So you know No, but I think actually the issue that you just brought up, this is actually the biggest issue or problem of our time right now, is the absence of civil discourse.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Totally agree.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

And the inability for people who disagree with each other to engage in conversation. And the the propensity for our educators to bring their political opinions into the classroom instead of teaching kids to think critically and engage with each other across the classroom.

SPEAKER_04 10:39

And by the way, I'm okay with educators bringing their political opinions into the classroom if they then say you don't have to agree with me, and I want to hear debate as to why I might be wrong. I want to hear other perspectives. But that's not the way it is.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

But that's critical thinking, right? You just you just laid it out that way.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Well, I disagree. I don't think teachers should bring their opinions into the classroom because their students perceive them to be the experts in the class, and when they share their opinion, then disagreeing with them makes you feel anxious that you're you're disagreeing with the expert in the class and it prevents kids from s developing their own opinions and thinking critically.

SPEAKER_04 11:18

Well, there's probably an there's probably an age where the they have to be completely unbiased and just teach the subjects, right? But then at a certain point, like I don't know what that age is. I I don't think that happens.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

No, no, no, but I'm just saying, like if we're talking about the way it's a kindergarten teacher who might not, I mean, you see it on the news who who doesn't necessarily agree with uh you know gay rights and will say, Oh, I'm not gonna read the book about Johnny, you know, Johnny's two dads because I don't agree with that. These are kindergartners and she's putting her back.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

But um when we went to school, I don't recall ever having heard any of my educators' opinions on any political subject.

SPEAKER_04 12:03

That's actually sort of true. I now that I think about it.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

This is a this is a last 10 to 15 years kind of.

SPEAKER_04 12:11

Well, what are like actually, this is actually a really good question because I I I'm curious, like when I think about I mean, I didn't let at academics interfere with my education ever, so like I don't remember a lot about actually being in a classroom. Shout out to Mark Twain. Yes, and Samuel Langhorn Clemens, I think his name was. Um, but the uh the I do remember Miss Fatino's class, my freshman year at Glastonbury High School.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Always the first and last name.

SPEAKER_04 12:40

No, well, and she always well it wasn't, I don't know what her first name was. I bet you can pull it up. I think it was missed there. Um but they carted in the um the cart with the VHS recorder and the tube television, and we watched the space shuttle take off with the New Hampshire teachers on it, and we watched it explode live.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

I remember that in 1986. Yeah. We had the same I had the same thing.

SPEAKER_04 13:03

That's literally like one of the only things I really remember from in the classroom, other than than Mrs. Ashley, fifth grade, calling me constant comment. True. So, yeah, so it is, but I don't remember anybody talking about politics. Like the political stuff.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

I don't think that's political. That's more of a historical. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_04 13:22

I'm just saying, like I don't but those are moments that I remember just in a class, but I outside of the I had Mr.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Bream in the seventh grade, and it was um Dukakis versus He was a swarthy fellow.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

Uh Mondale. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Will Bush senior against Dukakis. And our social studies teacher had us role play each of the candidates. So you would be one candidate for a week, and then you'd have a chance at being the other candidate, and you'd try to figure out what the strengths of each were, and we would get into debates. And at the end of the whole process, I remember begging him begging him to tell us, yes, who who are you voting for, Mr. Bream? Like who are you standing with? Would he or no? He would not. He asked a series of like 50 questions. He's like, it doesn't matter who I'm voting for, which is true. What matters is your ability to decide for yourself.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Our kids know who, you know, who they who our teachers voted for. That's they do, you're right. I mean, and and they that's a big difference.

SPEAKER_04 14:30

They could probably just get I mean, whatever the Democrats are.

SPEAKER_03 14:33

It's a it's a it's explicit. They're you know, their teachers said I voted for the code.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

But is there a single one that they would say voted for a non-democrat? Like, is there anybody that would be?

SPEAKER_01 14:45

I actually think there are a couple. I can think of a couple teachers at MiraCosta who who probably said they voted for the uh who who, yeah, I could actually see a couple, and by a couple I mean two. It's it's definitely not the majority. No, because you don't get fired for that.

SPEAKER_04 15:00

Well, I'm telling you right now, you could get pretty chastised for it.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

Like, no, no, no. It was it was explicit in the other, you know, in the other camp, in the Democratic camp. So I mean, the it it's it's how they they come back when when they talk to us at home and you know about whatever current events. Oh my god, everyone thinks Trump is so-and-so. And it it it's it's fairly uniform that way.

SPEAKER_04 15:22

So let's talk about civil discourse because I I think that's a that's a really important point that you brought up. And um I think because we have you here, and I know um you work for a lot of different people where you have to be relatively sensitive about it, but I I'd love to hear your point of view on Iran, the Iran conflict, and and like what the stakes are, why we're in it, why we should be supporting it. Because uh, even myself, as you know, on our walks with the dogs and stuff, I'm still like, God, do I support this? Do I not? Like, I'm I like I'm part of a Jewish family and I do support Israel, but like whose war is this? You know, and I don't want to get caught up into controversy. I'm just more about educating.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

So, for context, I'm Iranian. I uh my family escaped Iran in 1979 when I was four at the start of the revolution. I'm also Jewish. And like all the other religious.

SPEAKER_04 16:24

What percentage was Jewish at that point in time in Iran?

SPEAKER_00 16:27

At the time in Iran, Jews made up about um were were the f it was the fourth largest um Jewish population in the world at the time.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

Somewhere around two or three hundred thousand.

SPEAKER_04 16:41

So that would be behind US, Israel, and you maybe France or something.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

England or France, yeah. So it was a large Jewish population. There were Jews spread out throughout the Middle East and and all the countries in that region at the time and be and before for for centuries. But anyways, my family, like a lot of the religious minorities, including the Baha'is, and really started to feel unsafe with the start of the Islamic regime. And um we escaped, we left with nothing in the middle of the night, and um came to the United States, and I feel incredibly grateful for this country. I'm extremely patriotic and have given my life to service because I care so deeply about you have and you know when I think about what my life would have been like if we had never left. I think about how women are deprived of freedom. When you think about an apartheid, it's there's an apartheid against women. They they are forced to remain with their head cut hair covered, lack of education. Actually, in Iran, women do get re educated at higher rates than they do in, for example, Afghanistan or in Pakistan and other other um Arab Muslims.

SPEAKER_04 18:00

Can I ask you this though? The the current regime, like and I think we talked about it on one of our dog walks, like the current regime, as as terrible as they are, there is this ability, unlike say Afghanistan with the Taliban, where women are allowed to go to school, they're allowed to study, they're allowed to learn how to read and all that kind of stuff. What what is the purpose of that if you're a if you're an authoritarian like regime like they are?

SPEAKER_00 18:30

I think the reality of it is it's a theocratic autocracy where people are treated however the government wants to treat people without what we have here is clear legal systems with clear expectations of if you do this, this is what you can expect in Iran at this moment um and prior to this war. Um they would kill people in the streets for standing out and fighting for their freedom. Um if a woman showed a little bit too much of her hair, she could get beaten to death, like Masa Amini was. And that's just one example, thousands of others have been.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

But what's interesting, so in China, for example, and Chris, you say this line all the time, that they try and keep their their you know, citizens just happy enough. So are what is what you're alluding to the fact that you would think that in Iran, with the regime sort of the way it it runs and with these principles, you'd want to keep quote unquote down the women?

SPEAKER_04 19:38

No, you know, that's actually a really good question because in China, actually, there's extremely powerful tiger mom, like CEOs of very important companies there. I would argue that maybe the government says, hey, we're gonna keep a strict control over our people. We're gonna have all kinds of very, very strict rules, laws, um, things that keep them in check. But our human resources are our greatest strength if we if we educate them so that they can create the best state-of-the-art technologies, et cetera, et cetera. Because Iran has never been one that's short of scientists or technologists or innovators or visionaries or whatever. And I would imagine that crosses the line between genders, male and female, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:26

So But there are other ways that women are subjugated. So it's um a country ruled by Sharia law, which means that if you're in a court of law, a woman's voice is worth half or less than half of that of a man. So you need to Just because she's a female. Because she's a female, you'd need to have two female witnesses or three female witnesses to equate to essentially one male. To equate to one male. Oh, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

Or um, you know, we're under Sharia law in reverse in this. In this house? Yeah. Is that I feel like Flynn and I can equal one half of one decision.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Maybe.

SPEAKER_04 21:05

All right. We're trying to make it lighthearted. This is empty nesting with Jen and Chris Fenton, if you haven't forgotten, um, in Fifty Nations and people want to laugh a little bit. But no, this is a series of.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

How else are women are women sort of subjugated to the law where they are obviously not treated the same as as men?

SPEAKER_00 21:24

There's a lot of ways. So for example, if um men want to have multiple wives or have relationships with women, they can women can't travel without permission from men. There they can't you know, there's there's so many restrictions on what women can and can't do, and to some extent it's a sense of ownership. You're owned by your father until you're owned by your husband. Um Wow.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Apparently somebody's driving yellow Lamborghini, I think.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

I think they have a small, you know, what all of this is not just about women. Both men and women have been subjugated under this government for close to fifty years, forty-eight years now. And um they've been fighting for their freedom. I think there's been fifteen plus uh instances where people have gone into the streets desperate to fight for their freedom. And this is, you know, a really important and pivotal moment for not just Iran, but that entire region. Because the people of Iran have been living in poverty with like 70% living in poverty, while the government has chosen to use all of their resources, and it's one of the most resourced country naturally resourced countries in the world to use their resources to fund proxy wars all over the world. And you know, I I for one am eager to see what might come of this moment.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

And can I ask what you think might come of it? I mean, I'm not I'm not asking you to solve the pieces of the puzzle.

SPEAKER_04 22:56

Let Dr. Lawrence uh Dr. Lawrence, do you want to say a couple things here too, please?

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Both of you guys are the most educated on this side of the street. I know, but Dr.

SPEAKER_04 23:04

Lawrence only has half a vote, so like you and I combined for one.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

We're in the same, you know, this the same order of happiness.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Happy wife is a happy. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

No, I I think I think you know, at this time we're now week three into this uh Iran-Israel war. I'm sorry, America, Israel war with Iran. And um I think the word is hope. Uh, you know, I I I'm not Iranian, I'm Jewish, but we we we uh married into this Iran, this amazing Iranian family, and I've learned uh all of you know, learned the trauma of so many people in the in the expat you know Iranian um world of of what's happened where um I think there's just a lot of hope that they can get their country back. Look, there's it's a country of ninety million people. There's probably about a million um uh uh ideologuing that country and in you know in the executive and in in the branches of government there, and and uh who are who are in a tyrannical way governing that country and and you know with guns and power, you know, power by you know by force, and this is an opportunity that may reverse that. And it's very hope we're all we're all kind of on the edge of our seats with hope and trying to see if if we're gonna push, you know, get to some inflection point where then the 89 million people are gonna kind of take their own um get to get to self-determination again.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Okay, so as a doctor, you know how you look for certain signs that your patient is getting better, right? Maybe the heart rate gets stronger, maybe the temperature comes down. So using sort of that analogy, what are some of these signs uh that we should be looking for that perhaps the regime really will shift and we will see a change in that country? Okay, I Is that a tough question?

SPEAKER_03 24:59

No, great, great analogy. This week I um I so I do, you know, I'm a urologist, as I said, I I did a surgery on this person who had a who had a very, very, very big, dense kidney stone, and I had to do a very big surgery to rem to remove it, and it was very dense. It was like this rock that wouldn't break. And so you're breaking it with this device. Yeah, and it's so dense, and it's taking you're taking all this time to do it, but at some point it starts fracturing. And and you know, at some point, you know, it's it's many minutes of patience of time of just breaking this thing of of applying um force to this thing, and you start seeing it fracture, and at some point it all just fractured into a million pieces. And so I was thinking about that, I kind of in a silly weird way about this is this is what's gonna happen in Iran, that at some point the the the mystique of this regime is going to just fracture into a million a million pieces, pieces that are all gonna be you know powerless and and and the small pieces that they become, and then the people are gonna take over. I'm hopeful that's gonna happen in, you know, in the world. Soon? Like next week. I don't know, you know, that's the thing. Everyone wants to give it a time. It's gonna happen. I think I think there's I think there's an irreversible uh I think I I think it's going forward. I don't no one knows when the exact time is, but I think the people who know all the details of what's going on, they know it's gonna happen. They know they we can't go back to a status quo. This this you know regime is has now um launched missiles to all the regions around it. It's gonna continue, you know, all the countries around it. It you can't go back to a status quo from before. So I think there's there's no going back. I just don't know when it is, but I'm hopeful it's gonna happen soon.

SPEAKER_04 26:50

Do you have one more piece that you want to add to this before we uh I want to get to some empty nesting banter?

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Um I recently got to hear Massi Ali Najad speak. Um she's one of the women who's been advocating for women's rights from the United States. You may have seen her on the news. She she had been the regime had tried to kill her many times. And I really like her joy about this moment and the possibility of a country that's been locked under held in captivity for close to 50 years and being free again.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

And she has that same hope.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Yeah. It's it's it's overwhelming. And I truly hope that the people, the young people who've been fighting for their rights for so long, will have the opportunity to live in freedom and to to have a democracy and to to be able to have the rights that all of us take for granted. I am so overwhelmingly grateful for this country because I've gotten to explore my career, I've been able to contribute to my community, and I you're able to be a leader and be a leader, and and so many things that we take for granted are not possible in parts of this world. Like when you think about Iran or Afghanistan, women are not allowed to sing in public. What?

SPEAKER_04 28:15

Well, some women shouldn't sing in public.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

I probably shouldn't, huh?

SPEAKER_04 28:18

I I don't think Barbara Streisand should have.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Like honestly, I mean Well, no, you're just saying that because the Oscars. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:25

Oh, I didn't hear that. But anyway, okay. First of all, I'm just gonna say thank you guys for diving deep into the real serious subject about being um that that that is controversial right now. And let's just pray for our servicemen and women that they get out of there um quickly and safely and healthily. And and the Iranians, um, we're wishing them the best, the Iranian people, that regime that's a little different. Um, but I do um I did find a Dukakis quote really quick that I want to play.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Governor Dukakis rebuttal.

SPEAKER_04 29:04

I can't believe I'm losing to this guy.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

I totally I remember.

SPEAKER_01 29:09

Was that from SNL? No, it's from SNL.

SPEAKER_04 29:11

Um anyway, so now um I do I have this um groovy. Now I don't want to we got some groovy tunes going on here. Um I want to move into Oh my god, I have a song by Dylan Fenton coming on. Um I want to talk about empty nesting and the fact that you guys are so far away from it. Like, what is it like?

SPEAKER_01 29:35

You said that with such glee, like, ha ha ha, more empty nesters.

SPEAKER_04 29:39

Yeah, well, we are we are enjoying it, but like how how recent was it where we were like, oh my god, we're not gonna be able to do this. So tell us what it's like. You first of all, you have a daughter who's going to Stanford. Oh my gosh, like, where is my applause button right now? Yeah, shout out.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

One of the most beautiful, beautiful women uh as well. She's brilliant, absolutely, just like her mama.

SPEAKER_04 30:06

But tell us what we're missing by being empty nesters, and you guys still have them in the nest. Like, how awesome.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Because their son is in ninth grade. So they're they're in the heart of high school, and we don't even remember that.

SPEAKER_04 30:17

And a volleyball star.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

We're learning from you guys. What do you mean? We're just that's why we that's why we're that's why you guys do the walks with us. We listen to your podcast. I mean, among other things, many reasons, but you you teach us.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Well, I think we each teach each other different things. I mean, uh having kids that are now a year ahead, we can say to you, Oh, pull back. Nope, this is them trying to, you know, trying to gain their freedom. It's not that they don't love you, it's okay. Or, you know, buy the mattress cover on Amazon's prime day because it's gonna go up threefold.

unknown 30:49

Right?

SPEAKER_01 30:50

Little things like that. Or no, she doesn't need to take the SAT now. She can take it in six months at this location.

SPEAKER_04 30:55

Can you guys take naps on Saturdays or no? Like there's no guys, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Are you still going from activity to activity to activity?

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Sometimes it's back to back with volleyball, but there's definitely more naps happening on Saturdays because he's 15 and he's got his bike and his crew of friends, and he's out and about. Is he gonna get his permit? He has an e-bike and he's gonna get the head.

SPEAKER_04 31:15

Was he one of those gang members of the e-bikes? Not quite, no.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Not an MB goon. Thank goodness. But he is gonna get his permit. Yeah, he is. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

Yeah, he's gonna get it too. You know, it's it's a little like we get a little nostalgic about what's coming up already a little bit. So on the one hand, I'm excited for her and she's gonna have an amazing time, and on the other hand, I you know get a little sad about the possibility of not seeing her for long months at a time.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Does it seem like forever ago when she was a freshman? It does, right? No, it doesn't matter. No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

It went by so fast. The cool thing is though, I think being able to focus on our son a little bit more to be able to be attentive to his needs a little bit more and to be present for this phase for him.

SPEAKER_04 32:00

And well, Micah's really needy too.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

No, he is not, but you know, we were talking about this at dinner that I think in a lot of households there's always the you know, the the kid show. One of the kids is more, I guess, I don't know, is e maybe it's more needy, maybe it's louder, maybe it's I don't know. Like, I think in our house, and Kaylee will say this, it was the Dylan show. She would say that.

SPEAKER_04 32:23

Was it really?

SPEAKER_01 32:24

And I think in your house, John would probably say it was the Chris show.

SPEAKER_04 32:27

Well, of course it was.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

And I think my sister would say it was probably the Jen show.

SPEAKER_04 32:31

Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

Right? And what about you guys?

SPEAKER_00 32:35

I'm one of four, so it's a little different.

SPEAKER_03 32:38

So maybe, maybe just with two. They they forgot her name sometimes. I mean, she was she was that probably would have happened if we had a third. It was your brother's show. Everything was about him, right? And was he the oldest? No, but that it's funny because Farnas is is one of four, and they're these amazing siblings. I love my my siblings-in-law, and they're very um uh they're they're brilliant and they're they're wonderful people, and they sacrificed a little bit, you know, for the family and for, you know, there were immigrants coming here from Iran, as you hear, as you heard. And and then Farnas was sort of like the little one, and and she got to sort of she was the renegade and she got to do were you the rebel of the family? She totally was. And now she's the one that they all kind of look at because she was the one that they all kind of forgot about. Oh, you know, she'll whatever. We we don't have any more money for her.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

And and she turned out more than fine. More than fine. She's you are not sure.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

But no, actually, let me let me credit. She she wanted to do what she wanted to do and not be a doctor and be her own person. And um, and she, and that's why they're like, Well, you can't do that. You can't just not be, you know, right. You can't follow the path of the family. Three brilliant people, her siblings, and I love them. They're all physicians, you know, they they're all they're all very bright people, but Farnes is like, I'm gonna be an artist. And they said, which is probably so anti and and that's what I mean by that. So we're not gonna support your art artistic.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Okay, I've got a question. If one of your kids said, I want to be an artist, would you support that? Because I don't know if I I mean I would maybe as like an extracurricular.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

But again, again, first generation, it's it's a different context. Like, how are you gonna how are you gonna make a living and establish a family so I can't even do that? But but she decided to do her own thing, and now she's this she's this jet setter professional, and they all kind of look at her with such um respect, and and I think it's it's beautiful. And no, and I wasn't saying anything.

SPEAKER_04 34:32

Does she do NFTs? Remember those, like the NFTs that were sold for like a hundred million, or like what happened to those?

SPEAKER_01 34:40

I don't know, but pulling it back to what Lauren said, and having worked about NFTs, having worked with Varnaz in in various different capacities, you do bring such a special quality, and you really you've changed every organization that you have you have led. And I've witnessed that. So you have this crazy gift that I think would have been lost if you were stuck in a medical office.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

Oh, thank you. I want to share, just because I may not be back on this, that you guys should know about Jen is that she's the biggest powerhouse I've ever had the chance of working with. Thank you for saying that definitely a powerhouse. She has a tagline. Can I say your tagline? I totally say the tagline. Jen's tagline is Jen gets shit done. I think there's one.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

Sorry, Dad.

SPEAKER_04 35:27

Oh my god, do we have to put explicit language down on a nice ass? Like we're talking about a mule.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Are you saying I'm a mule?

SPEAKER_04 35:36

Oh my god, I saw a video of a mule that said, This is the dumb ass, here's a dumbass, and it showed this mule trying to get over this fence, and eventually it figured out how to get its feet over the fence, and then it flipped over onto its back and it fell on its back. And they're like, that's a dumbass. I thought that was really funny. But anyway, you're gonna put that in the show notes. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 35:59

That's gonna be the image is the mule on its back.

SPEAKER_04 36:02

Well, listen, um, I'm gonna I'm gonna play some like Flight of the Concords, and then wait, what else are we gonna do? We'll do Austin Powers today.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

Um that's a lot of commotion.

SPEAKER_04 36:14

Well, we're gonna do this. We're gonna get us out of this particular episode, but what I think we're definitely gonna do is say, will you guys come back on?

SPEAKER_01 36:24

Yeah, will you guys come back on, please?

SPEAKER_04 36:26

There's a lot deeper stuff we gotta talk about.

SPEAKER_03 36:29

Like numbers are gonna make maybe take a way down with this. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 36:33

No, we have to balance it. We have to balance, we're gonna balance like serious with really like exciting and how about this?

SPEAKER_00 36:40

You guys said that you have 50 countries following I and you don't have Iran yet. So when we get Iran, you get Iran in there. Um we will that's the contingency. I think we need another contingency.

SPEAKER_04 36:52

Well, yeah, we'll see if we lose a couple countries on this one. If we don't think you're coming back.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

I think it's gonna be a highly rated episode.

SPEAKER_04 37:00

I agree. Um, thank you guys. We love you guys. Thank you guys for coming.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

We love you guys. We love you guys.

SPEAKER_04 37:06

We love all 50 nations listening to Plate and Ponder, Empty Nesting with Jenna Chris Fenton. Please download, review, follow, and engage with us. You can DM me on any of the social medias. And until next time, we wish you a fantastic rest of your weekend. And here's to all conflicts around the world ending now.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

Amen.