The Mango Times
The Mango Times Podcast is where midlife curiosity meets adventure, humor, and human stories. Hosted by Fletch, the show features thoughtful conversations, great banter, and stories from the porch to the open road.
In Season 6, each episode explores what it looks like to wake up in the second half of life and decide there’s still plenty of adventure left...through interviews, personal reflections, recurring segments, and a little bit of well-earned shtick.
New episodes drop every other week and stay under 45 minutes. Pull up a chair, hop on the back of the bike and join the conversation.
Episodes
57 episodes
From PE Teacher To Soul Farmer
He didn’t just switch jobs, he switched directions. One day Tyrean Lewis is teaching PE and mentoring kids in St. Louis. A few turns later he’s managing teams, trying to “do the responsible thing,” and still feeling that internal pull that says...
Open An Indie Bookstore? Sounds Like A Story!
Most people say they want more community. Will and Paula DeBoard actually built it...one shelf at a time...by opening Bookish Modesto, an independent bookstore in Modesto, California, at a time when most people t...
The Mango Times Origin Story
This bonus episode of The Mango Times Podcast comes from an interview I recently had with Kevin Delaney. During the interview, he asked about the origin of The Mango Times. I kept it simple and pulled that audio to make a simple episode for my ...
Canoeing The Mississippi Was The Easy Part
A 2,200-mile canoe trip sounds like the wild part, until you hear what Dave Conway walked away from to get on the water. After nearly 40 years in the same role at the same church, Dave hits the midlife moment a lot of people quietly fear: the l...
Doctors Said He Had 24 Hours to Live
Kevin Delaney on Living Life IntentionallyHe was once given 24 hours to live. Eighteen years later, Kevin Delaney is still using that moment as fuel, not fear and his story will make you rethink what “prime” really means ...
When Craft Becomes Calling: A Pipe Carver’s Story
Some dreams don’t explode into your life—they sneak in, click by click, until you realize they’ve become part of who you are. On this episode, I sit down with artisan pipe carver Kraig Sederquist to explore the exact moment a hobby stops...
From Classroom To Couch: A Midlife Reinvention
Sometimes the door you’d never choose is the one that finally opens.Today I sit down with marriage and family therapist Chris Oneth to unpack a gritty pivot: from high school dropout to beloved history teacher… to therapist aft...
Living In Crescendo - Why Life Should Keep Getting Bigger.
What if the second half of life could be louder, braver, and more generous than the first? We sit down with longtime friend and educator Pete Swanberg to trace a path from elementary classrooms and adapted PE to founding an inte...
From Cancer To Camino: A Mother Who Refused to Stay Down
If resilience had a passport, it would look a lot like Dr. Erica Conway’s.In this episode, we sit with a dentist, mother of three, breast cancer survivor, and unapologetic advocate to explore how midlife can become a launchpad ...
What Is A Midlife Crisis?
The itch isn’t a meltdown. It’s a message.We kick off Season 6 of The Mango Times by naming the midlife feeling many of us carry but rarely say out loud. Therapist and fellow motocycler Chris Oneth joins me to unpack what p...
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The Mango Times Podcast Season 6 Trailer
Happy New Year and Welcome to Season 6 of The Mango Times Podcast. This year’s theme is Adventure at Midlife — the journey of waking up, rethinking life, laughing more, exploring deeper, and discovering that the seco...
Mango Bite #4: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
It’s the final Mango Bite — and the final show of the season.As a little gift for your Christmas week, I reached back out to all of the guests from 2025 (plus a few new A.I. friends) and brought everyone together for a reunion rea...
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Mango Bite #3: Pipe Smoking. Ritual Over Rush.
For the month of December, The Mango Times podcast is taking a breather while I gear up for Season 6. In the meantime, I’m sharing weekly Mango Bites — small, meaningful moments pulled from the early days of the show.So… ...
Mango Bite #2: Kindness Always Wins!
For the month of December, The Mango Times podcast is taking a breather while I gear up for Season 6. In the meantime, I’m sharing weekly Mango Bites — small, meaningful moments pulled from the early days of the show.For the secon...
Mango Bite #1: One Hundred Day Challenge
For the month of December, The Mango Times podcast is taking a breather while I gear up for Season 6. In the meantime, I’m sharing weekly Mango Bites — small, meaningful moments pulled from the early days of the show.This first Ma...
30th Anniversary Celebration
It all started in Hoopa, California. A tiny motel, a dial-up connection, and a young guy who thought it might be fun to write down a few stories from his life on the Trinity River. That set off a 30-year chain reaction: a monthly family update ...
Season Five, Season Finale
The spark came back. After years of stop‑start attempts, grief, and a creative blackout, we rebuilt a season anchored in adventure—small, daily acts of courage and a few big ones too. From a solo motorcycle ride to Montana to quiet porch conver...
Yes, And. - The Improv Rule That Can Change Your Life.
Did you ever wish you were a little braver, a little sillier, and a lot more present? On this episode, Fletch is joined in the studio by Isaac Gross and Tara Rico from ModPlayers Improv for a conversation about adventure, creativity...
Top 5 Adventure Books: You Can Win One!
What if a book could be the nudge that gets you on a motorcycle, into a canoe, or across the ice? Join Fletch on the porch as he sits down with Pop to grab their TOP 5 FAVORITE dog-eared adventure books. These are the stories that ma...
BONUS EPISODE: The 12-Hour Walk
Could you walk for 12 hours straight with no phone, no music, and no distractions? That's exactly what I'm planning to do this Sunday, October 5th, 2025 to celebrate my 57th birthday, and I'm inviting you along for the journey – metaphor...
Lessons From The Road, Part 2
Have you ever wondered if a childhood dream could still shape your life decades later? My journey began at age seven, sitting in a beanbag chair with a book about a teenager who sailed around the world alone. That story planted seeds of adventu...
Solo Motorcycle Ride to Montana, Part 1
In this episode, Fletch takes you along on his solo motorcycle ride to Montana — the first leg of The Second Half Ride. From Modesto through mountain passes and high desert to Big Sky country, this ride was more than miles; it was a se...
From Climbing Routes to Community Roots
How do you turn a life of big adventure into lasting impact?In this episode, I talk with my longtime friend Tom Slater, who’s climbed rocks with routes that bear his name, surfed all over California, skated with style, and ...
Everyday Adventures: Finding Wonder Right Where You Are
What would your life look like if you decided to add a little adventure? In this first episode of a new series I'm producing about Adventure, I sit down with my old friend James Estes. James has this gift for finding wonder in the or...
What If You Just Assumed The Best?
What if… instead of assuming the worst, you chose to assume the best?In this episode, Fletch reflects on what it means to give others the benefit of the doubt. He welcomes his wife Kendra and their friend Lisa to talk about a very person...
