The Quiet Midlife: a podcast for men over 40

jerrykennard
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  • Mental Health

This podcast came to life in May 2026. It's principally aimed at men of a certain age who are willing to think about how they're doing without the hand-wringing or being made to feel like a problem to be solved. Of course, people who care about such men may also find the content useful. I'm Jerry Kennard, retired psychologist and someone still learning about how men's minds work. The podcast is also an adapted audio version from my website, drjerrykennard.com. Topics covered here span mental health, relationships, work, retirement, physical wellbeing and the various transitions that tend to ambush you just when you thought you had things figured out. I've tried to keep the tone informed, honest and light-hearted, because if you've lived long enough, you know that life frequently is. I'm not here to tell you what to think, how to feel or how to behave. But if you find that something on this site helps you think a little differently, or feel a little less alone with something you've been carrying, then I've done my job.

  1. Aug 4

    Series Two Finale

    It's the series two finale in which I pull together the threads of what may have appeared to be unrelated topics, but actually weren't. It's also a sneak peek into what's coming for series three.

  2. Jul 29

    The Great British Paunch

    At some point in the middle years, most British men acquire a paunch. We call it a beer belly, even though many men don't even drink. Men don't decide on a paunch or agree to it.  It simply arrives, gets bigger and refuses to budge. Today I want to talk about where it comes from, what it's actually doing,  and —  without any dramatic overhaul required —  what genuinely helps.

  3. Jul 28

    Career Change After 40 - Can It Work?

    It's one of the most common feelings - am I in the right job? So what's preventing you from making the jump? I'm looking at the pros and cons along with something we call the sunk cost fallacy.

  4. Jul 13

    How The Empty Nest Affects Men

    Let’s say you’re doing something completely ordinary. Making a coffee, perhaps. And suddenly it hits you just how quiet the house is. Only this time, the quiet feels different. It isn't just that everyone's out. It has a permanence to it. Upstairs, the bedroom your son or daughter used to occupy is still there. The door is closed. And for how long... You don't really know. This episode is about that quiet. About the so-called empty nest. And about what happens when the busyness of parenting gives way to silence—and everything that silence can bring.

  5. Jul 8

    Becoming A Dad When You Should Know Better

    You're in your 40s or 50s or older. You've just become a father, or you're well on your way to it. You're doing all this at an age when most of your colleagues are becoming grandparents. Is this a big mistake? Actually, no. There are clear advantages to becoming an older father, but only if you know how to embrace them.

  6. Jul 2

    Sex and Intimacy in Long-Term Relationships

    In this episode, I'm talking about sex and intimacy in long-term relationships. My approach will be the same as I try to approach everything on this podcast, which is, honestly, without false reassurance, and without the alarming tone that some accounts of this subject seem to feel is appropriate.

  7. Jun 25

    What Men Think About Death

    Today’s topic is death. Not in a gloomy or morbid sense—if that distinction makes any sense—but because there’s something genuinely fascinating about it. In my experience, the men who have seriously confronted the reality of their own mortality, who have sat with that question and examined it honestly, tend to live differently from those who haven’t. More often than not, that difference is for the better. And that’s what I’d like to explore today.

  8. Jun 22

    The Surprising Genius of Men Who Tinker

    The brain surgeon who goes straight to his workshop after a day rummaging inside someone's skull. The train driver who comes home and continues building his model railway. The man who buys a clapped-out Vespa scooter with the single-minded objective of getting it back on the road. What have they got in common? And why do they have a psychological edge over the men who don't?

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About

This podcast came to life in May 2026. It's principally aimed at men of a certain age who are willing to think about how they're doing without the hand-wringing or being made to feel like a problem to be solved. Of course, people who care about such men may also find the content useful. I'm Jerry Kennard, retired psychologist and someone still learning about how men's minds work. The podcast is also an adapted audio version from my website, drjerrykennard.com. Topics covered here span mental health, relationships, work, retirement, physical wellbeing and the various transitions that tend to ambush you just when you thought you had things figured out. I've tried to keep the tone informed, honest and light-hearted, because if you've lived long enough, you know that life frequently is. I'm not here to tell you what to think, how to feel or how to behave. But if you find that something on this site helps you think a little differently, or feel a little less alone with something you've been carrying, then I've done my job.

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