About Stories for the Third Quarter: Midlife, Myth, and Meaning
Writer and professor Scott Bryson, PhD, explores the power of story to help us navigate midlife. Stories for the Third Quarter is about that stretch between traditional adulthood and old age—when the roles we’ve lived inside begin to shift, success no longer always satisfies, and deeper reflections about identity, purpose, and aging rise closer to the surface.
Through myth, poetry, psychology, and lived experience, each episode offers reflections for anyone in midlife who senses that something's changing and wants to think more deeply about the second half of life.
Learn more at sbryson.com
The Wound Beneath the Surface (The Story of Sedna)
Scott Bryson, PhD, explores an Inuit story about loss, betrayal, and transformation—and why some of the most powerful forces in our lives don’t come from what we’ve mastered, but from what we’ve been forced to leave behind.
In this episode, we look at the story of Sedna, a woman cast into the ocean and transformed into the source of life itself. Unlike many myths where the hero confronts a monster and returns with treasure, this story asks something different. What if the thing in the depths isn’t something you defeat or even integrate—but something wounded? Something cut off, pushed down, and left unattended?
Drawing on myth and psychology, we explore a different kind of descent—not one of conquest, but of care. What it means to go toward what’s been damaged. To tend to what can’t fix itself. And how, in ways we don’t always expect, the places of greatest loss can also become the sources of renewal.
Learn more at www.sbryson.com
Listen to the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2z0HrlaU4ZXqJ1LwoT48xP
18 May 2026
The Science of Mattering: It's Kind of a Wonderful Life, Isn't It
Scott Bryson, PhD, explores why feeling like we matter is so central to a meaningful life—and why it’s not the same as confidence, success, or being seen. Drawing on emerging research in the “science of mattering,” we look at what psychologists mean when they say we need to feel valued and add value—and why that experience shapes everything from mental health to motivation and connection.
Then we turn to It’s a Wonderful Life to see how George Bailey’s story captures something most of us experience but rarely name: the gap between actually mattering and feeling like we do. Clarence doesn’t give George a pep talk—he shows him the ripple effects of his life. And in doing so, he reveals a hard truth: you can matter deeply and still feel like you don’t.
Along the way, we consider a quieter, more practical question—one that cuts through the noise of achievement and visibility: where, and to whom, do you actually make a difference? And what might change if you started paying attention to the small, often unnoticed ways your presence shapes the lives around you?
Learn more at www.sbryson.com
Listen to the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2z0HrlaU4ZXqJ1LwoT48xP
11 May 2026
Bluebeard, Bly, and the Invisible Bag: What we think we're not supposed to look at
Scott Bryson, PhD, explores the story of Bluebeard through the lens of psychology, myth, and power—and what it reveals about the things we’re not supposed to see.
Drawing on the work of Clarissa Pinkola Estés and Robert Bly, this episode looks at two different but connected ideas:
the parts of ourselves we hide in what Bly calls the “invisible bag”
and the things that are hidden from us—by relationships, by systems, and by those in power
At the center of the Bluebeard story is a forbidden room. A door we’re told not to open.
But over time, the question starts to come up:
What’s actually in there?
This episode explores:
the meaning of the Bluebeard story and its psychological layers
how repression and hidden truth operate differently
why curiosity and instinct matter
and what happens when we finally look at what’s been kept out of view
Because sometimes the turning point doesn’t come when things make sense.
It comes the moment you open the door—and decide not to look away.
Learn more at www.sbryson.com
Prefer listening? Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2z0HrlaU4ZXqJ1LwoT48xP
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