Childhood and Social Truth: Five Talks for BBC Radio 3

The texts that follow were not intended for presentation to a professional audience. The five talks were commissioned by Louise Greenberg who was looking for a series, based on the insights of child psychoanalysis, that would be of special interest to the educated listener, in particular parents and parents to be. In line with the traditions of Radio 3 talks, few concessions were to be made to the casual listener, and the talks were broadcast on successive evenings in November (7 - 11) 1994. They were produced by Mrs Greenberg, with whom I had worked before1, and it is safe to say that without her initiative, ideas and repeated encouragement they would not have got off the ground.

I had expected, in the current social climate, that what I had to say would arouse some antagonism, not to say hostility. What I did not anticipate were the many favourable reviews in the national press and the many supportive letters from listeners asking for transcripts. These were not made available, in view of current negotiations for publication of the talks in extended, book form, still designed for the general public. But a good deal of interest was aroused among fellow professionals, many of whom also asked for transcripts; and this encouraged the Editorial Board to believe that the general overall thesis and its presentation would be of sufficient interest to the Bulletin reader to warrant publication.