Freud’s work goes under spotlight in popular podcast

Award-winning expert on psychoanalytic theory and history Dr Carolyn Laubender recently appeared on a popular history podcast which focused on the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud.

Dr Laubender, from our Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, was invited to take part in History Hit’s Betwixt The Sheets podcast, where she discussed Freud's views on sex, sexuality and gender.

“So much is still misunderstood about Freud's ideas and legacy,” explained Dr Laubender. “He was such an incredible thinker of his generation, and it was a pleasure to be able to discuss his work and make it accessible to people today.”

During the episode, Dr Laubender also discussed Freud's personal life, his views on family and the 'Oedipus complex', and his infamous comments about women's sexuality.

Dr Laubender has recently finished writing a new book on Freud's life and ideas that will be part of Oxford University Press’s Very Short Introduction Series, coming out early next year.

The past few years have seen a revival in interest around psychoanalysis, and last year Dr Laubender was featured in a BBC Radio 4 documentary Freud v Klein: The Battle For Our Children's Minds, which explored the lives of psychoanalyst trailblazers Anna Freud and Melanie Klein, asking how they came to transform our understanding of children’s inner worlds.

“Although psychoanalysis is often viewed as a niche field within mental health, this documentary explored how significant psychoanalytic thinkers developed concepts about child psychology and mentality that we still use today,” she explained.

Dr Laubender’s book The Political Clinic: Psychoanalysis and Social Change in the Twentieth Century, which won the prestigious 2025 Book Prize of the American Psychoanalytic Association, has won a second award, this time the 2025 Book Award of the British Psychological Society.

"I feel very honoured and grateful to have The Political Clinic awarded the 2025 BPS Book Award,” she said. “It was a work ten years in the making and so it is truly heartening to see it recognised like this.

“My hope for The Political Clinic is that it will continue to speak across the divide between critical theory and clinical psychoanalysis in the ways that both academics and clinicians find productive.”