Memoirs on motherhood in all its light and shade

The Radio National Hour · May 8, 2026 · 52m

Sunday is Mother’s Day — a tradition wrapped in flowers, cards, and a very neat idea of what motherhood is. But in reality motherhood is an experience shaped by history, circumstance, and the stories families tell, and keep hidden. In their new memoirs, journalists Cynthia Banham and Sheryle Bagwell exploring the secrets, absences and complicated bonds that define the sacred connection between mother and child. Not many people get to live on planet earth for a century and few people have seen as much of it as broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough.The great narrator and defender of…