what we lost when we stopped reading

I haven’t posted on this feed since April 2025. In that time, I became a mother. And I went underground to build something.For years, I told you stories to help you sleep. But I realized I wanted to build a tool that would help you wake up—not to the world, but to yourself. This ...  Show more

There’s a reason the story of Cinderella lingers in our bones. Beneath the soot, the glass slipper, and the pumpkin-turned-chariot lies an ancient memory. A memory of the soul’s exile, longing, and return. Tonight, we’re not reading a children’s fairy tale. We’re whispering open ...  Show more

This is one for the books. In episode 104 of Overthink, Ellie and David consider what makes reading so rewarding, and, for many people today, so challenging! How did society shift toward inward silent reading and away from reading aloud in the Middle Ages? How have changes in tea ...  Show more

Something alarming is happening with reading in America. Leisure reading by some accounts has declined by about 50 percent this century. Literacy scores are declining for fourth and eighth graders at alarming rates. And even college students today are complaining to teachers that ...  Show more

When was the last time you got lost in a book? These days, the act of 'deep reading,' or reading with intention, can be difficult to practice. Maryanne Wolf, an expert in the science of reading, explains what we lose when we skim — and how to create an environment conducive to de ...  Show more