The Reading Brain with Maryanne Wolf (BS 145)

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In her recent book Tales of Literacy for the 21st Century, Dr. Maryanne Wolf revisits some of the key ideas of her wonderful first book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. Since Dr. Wolf was one of my earliest guests back in BSP 29, I was eager to talk with her again. In BS 145 we touch on several key ideas. First, she emphasized again that reading is very different from language. All normal humans learn their first language, almost automatically as long as they are exposed to language during the critical period early in life, but reading is actually a cultural invention and must be taught. We explore the  implications of this distinction.

Another important issue is that since our brain is plastic, how we learn to read makes a huge difference. Dr. Wolf is very concerned about the implications of the shift to digital media, not just for young readers, but for readers of all ages. But in Tales of Literacy she also explores how digital technology might be used to bring reading to children who might otherwise remain illiterate .

This is a thought-provoking discussion that listeners (and readers) of all backgrounds will enjoy.

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.