Surprises from reading research

The New Yorker staff writer David Owen opened a recent piece with a personal story: To hide that she couldn’t read, his niece turned pages when her classmates did. Owen joined Sold a Story host Emily Hanford for a live conversation about his December 2025 article “Dyslexia and the Reading Wars.” The event was part of the Eyes on Reading series at Planet Word, a museum in Washington, D.C., dedicated to words and language.

Read: Transcript of this episode
Watch: All Eyes on Reading videos
Connect: Sold a Story discussion guides

Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: soldastory@apmreports.org 
Call us: (612) 888-7323
More: soldastory.org

Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.