Radical with Amol Rajan Can Technology Rescue Reading? (Your Radical Questions with James Marriott)
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Apr 13, 2026 James Marriott, Times columnist and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s How Reading Made Us, explores whether tech can rescue declining reading and literacy. He discusses using simple phones and regulation to cut distraction. He backs gamified learning and AI tutors for phonics. He warns social media narrows imagination and highlights cultures that still prize reading.
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Reduce Screen Time To Encourage Reading
- Use technology to reduce distracting screen time rather than increase it.
- James Marriott recommends dumb phones, physical phone-blocking devices and apps that limit checking to encourage more reading and focus.
Gamify Basics And Use AI Tutors
- Gamify foundational learning to build skills and motivation early.
- Marriott cites apps like Times Table Rockstars and proposes AI tutors or embodied personas for phonics and basic literacy to support teachers and social mobility.
Reading Novels Builds Empathy At Scale
- Novel reading historically expanded empathy and helped social reforms by making readers inhabit other minds.
- Marriott references Steven Pinker's argument linking novel reading to the humanitarian revolution and decline of practices like torture.
