Why we should all be 'bookmaxxing'
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Why does reading for fun matter for brain health and wellbeing?
As the political landscape shifts beneath our feet, we're all vulnerable to a well-funded distraction economy, determined to take our eye off the ball. Our weekly politics series, If you can keep it, is here to help, where our focus is not the horse race, but the stake. We tackle the big political stories of the day and why they matter for our democracy. Join me, Todd Zwilla, and me Jen White on the One A Podcast from WAMU and NPR. You're listening to Shortwave. From
NPR.
Were either of you two big readers as kids?
Oh
absolutely. I
felt
like I always had a book in my hand.
I was not. No. I did not. I was in front of the T V. A T V was my first friend.
Okay. Yeah. What were you reading, Wana?
Um a lot of babysitters club, a lot of goosebumps, like Love a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Okay. I did read
Goosebumps. I will say that. I will say that I love Goosebumps. They gave me nightmares. I still love goosebumps.
R. L. Stein really had his finger on the pulse of the kids. Yeah.
He did. He helped us non readers read.
How do the hosts’ personal reading habits illustrate the joys of book‑maxxing?
Hey, different drugs for different folks, right?
But Gina, you're actually more the norm now. Cause I was talking to this uh assistant professor at Cambridge University, Christelle Langley, recently, and she's one of the authors of this new review. Here's what she says.
Our reading rates are um among children and young people um are on the decline and actually at the lowest um levels since they started taking records.
So Christelle's talking specifically about reading rates where she lives in the UK, but reading rates and comprehension are also really, really low in the US too. Yeah,
it does make sense. It's really based on how like you're raised. My dad specifically, he was kind of a reader, but I mean, looking back when people asked me if there were like bookshelves in my house as a kid, the answer was no.
Well, I was very lucky because my mom was an English teacher and a librarian, so I had no choice. And I I was a big fantasy stand. Still am. Star Wars, Expanded Universe, Dragonlands, you name it. Juana, do you still read a lot?
Oh yeah, I read a ton, but it's mostly romance novels these days, gotta be honest. I love a good romance fiction. I've got all the tropes. Yeah, I think I'm
reading the most I've ever read in my entire life this year. Wow. Why do you think that is? Dungeon Crawler Carl.
The key to unlock readers. No,
I was reading before that actually a lot of stuff. But but what about you, Nate?
Uh man, I am on book thirteen of fourteen of the Wheel of Time series. No. We could never
get into that.
It's I tried. It's a journey.
What does the new Psychological Medicine review reveal about the cognitive benefits of recreational reading?
Uh and it's the thing that I do to, you know, escape reality. As you both know, working in news, uh it's somewhat depressing at times. So it's really nice uh to read something that's not I mean, Wheel of Time is still kind of depressing, but it is a little
bit. Yeah.
But also I wanted to say if anybody here is listening to this and they are reading The Wheel of Time or have read The Wheel of Time, please write a letter to me or write into NPR. Uhhuh. Yes. I am desperate to talk to somebody about it and I don't know anybody else. Nate needs book friends. Nate needs book friends. Help him out, y'all. Help him out, y'all. Oh my god. Oh my
god. My best friends live so far away. Like I basically have like pen pals. But I I do understand the escapism. Like there's there's some research out that details the benefits of sitting down in like a cozy corner and reading a book. And that's one of the science stories we're gonna talk to you about today, Wana.
Alright, buckle up. I'm excited. I get to take a little break from my day job and just soak in all the science news.
Yeah, Wana Summers, for those that don't know, is one of the hosts of all things considered. Uh and the host. The host. The host of the host. She took over the whole show. Y'all
gonna get me in trouble.
Well, why not? We've got more for you because today on the show we've also got super solar flares and a couple of discoveries about one of my favorite dinosaurs, Tyrandosaurus Rex. I'm Nate Rott. And I'm Regina Barber. You're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why does reading for fun matter for brain health and wellbeing?
0:00–1:00
2
How do the hosts’ personal reading habits illustrate the joys of book‑maxxing?
1:00–2:27
3
What does the new Psychological Medicine review reveal about the cognitive benefits of recreational reading?
2:27–4:23
4
How does early‑life reading affect attention, memory and mental health in adolescents?
4:23–6:44
5
What are the protective effects of reading on older adults’ brains and dementia risk?
6:44–8:59
6
What exactly is a solar super‑flare and could our Sun produce one?
8:59–11:26
7
If a super‑flare hit Earth, how would it impact daily life and why would reading become essential?
11:26–13:07
8
Why is the newly discovered T‑Rex trackway a breakthrough for dinosaur science?
13:07–13:46
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from Short Wave
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