Sold a Story - The podcast that's changing education

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

Nationally acclaimed journalist Emily Hanford's work is changing the ways schools around the country teach reading. In this award-winning podcast, she investigates why so many schools use an approach that cognitive scientists debunked decades ago. Watch: The story behind Sold a StorySupport: Donate to APM Reports 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.

Hi, I just had to tell you that I think your podcast has changed my life. I'm Emily Hanford. I'm a reporter. Your podcast has shined a light on something I've been trying to tell people for the last 11 years of my teaching career. I've been covering education for years, but the podcast, Sold a Story, has had more impact by far than anything else I've been covering education for years, but the podcast Sold a Story has had more impact by far than anything else I've done. You have changed the way that I will teach, and I'm very grateful for that.

The show reveals a major problem with the way many schools teach kids how to read. It didn't seem like they were really teaching them to read. It seemed like they were teaching them to sound like they could read. I said to my son's teacher, I was like, this isn't how we learned how to read, like meaning me and her. Like, this can't be right, right? It all goes back to a flawed idea about how reading works. We're going to see if the picture helps us to figure out what that word would be. You could tell them to look at the first letter and it'll pop out of your head if you're

looking at the picture as well. This idea, this theory, was debunked decades ago by cognitive scientists. At its core, the theory was inaccurate. Now, some kids will learn to read well, no matter how they are taught. But lots of kids won't. He doesn't look at all the letters and words. He doesn't look at all the words and sentences. And reading is miserable for him.

Just dogs who choose to bark. The kids struggle and they suffer. Just dogs. Kids telling you that they're a defective person who is stupid and hates school and never wants to do anything with reading ever. What I'm haunted by is when it wasn't working, I blamed it on children. Solda's story investigates how that happened.

How did someone convince so many people that this is good and right? The podcast is changing the way lots of schools teach reading. At least 25 states have passed new laws since Sold a Story. We need to improve reading in Wisconsin. We have gotten this wrong in New York and all across the nation. I'm calling for a renewed focus on literacy and on the way we teach reading in the state of Ohio.

Sold a Story has won some of the biggest awards in journalism. And now, Apple Podcasts has made the show part of a new collection it's calling Series Essentials. Apple editors handpicked these essential podcasts because they hook you from start to finish. I like literally drove an hour the wrong direction because I was so captivated.

From the first episode, I just felt like, oh my goodness, I am not crazy. It's not just me. Open your favorite podcast app and find out why Sold a Story is having such a big impact on so many people's lives.