Understand

BBC Radio 4

NEW in Understand: How Reading Made UsDid learning to read rewire our brains and change the way we live today? And with reading on the decline, what does this mean for our ability to think? With writer James Marriott.Understand from BBC Radio 4 - unravelling the complexities of the biggest stories and subjects that really matter right now.

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Understand

Episodes (82)

Monday How Reading Made Us: 2. How Reading Made Our Feelings
Mon Mar 16th How Reading Made Us: 1. How Reading Made Our Brains
Thu Mar 5th How Reading Made Us: Trailer

Understand

Mar 23, 2026
42¼ minutes
39 MB

Reading seems an unremarkable skill. When we say something is as “easy as ABC”, we mean it is very easy indeed. In fact, learning to read has dramatic and irreversible consequences for people and for societies. Learning to read permanently alters your brain. It changes the emotions you experience and the way you relate to others. When a society learns to read the consequences are dramatic: wars break out, revolutions erupt and new political systems spring into being. Reading made us who we are. With time spent reading - and even reading ability - starting to nosedive, Times writer Jame...

Understand

How Reading Made Us: 2. How Reading Made Our Feelings

BBC Radio 4

00:00 -42:24