How to Read

Welcome to In Sacred Spaces, a three-episode series in which we visit spaces around NewClick here for more about the episode...In Sacred Spaces 3: The Pier (with The House of Louboutin)

Welcome to In Sacred Spaces, a three-episode series in which we visit spaces around NewClick here for more about the episode...In Sacred Spaces 2: Grace Congregational Church of Harlem (with Nigel and Lisa Pearce)

Welcome to In Sacred Spaces, a three-episode series in which we visit spaces around NewClick here for more about the episode...In Sacred Spaces 1: St James Presbyterian (With Derrick McQueen)

Reading today is typically silent – whether reading a book in a library or readingClick here for more about the episode...The sounds of medieval books (with Andrew Albin)

When you think about historical reenactment, you probably think about reenacting Civil War battles orClick here for more about the episode...Reenacting the past (with Catherine Grant)

We may think of reading and writing as opposite activities, but there's a long historyClick here for more about the episode...The history of homemade books (with Deidre Lynch)

In the Bible, the Apocalypse is the end of the world as we know it,Click here for more about the episode...Why apocalypse isn't all bad (with Jennifer M. Wilks)

Music can tell stories in a variety of ways: operas and musicals have characters andClick here for more about the episode...Musical storytelling with repurposed texts (with Randall Eng)

During the Cold War, the US and Chinese governments didn't drop bombs on each other,Click here for more about the episode...The hidden politics of translation (with Lamyu Maria Bo)

A one-sided relationship is a bad relationship, right? Not necessarily, says Elaine Auyoung. She's interestedClick here for more about the episode...One-sided relationships (with Elaine Auyoung)

What we notice about someone else's language is less to do with language itself than…Click here for more about the episode...39. Language and injustice in the classroom

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for months, years or even a lifetime, and doctorsRead the post38. Understanding chronic pain

You may have noticed that music has been sounding more chilled out recently, with softerRead the post37. The politics of chill

The classic image of a reader is someone alone with their eyes on a book,Read the post36. Communities of readers

When you picture a cheerleader, you probably imagine a woman. But in the early twentiethRead the post35. Cheerleading and the history of sport

Do you want to live a predictable life? Can great art ever be predictable? MostRead the post34. Predictability in life and art

Why do we click with some works of art and not others? Why does itRead the post33. Why we click with art

When you think of an expert or specialist, you might picture a scientist with aRead the post32. The value of local knowledge

What’s happened to reading during the COVID-19 pandemic? Some people are too busy or stressedRead the post31. Readers under lockdown

Images of protest have a visceral power to grab our attention. Colin Leach has beenRead the post30. Images of protests

Milan, Olivia and Colby talk about season 4, the challenges of recording remotely and why…Read the postSeason 4 trailer

The world doesn’t revolve around you! Many children, and plenty of adults too, have heardRead the post29. How (not) to read arrogantly

Many people today surround themselves with crystals, whether for healing properties or as part ofRead the post28. The appeal of crystals through the ages

We usually don’t pay much attention to pauses in language – it’s easy to assumeRead the post27. Pauses in Japanese and American literature

Atmospheres are both insubstantial and yet very palpable – for example, think about tension thatRead the post26. Atmospheres in literature and life

Spectacular dance sequences are one of the most recognizable elements of Indian cinema, and femaleRead the post25. Dancing stars in Indian cinema

It’s difficult to maintain attention when surrounded by distractions. Even if we’re just trying toRead the post24. Poetry, prayer and paying attention

For many people, binge-watching is a guilty pleasure. In the Golden Age of Television, weRead the post23. The art of bingeing

It’s hard to find time for undistracted reading, and it’s easy to blame modern developmentsRead the post22. Not having time to read

There’s a negative stereotype of teenage readers as naively absorbed in their favourite books –Read the post21. Why it’s good to read like a teenager

Life experiences can transform us in many ways, and Laurie Paul wants us to appreciateRead the post20. How art can transform us

We tend to have a visceral response to someone we think is dirty. But StephanieRead the post19. The idea of dirtiness

After we finish reading a book, our memories of it quickly fade and can evenRead the post18. What we remember after reading

It might seem obvious that it’s good to read in ways that are literary, criticalRead the post17. Policing reading in colonial Egypt

Many poems speak to a “you” who is not you the reader. And when aRead the post16. Weird ways poems address their readers

What do we want when we revisit a beloved story? Sarah Chihaya suggests we’re drawnRead the post15. Remakes, sequels and other story expansions

When we think about the generation before us, we might feel that their cultural touchstonesRead the post14. How illustrations reshaped the Romantic legacy

The basic story of Adam and Eve is that Eve was tempted by a serpent,Read the post13. Why Eve got blamed

Some academics think that reading a book just to identify with a character is self-centredRead the post12. Identifying with characters

We tend to think of literature as something that’s written down. But Martin Puchner isRead the post11. Literature from speech to writing and back

Pick up a novel today, and it’s almost guaranteed to be divided up into chapters.Read the post10. The history of the chapter

You might not think writing style matters in philosophy. But Kwame Anthony Appiah – aRead the post9. How to read philosophy

A utopia presents an ideal world that has overcome the problems of the present.  ForRead the post8. Philadelphia’s utopian roots

What connects Langston Hughes to Hong Kong, Malcolm X to Mecca, and Syrian merchants to the 9/11 memorial? In this episode, English professor Wai Chee Dimock shows us how to read quintessentially American writers from an international perspective. From this angle, major American concerns like race and money start to look a little different.Read the post7. Global currents in US literature

The idea of putting spaces between written words didn’t develop until thousands of years afterRead the post6. The long history of reading aloud

During the Renaissance, a writer could be imprisoned just for claiming that a husband beatingRead the post5. The politics of disobedient wives

What happens when we apply today’s ideas about social networks back onto literature of theRead the post4. Social networks in novels

Our guest Heather Love is out to convince us of the value of description —Read the post3. Why description matters

We live in a world with a long history of atrocity — from the colonizationRead the post2. Atrocity, time, and the novel

Sometimes it pays to zoom in. Today, we focus on some opening sentences which reward closeRead the post1. Intriguing opening sentences