About this episode

Emily Hanford interviews David Owen about his article on dyslexia and the reading wars.

The New Yorker staff writer David Owen opened a recent piece with a personal story: To hide that she couldn’t read, his niece turned pages when her classmates did. Owen joined Sold a Story host Emily Hanford for a live conversation about his December 2025 article “ Dyslexia and the Reading Wars .” The event was part of the Eyes on Reading series at Planet Word, a museum in Washington, D.C., dedicated to words and language. Read: Transcript of this episode Watch: All Eyes on Reading videos Connect: Sold a Story discussion guides Support: Donate to APM Reports Email us: soldastory@apmreports.org Call us: (612) 888-7323 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 .

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