The podcast Sold a Story explores how a generation of children has been taught to read based on a flawed idea.

The consequences can be seen in the lives of millions of struggling students across the country. Over a third of Minnesota fourth graders cannot read at a basic level, according to scores released last month by the National Assessment of Education Progress.

The Sold a Story series was one of the most-shared shows on Apple Podcasts when it came out in 2023 and one of Time magazine’s top podcasts of the year. It spurred 25 states — including Minnesota — to pass new laws regarding reading instruction.

The original 10 episodes explain the rise of this entrenched approach to reading instruction, who benefited from it and how it persisted despite cognitive science research that exposed its flaws.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with colleagues who worked on Sold a Story about its impact and new episodes coming out this month looking at solutions.

Guests:

• Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer at APM Reports and the host of Sold a Story. Her career in public radio began in college in Amherst, Massachusetts. She worked for Ira Glass when he was making the pilots for This American Life, was a reporter and host at WBEZ-Chicago and news director and senior editor at WUNC-Chapel Hill. She has been at American Public Media (APM) since 2008. She is based in Washington, D.C.

• Christopher Peak is an investigative reporter covering education and co-reporter of the Sold a Story series. He previously worked for the New Haven Independent, NationSwell and the Point Reyes Light, and he contributed research for the Peabody Award-winning podcast Uncivil. He is based in New York City. 

  
  

   

  
  

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.