The Future Lab with Lee Schneider Season 3

Veteran teacher and author Kelly Gallagher explains why kids have turned away from reading, and what parents and teachers can do to bring them back.

Kelly taught high school English for 35 years. He's the author of *Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading*. His work has earned him the National Council of Teachers of English's Kent Williamson Exemplary Leader Award (2024), the Adolescent Literacy Thought Leader Award (2018) and the California Association of Teachers of English Award for Classroom Excellence.

In this episode, Lee Schneider talks with Kelly about the forces pushing young people away from books. Some of those forces include: test-driven schooling, teaching techniques that make assigned reading a chore, social media that is built to be addictive, the temptation to take AI shortcuts instead of actually reading the book assigned.

Kelly shares that when he was in the classroom90% of his recent 12th graders admitted they had "fake read" their way through school, meaning that they hadn't read a novel in years and only had read excerpts.

Kelly Gallagher website: https://www.kellygallagher.org/

Creators & Guests

1. No Child Left Behind and the testing era — 0:15 (covers how testing narrowed reading and the imbalance)
2. Over-teaching books — 1:48 (covers the Readicide concept, the 10-week worksheet, and the movie analogy)
3. Long-form vs. short-form reading — 3:28 (covers biliterate readers and developmental windows)
4. Benefits of fiction: empathy and wellbeing — 5:33
5. Sophie's Choice: why AI summaries can't replace reading — 6:57
6. Self-selected reading and the classroom library — 8:45 (covers book talks, graphic novels, and student choice)
7. 90% of seniors fake-read — 14:57
8. AI reading is not reading — 16:17 (covers the Joan Didion example, windows and mirrors, and the boiling frog)
9. Reading in class: if they're not reading with you, they're not reading without you — 21:26 (covers reigniting reluctant readers)
10. Book banning: then and now — 25:49 (covers the irony of shielding kids and books as imaginative rehearsals

Books mentioned in this episode include:

Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It (Stenhouse, 2009) | Kelly Gallagher | Bookshop · Amazon · Author site

Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World | Maryanne Wolf | Bookshop · Amazon · Author site · HarperCollins

Teens Choosing to Read: Fostering Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Growth Through Books (2023) | Gay Ivey & Peter Johnston | Bookshop · Amazon · Teachers College Press

The Year of Magical Thinking | Joan Didion

Sophie's Choice| William Styron

A Lesson Before Dying | Ernest J. Gaines

The House on Mango Street | Sandra Cisneros

Of Mice and Men | John Steinbeck 

Fantasy author Richie Billing returns to the Future Lab Podcast to talk about The Breakaways, a dark fantasy comedy about a crew of spectacularly useless monster hunters. He and Lee Schneider discuss mixing grit with slapstick, writing a novel in weekly chapters on Patreon, and why selling books directly to readers lets authors keep up to 97% of each sale. 

After writing the political novella Together We Rise, Richie Billing wanted something lighter. The result is The Breakaways, a "sitcom" set in a dangerous fantasy world. A crew of underqualified monster hunters take on a job they can barely handle, with funny and sometimes fatal results. 

Chapters:

• (00:43) The Breakawaysand blending dark fantasy with comedy 
• (04:05) Writing in chapters and getting to know the characters 
• (07:06) Meet the crew: making incompetence relatable 
• (10:28) Genre rules, slapstick and schadenfreude 
• (14:08) Why go direct to readers through Patreon 
• (18:35) Lee's serial stories, Hollywood Extinction Event
• (20:31) Building a audio player  with AI 
• (21:30) Mailing lists, traffic and the economics of selling direct 
• (24:30) Marketing for introverts 
• (27:53) Teaching, map-making and a book-promotion vlog 
• (31:48) The "Fixing Bad Writing" exercise 
• (34:55) Why people are reading less 
• (39:19) Clear prose and shorter attention spans 
• (42:54) The future of books 
• (43:39) Where to find The Breakaways

Links:

• Richie's website: https://richiebilling.com 
• The Breakaways in weekly chapters, plus the audiobook on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cw/RichieBilling
• Also on Amazon 

Creators & Guests

Author DeAndra Davis (All the Noise at Once; The Lovers, the Liars, and Me) joins the show to talk how screen culture can help authors. She makes the case that screens can bring readers to books rather than pull them away, defends audiobooks without qualification, and explains why her drafts keep getting longer instead of shorter. She drops some hints about her upcoming books. 

Davis points to adaptations — The Hunger Games, The Summer I Turned Pretty, We Were Liars — as proven on-ramps to reading, and argues for investing in book IP across a wider range of genres. The practical work, she says, is recommendation-making: connecting readers to books through the shows, films, and games they already care about. A fan of a show could easily become the fan of a book.

No agent, editor, or publisher has asked her to write shorter or more “scrollable” prose. In fact, All the Noise at Once went in the opposite direction, growing from 66,000 to roughly 92,000 words; The Lovers, the Liars, and Me from about 72,000 to around 100,000. 

As an educator, Davis sees the drop in reading as a layered issue. Long (and heavy!) books can be intimidating. Schools teach test-oriented passages instead of whole books. Hardcover covers are rising. and rising hardcover prices Libraries, she notes, help tremendously, because they make so many different editions of a book available, from hardback to audiobook.

She talks about what she’s reading now, what her workspace is like, and how she fills notebooks with hand-written character profiles complete with astrological charts for them. She rounds out the interview with some hints about what she’ll be publishing next.

Chapters

00:18 Are people reading less?
00:38 Screens as an ally: adaptations, IP, and games
03:23 Has the media landscape changed how she writes?
04:00 Writing on contract and the shift toward romance
06:42 The All the Noise at Once audiobook
07:33 "Audiobooks don't count as reading" — a rebuttal
10:05 Requests to write shorter and snappier
11:04 Word counts, ballooning drafts, and editorial advice
13:08 Smaller books, or a bigger problem?
14:30 Teaching passages instead of whole books
17:00 Hardcover prices and the paperback catch-22
19:00 The case for libraries
20:24 What DeAndra is reading now
21:27 Workspace, notebooks, and a 49-inch monitor
23:11 Digital drafting vs. handwritten character profiles
25:29 What's books are coming next

Books Mentioned

All the Noise at Once · The Lovers, the Liars, and Me · André Santana (narrator) · The Hunger Games · The Summer I Turned Pretty · We Were Liars · The Kite Runner · Holly Black, The Cruel Prince series · Kamilah Cole, Wicked Endeavors and An Arcane Inheritance · Noelle Monét, Bound by Fury

Creators & Guests

Hi, it’s Lee Schneider, host of the future lab podcast.

In Season 3, The Future Lab goes after the big questions that readers, authors, parents, and educators are asking about reading and young audiences. 

Why does reading drop off among nine-year-old kids, and even more when they reach thirteen?  Why has screen-based entertainment grabbed so much attention? 

Even adults are less likely to pick up a book these days. 

In every episode, I’ll seek answers from guests like best-selling authors, librarians , publishers,  YouTube and TikTok reviewers, and audiobook producers. 

Join me for season three of the future lab. Look for the future lab  with Lee Schneider  on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast app.  You can also find the show at thefuturelab.redcupagency.com

Join host Lee Schneider for an insightful discussion with poet, author, and library professional Sofía Aguilar as she she shares her journey through both indie and traditional publishing. She offers a candid look at the barriers in publishing and the importance of creating accessible literary communities. Whether you're interested in publishing pathways, library advocacy, or building inclusive literary spaces, this conversation offers valuable insights from someone working at the intersection of writing, community organizing, and information science.

Topics include: indie vs. traditional publishing, library resources, book challenges, literary festivals, the writing process, and the current state of publishing.

Creators & Guests

In this conversation, host Lee Schneider explores the intersection of nature, storytelling, and climate change with Julie Carrick Dalton, author of The Last Beekeeper, and the upcoming novel The Forest Becomes Her.

Our discussion digs into how nature functions as a character in her work, the delicate balance between hope and realism when writing about catastrophic futures, and why she believes storytelling can inspire environmental action. Dalton shares her perspective on the importance of reconnecting with survival skills and food sources, while exploring how communities might adapt to a climate-changed world ten years after a major ecological collapse.

We also examine the role of government misinformation in environmental issues, the power of novels as "laboratories for climate futures," and how each person can find their sphere of influence in addressing climate challenges. Dalton also reflects on the current state of publishing today. Join Julie's mailing list on Substack.

Creators & Guests

In this conversation with Lee Schneider, Pat Walker discusses the importance of bookstores as community hubs and places of cultural culture.

Drawing from his experiences as a bookseller in Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA, Pat believes that the genre of science fiction/fantasy is more popular than it has been in the past. He's also a big fan of the classics.

Patrick has been at Vroman's long enough to witness a remarkable transformation: teenagers who first wandered through the bookstore doors years ago now return as adults, bringing their own children with them. These customers have grown to trust him with their storytelling journeys and literary adventures-a responsibility that holds deep meaning for him.

Bookshops discussed in this episode include Vromans, Book Soup, Diesel, Skylight, and Iliad Books.

Creators & Guests

Richie Billing made a bold leap from a legal career to become an acclaimed fantasy writer and teacher. What makes his story inspiring? His unwavering commitment to empowering fellow writers. Richie is the author of Pariah’s Lament. His latest book is Together We Rise. Lee Schneider and Richie discuss the structure of Together We Rise, why the fight scenes were so realistic, and Richie’s deeper motivations for writing it. Richie gives excellent writing tips for anyone who wants to get started on their fantasy novel.

As the host of The Fantasy Writers’ Toolshed podcast and author of A Fantasy Writers’ Handbook, Richie helps writers find their voice and build confidence in their work.  Learn more about Richie, his work, teaching, books, and Patreon, at his website.

Creators & Guests

As a kid, Carrie Firestone worried about poverty, environmental destruction, and war. But rather than letting that anxiety overwhelm her, she transformed it into something powerful action through teaching, storytelling, and civic engagement. Now, as a writer and community leader in Connecticut, she’s channeling that same energy into inspiring the next generation.   

Her novel The First Rule of Climate Club tackles the environmental challenges that young people face. Issues like food waste at school, idling cars in pickup lanes, fast fashion consumption, social exclusion, and leaders who won’t listen to fresh ideas. But Carrie’s story isn’t about the problems-it’s about the solutions that happen when young people step up to lead.   

Because sometimes, as Carrie shows us, the future belongs to those brave enough to demand it.

In this conversation, Todd Medema discusses his debut novel HOW TO SURF A HURRICANE, exploring with host Lee Schneider the techniques of writing a solarpunk thriller and the role technology might have in addressing climate change. Todd emphasizes the importance of hope and human resilience in solarpunk narratives, contrasting this approach with the often dystopian views prevalent in other science fiction genres. The discussion also delves into the current state of science fiction writing and publishing.

Visit Todd's author website and check out the wiki with details about the characters and story. Learn more about his Solarpunk Penpals project. 

Creators & Guests