The hottest Literacy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top History Topics

Text is king

Experimental History • 118726 implied HN points • 20 Jan 26
📚 Literature Literacy
  1. The idea that reading is dead is exaggerated; surveys show only modest declines while book sales and independent bookstores remain robust.
  2. Writing and books uniquely enable complex, precise thinking and long-term influence, because putting ideas into text makes them testable and lasting.
  3. Digital distractions matter but they haven’t erased the human appetite for deep reading. Attention-sapping tech may be peaking, and other recorded formats also help preserve knowledge.

How I Learned to Love Reading

The Honest Broker • 10838 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Leisure reading among teens has collapsed in recent years, and that decline is alarming to teachers and parents.
  2. Loving reading matters more than any teaching method or test score; if a child doesn’t develop affection for books, instruction alone won’t stick.
  3. Warm early experiences—like being read to by a caring adult—can create a lasting love of books, so parents and educators should try to recreate those moments.

Why College Students Can't Read Books

Erick Erickson's Confessions of a Political Junkie • 1119 implied HN points • 09 Oct 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Many college freshmen have never read a whole book, which surprises their professors. This shows a gap in reading experience among students entering college.
  2. Curricula like Common Core focus more on articles and excerpts rather than full books. This might not prepare students well for the demands of college reading.
  3. There is a lot of discussion about why this is happening, but Common Core isn't often mentioned as a reason. It suggests that the structure of education could be contributing to the problem.

What Happened to the Library?

The Honest Broker • 12799 implied HN points • 13 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Literacy
  1. Many modern libraries are turning into entertainment and community hubs with things like wine bars, movie theaters, recording studios, makerspaces, and restaurants.
  2. That shift often puts fun amenities ahead of books and the core mission of preserving and teaching our accumulated knowledge.
  3. What started in places like Oslo is spreading to other cities and even colleges, so more libraries may adopt this model soon.

Literacy lag: We start reading too late

The Intrinsic Perspective • 22847 implied HN points • 31 Jul 25
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Kids today are exposed to screens too early, which makes learning to read later much harder. This gap is called 'literacy lag'.
  2. Experts often believe that children should wait until age 5 to start reading, but many children can actually learn much earlier, even as young as 2 or 3.
  3. There has been a decline in reading among kids, as more time is spent on screens instead of picking up books. Reading is losing a fair competition for children's attention.
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The unexpected luxury of my local library

Jeff Giesea • 678 implied HN points • 01 Oct 24
🎭️ Culture Literacy
  1. Local libraries can be really nice places to relax and read, with comfy seating and a peaceful atmosphere. If you haven't been to your library in a while, it's worth checking out!
  2. Libraries are better than coffee shops for working or studying because they are quiet and free. You can enjoy a calm space without having to buy overpriced drinks.
  3. Getting a library card can save you a lot of money. You can borrow books for free and explore new titles without spending anything.

Boys can read

Of Boys and Men • 167 implied HN points • 28 Feb 26
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Boys lag behind girls in reading from early grades through high school, finishing roughly a year behind on average.
  2. Boys do a bit better in math, but that advantage is much smaller; math scores don’t explain college enrollment gaps the way GPA, course-taking, and college expectations do, which helps account for lower college enrollment among boys.
  3. Some tutoring and instructionally aligned programs show promise for closing the reading gap and may help boys more, but the evidence is limited and researchers should always report gender-disaggregated results so effective policies can be scaled.

The Stamina Gap

The Ruffian • 768 implied HN points • 10 Jan 26
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Deep, sustained focus — cognitive endurance or mental stamina — is becoming a scarce and valuable skill because modern life mostly rewards short, fast mental tasks.
  2. Less advantaged people often have lower stamina and therefore fall behind as tasks drag on, but quiet, independent practice (even via cognitive games) can build endurance and improve outcomes, and classroom norms and policies strongly affect who gets that practice.
  3. AI and other convenience tools can speed up thinking but also replace the effort that trains slow, deep thinking, so over-reliance risks eroding the very capacity needed for hard, complex work.

The life span of a model is now measured not in centuries but in months

Never Met a Science • 277 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Literacy
  1. Media technologies and "technical images" reshape how people think and organize, creating a post-literate world where centrally programmed information turns real dialogue into empty, reactive chatter.
  2. Feedback loops and attention metrics make images grow fatter and more tailored to audiences. That process homogenizes discourse, dissolves traditional social bonds, and traps people in isolated but deeply socialized roles.
  3. To avoid a technocratic or fascistic outcome, society must democratically reprogram communication apparatuses — alignment needs to be an ongoing political process, and it must happen quickly before the machines outpace our ability to steer them.

Substack and Other Blog Recommendations

Don't Worry About the Vase • 3404 implied HN points • 30 Jun 25
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Writing on Substack can help you gain subscribers, especially through recommendations from other blogs. It's a system that works well for networking.
  2. Choosing which blogs to recommend is important, and it's better to focus on quality over quantity. Recommendations should be meaningful and relevant to your audience.
  3. Engaging with diverse perspectives is valuable. Reading voices you don't always agree with can provide new ideas and challenge your thinking.

The BIG GUIDE to teaching LITTLE PEOPLE how to sound out words

The Intrinsic Perspective • 7162 implied HN points • 05 Dec 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Teaching kids to read can be done much faster at home than in traditional schools. A few minutes of one-on-one tutoring each day can help them start reading within a year.
  2. Many current reading methods are too complicated for young kids. It’s better to make learning fun and game-like instead of following strict rules and lessons.
  3. The process of teaching reading should begin with simple sounds and slowly progress to full sentences, focusing on what interests the child. This makes reading enjoyable and engaging.

Not the Right Kind of Provocation

Freddie deBoer • 5971 implied HN points • 02 Dec 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. In education, there's a big debate about the best way to teach reading. Some say phonics is better, but it's not as clear cut as people think.
  2. Many believe that teaching methods can completely change students' success, but individual talent and background often play a bigger role in how well they do.
  3. The media and education discussions often ignore important questions about ability differences among students, focusing instead on minor teaching method fights.

Bringing the science of learning to parent night

The Bell Ringer • 79 implied HN points • 23 Aug 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Many teachers believe that parents are not involved enough in their children's education. They feel that more engagement from families could lead to better support for students.
  2. Parents want to learn how to help their kids succeed in school, especially through understanding learning science. This can strengthen the partnership between parents and teachers.
  3. Schools are starting to share effective learning strategies with parents, like metacognition and retrieval practices, which can help kids study better and improve their overall learning experience.

Quick Advice on Writing Essays

Niko McCarty • 399 implied HN points • 28 May 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Start your essay with a focused idea. Make sure it's specific enough to explore and not too broad.
  2. Outline your essay and list the questions you want to answer. This helps you stay organized and focused on what you need to research.
  3. Research answers to your questions one at a time, then compile your findings into a structured essay. This makes writing easier and clearer.

How to Do Soul-Craft with State Tools

Justin E. H. Smith's Hinternet • 1088 implied HN points • 29 May 25
🎭️ Culture Literacy
  1. Writing started as a tool for controlling people and managing resources, not for storytelling. It helped governments keep track of what was going on in society.
  2. Getting everyone to be able to read took a long time and a lot of changes in how writing works. It went from a complex system to something much simpler and easier for people to learn.
  3. Reading isn't something we naturally do; it requires special training of our brains. If we don't keep investing in literacy, it could easily disappear and only be accessible to a few people.

On unproductive struggle

Rebecca Birch - On Education • 511 implied HN points • 13 Jan 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Productive struggle is a methodology in mathematics to enhance conceptual understanding.
  2. In the field of English, there are practices that lead to unproductive struggle, like cold writes and advising students to only write about what they know.
  3. Group work can be beneficial, but jigsaw teaching might hinder rigorous quality control or understanding checks.

Notebook: (2) Classroom Libraries

Book Post • 314 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. New legislation is being introduced to protect library collections from political interference.
  2. Efforts are being made to provide free books and support for restricted books through private initiatives.
  3. There is a debate over teaching methods in early childhood education, with concerns about prioritizing 'Science of Reading' and its impact on student-directed reading and diverse classroom libraries.

How to Get Kids Reading More Books

The Analog Family • 319 implied HN points • 10 Jan 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Kids are reading less because of distractions like smartphones and a focus on analytical approaches in school. It's important for them to enjoy reading whole books to gain emotional connections and confidence.
  2. Setting up an environment full of books helps encourage reading. Having books available everywhere can make reading more appealing to kids.
  3. Parents should model reading habits. When kids see their parents reading, they may be more inclined to pick up a book themselves and find enjoyment in it.

What Was Literacy?

Castalia • 479 implied HN points • 26 Sep 23
🎭️ Culture Literacy
  1. Literacy used to be a way for smart people to communicate and verify knowledge, but now, with technology like computers and videos, many can learn without reading at all.
  2. The rise of emojis and podcasts shows that people are more interested in visual and audio communication than traditional reading, making literacy less important in today's society.
  3. As literacy fades, we might lose a sense of culture and shared storytelling, but it’s possible that new ways of learning and sharing experiences will emerge instead.

The Art of Emails

Niko McCarty • 79 implied HN points • 25 May 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Cold emails are powerful tools for making connections. They show you are proactive and really want to connect with someone.
  2. Writing cold emails can improve your writing skills. It helps you think clearly about what you want to say and how to say it to the right person.
  3. When writing, treat it like you're emailing one person. This helps you focus and makes it easier to express your ideas simply.

The science of reading, a sense of urgency

The Bell Ringer • 119 implied HN points • 12 Apr 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Schools need to focus on what really helps students learn. It's important to prioritize the most effective methods for teaching reading.
  2. There is a pressing need to improve education practices based on solid research. Educators should act quickly to implement what works best.
  3. Understanding how reading works can lead to better teaching strategies. This knowledge can help create a better learning environment for all students.

13 Medium Publications That Can Nominate Your Stories for A Boost

Kristina God's Online Writing Club • 419 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. Medium has a Boost Program where selected stories get more exposure. This is great for writers who want their work to be seen by more people.
  2. There are 62 Community Nominators who can suggest stories for Boosting. Joining the right publications can help writers get their stories nominated.
  3. Writers can reach out to specific Medium publications to get their stories reviewed and potentially Boosted. Each publication has its own focus, so it's important to match your story with the right one.

Two Upcoming Workshops

Nice Try • 79 implied HN points • 12 Apr 24
🚌 Education Literacy
  1. There are two writing workshops coming up in New York City. One is a ten-week course for intermediate and advanced writers, and the other is a three-day intensive for novel writing.
  2. The ten-week workshop will help writers improve their skills from individual sentences to complete stories. It costs $550 and runs from May 7 to July 9.
  3. The three-day workshop focuses on editing and finalizing a complete manuscript. It costs $1800 and will take place on August 16-18.