“Students who read for fun on their own time fell from 27% to 14% in 2012 to 2023. Those who never or hardly ever read for fun on their own jumped from 22% to 31%.”

• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/high-school-english-teachers-assigning-books.html
• https://jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-of-the-post-literate-society-aa1
• https://jabberwocking.com/is-the-plunge-in-teen-reading-because-of-smartphones/
• https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/09/whats-driving-decline-in-u-s-literacy-rates/

Here’s my AuthorTube take on the decline of literacy.

• 00:00 The American public is reading less, and here’s some evidence.
• 01:55 Why the loss of reading matters and should not be dismissed.
• 02:46 Why finding good books is difficult.
• 06:15 The rhetoric against controversial and original concepts.
• 07:42 Other story mediums and formats.
• 08:30 What turns children and adults off to reading.
• 09:53 In favor of books: a solo visionary is often better than a story written by committee.
• 11:00 Books are the medium of history and intergenerational communication.
• 11:46 Writing gives a voice to the voiceless.
• 12:18 Remakes, rehashes, and derivative slop.
• 13:10 If you don’t like to read, here are some suggestions.

Related video on the Male Reading Crisis