1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: I just read a headline that said gen Z are 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: arriving to college unable to even read a sentence, even 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: read a sentence, Like, that's sensational, my future voice sensational. 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 3: I was just like, Okay, what's going on here? 6 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: Because I find that very hard to believe that you 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,920 Speaker 1: can make it all the way to college and not 8 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: know how to read. 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't believe it. 10 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 3: Right, I simply don't. I simply don't believe it. 11 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: I'm TT and I'm Zukiah and this is Dope Labs. 12 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcast that mixes hardcore 13 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: science with pop culture and a healthy dose of friendship. 14 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: All right, so obviously we're gonna be talking about reading 15 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,319 Speaker 1: and literacy and how it's changed over the years, I mean, 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: from generation to generation. I also saw a headline that 17 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: said that Gen Z is the first generation to cognitively 18 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: underperform compared to like previous generations. 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 3: I don't know. 20 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,960 Speaker 1: I feel like this gets me right into what I know. 21 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: I feel like every generation from my grandparents down, okay, 22 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: was always saying y'all don't read enough. Y'all don't read enough. 23 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: It feels like more to say everybody's just saying you 24 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: don't read enough, you don't read enough. Yeah, we're always 25 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: just pointing out the younger ones and saying, y'all got 26 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: too much technology, you don't read enough, your attention span 27 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: is whatever, whatever, Because I remember when we were kids, 28 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: the big thing was, oh, all y'all kids do was 29 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: watch TV. Y'all need to get outside and play, and 30 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: we were like, okay. The one that I used to 31 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: hear was like, do you know your work? Do you 32 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: know your school books? The way you know those lyrics? No, okay, 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: write those lyrics down on PA committed. 34 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 3: This song by Bone Thugs. I've committed this this song 35 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 3: by Bone Thugs and Harmony to hers. 36 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 2: I pledge allegiance to the bone. Okay. 37 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 3: Boom boom boom boom boom boom. Man, they don't know 38 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 3: what they've on. 39 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: I think I'm also part of the problem, okay, because 40 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: the headlines have been blaming everything on reading and reading comprehension. 41 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: But I've been spreading some misinformation myself. I saw a 42 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: thread and it was like, the men can't flirt because 43 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: they don't read. They don't read enough to be able 44 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: to text you something that's emotionally captivated. I said, repost, 45 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: I took it down lest you took it down down 46 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: because I said, girl, you don't have no stats to 47 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: back this up. Do you have gender separated statistics about 48 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: men reading? 49 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 2: No, you don't. 50 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,239 Speaker 3: Okay, so let's get into what we want to know. 51 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 2: I want to know how much of this is just clickbait, 52 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 2: like just headlines to grab your attention. 53 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: And I think before anybody panics and starts blaming TikTok, 54 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: we need to really slow down and really understand what 55 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: the research says. So I want to know actually factually 56 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: what is going on, Like how are they making these headlines, 57 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 1: what is it based off of and what does it 58 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: mean for future generations? 59 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 3: And what does it mean for millennials and Gen xers 60 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 3: and things. 61 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: Like that, Because we're all living in the same society right, 62 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: interacting with one another. 63 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 3: We're working with each other at our jobs. Okay, so 64 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 3: let's jump into it. 65 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 2: I think we're ready. Yeah, So I'll tell you. I 66 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 2: did some googles I've looked at. 67 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: I did some googles because I said, these headlines are 68 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: referencing specific studies, right, and it's time to start picking 69 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: some of those apart. I looked at some of the 70 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: studies that they reference, but also global literacy rates. I 71 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: also looked at our reading by state. Also, I started 72 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: looking at our math. We've been It's not looking so 73 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: bad for the math. I'm feeling good. Yes, I think 74 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: where we should start is what is little like? How 75 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: is literacy defined? 76 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 2: Okay? 77 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: Because reading isn't just about knowing words, It's about following arguments, 78 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: understanding nuance, detecting false hoods within a sentence, and connecting 79 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: ideas across time. Okay, so let's jump into it then. 80 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: So now that we have established what literacy is, right, 81 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: let's actually talk about the study. So there are a 82 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: couple of different sources to pool. There are these large 83 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: international assessments that track skills over time. There are these 84 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: national assessments that track skills over time, and some of 85 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: those skills are reading, comprehension, vocabulary, problem solving. But then 86 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,919 Speaker 1: there are things that are measures of people's time being spent. 87 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: So they might ask do a survey and say how 88 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: much time do you spend reading per week or how 89 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: much do you spend per day? So we're pulling all 90 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: this information together to understand this trend and What researchers 91 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: notice is that starting around the mid twenty two, scores 92 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: stopped going up. And those scores were like what you said, 93 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: reading comprehension, vocabulary, problem solving and things like that, and 94 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: in some cases they went down. But the decline wasn't 95 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: across everything. It was concentrated just on literacy heavy tasks, Okay, 96 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: And I think that's important because the headlines that say 97 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: they're not as smart is literacy the measure of smartness, right, 98 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: So we're talking about understanding long passages, following multi step arguments, 99 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: interpreting written information and pulling meaning from context. That's not anything. 100 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: It's not raw intelligence, it's not creativity, is not innovation, 101 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: and it's not if you know how to use the 102 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: operating system on your phone or your other technological device. 103 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: Because gen Z is kicking everybody's but right, we're looking 104 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: at you baby boomers. Okay, I'm tired of being the 105 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: geek squad on call. Yeah. I think one important detail 106 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: is that these stud he's compare people at the same age, 107 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: just born in different years. So it's not kids today 108 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: versus adults. It's eighteen year olds now versus eighteen year 109 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 1: olds twenty or thirty years ago, and when the research 110 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: is dig deeper, they actually find something interesting. They're finding 111 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: that gen Z performs just fine on short discrete task okay, okay, 112 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: but the performance drops when they need sustained attention and 113 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: deep reading. 114 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:27,679 Speaker 3: Okay. 115 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: So what that tells us is that this isn't about ability, 116 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: It's about exposure and practice. And if your daily life 117 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: doesn't require long form reading, your brain gets less training 118 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: in that aspect. 119 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 2: But you might not need that, you know. 120 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: I think you're making a very good point. One of 121 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: the things that I've been seeing lately on the internet, 122 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: I saw somewhere where somebody said practice makes permanent. If 123 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 1: I don't have to practice it, it's not part of 124 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: my permanent routine. 125 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 3: You know exactly. 126 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: I think we talk about this a lot, and the 127 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: comparison our always make is that before calculators, everybody was 128 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: doing the math by paper and doing it in their head. 129 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: Then calculators came out, and then the mathematicians and scientists 130 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: were saying, if you use a calculator, you're not really 131 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: smart because it's something else is doing the work for you. 132 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, now calculators are ubiquitous. They're on 133 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: our phone, they're on our laptops, they're everywhere helping us 134 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: calculate things. You can type in math problems into Google 135 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: and it'll spit out the answer, and it just makes 136 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: you more efficient, Like why take all this time to 137 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: try and work this out when you know you can 138 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: get to the answer and move on quickly. I think 139 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: the other thing is I've been seeing a lot of 140 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: people blaming what we're seeing, and I'm saying what we're seeing. 141 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: I'm putting up the quotation marks because what's being said, 142 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: what we're seeing is not what's being said. But they're 143 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: saying like, oh, these declines in literacy are because of 144 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: the pandemic. But the studies are also pointing out that 145 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: that decline showed up before the pandemic. So it's not 146 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: just I'm tired of people blaming everything on zoom. Zoom 147 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:06,119 Speaker 1: does have some qualities, oh my gosh. And the same 148 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: research shows that adults are actually reading less too, and 149 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: that's backed up by other studies, including the American Time 150 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: You study. 151 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 3: So this isn't a specific failure quote unquote. 152 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 2: Of gen z. This is across the board. 153 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 3: We're all reading less. 154 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, we can see it in the data. So that 155 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: same study, it looked at over two hundred and thirty 156 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: thousand Americans over twenty years, and reading for pleasure, not 157 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: reading for your job, reading for whatever you for pleasure 158 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: has dropped about forty percent. 159 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 2: Okay. The other thing is. 160 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: Everybody's talking about the kids, but who's reading to the kids? Okay, 161 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 1: only two percent of adults said that they read with 162 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: kids every day. So when we talk about gen Z 163 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 1: struggling with deep reading, it's not that they're slacking off 164 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 1: while everybody else is like buried in books and bookworms 165 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: and everything like that. This is a cultural shift towards 166 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: screens and short form content, and they're just the generation 167 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: that's growing up inside of that shift. 168 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. 169 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 1: Now, I think it's less about blaming a generation and 170 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: more about asking a more context dependent question, like what 171 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: happens now when we have a society where fewer people 172 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: can deeply read and analyze and question what they're consuming. 173 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: And I think this is the gotcha, gotcha because we're 174 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: having this conversation about fewer people being able to deeply read, 175 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: analyze and question what they're consuming. But this is at 176 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: a time when literacy is actually a huge success story. 177 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: So if you look back two hundred years, only one 178 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,439 Speaker 1: in ten people across the world. So now we're talking globally, 179 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: not just in the United States, only one in ten 180 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,959 Speaker 1: could read and write. But today that is basically flipped. 181 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:52,959 Speaker 1: Those other nine those are the people who are literate 182 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: across the globe. And so mass literacy is a very 183 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: recent phenomenon, okay, and that isn't something that happened by accident. 184 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:09,199 Speaker 1: Countries poured money and policy into basic education and so 185 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,680 Speaker 1: the result was that literacy expanded, Gender gaps and race 186 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: gaps started to close. And that's part of what made 187 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: modern life, the life that we're living now so possible, 188 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: having democracy, science, the Internet, all of it. So now 189 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: we're asking what does it mean if we have literacy 190 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: on paper but we're not practicing deep reading in real time, 191 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: in real life and talking about policy like bring back 192 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: the book program and the pizza Hut coupons. Okay, yes, 193 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: oh my god, remember when you have Yes when and 194 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: I remember I was at school. We had like book 195 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: reading competitions and like the class that want would get 196 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: a pizza party. I don't think they're doing that anymore. 197 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: So are they doing pizza parties? The kids even still 198 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: eat pizzas, and they would slice those pizzas into the 199 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:04,839 Speaker 1: hunterred slices, A hundred slices right, one slice would be 200 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 1: as thin as a hand. 201 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 2: Gg'd lying, y'all, it wasn't. 202 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 3: It wasn't like this. It wasn't it was it was awful. 203 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 3: It was awful. 204 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: But I think everything you're saying is so so true. 205 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: If you can't slow down and deeply read. 206 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 2: You're vulnerable. 207 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: A big factor is that how we read has changed. 208 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: We don't read long form text the way that previous 209 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: generations did. We skim and scroll and jump from linkedlin. 210 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: My friend is jumping from linked very Okay, if you're 211 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: not subscribed to her blog, you need to Okay, a 212 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: thousand links. 213 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,079 Speaker 3: It's the land of a thousand links and footnotes. 214 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 2: Okay, on that souf. I think you know. 215 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:06,719 Speaker 1: The interesting thing, though, is we've been talking about the 216 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:11,319 Speaker 1: kids and the younger generations. But let's zoom out again globally. 217 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:13,959 Speaker 1: If you look like in the Middle East and North Africa, 218 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: the younger generations there are way more literate than the 219 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,560 Speaker 1: older generations. So that even that's another interesting caveat too. 220 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: Not only do we have more people reading, we have 221 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 1: more younger people reading them before and so I think, 222 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,719 Speaker 1: like you said, we're just adapting to the way we 223 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: see information. Yeah, your brain adapts to what you ask 224 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: it to do. And if you're reading happens in captions 225 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: and tweets and headlines, you're training your brain for speed 226 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: and not depth. And I think the other thing the 227 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: unsaid is like when we look at how we're measuring literacy, 228 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: like there are these tests, these checkpoints, like a lot 229 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: of teaching to the test, and you know, I have 230 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: a whole thing about that multiple choice Yes, I love 231 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: a scantron sometimes ye okay. I think also we start 232 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: to get kids who are just trying to eliminate wrong 233 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: answers instead of thinking about what the right answer actually 234 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: is and thinking and sitting with the information. So I 235 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: want to get on my soapbox about that. But I 236 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: think if we're going to look at the United States, 237 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: we do have to look at the nation's report card, 238 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:24,319 Speaker 1: and we should be I don't know, I feel like 239 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: we should be a little scared to show it. It's 240 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: been tracking reading and some of the other subjects like 241 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: math and writing for many decades, okay, And I think 242 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: some of this also some of the rumblings about literacy 243 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: have come from that particular assessment. It's national, it has 244 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:41,839 Speaker 1: state level information. You can go all the way down 245 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,199 Speaker 1: the districts. And I think we should focus on the 246 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: last two sets of reading data that we have, and 247 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,360 Speaker 1: that's for grades four and eight and in twenty twenty 248 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:51,079 Speaker 1: four and twenty twenty two is where we have test 249 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: results for reading. So overall, if you look at the 250 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: average of both the fourth and the eighth grade reading assessments, 251 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: there is a significant decrease in reading in twenty twenty 252 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: four compared to twenty twenty two. A couple of things 253 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: to point out about that, though, is that both fourth 254 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: grade and eighth grade are down on average, and that's 255 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,559 Speaker 1: not just a gen Z thing, because fourth grade in 256 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four is technically Generation Alpha. Eighth grade is 257 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: right on the line for gen Z. Also, you can 258 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: break this down into percentiles. Percentiles always be messing with with. Okay, 259 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: go slow form, Okay, So I like to start right 260 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: in the middle. I say, if I line everybody up 261 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: from lowest score to highest score, where's the fifty percent mark? Right? 262 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: Everybody at the fifty percent mark and below is in 263 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 1: the fiftieth percentile. So the higher the number, the more 264 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: people that are under you. So you want to be high, 265 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: and if you are an achiever, you want to be high. 266 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: So like when people say you're in the ninety fifth percentile, 267 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: that means ninety five percent of the people that took 268 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: the test. 269 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 2: Score lower than you. They have a value that falls 270 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:56,640 Speaker 2: below you. 271 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, So people have been saying, oh, the reading 272 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: is down, reading is down, but for our high performing readers, 273 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: So people that were in the ninetieth percentile twenty twenty 274 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: two to twenty twenty four, no significant change. They didn't 275 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: get any didn't get any better at reading, at literacy, 276 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: didn't get any worse. And that's for both the fourth 277 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: grade and the eighth grade. So it's not like, oh, 278 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: everybody just dropped. Most of the drops were happening at 279 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: the tenth, twenty fifth, and fiftieth percentile range. Okay, And 280 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: so that's something to kind of pay attention to as well. 281 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: So once we start, the more information we have, the 282 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: more we can, you know, start to really get a 283 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: full story. Yeah, because then that makes me feel like 284 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: the gap between people is widening, and I want I'm 285 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: curious to know is it specific demographics of people or 286 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: kids that are following in the fiftieth percentile or below? 287 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: And I guess we will only know that with more research. 288 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: And I think that's the part of the story. I 289 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: think we're not talking about enough. Okay, So we're talking 290 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: about a couple things. See, now, you got me all 291 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: in my education back. 292 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 2: I call them jales. 293 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 3: She's an educator, y'all. 294 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 2: We're talking about fourth and eighth grade, right. 295 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: And we have numbers from twenty twenty two and twenty 296 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: twenty four for them, but we don't have numbers for 297 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: twelfth grade. When people are graduating and going out into 298 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: the world. We don't have a reading assessment for them 299 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: any later than twenty nineteen. So the last reading assessment 300 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: we know about what a twelfth grader is doing was 301 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. 302 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 2: Okay wow. 303 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: And because there have been recent cuts the National Assessment 304 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: Governing Board that's who sets the policy for the nation's 305 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: report card, they're saying, hey, we're under pressure because there 306 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: have been budget cuts and we're trying to find some 307 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: budget deficiencies. So they are proposing that they won't be 308 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: doing that comprehensive test at the state level for twelfth 309 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: graders to assess their reading. They won't be doing that 310 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: until twenty thirty two. Wow, So we're losing a clear 311 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: ability to compare over time what happens. So if you 312 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: care about literacy, you don't just care about what's happening 313 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 1: in the fourth grade and eighth grade. You care about 314 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: literacy as a life outcome. And we're losing our ability 315 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: to look at that. And that is a direct result 316 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: of cuts to the Department of Education. 317 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. 318 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: So we're going to be feeling the effects of this 319 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: for a very long time. I mean, if you're not 320 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: making those assessments, like you said, how can you make changes? 321 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: How can you say, Okay, this is we're going to 322 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: start putting more focus on this area or that area. 323 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 3: If you don't know what the problem is, how do 324 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 3: you fix it? 325 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:33,160 Speaker 1: I mean, and I think that's part of the thing. 326 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,400 Speaker 1: That's something we're seeing complaints about across the board. We're 327 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: making these cuts to these systems that track and that 328 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: become like our early warning signs. You know, this is 329 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: not to get us back to the biology, but this 330 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: was the same thing we saw with bird flu. You know, 331 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 1: when we had the episode people saying we don't have 332 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: the monetoring systems that we had before, and so now 333 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: we're going to be in a position where we're not 334 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: going to be able to identify where the gaps are closing, 335 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 1: where they're widening, if policies are working in there or not, because. 336 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 2: We're not measuring these things. 337 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 3: Oh my goodness. 338 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: And so the bottom line is that this isn't a 339 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:10,040 Speaker 1: kids these days are lazy situation. This is about systems, 340 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: the education system, the text system, and attention economies. Like 341 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 1: because the Department of Education, when you think of public 342 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: schools and how they get their funding and the tests 343 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:21,399 Speaker 1: that the students have to take, they are like, we 344 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,439 Speaker 1: have to make sure that these kids pass these tests 345 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:26,640 Speaker 1: and things like that. But if they're not even looking 346 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: at the tests, they're being able to assess the outcomes, 347 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,159 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, we're cooked. 348 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 2: We're cooked cooked. Okay. 349 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:36,639 Speaker 1: I think the other thing that's really worth saying, and 350 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: we've kind of woven it into the undertones, but I 351 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:43,439 Speaker 1: want to say it explicitly. Gen Z and Jen Alpha, 352 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,239 Speaker 1: they are incredible at things that the older generation, oh 353 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: my gosh, don't stand a chance. Yes, absolutely, visual literacy, 354 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: digital navigation, pattern recognition across platforms. It's more likely that 355 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: somebody in gen Z is going to recognize AI before 356 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: I do. Listen, Okay, Like there's times where I'm there 357 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: was a TikTok of rabbits jumping on a trampoline at night, 358 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: and I was like, yo, this is so cool, and 359 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: the gen z is in the comments are like this 360 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 1: is AI clearly, and I. 361 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 3: Was like oops, oopsy oops, yeah, like oh oh yes. 362 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was talking about a different video with the 363 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: bunnies jumping on a trampoline. 364 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:31,640 Speaker 3: Never mind, never mind, never mind. 365 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,439 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just like those skills don't just show up 366 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: in traditional intelligence tests, like that's when you're taking a test. 367 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,640 Speaker 1: They're not showing you things like that. And so gen 368 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: Z isn't less smart. They're just a different kind of smart, 369 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: like the type of smart they are values different things. 370 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: Back in the day day, Yeah, you need to read 371 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: you know this war. 372 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 3: And peace and all these things like that. Now you don't, 373 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 3: for real. 374 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: You can read it in your leisure but it's not 375 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: something that you know defines like who is intelligent. 376 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 3: And who isn't. 377 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: I think the other thing is that we've come to 378 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,159 Speaker 1: a point where we've started to say, well, you know, 379 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: you don't know what this word means or in the 380 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: same way. You know, just like when people are saying 381 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: the same way you're talking about calculators, that's the same 382 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: thing people are saying when that little squiggly line used 383 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:26,719 Speaker 1: to come up in word. And I'm like, I can 384 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: write click and see what that means. Okay, I can 385 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: write exactly what's happening. Yeah, And I'm like, you can. 386 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,359 Speaker 2: Know what every word is in the headline and still 387 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 2: not understand what it means for you. 388 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 1: And you know, when we first started Dope last this 389 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: is something we talked about, you know, and such a 390 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,479 Speaker 1: good point. We first started with science literacy and then 391 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:51,360 Speaker 1: we talked about financial literacy and civic literacy, media literacy. 392 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: Thinking about science literacy just off the top and thinking 393 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 1: about some of our early episodes, like it's not just like, 394 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: do you know what antibiotics are? That's not what for us, 395 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: that's what we're thinking about for science literacy. It's like 396 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: when you see somebody say drug X cures disease, lie, 397 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,880 Speaker 1: you have to stop and ask like was that in mice? 398 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 2: Was it in humans? 399 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: You know? Was it thirty people or three thousand people. 400 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: Was it a randomized trial or was it self reported? 401 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 2: Healing right now? 402 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: Right? 403 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 2: Who paid for it? Shit? 404 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:21,159 Speaker 3: It? 405 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I mean, and financial literacy isn't just reading oh, 406 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: credit card debt tops one point three trillion and scrolling on. 407 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: It's knowing that if your APR is twenty four percent 408 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,960 Speaker 1: and you only make the minimum payment, that couch you 409 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: bought basically turns into two couches that you're going to 410 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,680 Speaker 1: have to push together and pay for, Okay, And I 411 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 1: think over time, Yeah, And I think one of my 412 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: favorite callbacks was when we had ccon for student loans 413 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: like forgiveness versus forbearans and just I mean, you don't 414 00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: owe anymore? Does it mean you just got a little 415 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: period where you don't have to pay? Like it's on 416 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: pause right now, but it. 417 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 2: Might come back. Listen. 418 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: We're all not literate when it comes to that. It 419 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: was very confusing. I was like, this is not an 420 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: easy thing to understand, honestly. 421 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 2: And my science literacy didn't help, not at all. 422 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 3: I was like, I'm just as confused as you are. 423 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 3: Please send your questions to CZ And I think. 424 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 1: You've really been bringing a lot of the policy angle 425 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: over the past year, you know, with you being in 426 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: public policy now and everything like civic literacy. 427 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 3: Mm hmmmm. 428 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: It's isn't just recognizing voter id or school choice as phrases. 429 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: It's being able to read a new story about a 430 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,639 Speaker 1: new voter of law and answer whose life does this 431 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:51,200 Speaker 1: make easier or harder? What level of government is doing this? 432 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: Is it the local government, the state government, the federal government? 433 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: And where would I even show up if I wanted 434 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,080 Speaker 1: to fight it? It's understanding all of those things. You 435 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: feel like you got too many potholes in your neighborhood, 436 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: Who do you go to? Do you know what elected 437 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: representative you would need to send a letter to if 438 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: you want to put in a stop sign on your corner, 439 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,879 Speaker 1: which I do. I sent a letter, very good. I 440 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: sent a letter, Honey. I was like, we need to 441 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: stop sign. These people are going through here, these speed 442 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: humps not doing it. And then media literacy, which we 443 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: talk about a lot on this show. Yes, you know, 444 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: we talked about it with the parents, but it's happening 445 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 1: to us too now. You know you got to look 446 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: and say, you know who made this, who is it for? 447 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: Who gets paid? If it goes viral? And is this 448 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: information or is it just an ad dressed up like information? 449 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: Because advertisements Sometimes I'm reading stuff and I'm like, oh, 450 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: this is a long pitch for me to. 451 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 2: Buy your workshop, you know, Oh my god. 452 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: But I think all of this is something we've recognized 453 00:23:55,119 --> 00:24:00,680 Speaker 1: as an issue over time, and none of this, none 454 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:02,400 Speaker 1: of it is part of reading assessment. 455 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:03,440 Speaker 3: No. 456 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,119 Speaker 1: I think when people hear the word literacy, that's the 457 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,119 Speaker 1: first thing that comes to their mind. And that's not 458 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:27,639 Speaker 1: the full picture at all. If we want smarter societies, 459 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: we don't need harder tests or to make people read 460 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: longer form. We just need people who can understand complex 461 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,119 Speaker 1: information no matter the size. Yeah, you know, And so 462 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,800 Speaker 1: being able to read something, process it and have a 463 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: takeaway from it. And so it's about understanding what you're consuming. 464 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: The good news is that if you don't like where 465 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: you are right now, if you want to read, look 466 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: in the mirror, say hey, neighbor, Turn to your left, 467 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: turn to your right, and say hey, neighbor, if you 468 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: want to read more. We you know, this is happening 469 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:04,920 Speaker 1: right before National Reading Month, which is in March. And 470 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: if you're part of the ninety eight percent of adults 471 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: that aren't reading to a kid. Please do go to 472 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: the kids classroom and read a book. 473 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 2: They like it, they love it. 474 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,199 Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, they lose their minds. I would encourage 475 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: folks to just start reading things more often. It's not 476 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,760 Speaker 1: necessarily long form, but just you know, trying to take 477 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: things in, even if it's just ten minutes a day. 478 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: You know, I read Atomic Habits because I have a 479 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: very big problem of trying to go straight from never 480 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: doing a thing to like, now I'm going to read for. 481 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 2: An hour a day. And it's like, you don't have 482 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 2: to do that. Actually, you can make tiny changes. 483 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: You can just say rip minutes a day and those 484 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: changes repeated, ad up, Like you don't have to start 485 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: reading War and Peace like you said by candlelight to 486 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: feel the impacts. You know, let technology help you. Start 487 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:54,879 Speaker 1: with an app like the news app that's already on 488 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: your iPhone. You can go in there and read news articles, 489 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 1: or you can borrow an ebook on Libby. He's an 490 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,120 Speaker 1: app where you can borrow books from your local library 491 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: and then just you know, start chipping away at it. 492 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: I think the change I want to see it's gotta 493 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: start right here, and it's gotta start with our with 494 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 1: our audience. I try to seeing people misread what the 495 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: original poster said, even on social media, like just let's 496 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: just make social media better with context, with two things 497 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: being true, with anecdote versus statistical information, like large sets 498 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: of information. I just yes, honestly, And if you're choosing 499 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: to get your information from a video, at least watch 500 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,080 Speaker 1: the whole video through, babe, because y'all be upset in 501 00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: the comments and I'm like, you. 502 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 2: Didn't watch the whole thing. 503 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: You clearly didn't. You're missing the point. And the point 504 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: was ten seconds in. You watched the first five seconds 505 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,160 Speaker 1: and then got in the comments section angry. Calm down, yeah, 506 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: and keep listening. 507 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 2: Yeah. 508 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 1: And I think this is anecdotal, so I can already 509 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,239 Speaker 1: say it in advance. There's a lot we can learn 510 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:03,680 Speaker 1: from gen Z. I'm tired of us piling on. Let's 511 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: stop piling on. It's too much, it's too much. Leave 512 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,360 Speaker 1: them alone. They're just like any other generation. Every generation 513 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 1: has their thing, and like they're no different from a 514 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 1: baby boomer. You go back to the baby boomer time, 515 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 1: baby Boomer's parents, what are they. 516 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:28,240 Speaker 3: Gen uh whatever? It would be. Dust bowl hasn't ready. 517 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,879 Speaker 2: No, I don't know. I don't know. It might be right. 518 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 1: Generation gold miners or whatever, I don't know. Uh, they 519 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: their parents also believed that they were lazy, you know. 520 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,360 Speaker 1: And so it's just we all just got to understand 521 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 1: that the context in which we are growing and developing 522 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: in change is from generation to generation. Yeah, and we 523 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,200 Speaker 1: have to understand that everybody's just out here trying to 524 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: make it and we're doing the best we can with. 525 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 2: What we got to say. Cut it out. 526 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:07,639 Speaker 3: You can find us on X and. 527 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: Instagram at Dope Labs podcast. You can find me tt 528 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: on X, Threads and Instagram at dr Underscore t Sho, 529 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: and you can find Zakiya at Ze said so. Dope 530 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,400 Speaker 1: Labs is a production of Lemonada Media. Our supervising producer 531 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,440 Speaker 1: is Keegan Zemma. Dope Labs is sound designed, edited and 532 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: mixed by James Sparber. Lemonada's Senior Vice President of Content 533 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: and Production is Jackie Danziger. Executive producer from iHeart Podcast 534 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: is Katrina Norvil. 535 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 2: Marketing lead is Alison Kanter. 536 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: Original music composed and produced by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex 537 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: suki Ura, with additional music by Elijah Harvey. Dope Labs 538 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: is executive produced by us T T Show Dia and 539 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: Zakiah Wattley.