Inside the Reading Gap https://thinkingreading.com Millions leave school unable to read properly. This four-part podcast uncovers the hidden literacy crisis, its human cost, and the solutions that can change lives.

This problem has inflicted incalculable harm and blighted lives with misery. The worst part is that this is unnecessary – we have the knowledge we need to teach all children and young people to read. The solutions are far cheaper than the ongoing costs of illiteracy. 

In this four-part podcast, you will hear from headteachers and principals, teachers, charity leaders, researchers and academics, literacy teaching specialists, and most importantly, young people and adults who have struggled with their reading. We tell the story of their pain and frustration, and the incredible power that learning to read confers when they finally get the help that they need.

]]> Sun, 21 Jun 2026 18:50:26 +0100 https://podbean.com/?v=5.5 en Copyright 2026 All rights reserved. Society & Culture:Documentary 1440 serial Thinking Reading Thinking Reading thinkingreading@madebydbm.com thinkingreading@madebydbm.com No false https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/22416856/ITRG-Cover-2048px.png Inside the Reading Gap https://thinkingreading.com 144 144 Inside the Reading Gap - Trailer Inside the Reading Gap - Trailer https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/inside-the-reading-gap-trailer/ https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/inside-the-reading-gap-trailer/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2026 15:30:00 +0100 thinkingreading.podbean.com/96e27f2d-6d05-374b-b029-5f64f3153975 Coming soon, a 4-part podcast looking at the causes and the solutions surrounding illiteracy.

More info: Thinking Reading

]]> Coming soon, a 4-part podcast looking at the causes and the solutions surrounding illiteracy.

More info: Thinking Reading

]]> Thinking Reading false No 89 trailer 1. The Silent Epidemic 1. The Silent Epidemic https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/1-the-silent-epidemic/ https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/1-the-silent-epidemic/#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2026 18:41:41 +0100 thinkingreading.podbean.com/070fe523-22ab-306d-94c9-355cbabbefd5 The number of people who lack basic literacy skills is of epidemic proportions, but most able readers will never know that friends, colleagues or relatives can’t read properly. In this episode, we explore what ‘functional’ illiteracy means, the multi-faceted impacts on all aspects of their lives, and the costs to us as a society. And all this raises the question: how did we get to this place, when we fund education for every child to the age of at least 16?

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> The number of people who lack basic literacy skills is of epidemic proportions, but most able readers will never know that friends, colleagues or relatives can’t read properly. In this episode, we explore what ‘functional’ illiteracy means, the multi-faceted impacts on all aspects of their lives, and the costs to us as a society. And all this raises the question: how did we get to this place, when we fund education for every child to the age of at least 16?

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> Thinking Reading false No 1236 1 1 full 2. Locked Out 2. Locked Out https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/2-locked-out/ https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/2-locked-out/#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2026 18:45:58 +0100 thinkingreading.podbean.com/e7988263-de22-3fcb-8ad4-02e7698967ab The correlation between imprisonment and poor literacy is strong. While correlation is not cause, there is no doubt that poor literacy increases the chances of incarceration, and that it makes it much harder for prison to have a positive impact. In this episode, you’ll hear experts describe the links between poor literacy and imprisonment, the challenges of the prison environment for improving literacy skills, and what it will take to make things better.

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> The correlation between imprisonment and poor literacy is strong. While correlation is not cause, there is no doubt that poor literacy increases the chances of incarceration, and that it makes it much harder for prison to have a positive impact. In this episode, you’ll hear experts describe the links between poor literacy and imprisonment, the challenges of the prison environment for improving literacy skills, and what it will take to make things better.

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> Thinking Reading false No 931 1 2 full 3. Reading: Second Nature? 3. Reading: Second Nature? https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/3-reading-second-nature/ https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/3-reading-second-nature/#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2026 18:48:30 +0100 thinkingreading.podbean.com/a6056fd1-1176-3fe7-af6d-0921501ac86f As a society, we have a wide range of explanations for why so many can’t read after eleven years of formal education, including deprivation, lack of intelligence, poor motivation, and presumed disabilities. In this episode, we show how those beliefs don’t hold water and instead show that teaching is the solution. We look at what can be done in schools to prevent literacy problems at the scale we currently see in our society.

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts 

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> As a society, we have a wide range of explanations for why so many can’t read after eleven years of formal education, including deprivation, lack of intelligence, poor motivation, and presumed disabilities. In this episode, we show how those beliefs don’t hold water and instead show that teaching is the solution. We look at what can be done in schools to prevent literacy problems at the scale we currently see in our society.

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts 

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> Thinking Reading true No 2393 1 3 full 4. Hope 4. Hope https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/4-hope/ https://thinkingreading.podbean.com/e/4-hope/#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2026 18:50:26 +0100 thinkingreading.podbean.com/e288336d-fee1-36bd-9e1a-127c26aa6191 A key theme of this series is that there is hope. Reading problems are solvable, and in this episode, we explain what it takes to do that, and that we can achieve far more than is usually thought possible. For people who mastered reading as children, it can be difficult to imagine the life-changing power that learning to read brings. The stories you’ll hear will make clear the radical changes in people’s lives when they finally learn to read after struggling for years.

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> A key theme of this series is that there is hope. Reading problems are solvable, and in this episode, we explain what it takes to do that, and that we can achieve far more than is usually thought possible. For people who mastered reading as children, it can be difficult to imagine the life-changing power that learning to read brings. The stories you’ll hear will make clear the radical changes in people’s lives when they finally learn to read after struggling for years.

 

For more on Thinking Reading, visit https://thinkingreading.com

 

Inside the Reading Gap is a Thinking Reading and Made by DBM co-production

Written and created by James and Dianne Murphy

Narrator: Emilie Carrington

Editing, audio production, script supervision: Rob Birnie at Made by DBM https://madebydbm.com/podcasts

Additional interviews: Alice Ball and Emilie Carrington

Administrative assistance: Charlene Johnstone

]]> Thinking Reading false No 2043 1 4 full