Curiosity Weekly – "How to Not Raise an iPad Baby" (August 27, 2025)

Episode Overview

This episode of Curiosity Weekly, hosted by Dr. Samantha Yammine, explores how modern technology is reshaping literacy, learning, and the developing brain. Senior producer Teresa Carey interviews Dr. Maryanne Wolf (Director, Center for Dyslexia, Diversity Learners and Social Justice at UCLA) and Dr. Daniel Willingham (Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia). Together, they discuss the neurological and cultural impacts of digital reading, the risks of replacing deep learning with bite-sized content, and what parents and educators can do to nurture critical thinking and empathy in a tech-saturated world.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Changing Nature of Literacy & Reading in a Digital Age

• Dr. Samantha Yammine: Sets the stage by referencing previous episodes about how tech (like AI and handwriting vs typing) is affecting literacy and memory ([01:52]).
• The pandemic's digital shift restructured how scientists and the public interact; scientists surveyed experienced online hostility, making many wary of sharing work online ([02:50]).
• Dr. Yammine highlights the polarization of scientific topics and the risks (and resilience) involved in science communication.

2. The Reading Brain: Skimming vs. Deep Reading

• Dr. Teresa Carey: Opens the discussion with Drs. Wolf and Willingham, referencing their books and asking about the shift from immersive reading to skimming ([08:24]).
• Dr. Maryanne Wolf:
  • "We were never born to read... It's a plastic circuit that connects all these amazing processes." ([09:27])
  • Reading deeply involves not just decoding, but reflective and empathetic thought, logical reasoning, and memory.
  • Digital reading encourages skimming—getting the gist, not deep understanding ([10:45]).
  • Worries about children: if effort is farmed out to technology, the "elaborated reading brain won't develop" ([12:16]).

3. Attention, Distraction, and Motivation in Digital Environments

• Dr. Daniel Willingham:
  • Research hasn't shown that time online ruins attention span; rather, motivation is at risk ([13:13], [15:53]).
  • "Students don't have the reading stamina they had even a handful of years ago."
  • Two hypotheses:
    1. Digital life increases intolerance for waiting—instant gratification.
    2. Boredom threshold drops; with constant stimulation (phones, games), "reading is watermelon, and anything on a screen is candy" ([23:38]).

4. Empathy and Deep Reading

• Wolf: Deep reading is a "bridge to other lives, other perspectives, other times" ([16:22]).
  • Without deep reading, "this important aspect of humanity is fostered by this deep reading process" may be lost ([17:29]).

5. Writing Skills, AI, and Intellectual Rigor

• Carey: Questions how AI and tech that make writing easier might impact developmental skills and original thought ([18:06]).

• Wolf:

  • "Wrestling builds the brain" ([18:50]).
  • "Your own brain effort builds and elaborates the circuitry… not just the reading brain, but the writing brain."
  • Reliance on ChatGPT analogized to "walking arm in arm with an alcoholic into a bar and saying, let's just have wings" ([19:53]).

• Willingham:

  • Writing longer work is vital for developing thinking; outsourcing this to AI is detrimental.
  • Admits he uses ChatGPT for suitable tasks but not where cognitive benefits are at stake ([21:33]).

6. Strategies for Parents and Teachers

• Wolf: "The best use of the first 10 to 12 years of our children’s lives is to be immersed in print with an emphasis on expanding those deep reading processes..." ([22:17])
• Willingham: Wholehearted agreement, doubts the data will change soon ([23:04]).
• Candy vs Watermelon Metaphor: Willingham uses this to describe competing stimuli: "Reading is watermelon, and anything on a screen is candy." The goal is balance—and to help children remember the joys of reading ([23:38]).

7. Is Deep Reading Becoming Obsolete?

• Carey: Wonders if society is fundamentally shifting away from deep reading ([24:25]).
• Wolf: Digital platforms reinforce prior beliefs, narrowing perspectives rather than broadening them ([24:48]).
• Willingham: "Broad literacy is a relatively new phenomenon. So it could be that we are in that sense moving backwards to something that was much more broadly true a couple of hundred years ago..." ([25:46])
• Both express concern about a retreat from deep, critical literacy skills.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Wolf:

  • "Are we maintaining and developing that reading brain circuit, or is it following the atrophy of the platitude in neuroscience? Use it or lose it." ([12:04])
  • "One of the most important aspects of deep reading is deep feeling, if you will; deep understanding of others." ([16:52])

• Willingham:

  • "Students don't have the reading stamina they had even a handful of years ago." ([13:13])
  • "I want my kids to remember, I actually do really like watermelon... Reading is watermelon, anything on a screen is candy." ([23:38])
  • On using ChatGPT: "This is like walking arm in arm with an alcoholic into a bar and saying, let's just have wings. This is a dumb idea." ([19:53])

• Wolf:

  • "Wrestling builds the brain. We have this rapacious appetite in our culture for efficiency when in fact we underestimate totally the importance of wrestling." ([18:50])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:52] – Dr. Yammine reviews previous literacy research and previews the episode's themes.
• [02:50] – Impact of the pandemic and online hostility on science communication.
• [08:18] – Introduction to Drs. Wolf and Willingham, their work, and first discussion.
• [09:27] – Wolf explains the reading brain and dangers of skimming.
• [13:13] – Willingham discusses attention, distraction, and the evidence base.
• [16:52] – Wolf describes deep reading as a bridge to empathy.
• [18:50] – Wolf and Willingham address writing, wrestling with ideas, and using AI.
• [22:17] – Instructional strategies for fostering deep reading (at home and in school).
• [23:38] – Candy vs Watermelon analogy for reading vs. screens.
• [24:48] – Concerns about the future of deep literacy and critical thinking.

Additional Segment: Coral Probiotics

• [27:27] – Brief science update: Scientists give coral reefs a "probiotic spa treatment" to combat stony coral tissue loss disease.
  • Experimental use of beneficial bacteria slows disease spread in wild reefs.
  • Research ongoing; promising early results for ocean conservation.

Takeaways

• Digital life is causing both children and adults to favor skimming and multitasking over deep, reflective engagement with text—posing risks to empathy, reasoning, and cultural understanding.
• Motivation, more than raw attention, seems to be the casualty of constant online stimulation; traditional reading and "wrestling" cognitively with ideas are less attractive than instant digital gratification.
• Parents and teachers should strive for balance: immerse children in print during formative years, restrict screens as needed, and make reading as enjoyable as possible.
• Deep reading and writing are not just academic skills—they build the brain, foster empathy, and protect the capacity for independent thought in an increasingly polarized world.

For listeners seeking practical approaches to raising capable, empathetic, and critical readers and thinkers in the digital age, this episode offers rich insights and gentle urgency.