Sold a Story
APM Reports
Millions of kids can't read well. Scientists have known for decades how children learn to read, but many schools don’t know about the research. They buy teacher training and books that are rooted in a disproven idea. In Sold a Story, Emily Hanford investigates four authors and a publishing company that have made millions selling this idea.
- 57 minutes 46 secondsEmily Hanford LIVE from Planet Word with Reid Lyon and Margaret Goldberg
Early in her teaching career, Margaret Goldberg was skeptical of the science of reading. Today, she is working with neuroscientist Reid Lyon to bring it into more classrooms. Lyon and Goldberg joined Sold a Story host Emily Hanford for a live conversation about the challenges of translating research into practice. The event was part of the Eyes on Reading series at Planet Word, a museum in Washington, D.C., dedicated to words and language.
Read: Transcript of this episode
See: Slideshow from the event (cute pictures!)
Watch: All Eyes on Reading videos
Connect: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected]
Call us: (612) 888-7323
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
9 December 2025, 6:02 am - 37 minutes 44 seconds14: The Cuts
Education research is at a turning point in the United States. The Trump administration is slashing government funding for science and dismantling the Department of Education. We look at what the cuts mean for the science of reading — and the effort to get that science into schools.
Read: Trump cancels survey of high schoolers
Read: Nation’s Report Card at risk
Read: Lawsuit saves massive reading experiment
Read: Transcript of this episodeCarolyn Riehl: Medical research and education research
Watch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected]
Call us: (612) 888-7323
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
21 August 2025, 5:03 am - 33 minutes 53 seconds13: The List
Steubenville became a model of reading success. Then a new law in Ohio put it all at risk. In this episode, we look at the "science of reading" lists some states are making, why the program Steubenville has been using for 25 years isn't getting on many of these lists, and the surprising power of one curriculum review group.
Read: Christopher Peak on EdReports
Read: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected]
Call us: (612) 888-7323
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
6 March 2025, 6:05 am - 30 minutes 35 seconds12: The Evidence
There’s a name for the program at the heart of Steubenville’s remarkable reading results. It’s called Success for All. It’s been around for decades, and numerous studies have shown it’s effective. But relatively few school districts use it. We trace the history of the program and why it’s never really caught on.
Read: Why don’t more schools use Success for All?
Read: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected]
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
27 February 2025, 6:05 am - 31 minutes 4 seconds11: The Outlier
There’s a school district in eastern Ohio where virtually all the students become good readers by the time they finish third grade. Many of the wealthiest places in the country can’t even say that. And Steubenville is a Rust Belt town where the state considers almost all the students “economically disadvantaged.” How did they do it?
Explore: Steubenville, by the numbers
Read: Transcript of this episodeBook: Districts that Succeed
Book: How It's Being Done
Podcast: ExtraOrdinary DistrictsWatch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Email us: [email protected]
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
20 February 2025, 6:05 am - 3 minutes 14 secondsThe podcast that's changing education
Nationally acclaimed journalist Emily Hanford's work is changing the ways schools around the country teach reading. In this award-winning podcast, she investigates why so many schools use an approach that cognitive scientists debunked decades ago.
Apple Podcasts has recognized Sold a Story as a Series Essential. To celebrate, we’re making it available without ads or other announcements for a limited time.
Watch: The story behind Sold a Story
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
1 November 2024, 1:00 pm - 31 minutes 15 seconds10: The Details
Some of the teachers, students, parents and researchers we met in Sold a Story talk about the impact the podcast has had on their lives and in schools — and share some of their hopes and concerns about the “science of reading” movement.
Portraits: Zoe and Lee Gaul, Christine Cronin, Reid Lyon
Read: Transcript of this episodeVideo: Mark Seidenberg at Yale
Article: Seidenberg on translating the science
Article: Reid Lyon’s most important findingsWatch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Donate: Support APM Reports
Email us: [email protected]
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
11 April 2024, 5:05 am - 27 minutes 35 seconds9: The Aftermath
Schools around the country are changing the way they teach reading. And that is having major consequences for people who sold the flawed idea we investigated in Sold a Story. But Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell are fighting back — and fighting to stay relevant. And so are organizations that promoted their work: the Reading Recovery Council of North America and the publisher Heinemann.
Read: Two universities stick with a discredited idea
Read: Reading Recovery financial difficulties
Read: Science movement trouble for Heinemann
Read: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
4 April 2024, 5:05 am - 6 minutes 19 secondsIntroducing: Sold a Story en español
A Spanish adaptation of Sold a Story is now available. Hosted by journalist Valeria Fernández, the podcast is condensed into one 58-minute episode, plus a conversation between Fernández and Emily Hanford for Spanish-speaking parents whose children are learning to read English in American schools.
- Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
- Listen or share: Sold a Story en español
- Learn more: soldastory.es19 March 2024, 5:05 am - 24 minutes 33 seconds8: The Impact
Across the country, school districts are dropping textbooks, state legislatures are going so far as to ban teaching methods, and everyone, it seems, is talking about "the science of reading." Things have been changing since Sold a Story was released. In this episode, we tell you about some of the changes and what we think about them.
Read: New reading laws sweep the nation
Read: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgEXTENDED READING
Blog: Seidenberg on translating research into practice
Article: Goldenberg, Goldberg on premortem (paywall) | ExcerptDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
18 May 2023, 5:05 am - 25 minutes 10 seconds7: Your Words
Voicemails, emails, tweets: We got a lot of messages from people after they heard Sold a Story. In this episode, we bring you some of their voices. A 10-year-old figures out why he has struggled to read. A mom stays up late to binge the podcast. A teacher confirms what he's suspected for years — he's not really teaching kids how to read.
Read: Messages from our listeners
Read: Transcript of this episodeWatch: The story behind Sold a Story
Organize: Sold a Story discussion guides
Support: Donate to APM Reports
Call us: (612) 888-7323
Listener survey: Tell us about yourself
More: soldastory.orgDonate to support Sold a Story and other journalism from APM Reports.
Dive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part email series from host Emily Hanford. We’ll also keep you up to date on new episodes. Sign up at soldastory.org/extracredit.
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