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We’re reading less. And it’s making us stupid

The Guardian UK Tuesday 11 August 2026, 16:07 UTC By Presented and produced by Madeleine Finlay with Ian Sample ; Video produced by Jacob Liebenberg . The executive producer was Ellie Bury 1 min read
Key Points

Books have never been trendier, but studies show that as more and more things compete for our frazzled attention spans, we’re reading less and less. This is a problem because reading has a wealth of cognitive benefits that we’re in danger of missing out on. To find out why declining literacy could affect everything from memory to IQ, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample.

Books have never been trendier, but studies show that as more and more things compete for our frazzled attention spans, we’re reading less and less. This is a problem because reading has a wealth of cognitive benefits that we’re in danger of missing out on.

To find out why declining literacy could affect everything from memory to IQ, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample. She also hears from Prof Falk Huettig, an experimental psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and author of The Perks of Being a Bookworm

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Madeleine Finlay (PERSON) Guardian (ORG) Ian Sample (PERSON) Prof Falk Huettig (PERSON) the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (ORG)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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