Who We Elect When We Read Less

What happens to a democracy that stops reading? When a society trades books for video, algorithms, and AI-assisted thinking, the danger isn't mass illiteracy—it's a coarsening of thought, where leaders who speak in sound bites and fragments get rewarded. That's the warning behind Michael's conversation with Atlantic writer Rose Horowitch about her August cover story: are we becoming post-literate? Fewer than half of American adults read a book in 2022, and reading for pleasure has fallen to 16%. We're reading more words than ever—but they're texts, not books, and comprehension is slipping with them. Since Gutenberg, sustained reading is what trained us to observe, argue, and analyze. Horowitch sees hope in booming audiobooks and expanding bookstores—but text may now thrive only for a dwindling few. Vote on today's poll and subscribe to the daily newsletter at www.smerconish.com