Podcast

Reach Out and Read is On the Air

Engaging conversations with experts in childhood health and literacy.

An award-winning podcast centered on the belief that children’s books build better brains, better family relationships, and happier, healthier children and societies. Join us as host Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, a pediatrician with a children’s librarianship degree dives into a wealth of varied early childhood health and literacy topics with expert guests examining the many facets of supporting the parent-child relationship as key to early success.

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This fall: “Spotlight on Poverty series”

The Reach Out and Read podcast launches “Spotlight on Poverty,” a five-episode series on the intersection of childhood poverty and healthy early relationships — and how the early childhood, health, and learning ecosystem can work to mitigate poverty’s impact.

Across 10 weeks this fall, the podcast will feature a variety of voices, from child development researchers and parent educators to Reach Out and Read leaders.

The series kicks off with “Nick Kristof on How to Talk So People Will Listen” — How can we talk about poverty and early relational health so people will listen? How can you get people to care about public issues that seem insurmountable (but aren’t)? Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize-winning op-ed columnist for The New York Times, joins us to talk about strategies for how to talk about difficult subjects so people will listen (hint: it starts with a story.)


Episode 117: “Spotlight on Poverty, Part 1: Nick Kristof on How to Talk So People Will Listen” Sept. 19, 2024

    • Nicholas Kristof

      Nicolas Kristof is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, where he was previously bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo.  He is the coauthor, with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, of five previous books: Tightrope, A Path Appears, Half the Sky, Thunder from the East, and China Wakes.  His latest book is Chasing Hope.  He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, one with WuDunn in 1990 for their coverage of China and the second in 2006 for his columns on Darfur.

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    Upcoming episodes include:

    • “Seeing the Families Beyond the Numbers” — Stanford researchers Caristi Carman and Dr. Philip Fisher discuss what data says in terms of how to study the problem of poverty. (Oct. 3)
    • “Home Visiting Supports Families Where They Need It Most” — Parent educator Emily Callahan and child development specialist Jennifer Bronsdon share what on-the-ground, large, organizational structures like home-visiting programs can reveal what families need to thrive. (Oct. 17)
    • “Positive Relationships Can Help Mitigate the Effects of Poverty” — Dr. Kate Rosenblum and Dr. Navsaria discuss how positive interpersonal approaches with children can mitigate the effects of poverty-related ACEs. (Oct. 31)
    • “How Reach Out and Read Is Helping” — Reach Out and Read’s Ruth Coleman, Alex Chu, and Callee Boulware outline how the nonprofit’s new strategic plan uses research to focus on under-resourced communities and support approaches to poverty and healthy early relationships. (Nov. 14)

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    Research shows reading physical books together brings the strongest benefits to children. That’s why we’re happy to have Boise Paper – a responsible paper manufacturer – as founding sponsor of this podcast. Through their Paper with Purpose promise, Boise Paper looks for ways to make a difference in local communities. Thank you to Boise Paper for investing in our Reach Out and Read community.

    Award Winning
    Two-time winner of an Anthem Award in the Health category.
    > Complete list of winners
    Share Your Story
    We are continually inspired by stories that encourage language, literacy, and positive moments and we would love to hear yours.
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    Meet the Host

    To the best of our knowledge, there is only one pediatrician anywhere who got a master’s in library science in the middle of his medical training, all to learn more about children’s literature. That is our host, Dr. Dipesh Navsaria. A practicing pediatrician in Wisconsin, Dr. Navsaria is the Medical Director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin, Chair of the Early Literacy Subcommittee of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Early Childhood, and many other initiatives involving the psychosocial world of children, their families, and society, from policy to parenting support. A professor of pediatrics and of human development and family studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, he lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, two children, two cats, a dog, and backyard chickens. He has a deep-seated dependence on wearing bowties, of which he owns far too many…but all of which he can tie without a mirror, in under a minute!

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    Meet the host of the ROR Podcast