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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Latest Episode

“Baby Giggles!” | May 14, 2026

Baby laughs do more than just make us feel good — they actually serve a critical role in a baby’s development. Dr. Gina Mireault, a developmental psychologist and professor at Vermont State University, joins us to explain how laughter and humor are fundamental to how babies learn about and participate in the world.  Those giggles are less about comedy and more about connection, she tells us.

View the transcript here.

  • Dr. Gina Mireault

    Dr. Gina Mireault is a developmental psychologist and professor at Vermont State University. Her research focuses on social and cognitive development in the first year of life via infant humor, perception, and creation. She has been funded by the NIH and the Vermont Biomedical Research Network and has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals — including “Human Development,” “Current Biology,” and “Infancy,” as well The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and NBC Nightly News.

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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
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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