Explore every episode of the podcast Closed Stacks: Read Better, Remember More

In this video, I look at what scholars have said about Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey and evaluate some of the criticism both for and against her book.Uploaded 31-05-26#theodyssey #emilywilson #homer Gabrielson, M. (2018). Review of Homer, Emily Wilson, trans., The Odyssey. New England Classical Journal, 45(2).Hardwick, A. (2025). Iliad translations in the undergraduate classroom. Journal of Classics Teaching, 26(52), 151–157. MacDonald, C. (2021). Review of Homer’s daughters: Women’s responses to Homer in the twentieth century and beyond, edited by Fiona Cox and Elena Theodorakopoulos. Bryn Mawr Classical Review.Pache, C. (2018). Review of Homer. The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson. Bryn Mawr Classical Review.Roberts, D. H. (2020). Emily Wilson, trans., Homer: The Odyssey. The Spenser Review, 50(1).Stockdale, E. (2019, December 30). Emily Wilson’s The Odyssey reviewed by Elizabeth Stockdale. Australasian Women in Ancient World Studies. Whitaker, R. (2020). Homer’s Odyssey three ways: Recent translations by Verity, Wilson, and Green. Acta Classica, 63, 241–254. Wilson, E. (2019). Epilogue: Translating Homer as a woman. In F. Cox and E. Theodorakopoulos (Eds.), Homer’s daughters: Women’s responses to Homer in the twentieth century and beyond (pp. 279–298). Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This video is for anyone who wants to build a strong reading habit. Whether you're starting from scratch or you just want to rekindle an old habit, this video is your guide.Uploaded 25-04-26#booktube #readinghabit #reading Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This video is about three specific habits that will help you grow as a reader.Uploaded 29-11-25#readbooks #readingmotivation #booktube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this video, I talk about how fiction trains different ways to thinking and perspective, abstraction, and self-reflection, through books like The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.Uploaded 09-05-26#books #reading #literature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This video is about schema activation and ways it can both help and distort reading comprehension.Uploaded 10-01-26References and for further reading:Alvermann, D. E., and Hague, S. A. (1989). Comprehension of counterintuitive science text. Journal of Educational Research, 82(4), 197–202. Bransford, J. D., Johnson, M. K. (1972). “Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall.” Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 717–726.Dunlosky, J., et al. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1):4-58. Hattan, C. (2024). Prior knowledge activation and reading comprehension: A review. American Educational Research Journal. Kendeou, P., and van den Broek, P. (2005). The effects of readers’ misconceptions on comprehension of scientific text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(2), 235–245.Kendeou, P., and van den Broek, P. (2007). The effects of prior knowledge and text structure on comprehension. Memory and Cognition.Oded, B., and Stavans, A. (1994). The effect of “false” schema activation on the construction of meaning. System. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not all books are difficult for the same reason. This video is a simple guide to reading difficult books. In this video, I explain why some books seem difficult to read and share a practical process for understanding them more clearly and confidently. Uploaded 16-04-26#reading #deepreading #books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this video, I talk about how sentences can make us believe things that are never directly stated. I talk about presupposition, implicature, and how true statements can intentionally (or unintentionally) leave a false impression.Uploaded 29-08-26#linguistics #reading #comprehension Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a book review of The Searcher, by Tana French. Uploaded 01-11-25#booktube #tanafrench #thesearcher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is it so difficult to explain something that seems perfectly clear in your own head? This video explores the curse of knowledge and how expertise, difficult writing, and complicated language can make intelligent ideas harder to communicate.Uploaded 10-08-26#Howtoreadabook #sokalhoax #curseofknowledgeFurther readingAdler, M. J., and Van Doren, C. (1972). How to read a book (Rev. and updated ed.). Simon and Schuster.Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G., and Weber, M. (1989). The curse of knowledge in economic settings: An experimental analysis. Journal of Political Economy, 97(5), 1232–1254.Heath, C., and Heath, D. (2007). Made to stick: Why some ideas survive and others die. Random House.Hotchner, A. E. (1966). Papa Hemingway: A personal memoir. Random House.LaBerge, D., and Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6(2), 293–323.Newton, E. L. (1990). The rocky road from actions to intentions [Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University].Oppenheimer, D. M. (2006). Consequences of erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity: Problems with using long words needlessly. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 20(2), 139–156.Pinker, S. (2014). The sense of style: The thinking person’s guide to writing in the 21st century. Viking.Rawls, J. (1999). A theory of justice (Rev. ed.). Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Sokal, A. D. (1996b). Transgressing the boundaries: Toward a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity. Social Text, 46/47, 217–252.Tullis, J. G., and Feder, B. (2023). The “curse of knowledge” when predicting others’ knowledge. Memory and Cognition, 51(5), 1214–1234. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people believe that fiction is a waste of time, but this is not too surprising. Society is too preoccupied with developing skills improving their career to appreciate the benefits that fiction might bring. Stories are often dismissed because they don't translate into measurable skills or career advancement. In this video, I draw on the Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath to reflect on art, loss, and meaning. Fiction may not help you find a job or result in a career advancement, but it might still save your life.Uploaded 21-02-26#booktube #readfiction #fictionlovers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This video is about how to read more books without sacrificing quality, such as overall reading comprehension, engagement, resonance, and artistic appreciation.Uploaded 15-11-25#readmorebooks #readingmotivation #booktube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This video is about why I prefer reading paper books over e-readers, such as an Amazon Kindle or Rakuten Kobo. Uploaded 08-11-25#paperbooks #ereader #booktube Some of the research supporting paper-based reading. Ackerman, R., and Lauterman, T. (2012). Taking reading comprehension exams on screen or on paper? A metacognitive analysis of learning texts under time pressure. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 1816–1828. Altamura, L., Vargas, C., and Salmerón, L. (2023). Do new forms of reading pay off? A meta-analysis on the relationship between leisure digital reading habits and text comprehension. Review of Educational Research. Clinton, V. (2019). Reading from paper compared to screens: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Journal of Research in Reading, 42(2), 288–325. Delgado, P., Vargas, C., Ackerman, R., and Salmerón, L. (2018). Don’t throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension. Educational Research Review, 25, 23–38.Kong, Y., Seo, Y.-S., and Zhai, L. (2018). Comparison of reading performance on screen and on paper: A meta-analysis. Computers and Education, 123, 187–203. Mangen, A., Olivier, G., and Velay, J-L. (2019). Comparing comprehension of a long text read in print book and on Kindle. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 38.Moys, J-L., Loveland, P., and Dyson, M. (2018). eInk versus paper: Exploring the effects of medium and typographic quality on recall and reading speed. Visible Language, 52(3), 74–95. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices