Hey there, it's Asma Interston here.
Hey guys, as we reach the end of 2025,
we wanted to bring you a few of our favorite episodes of the podcast
since we relaunched in September.
That's right,
and we will be back in the new year with brand new episodes bringing you stories about where the world and America meet.
And in the meantime, I should say we love to hear from you all.
So please drop us an email
if you've got thoughts about some of the episodes we've done or questions or suggestions for future topics.
Our email address is TheGlobalStory at bbc.com.
Friends, today we are bringing you one of my favourite episodes that ran earlier in December.
It's an interview we did with a British journalist called James Marriott about whether or not the world has stopped reading for pleasure and whether that means we're all getting stupider consequently.
It's a good debate.
I really enjoyed this one.
I know Asma and I don't entirely agree on James Marriott's thesis,
but I was well into it and I really hope you...
enjoy this one.
When was the last time you opened a book and you were able to really concentrate on it?
No interruptions for more than five or ten minutes, no scrolling on your phone between paragraphs.
For many of us that kind of deep immersive reading is being lost.