Sold a Story podcast by NPR
Shares rank 25 of 42 podcasts by recommenders
Recommended as a thorough investigation of reading instruction, covering its history and the authors and company behind a widely promoted approach.
Recommended as a thorough investigation of reading instruction, covering its history and the authors and company behind a widely promoted approach.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Thorough coverage of reading instruction
“covers the history of reading instruction in the English-speaking world”
Comment from 4 Oct 2026 on Hacker News “The excellent podcast series sold a story has great coverage.”
Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Alabama offers three tricks to fix poor urban schools” Exposes authors and company behind approach
“In this podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work.”
Comment from 26 Sep 2026 in “The Failed "Hostage Theory" of Nikole Hannah-Jones” “despite the comprehensive takedown in "Sold A Story"”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Our Experience with I-Ready”
Other podcasts people recommend
The four most recommended other podcasts, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarkesh Podcast | 29 | 8 | 78% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Oxide and Friends | 26 | 3 | 90% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Acquired podcast | 25 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Behind the Bastards podcast | 18 | 1 | 95% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Sold a Story podcast by NPRThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
All 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“covers the history of reading instruction in the English-speaking world”
“In this podcast, host Emily Hanford investigates the influential authors who promote this idea and the company that sells their work.”
“despite the comprehensive takedown in "Sold A Story"”
“The excellent podcast series sold a story has great coverage.”
“start with the Sold a Story podcast”
“There is so much bullshit out there about how kids should be taught to read”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.