Kimberly Hatch Harrison (co-founder of Socratica) created this podcast as a way to share her love of reading. She credits most of her professional success (and much personal joy) to her lifelong habit of reading everything she could get her hands on. In this episode, Kim discusses the special pleasure of seasonal re-reading. The context: it’s the Winter Solstice, which is the perfect time to read “The Dark Is Rising” by Susan Cooper.
The Dark Is Rising (5 book boxed set)
https://amzn.to/3WeMeuv
The Dark Is Rising (book 2 of 5)
https://amzn.to/3vfdsF7
Kim’s book: How to Be a Great Student
ebook: https://amzn.to/2Lh3XSP
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3t5jeH3
Kindle Unlimited: https://amzn.to/3atr8TJ
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Transcript:
Welcome Everybody! To Socratica Reads. My name is Kimberly Hatch Harrison, and I’m the co-founder of Socratica. You know us for our beautiful and futuristic videos about math, science, computer programming, and How to be a Great Student.
Because we’re a kind of educational technology company, and we make videos on YouTube, and we have a website we’re developing, socratica.com, I think it surprises some people that we are big proponents of one of the oldest, original forms of educational technology. That is—reading.
Yes, of course, I want you to spend time with our videos, and our website, but I really, really, want to make sure I never give you the impression that the good old techniques are obsolete. I owe ALL of my success in life to being a reader. A lifelong reader.
If that hasn’t been true in your life, I want to tell you it’s never too late. It’s not like gymnastics or being a ballerina or something. You’re not going to age out of this window when you can become a reader.
So in this podcast, Socratica Reads, I’m kind of coming around to this theme—it’s been evolving over time—of reading what inspires you. Reading that makes you happy, reading that makes you think, reading that makes you feel. Reading isn’t JUST for education. It IS an essential tool in your lifelong learning, but it’s also a partner in your life, like a family member. A loved one who will be there with you, your whole life.
Today I want to share this idea that reading is one way you can celebrate certain times in your life. I hear this every year—I’ve said it myself—it doesn’t feel like Christmas yet. Well, that might mean it’s time to re-read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The Hallowe’en Tree by Ray Bradbury always gets me in the mood for Hallowe’en. I’ve read these books dozens of times, but every year it feels a little different, because YOU’RE a little different.
This year, I’ve been doing a lot of gardening, and it’s made me much more aware of the seasons changing. I’m not a morning person, so by the time I get out into my garden in the late afternoon it already feels like the day is over. The light is coming in at a weird low angle, and my plants definitely aren’t getting quite enough sunlight to thrive. So this year I’m VERY aware that today is the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice.
And this is the perfect time of the year to read The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. This is one of those books that I wish I had read when I was younger. I read it sometime in my twenties, but I can just imagine that if I had read it when I was a kid, like the Narnia books, it would have had a different impact. But this gets back to the idea that it’s never too late. Your relationship with a book evolves over time.
So when I was a kid, I probably would have been enchanted with the magical aspects, whereas now, I’m thinking more about the arc of time.
As you get older, your sense of time passing changes dramatically. Re-reading this book at different times in your life may raise interesting questions for yourself. But enough philosophical jibber-jabber, I want to get to the book and read a little to you, so you’re tempted to pick it up and read with me today.
Are you ready? Let’s begin.
{Kim reads excerpt}
When you read The Dark Is Rising, you’ll get a sense for why this day of the year is so significant. Do you have some books or short stories or what have you — that help you celebrate this time of year? Do you indulge in re-reading certain books or stories? If you want to discuss this idea, our Discord Server is open to all of our Patrons from Patreon and our YouTube channel members. Thanks for listening.
