If you want to live in a world where people read, novelist Ann Patchett has news for you: it’s your job to help create that reality. Tracing her path from a chance airport encounter through a career writing iconic novels and opening a beloved independent bookstore, she makes the case that reading isn’t a private pleasure but a civic act that builds empathy, sustains a “long-format brain” and pulls people out of isolation. Ready to lose yourself in a book? (Recorded at TED2026 on April 16, 2026)
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@MinhajulIslamSiam-i2u
June 9, 2026 at 1:18 pm
I seen first 🤫
@Mystemyst
June 9, 2026 at 3:05 pm
I Love to read, my job keeps getting in the way though.
@cyclical-UK
June 9, 2026 at 3:17 pm
‘Develop a long-format brain’, this is what the world needs but we seem to be losing
@jimlaker6552
June 9, 2026 at 3:31 pm
Reading has its good sides, but I prefer Canterbury.
@namitarya1285
June 9, 2026 at 11:47 pm
😆😆
@Aorseduejejensnd
June 9, 2026 at 4:19 pm
Thu chaiy e ?
@topoDaMornin
June 9, 2026 at 5:37 pm
Who doesn’t like The Oracle and the Select Car Leasing stadium.
@Happystoreup
June 9, 2026 at 7:23 pm
I sent a love letter to the guy I loved the most. Just to find out later that he was a narcissist, already married and had children, so cruel! He faked love and made future-faking about a family with me. I was speechless when I found the truth. Nothing can compensate for this aching pain. I am now 42, but try to find ways to go abroad alone to convince my brain that I was dead and this is a new me in a new life.
@MuhammedRazi-ji2lo
June 12, 2026 at 9:33 am
AI
@BookWriterDude
June 9, 2026 at 9:43 pm
I have never read an Ann Patchett book, but I adore Ann Patchett. I was a bookseller for many, many years and I miss connecting with customers. Also, I’ve been to Parnassus Books, and it is great — though I’m not the target market. Bless Ann Patchett and every single bookseller and librarian in the world who work toward putting books into the hands of those who need them.
@AsilbekNazarov-z2d
June 10, 2026 at 2:07 am
Admittedly, I am impressed by Ann Patchett’s hearttouching speech and want to share some citations that I consider we should rethink:
– The ability to listen to another person is the essential skill for all human beings.
– Reading is steadfast companion.
– Books are rocks on which I built my Mosque.
– If you want to customers, you have to raise themselves first.
– You can speak out against book banning.
– If you want your children to be readers, model that behaviour.
– Novels teach empathy by putting us into another person’s life.
– Reading may feel strange and bizarre at first, but stick with it.
– Reading shines a light that disrupts dark isolation.
+ I would thank you all for READING !!!
@Surtees-ff
June 10, 2026 at 12:11 pm
Reading on the M4?
@الاات-ن9ش
June 11, 2026 at 2:35 am
Who is hari krishna
@Frogmama-zi1li
June 13, 2026 at 3:11 am
@الاات-ن9ش It’s a religion, not a person.
@الاات-ن9ش
June 13, 2026 at 7:15 am
@Frogmama-zi1lithanks
@lionbrunch4244
June 11, 2026 at 10:51 am
I consider myself terrified of zealots. I’m now exploring this a bit deeper – I’m terrified of people who believe and act in the way “The end justifies the means”. So if people are zealous about their journey in living, embodying kindness and other abstract values in daily life regardless of results, that can actually be pretty inspiring.
@7WordsWorth
June 12, 2026 at 9:22 am
Such an excellent plug for one of the best activities a person can engage in. Bravo! A better ending to this talk would have been had she told us she eventually married that man at the airport. 😊
@SydWhen
June 12, 2026 at 1:19 pm
“Books are the rock on which I built my church”
@George1789
June 12, 2026 at 6:51 pm
“In O’Hare, I got very, very lost.”
With 8 runways and decades old equipment your plane basically just isn’t leaving until you get there anywhere because it would take too long for them to do the paperwork 🤣
But hey as long as you’re not in new York when there’s wind you might still have a chance of getting where you wanted though!
@marytheresejacksonlutz2533
June 13, 2026 at 7:42 am
This was excellent!
@DeirdreGordon-t3j
June 13, 2026 at 10:10 am
Ann Patchett is my hero!
@susanhastings7405
June 13, 2026 at 12:34 pm
Reading is my great love.
@carolnash5617
June 13, 2026 at 1:05 pm
“Books are not the things we need to protect our children from” i want that on a t-shirt!!!
@Nancy-o8y8p
June 14, 2026 at 12:00 am
Thank you Ms. Patchett for your lovely books and your lovely spirit. Such a gift to us all.❤
@kimjay2380
June 14, 2026 at 3:28 am
Ann Patchett, what a lady. ❤
@joanhendrix5967
June 14, 2026 at 9:55 am
I adore this woman and how she thinks. How she puts words together! Alas, Bel Canto is not my favorite. I read her books anyway. And I love visiting Parnassus when I visit Nashville! Ann is doing important work.
@sheng2685
June 14, 2026 at 3:17 pm
Beautiful talk! 😍
@joannemoir
June 14, 2026 at 7:22 pm
I’ve read most every novel and non-fiction book that Ann Patchett has written and plan to read them all. She is a highly talented writer, and you learn something about life and human nature in every one of her works, each of which is completely different from the others. I feel sorry for those who have never fallen in love with reading because they are closed off from a universe of other minds, other lives, other times and places. Reading is what sustains me every day. Brava, Ann Patchett!
@shanleander6009
June 14, 2026 at 8:26 pm
Whistler is my ❤