DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, Liam Herrick, the director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, reflects on the importance of reading and storytelling in his life, particularly in the context of reading bedtime stories to his children. He discusses how this daily ritual has rekindled his love for reading and helped him regain the ability to process reflective information, which is crucial for his work in effecting change as a human rights advocate.
Herrick shares how reading had taken a backseat in his life due to the demands of work and the constant consumption of social media and online news. However, witnessing his children's enthusiasm for stories made him realize the value of reading and the need to cultivate a reading habit. He set a goal of reading one book per week, alternating between contemporary fiction, classical fiction, and non-fiction, particularly history.
Herrick emphasizes the importance of finding time for reading, even in small pockets of the day, as it allows for broader thinking, strategic planning, and understanding the wider context of the changes they are trying to achieve as a human rights organization. He believes that reading can provide valuable insights and ideas from past experiences and contexts, which can be applied to their current work.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Reading helps cultivate the ability to process reflective information and gain a broader perspective, which is essential for strategic thinking and effecting change.
- Making a conscious effort to revive a reading habit can help regain lost skills and improve attention span.
- Reading, particularly history, can provide valuable insights and ideas from past experiences and contexts that can be applied to current work.
- Setting a goal, such as reading one book per week, can help establish a consistent reading routine.
- Finding small pockets of time in the day can be utilized for reading, even amidst a busy schedule and the constant consumption of digital media.
- Reading bedtime stories to children can inspire a love for reading and storytelling in both children and adults.
- Reading provides an opportunity for personal growth, cultural enrichment, and gaining new perspectives.
- Dedicating time for reading can help in stepping back from reactive modes of thinking and information consumption.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Starting off, I mean, it was difficult, because you do find that the muscle for reading and processing information in your brain has become so degraded over time, so lazy, that it is difficult, but it comes back really quickly just by starting to read again in the last couple of years, you suddenly find your attention span changes and that you're able to think about the wider narrative arc.“ by Liam Herrick
- “None of the changes that we're trying to affect as a human rights organization are things that others haven't dealt with before in other social and political contexts. So I think there's so much to be gained by that.“ by Liam Herrick
- “All of us, no matter how busy we are, there are parts of our day where we are flicking our thumb over the screen of a phone for half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour, and there are parts of our day when we're, you know, watching tv or trying to absorb little bits of news or maybe, you know, stuck on a bus or a train. The time is there.“ by Liam Herrick
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Episode Information
Strength & Solidarity
Strength & Solidarity
2/8/22
Irish human rights leader Liam Herrick doesn’t know exactly how it happened, but one day he realized he had stopped reading even though he had always loved books. Inspired by his kids’ love of stories, he set out to regain the reading habit.
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