The new tech behind LeVar Burton’s crusade for child literacy

Actor and producer LeVar Burton is famous for many things, like his iconic roles in “Star Trek” and “Roots” and as host of the PBS show “Reading Rainbow.” His run with the show ended in the mid-2000s, but he is still promoting literacy for kids as the “chief reading officer” at ed-tech company Byju’s Osmo. Together, they’re launching a reading program for kids ages 5 to 7 that uses an iPad and the Osmo app’s artificial intelligence and speech recognition. Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams asked Burton about the unique reading challenges facing kids today.