Nate Bargatze is probably the only person who can admit to being "not smart" and have millions of people nodding in total agreement. It’s his superpower. During his 2023 Saturday Night Live monologue—and again in his latest specials—he dropped a line that has since become a sort of unofficial manifesto for the easily distracted: "Reading is the key to smart." He said it with that signature deadpan Tennessee drawl. He followed it up by admitting he doesn't actually do it. Why? Because books, in his estimation, simply have "the most words."
It’s a hilarious bit. But honestly? It’s also a profound observation on how we consume information in 2026. Bargatze has tapped into a universal anxiety. We all feel like we should be reading more to keep our brains from turning into mush, yet the actual act of sitting down with 300 pages of unrelenting text feels like a physical assault on the senses.
Why Nate Bargatze Reading is the Key to Smart resonates so deeply
Most comedians try to look like the smartest person in the room. They deconstruct politics or social cues with surgical precision. Nate goes the other way. He leans into the "dumb" persona, but the irony is that you have to be incredibly sharp to write jokes that perfectly capture the feeling of being overwhelmed by a paragraph.
When he says nate bargatze reading is the key to smart, he isn't just making a joke about his own academic failures. He's highlighting the gap between our intentions and our reality. We buy the books. We put them on the nightstand. They stare at us. They judge us.
- The "Word" Problem: Nate’s complaint that books "don't let up" is relatable. There are no commercial breaks. No "skip ad" buttons.
- The Eye-Brain Disconnect: He has a bit about how his eyes are "great readers" but his brain is a "dead end." His eyes see the words, but his brain just refuses to sign for the delivery.
- The Fiction vs. Non-Fiction Struggle: He famously admitted he doesn't know which one is the "truth," so he just treats everything as the truth. This leads to him believing the United States has a "pretty big wizard problem."
The "Blank Page" Revolution
In his 2025 book, Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind, Nate actually put his money where his mouth is. He fought his publishers at Grand Central to include actual blank pages in the middle of the book.
He calls them "breather pages."
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It sounds like a gimmick, but it’s actually a genius piece of user-experience design. He realized that for people who struggle with literacy or even just attention spans, a solid wall of text is intimidating. By adding blank space, he literally lets the reader "get their head above water for two seconds," as he put it on the Today show.
The Science of "The Key to Smart"
Is he right? Is reading actually the "key to smart"?
Neuroscience generally backs him up, even if his delivery is silly. Reading is one of the few activities that engages the entire brain. Unlike watching a video, where the imagery is provided for you, reading forces the brain to construct a world from scratch.
Dr. Maryanne Wolf, a cognitive scientist and author of Proust and the Squid, has spent years researching the "reading brain." She argues that deep reading is essentially a form of exercise for our "mental muscles." When we stop doing it, our ability to think critically and empathize with others starts to atrophy.
Nate’s joke is funny because it’s a confession of laziness, but the subtext is a warning. If we stop reading, we stop exercising the very parts of our brain that allow us to process complex ideas. Or, in Nate-speak: we stop being smart.
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Dealing with the "Most Words"
The struggle Nate describes is real. In an era of TikTok and 15-second reels, our brains are being rewired for short-burst dopamine hits. A book is a long-term investment with a delayed payoff.
If you feel like Nate—where you open a book and immediately think, "What are you talking about?"—you aren't alone.
The trick isn't necessarily to jump into War and Peace. Nate himself suggests starting small. His book is written in a conversational tone that mirrors his stand-up. It’s approachable. It’s "not better than anybody," as he told USA Today.
Actionable Steps to Get Your "Smart" Back
If you want to follow Nate's logic but actually follow through on the reading part, you have to change your approach.
Stop treating reading like a chore. If a book is boring, close it. Nate’s biggest hurdle is that he feels trapped by the words. You aren't in school anymore. There is no test at the end.
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Try the "Bargatze Method" of breaks. You don't need a book with physical blank pages to take a break. Read three pages. Put the book down. Stare at a wall for two minutes. Let your brain catch up.
Use audiobooks as a gateway. Some people argue that audiobooks "don't count." Those people are wrong. For a brain that struggles with the "eye-to-brain" connection Nate talks about, hearing the words can be the bridge that makes the story stick.
Read things you actually like. Nate jokes about reading history and being "shocked" by things that happened hundreds of years ago. Read what interests you, whether it’s a biography of a magician or a breakdown of how pizza is made.
Nate Bargatze might call himself "simple," but his take on literacy is one of the most honest things in modern pop culture. We are all a little bit overwhelmed. We are all drowning in "the most words."
The key isn't to be a genius. It's just to keep trying to read, one page at a time, even if you need a few blank ones in between to breathe.
Next Steps for the Reluctant Reader:
- Pick a "Low-Stakes" Book: Start with something that feels like a conversation, like a comedian's memoir or a short story collection.
- Set a Timer: Don't commit to a chapter. Commit to five minutes.
- Embrace the "Nate" Mindset: If you read a sentence and didn't understand it, just move on. You don't have to be perfect; you just have to keep the eyes moving.