Among its lesser known distinctions, November is "National Novel Writing Month." To celebrate, we've selected a few shows from the archive that explore fiction, reading, and writing. Perhaps diving into these episodes will inspire you to write your own novel... but at the very least, we hope they will prompt you to think more deeply about fiction and what we might gain from it.

Some of the questions we explore are: What can we learn from reading novels? Can we improve ourselves morally from reading fictional works? Or does it just improve certain cognitive capacities? Are there right ways and wrong ways of reading fiction? Are novels a good vehicle for exploring philosophical puzzles and problems? Do they have any advantages over other forms of philosophical writing? And is it possible to write anything original anymore? 

Enjoy this month's From the Archive!