Reading Fictions Helps You Understand the World | Clay Greene
January 7, 2026
55 min
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226 of 274
January 7, 2026
Reading Fictions Helps You Understand the World | Clay Greene
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Peter Boghossian Episodes Around January 7, 2026
Episode 226 of 274 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
Reading Fictions Helps You Understand the World | Clay Greene
Summary
<p>I love science fiction (fantasy's a distant second), but reading fiction always gnaws at me with guilt. That changed after talking with <a href="https://www.uaustin.org/people/clay-greene" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Clay Greene</a>, Assistant Professor of Literature at the University of Austin (UATX).</p> <p>Clay dismantled my doubts, proving literature is far more than an escape. It is ammunition for the War. By helping me reflect on some of my favorites, Joe Haldeman's The Forever War and Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Clay changed my view. Fiction tackles civilizational woes directly, and it is one of the many things worth fighting and dying for. Thanks to our conversation, I'm dusting off my sci-fi stack.</p> <p>Watch this episode on <a href="https://youtu.be/-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w9CKtiFDEg?si=xx4WSgjjWKa__r5l" rel="noopener" target="_blank">YouTube</a> and read the accompanying <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/boghossian/p/should-reading-fiction-make-you-feel?r=pnpqs&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Substack post</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://linktr.ee/peterboghossian" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Follow Peter Boghossian</a></p>
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