Jonah Lehrer

The science behind keeping resolutions — why our brain might actually prevent us from being successful in following through.

Science writer Jonah Lehrer is just 26, but he’s already worked as a line cook at Le Cirque and in the lab of a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. In Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Lehrer looks at the surprising ways artists like Paul Cezanne and Walt Whitman had insights into neurological concepts that scientists have taken years to prove.

Tiger Woods is the master of staying cool on the golf course. But how will he handle the added pressure of his scandalous extramarital affairs? We talk about why athletes and experts choke when the pressure is really on – and how they can avoid it.

New studies suggest that in matters of weight loss, will power could lose out to brainpower. Joining The Takeaway to talk about the brains behind our bulk is science contributor Jonah Lehrer and Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich.