LIVE SHOW TONIGHT! Advice Goddess Radio, 7-8pm PT: Dr. Sally Satel On The Neuroscience Of Addiction And Personal Responsibility
Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in science.

How much free will do we have and how much of our behavior is predetermined by our genes?

Evidence about how people recover from addiction, for example, shows that we CAN control our behavior, contrary to those who make addiction out to be a "disease." On tonight's show, psychiatrist Dr. Sally Satel will explain ways people recover from addiction and change other behaviors and why the the notion that we are passive victims of our genes and environment simply does not hold up.

Unfortunately, there's a whole lot of what Satel (with her co-author, clinical psychologist Dr. Scott O. Lilienfeld) calls "mindless neuroscience" -- colorful, alluring pictures of brain scans that are used in the media, by irresponsible and sensationalist researchers, and in court to excuse bad behavior and give rise to the notion that we shouldn't be expected to exercise personal responsibility.

On tonight's show, Satel will talk about why this thinking is wrong-headed, one of the subjects of the very smart book she co-authored with Lilienfeld, BRAINWASHED: The Seductive Appeal Of Mindless Neuroscience.

Listen live at this link at 7 p.m. Pacific, 10 p.m. Eastern, or download the podcast afterward:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2013/08/05/dr-sally-satel-neurosci-of-addiction-personal-responsibil

Don't miss last week's show with psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, co-author with Dr. Michael Norton, of a terrific, highly readable little book filled with research-driven wisdom: "Happy Money: The Science Of Smarter Spending."

She lays out the myths we hold about how spending in certain ways will improve our lives and will explain all the ways we can rejigger our spending and thinking, often in small ways, to spend smarter and happier.

Dunn, at age 26, was featured as one of the "rising stars" in academia by the Chronicle of Higher Education, and this should be a very interesting and practical show, so don't miss it!

Listen at this link or download the podcast:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2013/07/29/dr-elizabeth-dunn-how-money-really-can-buy-happiness

Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, here at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.