What We Are Reading Today: Hard to Break; Why Our Brains Make Habits Stick

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Updated 26 October 2022
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What We Are Reading Today: Hard to Break; Why Our Brains Make Habits Stick

Edited by Russell A. Poldrack

We all have habits we’d like to break, but for many of us it can be nearly impossible to do so. There is a good reason for this: The brain is a habit-building machine. In Hard to Break, leading neuroscientist Russell Poldrack provides an engaging and authoritative account of the science of how habits are built in the brain, why they are so hard to break, and how evidence-based strategies may help us change unwanted behaviors.

Hard to Break offers a clear-eyed tour of what neuroscience tells us about habit change and debunks “easy fixes” that aren’t backed by science.


What We Are Reading Today: Family of Spies by Christine Kuehn

Updated 18 December 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: Family of Spies by Christine Kuehn

‘Family of Spies’ is a gripping family memoir and nonfiction account that uncovers one family’s shocking role as spies aiding Japan in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“An amazing and gripping tale, full of suspenseful twists and cinematic details,” said a review in The New York Times.
Author Christine Kuehn chronicles the fruits of her decades-long research, revealing her grandparents’ secret espionage activities in pre-World War II Germany and their life in Hawaii, where they gathered intelligence.

Interweaving historical detail with personal narrative, Kuehn shares her own harrowing journey of discovery — sparked by a mysterious letter from a screenwriter — and the emotional toll of confronting this buried past. 
She draws extensively on conversations with her father, Eberhard, who had long remained taciturn about his family’s history, shielding her from questions growing up.