What We Are Reading Today: ‘On Task’ by David Badre

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Updated 05 June 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘On Task’ by David Badre

Why is it hard to text and drive at the same time? How do you resist eating that extra piece of cake? Why does staring at a tax form feel mentally exhausting? 

From making a cup of coffee to buying a house to changing the world around them, humans are uniquely able to execute necessary actions.

How do we do it? Or in other words, how do our brains get things done? In “On Task,” cognitive neuroscientist David Badre presents the first authoritative introduction to the neuroscience of cognitive control—the remarkable ways that our brains devise sophisticated actions to achieve our goals.


What We Are Reading Today: Can College Level the Playing Field? 

Updated 13 March 2026
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What We Are Reading Today: Can College Level the Playing Field? 

Authors: Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson

We often think that a college degree will open doors to opportunity regardless of one’s background or upbringing. In this eye-opening book, two of today’s leading economists argue that higher education alone cannot overcome the lasting effects of inequality that continue to plague us, and offer sensible solutions for building a more just and equitable society.

Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson document the starkly different educational and social environments in which children of different races and economic backgrounds grow up, and explain why social equity requires sustained efforts to provide the broadest possible access to high-quality early childhood and K–12 education. 

They dismiss panaceas like eliminating college tuition and replacing the classroom experience with online education.