Why Do Some Urges Feel Irresistible? with Paige Gordon

Why do two people facing the same choice feel different urges? How much effort hides behind resisting a cookie? Why can the brain keep wanting something long after pleasure fades? Can a molecule crank down the volume of your internal radio? Does a biological understanding of behavior reduce responsibility, or does it deepen compassion? And how would your life change if your loudest urge went quiet? Today Eagleman examines free will through the lens of eating disorders, with guest Paige Gordon, an author and former model who spent decades suffering an invisible internal battle.

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More information

Paige Gordon’s website

Pre-order Paige’s upcoming book (Jan 2027): Searching for Full: How GLP-1s Changed My Eating Disordered Life.

National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)

How GLP-1s Changed One Woman’s Battle With Bulimia. Wall Street Journal. (paywalled)

Müller MJ et al. Metabolic adaptation to caloric restriction and subsequent refeeding: the Minnesota Starvation Experiment revisited. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2015 Oct 1;102(4):807-19.

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