Welcome to Amy Alkon's HumanLab: The Science Between Us, a weekly show with the luminaries of behavioral science and the therapy world. 

Competition can be seen as ugly and divisive but it’s actually an essential element in driving us to do and be our best. 

My guest tonight, New York Times best-selling science writer Ashley Merryman, will lay out the science of winning and losing, including how we can figure out the kind of competitor we are (to help ourselves avoid choking), the differences between how men and women compete, and ways to rejigger our thinking so we use competition in ways that serve us instead of defeating us.

Her excellent book, co-authored with Po Bronson, that we’ll be discussing tonight, is “Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing.” 

Join me and all my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.

Please support this show by buying my new science-based and darkly funny book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence.