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GLP-1s and the ‘Wild West’ of Wellness
GLP-1s are already a blockbuster drug. But does their popularity stem from how they work, or the strange culture into which they’ve landed? On “The Ezra Klein Show,” Ezra Klein talks to the health journalist Julia Belluz about the strange science and cultural impact of these blockbuster drugs.
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So when you’re taking a GLP-1, you’re getting a much higher, longer-lasting version of what your body produces, and it has to reach the brain. And the theory is that it’s reaching into the part of the brain that usually signals that there’s a toxin in circulation. And so that shuts down your appetite, – It increases your nausea —— – Like what you would get during food poisoning or something? Exactly. Or what you would have on a — these are the most common side effects of these drugs. So it reaches into that. So the wonder drug we’ve invented is we’ve made your brain slightly think it’s being poisoned all the time? I think that’s one way to put it, – Absolutely. And so this —— – Modernity, baby!

By ‘The Ezra Klein Show’
May 9, 2026
