It's Been a Minute

What happens when GLP-1s interact with eating disorders?

About 1 in 8 US adults are currently taking a GLP-1. They’ve been described by a lot of people as a miracle drug – they treat high blood sugar and diabetes, and have also shown promise as a treatment for addiction and metabolic conditions like PMOS, formerly known as PCOS. And a lot of Americans are taking it for one reason: weight loss. But for people with eating disorders, that weight loss could be dangerous. So even though GLP-1s are a miracle drug for many struggling with certain health conditions – what does it mean that they’re becoming incredibly available to everyone? And how do we reckon with their place in a culture that prioritizes thinness… sometimes to the point of real danger to someone’s health?

Brittany is joined by Dr. Allegra Broft, a psychiatrist and an assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center who specializes in eating disorders, and Hannah Seo, an independent journalist who wrote about GLP-1s and eating disorders for The Guardian.

For more episodes about weight, body image, and culture, check out:
Peptides & the pursuit of the "perfect" body
The difference between losing weight & being "healthy"
The strange politics of Pilates

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.

Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

How much time should moms spend with their kids? What if it's quality over quantity?

CEO and co-founder Emma Grede set social media on fire when she described herself as a “max three-hour mum” and said that she would rather focus on creating “high-impact, core memories” with her children. The founding partner of Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS also said that remote work is ‘career suicide’ for women. The idea that a working mother - even a CEO mom - would spend so little time with her kids was outrageous to some…but isn’t that the reality for most parents? 

To get into all of this, Brittany is joined by Kathryn Jezer-Morton, writer of the Brooding column from The Cut, and Helena Andrews-Dyer, journalist and author, to unpack the 'controversial' notion of a mother not wanting to spend all her time with her kids.

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.

Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Is the American empire in decline?

The Trump administration's recent military actions have had certain observers asking... are we going full empire? But Daniel Immerwahr, a historian and the author of How to Hide an Empire, argues that the U.S. has engaged in empire building for hundreds of years — we've just been sneakier about it than other countries.

In this episode from our friends at Code Switch, host Gene Demby is joined by Daniel to break down why we don’t really think of ourselves as a colonial power – and how President Trump's international escapades are scrambling the global order.

For more episodes about the US empire, check out:
The human labor that makes AI work
Canada hates us, but it's not all Trump's fault.

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.

Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

What happens when you can't recognize your mom anymore?

For Linli, the protagonist of the book New Skin, this is her reality: her mom Fanny has gone through so many back-alley plastic surgery procedures, Fanny’s face barely looks human anymore. When Fanny gets the opportunity to go on a reality TV show for the chance to fix her botched face, she jumps at it – and Linli tags along. But what happens when you can’t recognize your parent anymore? And what would achieving the perfect face really help?

Brittany chats with author Sarah Wang about New Skin, immigration and intergenerational trauma, and our botched quests for beauty.

For more episodes about parent relationships or beauty culture, check out:
Why some families stop speaking
The morbid lifelessness of modern beauty
The beauty industry has an Epstein problem

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.

Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Are psychedelics the next big thing?

Psychedelics include the drugs LSD, magic mushrooms, peyote, and often ketamine and MDMA too, among others. And some of these drugs have a history of spiritual practice spanning millennia. Then many of these drugs became synonymous with hippies and 60s and 70s counterculture.  But now, psychedelics have new cheerleaders: tech bros and CEOs. So why the rebrand?

To get into it all, Brittany is joined by Maxim Tvorun-Dunn, PhD candidate at the University of Tokyo, and Emma Goldberg, business reporter at the New York Times, to discuss what it means that these drugs are getting championed – and sometimes financially backed – by the tech elite, and how might that affect our culture’s relationship with psychedelics.

This episode originally aired on March 24, 2025.

Interested in hearing more of Brittany's series "Losing My Religion?" Check out these episodes:

Goodbye, church... Hello, Wellness Industrial Complex!
Am I a god?! Why "manifesting" your reality is easier than ever 

Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.

Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse
For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy