From New York Times, I'm Michael Obaro. This is Idalee.

Ozempic and a popular new class of medications like it are revolutionizing the medical treatment of obesity

and the way that we think about and talk about weight.

Today, my colleague, Danny Bloom, on the story behind these drugs and the very different experiences of two people who took them.

It's Monday, September 18th.

Danny, it is very rare to be able to say the name of a new pharmaceutical drug and have it immediately mean something to pretty much everyone.

But that very much seems to be the case with the drug that you and I are going to be talking about today, Ozempic.

Yeah, I mean, I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime where people are tossing this name around.

There is such a cool weight loss medication in the pipeline that I have to tell you about.

It is all over social media. I got my zombie guest today. I'm nervous, I'm not going to lie.

Another hockey mom, she's on it as well. She looks fabulous.

It's on TikTok.

You can't go on YouTube or even watch TV without seeing that really catchy Ozempic commercial.

Jolo, you look thin.

Thank you.

Ozempic?

Yep.

Everybody looks so great. When I look around this room, I can't help but wonder, is Ozempic right for me?

It is absolutely everywhere and it is so massive that it's something that I am thinking about talking to people about covering pretty much every day.

So how do you explain why this drug has become the subject of so much chatter, so much conversation, so many wheels on Instagram that I watch it one in the morning?

I think it's pretty simple. These drugs are really effective at helping people lose weight.

And I should clarify first, Ozempic has become this sort of shorthand umbrella term for an entire class of medications.

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