The Science Behind the New Wegovy Pill

madman · 2026-02-26T17:54:07-0600

What actually makes a GLP-1 pill work in the real world—and why does taking it come with such specific rules? And if these meds improve health beyond weight, why does the conversation still get stuck on the scale?Dr. Emily Cooper, Mark Wright, and Andrea Taylor sit down with Novo Nordisk’s Dr. Jason Brett to unpack the science behind the newly approved Wegovy pill—from absorption technology to dosing, routine, pricing, and what this could mean for real access to FDA-approved care.

In this episode:

* How the Wegovy pill is absorbed (and why that’s hard to pull off)

* What dosing looks like, plus the “30-minute rule” in real life

* Why obesity treatment is about health outcomes (liver + heart), not just weight

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Introduction
01:48 — The new Wegovy pill: what it is and why it matters
02:13 — Transparency: no financial relationship with Novo Nordisk
03:19 — Dr. Brett’s background + Novo’s long arc in GLP-1 development
16:06 — Doses, formulation changes, and what’s being filed next
16:53 — The stomach problem: why peptides are hard to deliver orally
18:32 — Absorption enhancer + the 30-minute waiting period
27:20 — Pricing breakdown and what direct-to-consumer access could change
30:22 — “It’s about health”: cardiovascular and liver (MASH) outcomes beyond weight
46:46 — Calorie restriction, metabolic adaptation, and why the messaging matters
49:47 — Nutrition, protein, carbs, and “mechanical eating” on appetite-suppressing meds

madman · 2026-02-26T17:59:51-0600

Thread 'Weighing the good and bad of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs'

Jan 31, 2026

* we discuss what a recently rolled-out GLP-1 pill, the first of its kind approved for obesity, could mean for the future of weight loss.

Drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, colloquially called GLP-1 medications, have gone from relatively obscure diabetes treatments to blockbuster weight-loss medications. But is the hype backed up by science? In this episode, freelance science journalist Bethany Brookshire joins host Kendra Pierre-Louis to talk about how these drugs mimic natural hormones, why...