The Thin Line Hope vs. Reality in the Era of Weight-Loss Drugs

by Scaachi Koul

Over the next five years, millions of more Americans are expected to take Ozempic and other GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which are rapidly being recognized as the miracle drugs of this century. If you’re not on them, you’ll probably know someone who is. What are the implications of the widespread use of these drugs, both on our bodies and our society? In this show, you’ll meet people across America who are either taking the jab or thinking about it, and the shocking intentional and unintentional results they are seeing. The Thin Line looks at the promise and the peril of GLP-1s today, and explores what will happen in the near future with the democratization of these breakthrough drugs.©2025 Audible Originals LLC (P)2025 Audible Originals LLC

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published January 2, 2025

About the author

Scaachi Koul is a culture writer at BuzzFeed Canada. She is the author of a book of essays One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter. Koul attended the journalism school at Ryerson University.

Before BuzzFeed, Scaachi worked at Penguin Random House Canada, the acquiring publisher of 'One Day'. Before that she was an intern at Maclean's Magazine and The Huffington Post. Her journalism has appeared in Flare, The Huffington Post (Canada), The Thought Catalog, The Guardian, The New Yorker, The Globe and Mail, and other sites.

Reviews

[Chrissie]

Full of first hand interviews and helpful information, but no lectures, this is a good way for anyone thinking of taking weight loss drugs.

After listening to this, I have to say that I am grateful that I do not need to!

There is no quick fix.

On a more positive note, there are signs that there could be a chance that these medications may lead to an incredible breakthrough in the treatment of serious addiction. If it works out, this will be huge.

My beautiful late mother always believed that you should never take anything not prescribed by a qualified doctor, and only then if really necessary. A rule that I live by.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting series, and it gave me ideas about coaching that I could do to help people so that they don't have to take this medication forever. I am committed to helping people to get to the root cause of using food for comfort. "Fat" is an outcome of using food as soothing - these new drugs like Ozempic are simply a bandaid to help you lose weight - I have no judgement about how you lose weight, but I KNOW that there is a root cause beneath it all. I was very overweight 20 years ago, and I did the internal work that needed to be done and no longer use food to make me feel better.
I found the book very informative and it helped me to identify how I could help people who are using this new weight loss tool to FIX their issue - and it's not over eating.

[aimee louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting, i learnt a fair amount in a short space of time with this audiobook

[Debi]

Intriguing. Fair. Multiple angles investigated.

[Andrew Borg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently finished The Thin Line: Hope vs. Reality in the Era of Weight-Loss Drugs and came away both informed and conflicted—perhaps as the author intended. The book offers a compelling and wide-ranging look at the rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, weaving together personal stories, scientific voices, and cultural analysis to explore the promise and potential pitfalls of these so-called miracle treatments.

At first, I appreciated what felt like a balanced, journalistic approach. The book didn’t push an obvious agenda, instead laying out information to help readers make up their own minds. It introduced a broad spectrum of perspectives—from patients experiencing transformation to skeptics and researchers questioning long-term impacts.

But as I moved into the final chapters, a subtle but noticeable shift occurred. The tone leaned more heavily toward a particular narrative—one emphasizing body positivity in a way that, while well-intentioned, began to feel ideologically loaded. I support the core principle: no one should be shamed for their body, and everyone deserves dignity, respect, and equal treatment, regardless of their size. That’s not up for debate, especially when the book’s relies on anecdotal evidence and expert opinion without grounding key claims in solid, peer-reviewed data.

Nuance matters. Promoting body acceptance shouldn't mean denying the well-established links between excess body fat and health risks. While BMI is indeed an imperfect measure, it doesn’t negate decades of evidence connecting obesity to leading causes of death like heart disease and diabetes. To suggest there’s no science backing the health risks of obesity crosses from body acceptance into scientific denialism. It reminded me of other long-term public health battles—like smoking and climate change—where the science was clear long before society caught up. We can’t afford to ignore evidence just because it makes us uncomfortable.

That said, I fully acknowledge that weight loss is far more complex than simply "calories in vs. calories out." Psychological, hormonal, genetic, and environmental factors make it easier for some and incredibly difficult for others.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"Food is my drug."

An interesting look into fatness, why it has grown, especially in the USA, to apply to over half of the population in the USA and the almost constant fight against it: The most recent tool in the fight against flab is GLP 1, for sale at prices only the very rich can hope to sustain, but a look, too, at other methods used for years in the attempt to become more healthy and thin - though this linkage of fat with illness might not be a true. Why this striving to be thin, anyway?
And, it seems, other addictions might also prove susceptible to treatment by other , very similar drugs. How will all of this affect our futures?

All very interesting, if a little disjointed, though the quality of the voice levels could be poor, erratic and at times hard to hear properly. I personally would have liked more concentration on the GLP 1, what it is, side effects: the scientific stuff.

[Shammah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Going into this, you need to know that this is a podcast. It’s a bunch of episodes edited together to create an audiobook, but it’s still just like listening to a podcast.
The thing that bothered me the most is the LONG lags between edits/episodes. They are so long that a couple times I had to look at my phone to make sure that the “book” was still playing and hadn’t accidentally shut off or gotten paused.
It was interesting. It has maybe two swear words that were said, but mostly clean.
It looks at all the sides of body shaming as well as the trends seen throughout time. Yes, the main material is interviewing people who have taken the current weight loss drugs, but there is more to this audiobook overall.
It was ok for a break between my usual listens, but I won’t be keeping it in my library.

[Dunya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but it is more similar to a podcast or the sound track of a tv show than an audio book. Some bits make no sense in audio production (especially the part about background noise and muting, which sounds like a zoom interview?? Don’t really understand why that bit isn’t edited out. And some interviews in the food court with girls giggling have volume issues). Also the opening/closing bits, when male and female voices alternate in saying “the thin line”, one woman’s voice really irritates me as she speaks like “The. THIN. Line.” as if she wants to spit the title in your face. This is very subjective, but I don’t like it!!!

Overall a nice introduction to Ozempic and GLP-1. I would like to read more about it after listening to this podcast.

[Luca Nicoletti · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book examines the burgeoning use of GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as Ozempic, in weight management. The series combines interviews with individuals using these medications and insights from experts to explore their societal and personal impacts.
It resembles a podcast more than a traditional audiobook, featuring episodic structures and sound design elements like background music and varied audio quality.
I'm not a big fan of this format and wouldn't listen to it again, although it gave me some good insights on the subject.

[Jayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got about half way through before I quit. I didn't enjoy it sounding like it was supposed to be a tv talk show with all the music and such in it. I would have rather it be more just listening to a book be narrated instead of a podcast/talk show where people are talking about sizes and body changes, but you can't even view them. I think I may have rated this higher if it had visuals or was a youtube video or something.

[Dippit! with E.S.Jennette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book was really well done and produced.

It is a 9-part podcast that talks about GOP-1 drugs like Ozempic and what weight loss drugs can do for you.

I think that it was interesting how it was done and Scaachi's journey on her health journey.

One of the ideas is that if you start a diet or one of these drugs, then you are doing it for the rest of your life, which is very unique and it makes me think that maybe the new cigarette is a weight loss drug.

[Harry · Rating 2 out of 5]

feel a little duped by Audible listing this as an audiobook, but that's not the author's fault

there were some interesting points raised in this, unfortunately the elements I found most interesting were not explored in much detail. particularly the intersection between fatphobia in the workplace, GLP-1s and class (i.e. what happens to those who can't afford to alter their body with injections to get higher paid jobs, what does this say from a feminist perspective)

[Megan (Tonightsbooked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great, short intro to GLP1’s like Ozempic and how it’s affecting our culture today for good or bad. I learned a lot about the drug and America’s fat culture in a brief overview, which suited me just fine. The audiobook was 4 hours long and set up in a podcast format. And I got a lot of random, shocking facts out of it lol

[Alberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting content but the audio production isn't great, different interviews etc are at different volumes, annoying background music that's distracting. I'd have liked more peer reviewed content.

[ᒪᗴᗩᕼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a worthwhile listen with stories from both sides of the spectrum, and I learned a thing or two about GLP-1s. The audio felt like an actual podcast—it's possible that it was a recording of a podcast, even.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

First person accounts of experiences with weight loss drugs. Very helpful societal perspective as well. I appreciated thinking through the ripple effects on some many associated areas like the diet industry.

[J.Istsfor Manity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Your body image is not correlated to your body size..

— Scaachi Koul / The Thin Line

[Amy Moo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst this was interesting, I feel it didn't go into detail in the area I had hoped. It was informative though so I guess it ticked a box.

[Laura Kershaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the chapters on Ozempic and the future case of GLP1 inhibitors the most. The rest of it was a little basic, but since it’s a converted podcast it’s pretty engaging regardless.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative seems a little biased but still a good listen.

[Khrista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting listen.

[Eileen Yu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series explores GLP1, the popular Ozempic drug, and the weight loss industry in various angles. Never heard of or knew what GLP1 was before listening to this. Learned a good amount.

[Karen Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how to feel about this audible. It was educational for sure but the overall message was lost on me.

Didn’t get the point. Could’ve been a five minute memo

[AttackGirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, who would have thought so many women have such a problem with their self image. Mass Dancing hysteria…

[davidgonzalezsr · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Slightly Sarcastic But Ultimately Honest Book Rating System:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 Stars): This book achieved legendary status in my personal library. I will likely reread it until the pages fall out (or my e-reader spontaneously combusts). Consider this my enthusiastic endorsement – you should probably read it unless you actively dislike joy.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 Stars): A truly excellent read! I enjoyed it immensely and would heartily recommend it to fellow bookworms. You might even catch me subtly pushing it into their hands.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 Stars): Yep, it was a book I read. I turned the pages, absorbed the words, and emerged...unchanged. It was a pleasant enough journey, like a scenic detour that you wouldn't necessarily take again, but didn't regret.
⭐️⭐️ (2 Stars): This book existed. I finished it. That's about the highest praise I can offer. If you're looking for something truly captivating, maybe keep scrolling. This one's more of a "it filled the silence" kind of experience.
⭐️ (1 Star): Oh dear. This book and I did not get along. It was a literary tumbleweed in the vast desert of good books. Consider this a strong "do not recommend," unless you're conducting research on what not to do in storytelling.

Disclaimer: My enjoyment of the narrator is based on my listening speed. I only leave 5 stars for books I've read/listened to or will read/listen to multiple times.

[Alina Mejia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard it on audible, it was for free. It's spoken like a podcast, and I didn't like it. I think the subject in general is very important, because even with the body positivity movement, the reality is, the way you look is the way you are treated and more people are using weight loss drugs. I like that different people give their point of view, and talk about the side effects and how it affected their lifestyle.

[Ivy Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this as it took an unbiased approach at investigating the world of weight loss drugs and their impact on us as a nation.