Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

The Daily

Marriage and Sex in the Age of Ozempic: An Update

26 Dec 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 16.893 Katrin Benhold

I'm Katrin Benhold, host of The World, a daily newsletter from The New York Times. I spent 20 years reporting from more than a dozen countries, and it occurred to me one day, what kind of newsletter would I like to read? I don't live in the U.S. I want something especially for a global audience. The World is just that.

0

17.354 - 32.09 Katrin Benhold

Each weekday morning, we bring you the biggest stories, dispatches from my colleagues on the ground, and a few surprises. Hey, it's Rachel.

0

33.111 - 55.958 Rachel Abrams

This week, we're revisiting some of our favorite shows from the year, listening back and hearing what's happened in the time since then. Today, we return to the story of one married couple's experience with GLP-1 drugs and how the use of weight loss medications like Ozempic can impact how people see themselves and their closest relationships. It's Friday, December 26th.

0

57.299 - 78.448 Rachel Abrams

Lisa, I don't think it's an understatement to say that we, in 2025, are in the middle of this, what feels like kind of a weight loss revolution in the United States. And, of course, we're talking about these drugs that everybody's probably heard of, Ozempic, Wegovi, Monjaro. I think most people know somebody who's been transformed by them.

0

78.488 - 82.953 Rachel Abrams

Maybe a lot of people themselves have actually had some experience with them.

83.273 - 103.495 Lisa Miller

Yeah, it's a revolution in how we look. It's a revolution in our health. It's got gigantic potential to help people who have not been able to be helped before. The data show that one in eight Americans has tried one of these drugs. Like, I have a friend who takes the medicine, and he says...

103.475 - 136.308 Lisa Miller

You know, if you are able to eat just five French fries and you used to not be able to eat just five French fries, it gives you grounding in the idea that you can control things in your life that you didn't think you could control. So what else can you control? Can you control... the way you relate to your children, the way you talk to your boss.

136.969 - 151.892 Lisa Miller

And what really interested me was this question of how the GLP-1 drugs affected a marriage, especially when one partner is on the drugs and the other partner isn't.

155.146 - 161.094 Rachel Abrams

How did you go about trying to find the right people to talk to to satisfy that question? Right.

Chapter 2: What impact do GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic have on relationships?

225.649 - 227.792 Javier

We celebrated our anniversary a few days ago.

0

228.072 - 238.985 Lisa Miller

They had been married for 15 years. And I think maybe it's helpful to talk first about what their relationship was like before the drugs. And it goes back to high school.

0

240.287 - 243.19 Javier

Junior year is when I met her. So that takes us to 1987.

0

243.37 - 250.018 Lisa Miller

They both grew up in Sacramento. What did you notice about her? Like, what made you like her?

0

250.739 - 254.422 Javier

Her personality. Very outgoing, great smile.

255.024 - 256.647 Jean

Well, I thought he was cute.

257.389 - 263.12 Lisa Miller

But she was like in a bigger body and excruciatingly self-conscious about that.

263.501 - 266.528 Jean

So always felt awful, never felt attractive.

267.229 - 268.251 Lisa Miller

And he had a crush on her.

Chapter 3: How did Jean and Javier's relationship evolve before using Ozempic?

1017.796 - 1023.263 Javier

We weren't two ships in the night crossing paths. We were one ship.

0

1023.284 - 1033.998 Lisa Miller

So you're empowered in a way to take up space to say what you want. And that forces you to have to figure out what you want.

0

1034.018 - 1035.36 Jean

Yeah. Yeah.

0

1037.543 - 1056.475 Lisa Miller

Beyond just like, I want to leave the party at 10. You know, that's in a way that's easy, right? Like, do I want to have a sexual relationship with my husband? Do I want to leave my corporate job? Do I want to, like, these are much bigger questions.

0

1057.256 - 1094.807 Jean

Yeah, yeah. And kind of sad that at 53 that I'm starting to have those thoughts. Aren't those the kinds of things that most people think about when they've graduated from school, right? I'm the good girl and I do what's expected. In a certain body. In a certain body, yeah. Yeah. I still feel very strongly that this is one of the best things that I've done for myself. This is it, you know.

1094.827 - 1112.468 Jean

I have lost the weight and I will maintain this for life. And I'm just so grateful.

1129.711 - 1137.585 Rachel Abrams

After the break, Lisa calls Jean and Javier back to see how they've handled the changes in their relationship since the episode originally aired.

1144.477 - 1167.569 Isabella Rossellini

What does beauty have to do with winning a tennis grand slam or empowering communities or tracking jaguars through the wild heart of South America? Hi there, I'm Isabella Rossellini and I'm back with season two of This Is Not A Beauty podcast where I uncover stories that get to the heart of how beauty is woven through every facet of our lives.

1168.19 - 1173.417 Isabella Rossellini

Listen to This Is Not A Beauty podcast from L'Oreal Group on your favorite podcast platform.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.