Magic Pill

The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs

By: Johann Hari

Narrated by: Johann Hari

The bestselling author of Lost Connections and Stolen Focus offers a revelatory look at the new drugs transforming weight loss as we know it—from his personal experience on Ozempic to our ability to heal our society’s dysfunctional relationship with food, weight, and our bodies.

In January 2023, Johann Hari started to inject himself once a week with Ozempic, one of the new drugs that produces significant weight loss. He wasn’t alone—some predictions suggest that in a few years, a quarter of the U.S. population will be taking these drugs. While around 80 percent of diets fail, someone taking one of the new drugs will lose up to a quarter of their body weight in six months. To the drugs’ defenders, here is a moment of liberation from a condition that massively increases your chances of diabetes, cancer, and an early death.

Still, Hari was wildly conflicted. Can these drugs really be as good as they sound? Are they a magic solution—or a magic trick? Finding the answer to this high-stakes question led him on a journey from Iceland to Minneapolis to Tokyo, and to interview the leading experts in the world on these questions. He found that along with the drug’s massive benefits come twelve significant potential risks.

He also found that these drugs radically challenge what we think we know about shame, willpower, and healing. What do they reveal about the nature of obesity itself? What psychological issues begin to emerge when our eating patterns are suddenly disrupted? Are the drugs a liberation or a further symptom of our deeply dysfunctional relationship with food?

These drugs are about to change our world, for better and for worse. Everybody needs to understand how they work—scientifically, emotionally, and culturally. MAGIC PILL is an essential guide to the revolution that has already begun, and which one leading expert argues will be as transformative as the invention of the smartphone.

* This audiobook edition contains a downloadable PDF with additional resources and endnotes.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Johann Hari (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Compelling, thoughtful and fascinating, a revealing and inspiring meditation on weight loss, addiction, and the new drugs that may change the way we think about and treat obesity.”—Maia Szalavitz, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog

“Magic Pill may be the most revolutionary, honest and important book you read about weight loss, the body and food. As is always the case with a Johann Hari book, what appears to be a story about the drug, Ozempic turns out to be a portal into the deepest investigation and revelation on how to live a healthy life.”—V (Formerly Eve Ensler), The Vagina Monologues, Reckoning

“A deep-dive into Ozempic couldn’t be more timely—and necessary—to get the full scope of how and why everyone is suddenly skinny!”—Andy Cohen

Great book!

Well done research. I appreciate all the different angles/arguments presented . It is very thought provoking and I will look at my diet differently from now on.

Thorough and honest

So informative while also told with compassion and raw honesty. I love all Hari’s books and wish they were taught in schools.

Best book I’ve read on weight and weight loss drugs

Summarizes a lot of known science about weight, the food and drug industries all in a personal and digestible way. I would recommend this highly.

Such a great listen

Well written with some real “make you think” aha moments. Well done. Some science but more a psychology take

In-depth research, easy listen

This book was so good. I was looking for information about GLP 1’s and got so much from this book, along with an education on food, obesity, the culture and historical trajectory of obesity, and detailed information on side effects, while at the same time being entertaining and easy to digest. Johann Yohari has a very soothing voice and reads the book in storytelling fashion rather than textbook/lecture. The info is so good, I’d recommend it to anyone regardless of interest in GLP’s

So much more than I expected!

I was expecting a book about the risks and benefits of GLP 1 meditations, but this well-researched book delivers so much more! I appreciated the information about the history of the obesity epidemic and the ultraprocessed food industry. The harm of shame and stigma and the advocacy against it. And how another wealthy, developed country has managed to develop and sustain a healthy food culture and prioritize the health of its people. Such an interesting and informative read for anyone interested in health, weight, and nutrition whether or not they are considering taking the new weight loss drugs.

Fabulous resource

Comprehensive! Covered all aspects. Very helpful. Well narrated, good voice, interesting, fast paced, highly recommend.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

A worthwhile and engaging read.

Johann Hari sees the danger to himself and others who use weight loss drugs. I was gratified to find that a healthy diet is still the best medicine, and that will be my personal choice. But there are many more who, like the author, prefer to chance the serious side effects described here and do it the "modern way". To each his own!

Wow! This is it… the last “diet” book you’ll ever need

So informative! This journey takes us deep into the scientific reason we ALL STRUGGLE with weight loss and WHY it’s so hard to keep off! Great narration, it reads like a story! Bravo!

Incredibly important

This book was amazing and the information contained herein was incredibly important for the 2 issues raised. The introduction of this treatment will change our society and it’s important to be informed before having an opinion. I am obese right now, and I have been my whole life, and this was incredibly helpful. #hannah