Exposing Obesity Incorporated

Obesity Incorporated

5.0 (3)
Society & Culture

Exposing the sordid underbelly of the weight loss industry.

Jul 15

Pilfering Purdue's Playbook

How did Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk transform itself from selling insulin to betting the entire company on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy? In this inaugural episode, weight loss industry investigators Louise Adams and Ragen Chastain unpack the chequered history of the pharmaceutical weight-loss industry. Louise revisits the notorious fen-phen scandal, revealing how commercial interests, paid-off obesity researchers, and regulatory failures allowed a dangerous weight-loss drug to reach millions of Americans before whistleblowers brought its devastating consequences to light. In the aftermath of fen-phen, the pharmaceutical weight-loss industry was left in ruins. Nothing short of a marketing miracle could revive it. Ragen explores how Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk drew from 3 different playbooks - including lessons from the ob*sity industry, Purdue Pharma’s aggressive commercial playbook that had transformed pain into a lucrative cash cow, and the company's own controversial history of insulin pricing -to "take a bet" on ob*sity: the Holy Grail of the pharmaceutical industry. Exposing Obesity, Incorporated is an investigative podcast examining how marketing, money, political influence, and corporate power reshaped ob*sity into one of the world's most lucrative pharmaceutical markets. Each episode follows the evidence behind the rise of the modern weight-loss industry, and asks who really benefits.
Season 1, Episode 1 Trailer

Introducing Exposing Obesity Incorporated

Welcome to the podcast website. We're Louise Adams and Ragen Chastain, two speakers, writers, and researchers who have been exploring and exposing the sordid underbelly of the weight loss industry for almost a half century combined. The weight loss industry has spent decades infiltrating and manipulating the healthcare system and public health using their construct of "obesity" and now in the so-called Age of Ozempic they are taking their tactics to unimaginable new heights (or, really, unimaginable new lows.)

Trailer

Introducing Exposing Obesity Incorporated

Welcome to the podcast website. We're Louise Adams and Ragen Chastain, two speakers, writers, and researchers who have been exploring and exposing the sordid underbelly of the weight loss industry for almost a half century combined. The weight loss industry has spent decades infiltrating and manipulating the healthcare system and public health using their construct of "obesity" and now in the so-called Age of Ozempic they are taking their tactics to unimaginable new heights (or, really, unimaginable new lows.)

5

out of 5

3 Ratings

Exposing the sordid underbelly of the weight loss industry.

Creator

Obesity Incorporated
Years Active

2026
Episodes

2
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 Obesity Incorporated
Show Website

Exposing Obesity Incorporated