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The Wild West of off-brand Ozempic Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared Ozempic and Wegovy in shortage. That has given rise to an unprecedented parallel market for imitations of the drugs made by specialized pharmacies, while unregulated websites offer their own, cheaper versions.

Many people who have used injectable diabetes drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss say they have been life-changing. But the drugs are expensive, and can be hard to access: They have proved so effective that patients are clamoring for more than drugmakers can churn out. Last year, the FDA declared Ozempic and Wegovy in shortage, allowing specialized compounding pharmacies to mix up their own versions of the drugs using the same active ingredients, for a fraction of the cost.

But the parallel market around weight-loss drugs doesn’t end there. Daniel Gilbert dove into the world of off-brand weight loss compounds and found an unregulated market flourishing online. His reporting turned up more than two dozen websites that bypass doctors and pharmacies completely to sell semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy — directly to consumers, usually with disclaimers that it’s not for human use. And he managed to track down some of the entrepreneurs trying to strike it rich in the Wild West of off-brand Ozempic.

The cost of India’s unbearable heat Oct 13, 2023

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The Post’s Annie Gowen walks us through the immediate effects of climate change on India’s megacities and what the future looks like for residents of Kolkata facing record-breaking heat.

After three days of no power this April, the people of Kasia Bagan had had enough. Temperatures were reaching record highs, with no AC to help. Yet down the main lane of the neighborhood, the Quest Mall towered, humming with electrical power.

Residents such as Sana Mumtaz, a divorced mother of three who lives on the lane with eight relatives in one room, felt her neighbors’ anger growing out of control.

The news of heat-related deaths in the neighborhood spread, resulting in protestors occupying the Quest Mall. Mumtaz, facing heat-related illnesses while providing for her family of nine, felt frustrated.

“It is so hot,” she said, “we cannot survive this way.”

The suburbs of Kolkata are significantly cooler while the temperatures of poorer neighborhoods such as Kasia Bagan remain unbearable. As the rich continue to adopt air conditioning and the poor do not, access to air conditioning during extreme heat waves makes the difference between life and death.

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Bracing for what comes next in the Israel-Gaza war Oct 12, 2023

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Israel is still reeling from horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas – and now in Gaza, there’s nowhere to hide from airstrikes. Today on “Post Reports,” we talk to our colleagues in Israel and Gaza about what’s happening on the ground and what comes next.

Rubble and razed buildings are common in Gaza, including on Hazem Balousha’s street. Balousha, a Palestinian journalist reporting in Gaza for The Post, recounts what it’s like to live through the Israeli airstrikes and as he, at home, braces for a potential ground offensive by Israel.

Reporter Miriam Berger reports from the other side of the border in Israel, documenting the atrocities committed by Hamas in areas such as the Be’eri kibbutz.

Together, they paint a horrific picture of the war’s destruction and give us a glimpse of the devastation that could come next.

Introducing “The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

Grenada’s Black revolutionary leader, Maurice Bishop, was executed in a coup in 1983, along with seven others. The whereabouts of their remains are unknown. Now, The Washington Post’s Martine Powers uncovers new answers about how the U.S. fits into this 40-year-old Caribbean mystery.

“The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” is an investigative podcast that delves into the revolutionary history of Grenada, why the missing remains still matter and the role the U.S. government played in shaping the fate of the island nation.

Listen and follow the series here.

The scars of Native American boarding schools Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

Correction: A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated when Interior Secretary Deb Haaland began her listening tour. Haaland started the listening tour last summer, and the tour has lasted for longer than one year The audio has been updated to remove the error.

In a moment of reckoning, survivors of the U.S.-run Indian boarding schools are speaking out and trying to hold the U.S. government accountable.

For almost a century, the U.S. government took Native American children from their families and forced them to attend residential boarding schools. These schools – which were intended to assimilate the children into White culture – left lasting impressions on the students who attended. Many suffered from physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of school employees.

While the history of Indian boarding schools in the United States is largely forgotten, survivors of these institutions are starting to speak out and share their experiences. Reporter Dana Hedgpeth spoke to several survivors who chose to tell their stories publicly for the first time.

Today, what it means for Native Americans to speak openly about the abuse they survived, and what it would mean to hold the United States accountable for its role in running the nearly 400 Indian boarding schools across the country.

The “urban doom loop” could be coming to a city near you Oct 10, 2023

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The Post’s Rachel Seigel takes us on an economic journey through the “urban doom loop” and explores this threat to midsize cities. Then, Teo Armus shows us a creative way we could try to avoid it.

According to Columbia economics professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, cities across the country could be heading for an "urban doom loop" that starts with vacant office spaces and spreads through downtowns. Later, Rachel Seigel joins The Post’s Teo Armus in Northern Virginia to experience a place that is creatively using vacant office space to escape the doom loop fate.

Understanding the Israel-Hamas war Oct 09, 2023

Show notes

Today, we unpack how the war in Israel started, what this conflict means for civilians on the ground and scenarios for how it could possibly end.

More than 1,000 people in Israel and Gaza have been killed and thousands more injured after Palestinian gunmen from Hamas infiltrated Israel this Saturday. Hamas launched attacks on troops and massacred civilians in the most brazen militant operation in years. Shortly after, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against Hamas.

The violence erupted suddenly but comes after a year of rising tensions between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, which have been under a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007. This year alone has seen a spate of deadly attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories, an escalation that followed Netanyahu’s move to cobble together the most far-right government in Israeli history.

Today, The Post’s Jerusalem Bureau Chief Steve Hendrix brings us an on-the-ground account of the early days of the war in Israel and unpacks what this means for the geopolitics of the Middle East and the world at large.

Deep Reads: Inside the unfolding recovery of the Fetterman family Oct 07, 2023

Show notes

After the stress of a senatorial campaign, a stroke and the auditory processing disorder that followed, depression became severe for Sen. John Fetterman. Then came the hospitalization

Now, the Fetterman family’s daily lives revolve around mental health. When people aren’t asking about Sen. John Fetterman, they’re inquiring about his wife, Gisele. Some offer their condolences, but many want to thank her. She’s become a safe space for those who are struggling with mental health crises in their own families. They tell her they are scared and worried — and they wonder if maybe Gisele is scared and worried, too.

In the midst of uncertainty, Gisele and her family learn to adapt to a new normal.

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This story is part of a collection of new, occasional bonus episodes you’ll be hearing from “Post Reports.” We’re calling these stories “Deep Reads” and they’re part of The Post’s commitment to immersive and narrative journalism.

Today’s story was written by Ruby Cramer and read by Adrienne Walker for Noa: News Over Audio, an app offering curated audio articles. It was originally published on Sept. 23, 2023.

It's Fat Bear Week. Yes, that's a thing. Oct 06, 2023

Show notes

Travel reporter Natalie Compton ventures to Katmai National Park to meet the chonky stars of Fat Bear Week up close. Today, we dig into this wild tradition and what it teaches us about tourism, conservation and, of course, fat bears.

It’s impressive that anyone makes it to Katmai. Getting to the motherland of fat bears requires the kind of time and money Taylor Swift fans put into attending the Eras Tour. First there are the flights to Alaska. Then a floatplane or water taxi to the park. And there’s a lottery system to score one of the 16 rooms at the lodge.

Still, Natalie Compton made it — and so did a number of fat bear fanatics. Natalie talks to guest host Lillian Cunningham (host of the podcast “Field Trip”) about the adventure.

To learn more about our National Parks, listen to “Field Trip.” Lillian will lead you on a journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s most awe-inspiring places. You can find all five episodes here, or look for them wherever you listen to podcasts.

A breakthrough in Tupac Shakur’s case – 27 years later Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

In 1996, the legendary rapper Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas. Now, nearly three decades later, police have charged a man in Shakur's death. We talk with The Post’s Keith McMillan about Shakur’s life, legacy and what this new charge means.

It’s been nearly three decades since hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at the age of 25. Now, police have charged a man in his death: Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who has publicly claimed to have witnessed the killing.

Keith McMillan, a general assignment editor for The Post who has reported on hip-hop, walks us through what happened the night Shakur was shot, Davis’s arrest and indictment, and Shakur’s complex and enduring legacy.

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