Ep. 27 - The No Hunger Games with Sylvia Hristakeva, Jura Liaukonyte and Leo Feler

Ep. 27 - The No Hunger Games with Sylvia Hristakeva, Jura Liaukonyte and Leo Feler

From How I Wrote This by Brett Gordon and Karen Winterich

March 11, 2026 · 59 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how GLP-1 drugs are affecting consumer food demand and grocery spending.

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are changing more than just waistlines—they're disrupting the grocery aisle. JMR Co-Editor Brett Gordon speaks with Sylvia Hristakeva (Cornell), Jura Liaukonyte (Cornell), and Leo Feller (Numerator) about their paper, "The No Hunger Games: How GLP-1 Medication Adoption is Changing Consumer Food Demand.” The study linked GLP-1 usage survey data to 150,000 households' purchase data, finding that grocery spending declines by approximately 5% within six months, concentrated in processed, calorie-dense categories. Spending reverts to pre-adoption levels upon stopping the medication. In the episode, you’ll hear how quickly the project came together and the challenges of working on such a high-profile topic. Paper on SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5073929 Paper at JMR: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222437251412834

People in this episode

Host: Brett Gordon

Guests: Sylvia Hristakeva, Jura Liaukonyte, Leo Feler

Topics covered

  • GLP-1 drugs
  • consumer food demand
  • grocery spending
  • health impact
  • medication adoption

Keywords

  • GLP-1
  • Ozempic
  • Wegovy
  • grocery spending
  • consumer behavior
  • healthcare
  • food demand

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cornell, Numerator

Books & works: The No Hunger Games: How GLP-1 Medication Adoption is Changing Consumer Food Demand, The No Hunger Games, Paper on SSRN, Paper at JMR

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