Hi, I’m Beth Teitell, a columnist here at the Globe, writing from the ever-moving Ozempic frontier
But first, here’s what else is going on:
- A Lexington mother celebrating her 50th birthday isamong thousands of people missingin Nepal after devastating floods. Plus, Nepal has turned tomass burials.
- As the jury returns to deliberate, Yvonne Abraham writes that there are two defendants inthe Lindsay Clancy trial. Plus, a psychiatrist has resigned from a Delaware hospital aftertestifying in the Clancy trial.
- Voter’s Guide: Everything you need to know about tomorrow’sMass. primary election.
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
In today’s Globe, I examine the Ozempic catch-22: You’re at risk for being judged if you use GLP-1’s — and also at risk for being judged if you don’t
And there’s more. Now that the drugs have made it easier to lose weight, our body-image overlords have decreed that being trim is no longer enough. You have to work out and look like it. Be svelte and sculpted. Willowy and jacked. Waifish and ripped
As Ashley French (née Tisdale) the actor, producer, and entrepreneur, blogged, “We keep moving the goalposts, and it’s exhausting.”
Anne Marie Chaker, a former Wall Street Journal reporter turned bodybuilder and blogger, put it in Lauren Sánchez Bezos terms: “What Lauren Sánchez Bezos’s Arms Reveal,” she wrote in a headline. “The rise of the skinny-muscular ideal.”
“Skinny arms are affordable,” she wrote. “But building and showing muscle? That takes time, discipline, and delayed gratification. What a power flex: Balenciaga plus biceps.”
No magic bullet, still?
Building on that scholarship, Lauren Beckham Falcone, the WROR host, explained why the ever-higher bar. The “naturally skinny people” are bothered that the “playing field is being leveled,” she said
“It’s why old money hates nouveau riche,” she said. “If too many people have it, then it’s not as special.”
Speaking of money: of course that’s in play, too. Not only can GLP-1’s themselves be expensive, but a report found that users are spending nearly four times more on fitness than other consumers
Bottom line: there’s no free lunch
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Read: You’ll be shamed if you take GLP-1s, shamed if you don’t
🧩 2 Down:Brainy | ⛅ 77°A reprieve
POINTS OF INTEREST
Whatevs: Legal or not, cannabis users say they won’t be deterred if Mass. voters decide this fall to get rid of recreational weed
Color coordinated?A Republican campaign for Mass. governor loves the color blue. Experts say that in this deep-blue state, it might be intentional
Help for the Quabbin:The Quabbin Reservoir has long quenched Boston’s thirst. Now its towns are struggling — and asking anyone who drinks water to help
Patriots: Here are the 53 players who made the final roster cut
Brain drain: Canada has announced the hiring of 48 scholars away from top US universities, including Harvard, MIT, and Yale. Canada is investing in strategic research fields, from AI to global warming
Will you be my friend? Why young people are enlisting AI to help them make friends in Boston
Mercury leak at MIT: An MIT student was under medical care and the chemistry building closed after a possible exposure to a highly toxic mercury compound
The truth is out there: NASA’s newest space telescope launches on a quest to explore the hidden universe
What climate change?How Florida quietly removed climate change content from textbooks. (The Hechinger Report)
BESIDE THE POINT
By David Beard
📺 New and streaming TV: Our picks this week include Glen Powell in “Chad Powers,” “The Gentlemen,” Ryan Reynolds in ‘Mayday,’ and more
🏡 Home of the Week: Check out an expanded mid-century four-bedroom in Cohasset for $1.45 million
👩🏻🎤 Free lobster: That’s right — if it’s your birthday. Here’s where to go
👩🏻🎤 A lesson about legacy: On Dolly Parton, motherhood, andmy diamond engagement ring, by Marcela García. Plus, Tennessee moves to name Nashville’s airport after Dolly Parton. (AP)
💌 Love Letter: Feeling guilty 15 years later
👩🏽🎓 Best college towns: This list has one in every state. (Business Insider). Plus, the coolest castle to visit in every state (Family Handyman)
👨🏻🦳 ‘Gray hair don’t care’: The unexpected freedom when you hit A Certain Age
AND YOUR POINT?
Misery loves company:One faraway reader wrote in praise of Friday’s “man flu” Starting Point: ”As a male Bostonian (albeit one currently living in Tokyo) whom was recently gifted a summer cold, I’d like to vote the ‘man flu’ Starting Point as the BEST STARTING POINT OF 2026.” – David J. Littleboy
Thanks for reading Starting Point
This newsletter was edited byDavid Beardand produced byCurt Woodward
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📬 Delivered Monday through Friday
Beth Teitell can be reached at beth.teitell@globe.com. Follow her @bethteitell
