The New Yorker Radio Hour “Fat Swim” and Literature’s Fatphobia Problem
Apr 28, 2026
Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of Fat Swim and founder of Philadelphia’s Blue Stoop, explores how literature treats bodies and fatness. She discusses scenes that confront beauty startups, internet visibility, GLP-1 drugs, and a provocative Philly billboard. The conversation also examines how point of view in fiction can dehumanize bodies and where her stories are rooted.
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Kids Use Adult Bodies To Shape Self Identity
- Children notice adult bodies early and use them to form identity questions about their own bodies and desires.
- Emma Copley-Eisenberg describes eight-year-old Alice watching fat women at a West Philly pool and longing to be close to their bodies.
Brands Treat Employee Bodies As Company Assets
- Corporations police employee bodies as brand signifiers, leading to real economic harm when bodies change.
- In "Beauty," a beauty-startup founder named Marion is pushed out after investors decide her changing body doesn't fit the brand.
Weight Loss Drugs Force Movement Rethink
- Ozempic and GLP-1s complicate fat-liberation by raising questions about body autonomy versus fat positivity.
- Emma notes debates: some view weight-loss drugs as counter to liberation, others emphasize legitimate medical reasons.
