Mamma mia

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: Amazon gets into the GLP-1 business; If you’re looking for a new cocktail we’ve got a great recommendation; Another airline has cut flights; and Slayer vows to bring it when they step out on tour this summer! 

Let’s get into it!

GLP-1 drugs are becoming increasingly accessible, and therefore increasingly popular. There may not be a bigger move towards accessibility, however, than Amazon’s announcement that it’s launching a GLP-1 management program through Amazon One Medical.

The primary care division of the ecommerce giant will provide services that feature virtual and in-person visits for managing obesity, prescription fulfillment, and an approach to weight loss as management of a chronic condition.

Insured patients will be able to subscribe for as little as $25 per month, compared to those paying out of pocket, starting at $149 per month.

“Providing customers with fast, convenient medication access and clear, transparent pricing is integral to how Amazon Pharmacy is transforming the pharmacy experience,” said Tanvi Patel, vice president and general manager of Amazon Pharmacy, in the company’s press release.

“By expanding access to the latest GLP-1 medications with upfront, clear pricing, we’re making it easier for customers to get the treatments their health care providers prescribe and to stay on those medications because they are delivered reliably directly to patients,” Patel said.

It’s probably fair to say most whiskey drinkers like to enjoy a Manhattan every once in a while.

The drink may have some competition, however, and what’s a rivalry involving New York if it doesn’t also involve Boston? Enter: the Harvard.

The cocktail was likely invented at some time around 1895, when it first appeared in Modern American Drinks by George Kappeler. It initially contained equal parts brandy (usually Cognac) and sweet vermouth, a dash of gomme syrup, and seltzer.

It was named the Harvard due to an Ivy League tradition of naming drinks after their alma maters (the Princeton and Yale also exist, though aren’t as popular).

These days, the drink contains two parts Cognac and one part sweet vermouth, making it almost a direct competitor of the Manhattan, which is made with two parts rye or bourbon, and one part sweet vermouth.

Both are intended to contain two dashes of Angostura bitters, and a lemon twist for garnish, though the Manhattan often also has a cherry dropped in the glass to enhance the drink’s sweetness.

Care to give it a shot? You can read on here for the exact recipe and instructions for how to make the Cambridge, Mass. concoction.

Airlines from both Canada and the United States have been preemptively cutting flight capacity in recent days due to rapidly-rising jet fuel prices, including United, Delta, Air Canada, WestJet, and—just yesterday afternoon—Air Transat.

None, however, compare to the cuts announced yesterday morning by German carrier, Lufthansa, which said it would be cancelling 20,000 flights in Europe between May and October.

So far, only 120 of them have been announced, including routes from Frankfurt to Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów in Poland, and to Stavanger in Norway. These routes are overseen by Lufthansa CityLine, a subsidiary of the European giant that operates short-haul flights.

“For the flights scheduled in the summer timetable, the Group expects a largely stable fuel supply. Lufthansa is pursuing a range of measures to this end, including the physical procurement of jet fuel as well as price hedging,” Lufthansa said in its statement.

It’s possible Lufthansa is simply getting out ahead of what will ultimately become a reality for every carrier. Fuel shortages are manifesting faster in Europe and Asia than they are in North America, but the longer the Iran crisis goes on, the more of an impact those shortages will have worldwide.

Advocacy group Consumer Federation of America (CFA) filed a lawsuit against Meta in District of Columbia Superior Court the other day, alleging the social media platform hosts fraudulent advertisements on its various platforms, and is not only liable for the losses often incurred by users of those platforms, but also profits from them.

"Meta has knowingly taken steps and adopted policies that pad its bottom line at the expense of its users’ safety and well-being," the complaint reads.

"By downplaying—and in many cases, actively contributing to—the proliferation of scams and fraud on its platforms and grossly exaggerating the steps Meta takes to protect users from scams, Meta has misled its users, including those in the District of Columbia, about the risks they face every time they log onto one of Meta’s platforms, including Facebook."

Reuters recently reported that roughly 10% of the $16 billion Meta earned in 2024 came from ads for scams, presenting what CFA describes as an incentive for the company to over-express the seriousness with which it takes fraudulent posts on its sites, and downplay the degree to which it profits from them.

Meta has been sued for similar reasons previously, and has successfully appealed to the protection it gets from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which insulates most social media platforms from liability for content published on their websites.

Like most highly successful music acts, it’s never really over until it’s over with Slayer. The band went on a successful retirement tour in 2019. Then they played two shows in 2024. Then six shows in 2025…

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that on the 40th anniversary of the release of seminal thrash metal album, Reign in Blood, Slayer will take the stage again in 2026.

"The fastest, the heaviest, the most uncompromising record in thrash metal history turns 40," Slayer said in a social post. "Slayer marks the anniversary with two U.S. headline dates featuring the album performed in full, including their first L.A. show in seven years."

While Metallica is surely the biggest of the big four thrash bands (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax), Slayer is not far off. When Metallica debuted with Kill Em All in July of 1983, Slayer was just a few months behind with Show No Mercy in December.

Three years later, they were at it again. Metallica’s third and seminal record, Master of Puppets, came out in March of 1986; just six months later, Slayer responded with Reign in Blood.

Realistically, it’s a “pick your poison” scenario in terms of which album is “better,” but at just 29 minutes in length, the fact Reign in Blood even competes with the 55-minute Master of Puppets is itself quite impressive.

Now that’s odd…

Time to put on your thinking cap Staker and get ready for another round of Odd Song Out, with today’s trivia. Just pick the one that doesn’t belong, and you’ll be on your way!