大象传媒

Historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela lifts the lid on the steroid underground - a world of risk-taking and experimentation that lies beneath the glamorous surface of life in the 1980s LA gym scene. It鈥檚 all about making it big, at any cost.

This is the scene that young bodybuilder William Dillon is initiated into, now that he鈥檚 settled into the California lifting community. He meets The Steroid Guru aka Dan Duchaine, a maverick anabolic enthusiast with a chemical fascination, who isn鈥檛 afraid to experiment on himself - or anyone else. Duchaine is a cult figure in this world - his book The Underground Steroid Handbook spread the secrets of juicing to gym rats all over the USA and beyond.

From that meeting with Duchaine, Dillon spots a big opportunity that marries his two favourite things - strength and wealth.

Featuring William Dillon, Joe Troccoli, Sandra Blackie, Dr Jeff Golini, and former bodybuilder and co-author of The Underground Steroid Handbook, Mike Zumpano.

Presenter and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Producer: Caroline Thornham
Assistant Producer: Mohamed Ahmed
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Cheree Houston
Sound Design and Mix by Nicholas Alexander
Original Music by SilverHawk, aka Cyrille Poirier
Executive Producer: Max O鈥橞rien
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Novel production for 大象传媒 Radio 4

Episodes are released weekly on Mondays. If you鈥檙e in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode, a week early, first on 大象传媒 Sounds聽https://bbc.in/3ybDcHO