8: The Genie Is Out
After the steroid ring鈥檚 downfall, an anti-steroid movement gathers momentum. New laws aim to put an end to juicing. But will they be enough to temper the USA鈥檚 appetite for bulk?
In the wake of the steroid ring鈥檚 downfall, the headline-grabbing prosecutions combine with sports scandals and anxieties about steroids making it into high school locker rooms. Lawmakers decide to take action. The Steroid Control Act of 1990, spearheaded by none other than then-Senator Joe Biden, promises to deal with steroids once and for all.
But the USA already had a taste of what it felt like to get ripped - really ripped. And it鈥檚 hard to stuff the genie back in the bottle once it weighs 240 pounds of pure muscle.
Today, as millions of Americans take steroids with the aim of bulking up, host Natalia Mehlman Petrzela reckons with the enduring legacy of the steroid ring, and an era which transformed our ideas about fitness and beauty.
Featuring former bodybuilders William Dillon, Shawn Ray and Sandra Blackie; Mike Zumpano, co-author of The Underground Steroid Handbook; Professor of Sports Studies at Stirling College-Chengdu University, Daniel Rosenke; Dr Harrison Pope, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; and Daniel Supnick, a former special agent with the US Customs Service.
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 Daniel Kempson
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
Featuring clips from:
Nightline, ABC Special for Monday, Nov 20, 1989 - ABC
Olympic Games History, Seoul 1988 - 大象传媒
Senator Joe Biden remarks on Democratic Anti-Drug Legislation, July 31 1989 - C-Span
House Session, September 22, 1988 - C-Span
Interview with Philip Halpern - Professor Daniel Rosenke
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 https://bbc.in/3ybDcHO
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Extreme: Muscle Men
The sweat-drenched story of the biggest steroid dealing ring to rip through 80s America.