logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2024
29m 1s

Muscle Men: 5. The A Team

BBC
About this episode

Nobody gets arrested for dealing anabolic steroids. That’s the assumption bodybuilder Dan Duchaine, William Dillon and their fellow ring-members are relying upon, as they build the biggest steroid trafficking operation in America. But that’s all about to change.

As President Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs rages in the mid 1980s, the ring find themselves in the crosshairs of a team of dogged investigators leading the fight against steroids.

Host Natalia Mehlman Petrzela reveals how a newly formed National Steroid Taskforce put steroids enforcement, once seen as a fringe issue by the authorities, on the map. That’s bad news for Dillon and his fellow steroid dealers. But catching them won’t be easy…

Featuring William Dillon; Daniel Supnick, a former special agent with the US Customs Service, and former special agent in the Criminal Investigations Division of the IRS, Stephen Gelman.

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’Brien Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Featuring clips from: Interview with Philip Halpern - Professor Daniel Rosenke Panorama: Dying to Win: Drugs in Sport - BBC1 Ronald Reagan speech, 1986 - The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library ‘Say No To Drugs’ Public Service Announcement - Mike Tyson

Episodes are released weekly on Mondays. If you’re in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode, a week early, first on BBC Sounds https://bbc.in/3ybDcHO

Up next
Sep 2024
Muscle Men: 7. French Fries or Bust
When bodybuilder William Dillon moved to LA, he dreamed of getting rich quick by selling the promise of big muscles in a bottle. But in the spring of 1987, that dream has come crashing down around him. With the authorities closing in on the steroid dealing ring, and fearing for h ... Show More
28m 36s
Sep 2024
Muscle Men: 6. One Last Hit
In the summer of 1986, bodybuilder William Dillon moves to San Diego to leave his steroid dealing days behind him, and live a quiet life of working out and running a gym. Or at least - that’s the plan. When Dillon’s old life comes calling, with the promise of easy money, it’s har ... Show More
28m 26s
Aug 2024
Muscle Men: 4. Perfect Square Pecs
In the lobby of Caesar’s Palace Hotel in Las Vegas there’s a modern-day shrine to a 2000 year old adonis - complete with perfectly square pecs. Michelangelo’s David. 17 feet of white marble beefcake. This is an ideal that bodybuilders can only aspire to. And in the 80s bodybuildi ... Show More
28m 39s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2025
175: How Bodybuilding Went from Freak Show to Fitness Empire
<div>Hi friends, happy Wednesday! <br> <br> You know, lately I’ve noticed something strange. It feels like every celebrity these days is... jacked. Like, not just in “good shape.” I’m talking veins popping out of places I didn’t even know veins existed.<br> <br> I mean, back in t ... Show More
37m 1s
Sep 2024
Ronnie Coleman Part 1
<p>Eight-time Mr. Olympia champion, Ronnie Coleman, sits down with Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay for a deep dive into Ronnie's life, career, and incredible journey in bodybuilding. In Part 1, they go way back, discussing Ronnie's upbringing in Louisiana where he grew up workin ... Show More
57m 27s
Sep 2024
Ronnie Coleman Part 1
<p>Eight-time Mr. Olympia champion, Ronnie Coleman, sits down with Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay for a deep dive into Ronnie's life, career, and incredible journey in bodybuilding. In Part 1, they go way back, discussing Ronnie's upbringing in Louisiana where he grew up workin ... Show More
57m 27s
Jun 2025
Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer on F1 starring Brad Pitt
Samira talks to legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose latest film F1 stars Brad Pitt as a racing car driver. Alistair McGowan and Dr Caroline Potter celebrate the extraordinary music and life of the French composer Erik Satie, whose centenary is marked on Radio 3 ... Show More
42m 25s
Feb 2025
History's Youngest Heroes: The Grisly World of Andreas Vesalius
An arrogant young man with a passion for dissecting corpses challenges his teachers and changes the course of modern medicine. Nicola Coughlan shines a light on extraordinary young people from across history. Join her for 12 stories of rebellion, risk and the radical power of you ... Show More
28m 31s
Oct 2023
The Abercrombie Guys: 3. The Marine
A former US marine turned reality TV star is invited to Mike Jeffries' mansion in the Hamptons. He dreams of being an Abercrombie and Fitch model, and he hopes to impress the fashion mogul. But the mood at the event begins to change and he says he soon realises this is not the in ... Show More
33m 9s
Sep 2020
Ronnie Coleman - The King Of Bodybuilding: How I Overcame Adversity To Become Eight Time Mr. Olympia
<p><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto">LAUNCH YOUR OWN PODCAST:</span> <a class= "yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" spellcheck="false" href= "https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=QUFFLUhqa1ozWHR2UFpnWkVFMXlSQ1dnVkJmY253ZGJ ... Show More
1h 25m
Aug 2021
Episode 193 - Rob and Dana Linn Bailey with Matt Vincent
<p>Dana Linn Bailey is an American IFBB Pro fitness and figure competitor (physique category). She is the winner of Joe Weider's Olympia in 2013. Dana Linn was recruited to play soccer for West Chester University, as a starting defender and help lead her team to NCAA's and playof ... Show More
2h 34m
Oct 2023
The Abercrombie Guys: 3. The Marine
A former US marine turned reality TV star is invited to Mike Jeffries' mansion in the Hamptons. He dreams of being an Abercrombie and Fitch model, and he hopes to impress the fashion mogul. But the mood at the event begins to change and he says he soon realises this is not the in ... Show More
33m 9s
Jan 2025
Ancient Eroticism, Pagan Workouts & Body Ideals: History of the Gym
<p>It's January and (reluctant) thoughts turn to gym memberships, but what are the ancient origins of this phenomena?</p><br><p>From the naked workouts of Ancient Greece to the bodybuilders of the 19th century, a lot has influenced exercise culture over the centuries - and it's a ... Show More
40m 16s