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 his life, it’s time for Dillon and the steroid dealing ring to face the music.In the fallout from the investigators’ operation, things get ugly. Loyalties are tested, and Dillon’s life could be on the line. News of what was then the biggest steroid bust in American history travels across the US and beyond, and host Natalia Mehlman Petrzela explores how it lay the groundwork for an anti-steroid movement that’s about to transform the way these drugs are policed and regulated. Featuring William Dillon, Mike Zumpano, and Professor Daniel Rosenke, Professor of Sports Studies and Stirling College-Chengdu UniversityPresenter 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 ClarkeA Novel production for BBC Radio 4Featuring clips from: Interview with Philip Halpern - Professor Daniel Rosenke CBS Evening News, 1987 - CBS Panorama: Dying to Win: Drugs in Sport - BBC1 Senate hearing into steroid use by professional athletes - Senator Joe Biden, US Pool, Associated Press ArchiveEpisodes 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

Om Podcasten

Peak Danger is Season 2 of Extreme, the BBC podcast about those who chase the impossible... who strive for superhuman status and refuse to accept that life has any limits. Every season tells an unforgettable, action-packed story about people who’ve pushed their minds and bodies to the very edge – but at what cost?A mountain of trouble...In August 2008, around 30 climbers took on K2. Over 2 disastrous days, 11 of those people would lose their lives. This is the story of what really happened.Sitting on the border between China and Pakistan, K2 is a perfect pyramid that pierces through the clouds. It looks like a kid’s drawing of a mountain…but this terrifying peak is anything but child’s play.Newlyweds Cecilie Skog and her husband Rolf Bae loved climbing mountains almost as much as they loved one another. In the summer of 2008, they embarked on a honeymoon like no other, when they decided to climb K2. What happened next would change their lives and the lives of everyone around them…forever.A devastating avalanche scatters high altitude climbers across K2’s steep slopes. Life and death rescue missions quickly get underway. Who can be saved… before time runs out?Historian and podcaster Natalia Mehlman Petrzela returns with a sky-high story of human vs nature, and of survival against all the odds.What does it really take to push yourself to the brink of human possibility? How does it feel to stand with the whole world at your feet? And is it ever worth risking death… in order to feel alive?