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In the lobby of Caesar鈥檚 Palace Hotel in Las Vegas there鈥檚 a modern-day shrine to a 2000 year old adonis - complete with perfectly square pecs. Michelangelo鈥檚 David. 17 feet of white marble beefcake. This is an ideal that bodybuilders can only aspire to. And in the 80s bodybuilding scene, a particular image of perfection emerges and begins to transform what American culture thinks of as a desirable man - one that鈥檚 bulked up and defined.

But in the 1980s, the supersized muscular body isn鈥檛 approved of for everyone. Host, historian and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela explores how strong, muscular women鈥檚 bodies were policed, while gay men were excluded from mainstream gym culture, instead forging a strong and vital subculture.

In this atmosphere, for many, steroids seem to offer the perfect quick fix route to 鈥減erfection鈥�. And there鈥檚 money to be made - the steroid ring built by Dillon, Duchaine and Jenkins is making money hand over fist. But can this Supersized American Dream last forever? Someone is watching them鈥�

Featuring former owner of Gold鈥檚 Gym Ed Connors, former bodybuilders William Dillon, Joe Troccoli and Sandra Blackie, personal trainer and author of Muscle Boys: Gay Gym Culture Erick Alvarez, and Dr Harrison Pope, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

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 鲍鱼tv Radio 4

Featuring clips from:
It Happened One Night - Frank Capra, Columbia Pictures
Remarks on Physical Fitness, 30 March 1962 - President John J Kennedy, White House Audio Collection
Bob Paris interview - The Oprah Winfrey Show, Harpo Studios

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 鲍鱼tv Sounds https://bbc.in/3ybDcHO