Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Vanessa Heggie and comedian Darren Harriott to learn about the bodybuilding boom of the 19th and 20th centuries. The latter part of the 19th century saw the beginning of a fitness craze where the seeds of the modern-day gym and fitness culture were sown. But physical fitness also tapped into other parts of the psyche of British society at the time. From concerns over the fighting fitness of the British army to the racist pseudoscience of eugenics, this novel leisure activity tells us a surprising amount about the societal and intellectual currents that existed in this period. For the full-length version of this episode, please look further back in the feed. Research by Caitlín Rankin-McCabe Written by Emma Nagouse, Caitlín Rankin-McCabe and Greg Jenner Produced by Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner Assistant Producer: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow Project Management: Isla Matthews Audio Producer: Steve Hankey You’re Dead To Me is a production by The Athletic for BBC Radio 4.
My name's Joe Wilkinson and I've managed to force Patrick Bamford to come on a podcast with me and he's gonna slowly fall in love with me.
Do you go to the tip?
Believe it or not, yeah, I do.
Do you go to the supermarket?
No.
You know when all the shirts started getting tight on the players and they started selling them like that to the general public?
Yeah, yeah.
And everyone looked like sausages.
My mate's a footballer with me, Patrick Bamford and Joe Wilkinson.
Listen on BBC Sounds, BBC sounds music radio podcasts.
Hello and welcome to you're dead to me, the radio four comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
My name is Greg Jenner.
I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster.
And today we are lunging in our leopard print hot pants, tensing our abs and flexing our biceps as we bulk up on the early history of bodybuilding.
And joining me to get historically hench are two very special guests in history corner.
She's associate professor in the history of science and medicine at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Applied Health Research.
You may have read her long running science column in the Guardian newspaper, or her recent book, higher and colder, on the physiology of extreme exploration.
It's Professor Vanessa Hegge.
Welcome, Vanessa.
Thanks so much for inviting me, Greg.