World Of Secrets

The day’s top stories from BBC News. Delivered twice a day on weekdays, daily at weekends.

It was the biggest gold discovery in history…until it wasn’t. In 1995, Canadian mining company Bre-X announced to the world it had found a significant amount of gold deep in the jungles of Indonesia. Stock prices soared as investors worldwide fought to stake their claim. But when Bre-X’s chief geologist mysteriously fell from a helicopter over the jungle, the story of the billion dollar discovery began to unravel. Nearly three decades later, no one has ever been held accountable. Now, host Suzanne Wilton takes listeners from the jungles of Indonesia to small town Alberta, Canada, to investigate what really happened and find out more about the man behind the biggest goldmine fraud of all time. Produced for the BBC World Service and CBC by BBC Scotland Productions. Please note, this series contains references to suicide and has some graphic content.

Brian Cox and Robin Ince host a witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists' eyes.

If you've ever yelled at someone on social media about, say, cancel culture or mask-wearing, then you are a soldier in the culture wars - those everyday battles for dominance between conflicting values. The acclaimed writer and podcaster Jon Ronson has seen friends swallowed up in them to the extent that it's ruined their lives. Jon was curious to learn how things fell apart, and so he went back into the history of the culture wars to find some of the origin stories: the pebbles thrown in the pond, creating the ripples that led us to where we are today. He had no idea what he'd find, but he's uncovered some extraordinary people and the strangest, yet most consequential tales.

The one big story. Making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, Monday to Friday, from the BBC. Episodes will be ready by 10:30 GMT. Host Katya Adler and our BBC teams guide you through one major global news story each episode. From Beijing to Boston, Baghdad to Bangalore, our unrivalled reach will take you beyond the headlines to help understand and explore what’s happening. The Global News Podcast brings you the latest updates and, on The Global Story, we will drill deep into a single story. From the climate emergency, to the burning questions around Artificial Intelligence, to the movements of money and markets, and the power of the ballot and the bullet. Katya Adler has been a BBC correspondent and editor for more than 25 years, covering conflicts in the Middle East, political and economic crises in Europe, and drug cartels in Mexico. The Global Story team would like to hear your stories and experiences on the issues that we’re covering on the podcast. Please get in touch: theglobalstory@bbc.com #TheGlobalStory and tell us your thoughts on what you would like us to talk about.

Muscle Men is season one of Extreme, the BBC podcast that knows no limits. Each action-packed season tells the story of people who've pushed themselves to the very edge of what's physically or mentally possible - and in doing so, have changed the world... 1980s Los Angeles. A young, amateur bodybuilder named William Dillon comes to California in search of the supersized American dream - to get absolutely jacked. But beneath the smell of sweat, pulsing disco beats, and the rhythmic clank of weights, there's a secret. Many of the bodybuilders and gym rats he meets are using steroids to achieve their pumped up physique. And if that's what it takes to make it big, Dillon's willing to do it too. But not only that, he's smart. He recognises there's money to be made from selling the promise that you can get ripped, quick. Dillon, along with the cult hero of the steroid underground - the 'steroid guru' Dan Duchaine - and David Jenkins, a Scottish Olympic medallist with a nose for business, will launch the largest illegal steroid dealing ring the USA had ever seen. As steroid use grips small-town gym-goers, pro bodybuilders and elite athletes, the cops, legislators and the world of international sport scrambles to crack down. Historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, presenter of hit podcast Welcome To Your Fantasy, reveals how the rise of America's fitness and gym-culture through the 20th century collided with the unregulated availability of steroids in the 1980s, transforming the way we see our bodies, and the lengths to which we'll go to in the pursuit of perfection. Presenter and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela Producer: Caroline Thornham Assistant Producer: Mo Ahmed Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Cheree Houston Sound Design and Mix by Nicholas Alexander and Daniel Kempson Original Music by SilverHawk Executive Producer: Max O'Brien Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Novel production for BBC Radio 4