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BBC Audio | World of Secrets | Dr Skin | Trailer

BBC News •
November 02, 2026 • 07:25 PM
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The ugly truth behind the early origins of retinol, now key to the modern beauty industry

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The creams, serums and pills that millions rely on today to make themselves younger have a dark past. In the 1950s in America, a doctor arrived in a prison in Philadelphia. His name was Albert Kligman. What he saw before him when he looked around the prison was not prisoners but test subjects. In his words “acres of skin”. He set up a testing programme and started working with some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in America. But his commercial operation at the jail would stretch far beyond cosmetics...

Dr Skin is a Samizdat Audio production for the BBC World Service.

Commissioning senior producers: Anne Dixey and Sarah Green

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