Revisited: The Unabomber and his ongoing influence | US crime

This episode originally ran on Monday 19 June 2023.

Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski died at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, last year at the age of 81. Known as the “Unabomber”, Kaczynski waged a 17-year bombing campaign from an isolated shack in the Montana wilderness before finally being caught in 1996. One of those who helped apprehend Kaczynski was former FBI agent Jim Fitzgerald. He tells Michael Safi that the arrest was only possible following the publication of the bomber’s manifesto in the Washington Post. It was those words that were recognised by Kaczynski’s brother, who took his concerns to the authorities.

But the publication of that manifesto had other consequences. It has inspired copycat attacks and is claimed as an influence by others who have gone on to commit atrocities around the world.

It begins with the words: “The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.” And then goes on to detail Kaczynski’s belief in the need for violent rebellion against modern technology and those who help develop it. The billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted “he might not be wrong”.