61. Unabomber 1: How far are technophobes willing to go?

From 1978 to 1995, Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, built and mailed a series of homemade bombs, killing three people and injuring many more.

Kaczynski lived alone in a cabin in the woods, in Lincoln, Montana and documented his ‘failures’ and ‘successes’ in code, in a personal journal. His targets were university professors, technocrats and anyone seen to further, as he saw it, technological development.

In this episode of Bad People, Dr Julia Shaw and comedian Sofie Hagen unpick what motivated Kaczynski’s violent behaviour. It turns out that Kaczynski was inspired by French anarchist philosopher, Jacques Ellul, fears about technology. Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen reflect on their own “technophobia” and how it affects their lives.

Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and terrorism.

CREDITS Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen Producer: Louisa Field Assistant Producer: Simona Rata Music: Matt Chandler Editor: Rami Tzabar Academic Consultants for The Open University: Lara Frumkin and James Munro #BadPeople_BBC Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins

Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.