Ted Kaczynski was 16 when he entered Harvard University as a mathematics prodigy.
asserted
he → enter → prodigy
Years later, he would become known as the Unabomber, after carrying out a bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others between 1978 and 1995.
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that → know → 1978
Netflix’s Unabomber directed by Janus Metz, explores Kaczynski’s life before and during the events that led to his capture.
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that → direct → capture
Jacob Tremblay plays the younger Kaczynski, while Russell Crowe portrays Harvard professor Henry Murray, Shailene Woodley plays FBI agent Joanne Miller and Annabelle Wallis portrays Christiana Morgan, Murray’s academic collaborator.
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Wallis → play → Morgan
“We decided to explore Ted Kaczynski's time at Harvard, as it stood out as a formative and fragile period in his life,” Metz tells TIME.
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Metz → decide → TIME
“We wanted to understand who this young man was up until he began his descent into a darker and deadlier path.”
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he → want → path
Born in Chicago in 1942, Kaczynski demonstrated exceptional mathematical ability from an early age.
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Kaczynski → bear → age
He entered Harvard at 16 before continuing his studies at the University of Michigan, where he earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in mathematics.
asserted
he → enter → mathematics
At 25, he became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
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he → become → California
But he left the university in 1969 and eventually moved to a remote cabin near Lincoln, Mont., where he lived without electricity or running water.
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he → leave → electricity
Kaczynski became increasingly isolated from society.
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Kaczynski → become → society
He spent much of his time reading, hunting and growing plants, while developing increasingly strong opposition to modern technology and industrial society.
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He → spend → technology
In 1978, Kaczynski began the bombing campaign that would eventually span nearly two decades.
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that → begin → decades
His first known attack involved a homemade device mailed to a professor at Northwestern University.
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attack → know → University
It exploded when opened by a campus security officer, causing minor injuries.
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It → explode → injuries
In November 1979, Kaczynski placed a device aboard an American Airlines flight, causing smoke inhalation injuries and forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
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Kaczynski → place → landing
Over the years, his targets included universities, airlines and people he associated with technology and the modern industrial system.
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he → include → technology
The FBI used the case identifier UNABOM, short for “University and Airline Bombing,” before Kaczynski’s identity was known.
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identity → use → Bombing
The media later used it to name him the “Unabomber.”
asserted
media → use → him
Between 1978 and 1995, 16 attacks were linked to the case, killing Hugh Scrutton, Thomas Mosser and Gilbert Murray and injuring 23 people.
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attacks → link → people
Kaczynski’s identity remained a mystery for years.
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identity → remain → years
That changed in 1995, when he sent a lengthy manifesto titled “Industrial Society and Its Future” to The Washington Post and The New York Times and demanded that it be published.
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it → change → Post
The approximately 35,000-word text laid out his opposition to modern technological society and explored ideas about human freedom, autonomy, and the effects of industrialization.
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text → lay → industrialization
The FBI supported the decision to publish the manifesto in the hope that someone familiar with Kaczynski’s writing would recognize it.
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someone → support → it
That person turned out to be his brother David’s wife, Linda Patrik.
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person → turn → ?
After reading the manifesto, Patrik noticed similarities between its ideas and the writing she had previously seen from Kaczynski.
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she → read → Kaczynski
She brought her concerns to David, who initially struggled to believe that his brother could be responsible for the attacks.
uncertain
brother → bring → attacks
David eventually examined the manifesto alongside an essay Kaczynski had written years earlier.
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Kaczynski → examine → essay
The similarities in their language and ideas were striking enough for him to contact the FBI.
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him → strike → FBI
The material gave investigators a crucial lead.
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material → give → lead
After years of attacks and an extensive investigation, Kaczynski was now directly connected to the manifesto and the writings that could help identify him as the person behind the Unabomber case.
uncertain
that → connect → case
How was Kaczynski caught?
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Kaczynski → catch → ?
On April 3, 1996, nearly two decades after the first attack, federal agents surrounded Kaczynski’s remote cabin near Lincoln, Mont., and arrested him.
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agents → surround → him
The search of the property gave investigators a trove of evidence.
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search → give → evidence
Inside, they found bomb-making materials, a typewriter, coded diary entries and approximately 40,000 pages of handwritten notes, along with a completed bomb.
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they → find → bomb
Kaczynski later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
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Kaczynski → plead → parole
He remained incarcerated until his death in 2023 at age 81.
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He → remain → age
While in prison, Kaczynski was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia by a psychiatrist who interviewed him.
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who → diagnose → him
He rejected the idea that he was mentally incapable of understanding his actions.
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he → reject → actions
In a 1999 interview with TIME, he said he was certain he was sane.
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he → say → TIME
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
