The Unabomber | In the Woods | 2
American Scandal
Audible
4.5 • 19.6K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2020
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ted Kaczynski falls in love. But soon, he's shocked by some news—and retreats into the wilderness in Montana. It's there that he pushes forward with a deadly bombing campaign.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to American Scandal add-free on Amazon music, download the app today. |
| 0:07.0 | A listener note, this episode contains violent imagery and may not be suitable for younger audiences. |
| 0:13.0 | It's a late afternoon in the summer of 1969 in a forest in Northern Canada. The shadows have grown long and the evening animals have begun their chattering. |
| 0:34.0 | But everything goes quiet as a pair of boots crunch on the forest floor. David Kaczynski hikes forward along the path then stops and gasses across the dense forest. |
| 0:44.0 | It feels serene, perfectly still. David bends down and picks up a pine cone. Then there's a crunch of another pair of boots and David looks over his shoulder. |
| 0:54.0 | His brother Ted is approaching and as usual he's got a scowl on his face. David doesn't understand it. For days now the two brothers have been on a road trip. They've been hiking in forests and David feels refreshed and full of life. But Ted's been full of nothing but complaints. |
| 1:10.0 | They took this trip so Ted could find some land which he planned to buy. He said he wanted something remote but he keeps finding something wrong with every parcel. |
| 1:18.0 | First there were the power lines which reminded him of technology. Then he heard the drone of an airplane and got angry again. It seems like he just can't be satisfied. |
| 1:28.0 | David can tell that for Ted this has become a larger problem. Increasingly he's grown resentful toward any reminder of humans' society. That's why he quit his job at Berkeley. |
| 1:38.0 | And that's why he keeps lecturing David, telling him how to live his life. But today David has made a decision. He knows that he's only a college student and far younger than Ted. But still he's going to try and change Ted's mind. He's going to convince him somehow to give up his extreme views. |
| 1:56.0 | As usual though, David knows he'll have to wait until Ted is done lecturing him. You know, mom and dad, they've been corrupted. They believe in all the usual trappings of family, house, things, things, more things. They never have the courage to do what I'm going to do. |
| 2:12.0 | And that's by some land. They live free. Maybe here, maybe Montana. But you should think about it. Don't be like them. |
| 2:19.0 | Ted, the woods nature, it's all pretty, but seriously, how are you going to make a living? You're selling mom. Always worrying about money. Yeah, but you have to eat. I'll find a way. You're just going to be alone? I don't know if I could live without women. |
| 2:34.0 | Ted stops and squins it, David. Right away, David knows he has said something he shouldn't have. Ted is 27, but he still has almost no experience with dating. And David knows it's a sore subject. Sorry, what I meant to say was that are you dating someone? Well, there is someone named Linda. But I've never been able to tell her how I feel. And now she's dating someone else. |
| 2:57.0 | David can feel Ted's eye staring at him. David, are you a virgin? Yeah, I am. Me too. The brothers stare at the ground silently. But a moment later, Ted starts laughing. And then David laughs too. You can feel the tension beginning to break. |
| 3:13.0 | You know what, David? Forget women. I don't have our backs. We need to watch out for each other. Soon you're going to graduate college. You should join me. We can live off the land. I'll build two cabins. Yeah, Ted. We got to talk about this. Going on a road trip, that's fine at all, but you've got to get serious. You can't just live out in the wilderness. And just be all on your own. Well, that's what I'm saying. It would be the two of us. We wouldn't be alone. No, you're not hearing me. You don't have to be like mom and dad, but you can't live like an animal. |
| 3:42.0 | Just get a job you can put up with by some land here, Montana, wherever, and go there on vacation, just like everyone else does. |
| 3:50.0 | Vacation. But I am not everyone else. I don't want to be like everyone else. I'm done with this conversation. |
| 3:59.0 | Ted takes off down the wooded path. David watches him. He feels deflaid because he knows Ted is right. Ted doesn't fit in and never has. At that moment, David remembers something that happened when they were kids. |
| 4:13.0 | Their dad caught a wild rabbit and the other kids from around the block gathered around to take a look. But when Ted saw it, he began to shriek and demanded that his dad let the rabbit go. |
| 4:23.0 | Ted was almost hyperventilating and everyone stared at him like it was a freak. Back day, David learned an important lesson. He would always be the younger brother. But he'd also have to take care of Ted no matter what happened. |
| 4:37.0 | And now, as Ted rounds a corner, David hopes and prays that it's not too late that he can still help Ted get his life on the right track. |
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