EXCLUSIVE: Apple is launching Project Unabom – a podcast series about serial bomber Ted Kaczynski.
The series is the latest original audio series for the tech giant, which has been dipping its toes into original podcasts with shows such as Run, Bambi, Run, Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy, Hooked and The Line.
The eight-part series, which launches on June 27, tells the story of Ted Kaczynski, the serial bomber who terrorized the nation for 18 years, and a family coming to grips with just what was happening inside a tiny cabin in the Montana woods.
Based on new original reporting, the podcast takes a look at what actually happened during those 18 years—what drove Kaczynski to his dystopian vision of people overrun by technology and why does it feel so familiar? And why did it take nearly two decades to catch him?
Kaczynski, a former maths professor, killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide bombing campaign against people he believed to be advancing modern technology and the destruction of the environment. He was the subject of the longest and most expensive investigation by the FBI up to that point. He was arrested in 1996 after his brother, David, recognized the writing in his manifesto and was given eight consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole in 1998.
Project Unabom is hosted by journalist Eric Benson, who wrote and produced series including Suspect and Witnessed: Borderlands. It is produced by Pineapple Street Studios, the company behind series including Amazon original 9/12, 70 Over 70 and Spotify series Wind of Change.
The move by Apple comes as competition between the podcast platforms intensifies; Spotify is rolling out a number of exclusive, original shows, as is Amazon and sister company Audible.
