El Podcast

E38: The Unabomber Was My Neighbor

Episode Summary

Jamie Gehring grew up next door to Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. She shares what it was like living near him, the shock of his arrest, and how her memoir Madman in the Woods explores the personal and emotional fallout for her family and community.

Episode Notes

Jamie Gehring, author of Madman in the Woods, shares her chilling firsthand account of growing up next to Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, revealing untold stories of proximity, grief, and the enduring ripple effects of domestic terrorism.

Guest Bio: Jamie Gehring is the author of Madman in the Woods: Life Next Door to the Unabomber, a true crime memoir detailing her childhood growing up in Lincoln, Montana—mere yards from Ted Kaczynski’s cabin. A speaker and writer, Gehring weaves personal narrative with investigative research, offering a unique insider perspective on one of America’s most infamous domestic terrorists.

Topics Discussed:

• The history and crimes of Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber)
• Jamie’s childhood experiences living next door to Kaczynski
• The FBI investigation and how her family was involved
• Kaczynski’s isolation, psychology, and lack of social connection
• The role of MK-Ultra and Harvard in shaping his worldview
• His Manifesto and surprising accuracy about technological anxiety
• Reflections on grief, trauma, and the unintended legacy of violence
• The ethics of humanizing a killer
• Behind the scenes of writing Madman in the Woods
• Kaczynski’s death and its emotional impact

Best Quotes:

“No one—no one—suspected the quiet hermit next door was the most wanted domestic terrorist in American history.”

“When he told my dad he lived on $200 a year, we didn’t think twice. He was just eccentric. Not a killer.”

“You can’t talk about Ted Kaczynski without confronting the unsettling truth that he saw parts of our future before we did.”

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