ShortHand: The Unabomber vs Forensic Linguistics

Ted Kaczynski’s 18-year campaign of domestic terrorism was the most expensive FBI investigation in its history. Bombs went off seemingly at random, across the US and sometimes years apart. After almost two decades, investigators were still at a loss. But when the Unabomber sent his 35,000-word manifesto to national newspapers, the FBI turned to one of the most unlikely branches of criminal investigation out there: forensic linguistics. This is the story of how word choice, syntax and even the subtleties of a person’s accent have been used through the years to bring killers to justice. Become a patron: Patreon Order a copy of the book here (US & Canada): Order on Wellesley Books Order on Amazon.com Order a copy of the book here (UK, Ireland, Europe, NZ, Aus): Order on Amazon.co.uk Order on Foyles Follow us on social media: Instagram Twitter Visit our website: Website Sources: https://www.thecritegal.com/post/the-unabomber-case-foundation-of-forensic-linguistics https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/23/words-on-trial https://www.npr.org/2017/08/22/545122205/fbi-profiler-says-linguistic-work-was-pivotal-in-capture-of-unabomber?t=1655714817892 https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/25/us/lobbyist-is-killed-in-letter-bombing-tied-to-15-others.html https://www.netflix.com/title/81002216 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm http://www.rogershuy.com/pdf/Linguistic_Profiling.pdf https://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/DARE/profiling/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjFtIg-nLAA See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.