April 5, 1996: Technology, Violence, & the IRS - Open Lines

Art Bell broadcasts on Good Friday with a program spanning the Unabomber investigation, genetic engineering, and plans for international shortwave expansion. He reports that one of Theodore Kaczynski's manual typewriters appears to match the one used to type the Unabomber manifesto, and that hotel records show 25 visits to Helena coinciding with bombing incidents. Art Bell reflects on the manifesto's anti-technology message, acknowledging the Unabomber lived the austere life he preached while condemning the violent delivery of that message.

The broadcast takes up Marlon Brando's appearance on Larry King Live, where the actor urged genetic engineering research to remove violence from the human species. Art Bell questions whether eliminating the violence gene would also strip away passion, drive, jealousy, and ambition. Callers debate whether aggression is inseparable from the human spirit. A caller shares an unsolved murder story involving a schizophrenic brother, drawing parallels to the Unabomber family's agonizing decision to contact the FBI.

Art Bell announces an ambitious project to lease time on a former Eastern Bloc shortwave transmitter running a million watts or more, bouncing the signal via a mid-Atlantic satellite to bring the program to a global audience.