Before the interview, Art opens with unscreened phone lines as callers discuss the Virginia Tech aftermath and whether the government would reveal evidence of extraterrestrial contact. Art reads a report about astronomers detecting water in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet for the first time.
The Alpert interview covers his career prosecuting environmental crimes against major corporations including ExxonMobil, his work on MTBE gasoline contamination cases alongside the real Erin Brockovich, and how his legal instincts helped him survive the kidnapping and bring his captors to justice. Art and Alpert also discuss the broader state of environmental protection in the United States and the ongoing challenges of corporate pollution.
Key Moments
Tech-9 in the gut at 10th and 5th Avenue: Walking home in Greenwich Village after meeting a woman on the subway, Alpert feels a tug, spins around, and finds a Tech-9 machine pistol pressed into his stomach.
The accidental confession: I'm an assistant U.S. attorney: Alpert's business card forces him to reveal he's a federal prosecutor. The kidnappers' plan shifts and his odds of survival plummet.
Survival by politeness, not heroics: Alpert says he negotiated for his life by being polite and giving non-provoking answers, never threatening the kidnappers with his prosecutor status.
Held by a pimp and three teenage prostitutes: In the safehouse Alpert finds the leader is a criminal-justice student turned pimp, his apartment shared with three 16-year-old prostitutes who looked at the blindfolded prosecutor in shock.
We will kill your father by breaking every bone: Alpert reveals the worst threat: his father's business card was in his wallet, and the kidnappers said they would break every bone in his father's body if he didn't comply.