We're Our Own Worst Enemy

About This Episode

Sal Amato has spent almost five decades in entertainment — he started as a kid actor in a 1978 Betty Crocker commercial, became one of the youngest members ever at Chicago's Second City, and has film and TV credits including The Untouchables, My Best Friend's Wedding, Chicago Overcoat, and Chicago Fire. On this episode he talks about his debut novel, Hidden Powers: Disclosure From Within, a political sci-fi thriller built around the alleged 1954 Eisenhower UFO meeting.

Sal traces his fascination with the unexplained back to childhood — Chariots of the Gods, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Star Wars — but he's quick to say the book isn't really about aliens. It's about tribalism, the algorithms and bots that keep us divided online, and the fact that people do more damage to each other than any outside force ever could. He also opens up about writing and revising the book while his mother was dying, and how his Second City improv training still shapes the way he writes and edits today.

Key Takeaways

1. His debut novel uses a real conspiracy theory as its launchpad. Hidden Powers: Disclosure From Within imagines what might actually have been discussed at the alleged 1954 Eisenhower meeting with extraterrestrials — and what it would have meant for a Cold War administration deciding whether, and how, to tell the public.
2. The book isn't really about aliens — it's about us. Sal says the story is ultimately about "the damage we do to ourselves," pointing out that in the book, and in life, people cause each other more harm than any outside force ever could.
3. He blames the algorithms, not just the people, for our divisions. Sal argues that social platforms are loaded with bots and manufactured engagement built to generate ad revenue, and that this manufactured outrage is what keeps people tribal and unwilling to question their own side.
4. His Second City training still shapes how he writes. Sal got into Second City at seventeen (with a fake ID) after working on films like Bad Boys and Doctor Detroit, and he says improv's "power of yes" mindset is exactly how he approaches a first draft — keep the door open, keep building, and only later learn when to stop editing.
5. He wrote through his mother's death. Sal's mom passed away on New Year's Eve without getting to read the finished book. He processed the loss by burying himself in work, including finishing the manuscript, and later realized that stepping away and coming back with fresh eyes made the book stronger.
6. He beta-tested the book with 70 to 80 friends before finalizing it. Sal asked readers not to hold back, and says the near-universal reaction was surprise that the story isn't really the alien thriller they expected — it's about fanaticism and how hard it is to break free of the "team" you've already picked.