Sebastian Junger, Journalist, Documentary Filmmaker, Author of Freedom

New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger discusses his latest book, Freedom, his advocacy on behalf of veterans, and reflections on his previous works and his time covering the War in Afghanistan. 

On his time as a journalist covering the Afghan resistance to the Taliban before 9/11: "And as soon as you have a purpose, you can get some distance from your fear.  And there’s a great blessing in that. And we need people to be able to do that because some things are scary and dangerous, and they have to be done."

On the universal value of working cooperatively as a group: "My understanding of startups is that early on in these amazing endeavors that sort of revolutionize our thinking about many things and change the economy, change the society, change the marketplace – that early on in these startups, the six people that are doing it, they’re all working equally hard. And it doesn’t matter who’s officially president, and who’s this or who’s that. They’re all putting in their blood, sweat, and tears into this endeavor. And that egalitarianism in the early days of any endeavor is really intoxicating."

 

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This episode was recorded on November 9, 2021.