The Tim Ferriss Show

#513: Sebastian Junger — Seeking Freedom, Near-Death Experiences, and Reordering Your Place in the World

May 11, 2021

Sebastian Junger, a New York Times bestselling author and co-director of the acclaimed documentary "Restrepo," shares profound insights on life's meaning and freedom. He recounts a life-altering near-death experience, reshaping his views on mortality and fatherhood. Junger explores the duality of humanity, discussing compassion and violence in history. He also examines the complexity of societal freedom and individual responsibility, advocating for civic engagement and ethical leadership as essential to true liberty.

01:45:13

Episode guests

Sebastian Junger

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Quick takeaways

The podcast explores the intertwining of personal experiences with historical events to provide a diverse narrative on freedom and oppression.

It delves into the prevalence of violence across cultures, highlighting the complex interplay between violence, heroism, and human nature.

Deep dives

Combining Life Experiences with History

The speaker discusses how he combined his experiences on the railroad with historical concepts to create a book that intertwines real-life situations with abstract ideas. By interweaving personal experiences with historical events, the book aims to provide readers with a diverse yet connected narrative that offers both entertainment and insight into how life on the frontier intertwined with the concepts of freedom and oppression.

Evolutionary Parenting

01:26

Learning to Read and Farm: The New Callings of Warriors

01:26

The British Legacy of Parenting: Co-Sleeping and Physical Contact with Children

01:51

What Was It Like After That?

02:58

Intro

6min

Facing Death and Embracing Life

23min

The Evolving Warrior Ethos

8min

Exploring Enlightenment Through Cultural Transformation

3min

Exploring Freedom: Strategies and Resistance

13min

The Last Patrol: A Journey of Freedom

20min

Exploring Freedom and Responsibility

26min

Beyond Self: Contributions and Innovations

6min

Sebastian Junger — Seeking Freedom, Near-Death Experiences, and Reordering Your Place in the World | Brought to you by Mack Weldon premium men's basics, Wealthfront automated investing, and Oura smart ring wearable for personalized sleep and health insights. More on all three below.

Sebastian Junger (@sebastianjunger) is the New York Times bestselling author of Tribe, War, A Death in Belmont, Fire, and The Perfect Storm, and co-director of the documentary film Restrepo, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is also the winner of a Peabody Award and the National Magazine Award for Reporting. He’s based in New York City and Cape Cod. His newest book is titled Freedom.

For more Sebastian, you can find our first conversation from 2016 at tim.blog/sebastian.

Please enjoy!

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.