Seeking Freedom and Finding Your Place in the World with Sebastian Junger

On today’s show, I talk to the New York Times bestselling author, Oscar-nominated documentarian, and front-line war journalist, Sebastian Junger about freedom - what does it mean, how do we get it, and what’s the true cost of being free.

Welcome to We Do Hard Things, the show about facing fears, taking big risks, and chasing down dreams.

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Sebastian Junger was born in Belmont, Massachusetts, the son of Ellen Sinclair, a painter, and Miguel Chapero Junger, a physicist. Born in Dresden, Germany, and of Russian, Austrian, Spanish, and Italian descent, his father immigrated to the United States during World War II to escape persecution because of paternal Jewish ancestry and to study engineering at MIT. Junger grew up in the Belmont neighborhood, which he learned was the territory of the Boston Strangler. He was later inspired to write A Death in Belmont (2006).

He is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of THE PERFECT STORM, FIRE, A DEATH IN BELMONT, WAR, TRIBE and FREEDOM. As an award-winning journalist, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a special correspondent at ABC News, he has covered major international news stories around the world, and has received both a National Magazine Award and a Peabody Award. Junger is also a documentary filmmaker whose debut film "Restrepo", a feature-length documentary (co-directed with Tim Hetherington), was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

In this episode, Sebastian and Mark talk about why he and 3 friends spent the better part of a year dodging railroad cops, sleeping under bridges, cooking over fires, and drinking from creeks as they walked 400 miles of railway lines up the east coast - all in an effort to face a hard thing together

→ Connect with Sebastian Junger on IG @sebastianjungerofficial

→ Connect with Mark Drager on IG @mark.drager

0:00 | Introduction
1:29 | Why does he have a flip phone?
3:05 | Why does the book FREEDOM seems different from other books?
8:54 | How do you work through the idea of freedom and untrapping oneself?
14:00 | What are the threats of freedom in society?
20:02 | How did he get connected to make his chosen career happen?
23:36 | As you approach your endeavors, how much time do you spend seeking something to support the idea that you have?
28:06 | How often do you challenge yourself?
32:41 | Why do leaders need to sacrifice for the people?
35:06 | At the end of the day, what does it all come down to?