Ep. 708: A Near Death Experience with Sebastian Junger

Published: 2025-05-26 09:00:00

Description Show ▼

Steven Rinella talks with Sebastian Junger, Brody Henderson, Randall Williams, Corinne Schneider, and Phil Taylor.

Topics discussed: In My Time of Dying, The Perfect Storm, Fire, and Sebastian’s other books; climbing trees; embedding with U.S. troops in Afghanistan; dangerous work; swordfish long liners; when you think you’re about to be executed; massive internal bleeding and going into shock; the black void and near death experiences; defining “sacred” as preserving human dignity; consciousness; and more.

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Referenced Books

The Perfect Storm

by Sebastian Junger

Steve mentions Sebastian's huge international bestseller about a commercial sword fishing boat that never returned, which was later made into a film with George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

Referenced at 00:01:43

Fire

by Sebastian Junger

Listed among Sebastian Junger's other works during the introduction.

Referenced at 00:01:52

Tribe

by Sebastian Junger

Listed among Sebastian Junger's other works during the introduction.

Referenced at 00:01:52

War

by Sebastian Junger

Sebastian mentions writing his book 'War' about soldiers in Afghanistan, discussing how he wanted to make work that made people understand what it was like to be an American soldier.

Referenced at 00:14:13

In My Time of Dying

by Sebastian Junger

Sebastian's latest book that came out last year, which contemplates death and the afterlife after a near death experience.

Referenced at 00:01:38

Working

by Studs Terkel

Sebastian mentions this book as 'a great book' that was 'an oral history of work' when discussing his focus on dangerous work, noting it wasn't specifically focused on dangerous work.

Referenced at 00:11:28

My War Gone By, I Miss It So

by Anthony Loyd

Speaker 4 mentions reading this book about 15 years ago, describing it as having a very similar story to Sebastian's experiences, with scenes in hotel rooms. Sebastian responds that he met the author in Bosnia in 1993.

Referenced at 00:19:44

A Death in Belmont

by Sebastian Junger

Sebastian describes this book about a murder case involving Al DeSalvo (the Boston Strangler) who was working at his parents' house when he was six months old. It's described as 'a cold case who done it.'

Referenced at 01:44:25

Freedom

by Sebastian Junger

Sebastian describes this book as an examination of successful underdog groups and how they defeat greater powers, discussing why smaller groups can win against larger adversaries.

Referenced at 01:47:30