Journalist Sebastian Junger Asks What ‘Freedom’ Means

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 6 July 2021

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sebastian Junger walked 400 miles from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh, using railroad lines to follow the footsteps of America’s first colonizers. Analyzing what freedom meant to the settlers and indigenous people of this land centuries ago and what it means to its inhabitants today, Junger describes his trek in his new book, “Freedom.” “We failed to come up with a single moral or legal justification for what we were doing other than the dilute principle that we weren't causing harm so we should be able to keep doing it,” he writes. Junger joins us to talk about his journey, “Freedom” and the tension between doing whatever you want and the bonds of community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQIWED podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a wellness resort 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:07.2	Summer packages of three, four, or seven nights include hiking, mindfulness, and culinary adventures with farm-fresh ingredients.
0:15.0	Rancho LaPuerta.com.
0:17.0	Greetings, boomtown.
0:18.4	The Xfinity Wi-Fi is booming!
0:20.7	Xfinity combines the power of internet and mobile.
0:23.9	So we've all got lightning fast speeds at home and on the go!
0:27.4	Learn more at Xfinity.com.
0:29.3	Restrictions apply.
0:30.0	Xfinity Internet required.
0:31.1	Actual speeds vary.
0:33.3	From KQED.
0:34.3	Thank you. From KQED.
0:49.3	From KQED, public radio in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:50.2	Freedom.
0:59.0	It's a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially at this time of year, around Independence Day. But what does it actually mean to be free? Award-winning journalist and documentarian Sebastian Younger set off on a series of surreptitious long walks along northeastern
1:04.3	rail lines, maybe as a kind of ritual healing for a life lived in and around war. But what he
1:10.3	found himself turning over as the miles fell under his feet
1:12.9	was how you could live freely in a modern society
1:15.5	where the bonds of commerce and community have grown ever more complex and multifarious.
1:21.0	The result of all this moving meditation is his new book, Freedom,
1:24.1	a hike through one man's conclusions about manhood, violence, inequality,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.