Sebastian Junger

Junger was born in Belmont, Massachusetts, the son of Ellen Sinclair, a painter, and Miguel Chapero Junger, a physicist.{{cite news |last=Wood |first=Gaby |title=A writer with a nose for trouble |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/apr/16/fiction.crimebooks |work=The Observer |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=April 16, 2006}} Born in Dresden, Germany, and of Russian, Austrian, Spanish, Italian, and Jewish 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/afterthestorm/ |title=Sebastian Junger – After the Storm – Interview |date=July 2001 |access-date=December 6, 2001 |website=National Geographic Adventure Magazine |publisher=Internet Archive: Wayback Machine |last=Shnayerson |first=Michael |archive-date=August 18, 2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818064335/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/afterthestorm/ }}{{Cite book |title=American Men and Women of Science: Consultants, 1977 |last=Cattell |first=Jacques |publisher=Jacques Cattell Press, R.R. Bowker Company |year=1977 |isbn=0835210170 |page=404}} 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).

Junger graduated from Concord Academy in 1980{{Cite book |title=100 Most Popular Nonfiction Authors: Biographical Sketches and Bibliographies |first=Bernard A. |last=Drew |isbn=978-1-59158-487-2 |publisher=Libraries Unlimited |location=Westport |year=2007 |page=[https://archive.org/details/100mostpopularno0000drew/page/185 185] |url=https://archive.org/details/100mostpopularno0000drew/page/185 }} and received a bachelor of arts degree from Wesleyan University in cultural anthropology in 1984.{{cite book |last=Junger |first=Sebastian |title=Fire |year=2001 |publisher=Wheeler Pub. |location=Rockland, MA |isbn=978-1587241246 |pages=dustjacket |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fire00jung_1 }}{{cite web |title=Sebastian Junger '84 Joins Returning Soldiers on Adventure Trips |url=http://wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/news-20111213-sebastian-junger |publisher=Wesleyan University |access-date=November 5, 2012}} As an accomplished long-distance runner, he spent a summer training on the Navajo Nation reservation and wrote his thesis on Navajo long-distance running and its traditional, pre-Columbian roots.{{cite news |date=September 2010 |title=The Path of Most Resistance |url=https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/path-most-resistance/ |work=Outside Magazine |access-date=June 23, 2022}}

Junger began working as a freelance writer, often trying to publish articles on topics that interested him. He often took other jobs for temporary periods of time to support himself. Researching dangerous occupations as a topic, he became deeply engaged in learning about commercial fishing and its hazards.

In 1997, with the success of his non-fiction book, The Perfect Storm, Junger was touted as a new Hemingway.{{cite magazine |last=Nashawaty |first=Chris |title=Sebastian Junger Goes to 'War' |url=https://ew.com/article/2010/05/14/sebastian-junger-goes-war/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=May 14, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://cityfile.com/profiles/sebastian-junger |title=Cityfile: Sebastian Junger |date=2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017191407/http://cityfile.com/profiles/sebastian-junger |archive-date=October 17, 2009}} His work stimulated renewed interest in adventure non-fiction. The book received a large pre-publication deal for movie rights, was on the New York Times bestseller list for a year in the hardback edition, and for two years in paperback.

In 2000 Junger published an article "The Forensics of War," in Vanity Fair. He received a National Magazine Award for this. He continues to work there as a contributing editor.{{cite web |last=Junger |first=Sebastian |title=Sebastian Junger, Contributing Editor |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/contributors/sebastian-junger |work=Vanity Fair |access-date=March 11, 2011}} In early 2007, he reported from Nigeria on the subject of blood oil.{{cite web |last=Junger |first=Sebastian |title=Blood Oil |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/junger200702 |work=Vanity Fair |date=January 3, 2007 |access-date=September 10, 2010}} With British photographer Tim Hetherington, Junger created The Other War: Afghanistan, produced with ABC News and Vanity Fair. It was shown on Nightline in September 2008 and the two men shared the DuPont-Columbia Award for broadcast journalism for the work.{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2009/01/dupont-jury-honors-sebastian-junger-tim-hetherington |title=DuPont Jury Honors Sebastian Junger, Tim Hetherington |date=January 14, 2009 |access-date=December 5, 2014 |magazine=Vanity Fair |last=Sun |first=Feifei}}

His book War (2010) revolves around a platoon of the US Army 173rd Airborne stationed in Afghanistan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.buzztab.com/information/war-another-book-best-seller-sebastian-junger/ |title=War, Another Book by the Best Seller Sebastian Junger |date=May 12, 2010 |access-date=December 6, 2014 |website=BuzzTab |publisher=Internet Archive: Wayback Machine |archive-date=May 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520013224/http://www.buzztab.com/information/war-another-book-best-seller-sebastian-junger/ }}{{cite web |title=Combat High |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/30/combat-high.html |work=Newsweek |date=May 9, 2010 |access-date=September 10, 2010}}

Junger, along with Hetherington, used material gathered in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan for the book and to create a related documentary feature Restrepo. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won the Grand Jury Prize for a domestic documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. On April 27, 2011, Junger was presented with the "Leadership in Entertainment Award" by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) for his work on Restrepo.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110427023022/http://iava.org/blog/photojournalist-tim-hetherington-remembered-honored-sebastian-junger-oscar-nominated-%E2%80%9Crestrepo%E2%80%9D "IAVA to Honor Restrepo Directors Sebastian Junger, Tim Hetherington at Heroes Celebration"].

Junger's book, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging, was published in 2016.

Junger has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans.

His latest work Freedom, on the American ideal of the same name, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2021.{{Cite book|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Freedom/Sebastian-Junger/9781982153410#|isbn=978-1982153410|title=Freedom|year=2021|last1=Junger|first1=Sebastian|publisher=Simon and Schuster }}

While much of Junger's writing is subjective and participatory, he strives to maintain a neutral point of view and avoids contemporary political discussion, especially around frequent subjects like economic inequality and war. In 2021, he cited his "favorite quote" in an interview with The Guardian: "Journalists don't tell people what to think. They tell them what to think about."{{cite news |last=Pengelly |first=Martin |date=May 23, 2021 |title= 'I almost died last summer': Sebastian Junger on life, death and his new book Freedom|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/23/sebastian-junger-freedom-the-last-patrol-war-restrepo-new-york-times-review |work=The Guardian |access-date=June 18, 2022}}

Junger lives in New York City and Cape Cod with his wife and their two children.{{cite news |last=Pavia |first=Will |date=2024-05-11 |title=I told the doctor, 'You've got to hurry. You're losing me' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/sebastian-junger-memoir-in-my-time-of-dying-interview-9lpmldtgs |work=The Times |issn=0140-0460 |access-date=2024-05-12 |url-access=subscription}} His first daughter was born in 2016 when he was age 55. Previously, Junger was married to writer Daniela Petrova. They divorced in 2014.{{cite web|first1=Daniela|last1=Petrova|access-date=2021-12-20|title=Love, Loss & the Oscars|url=https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/news/a6580/sebastian-junger-story/|date=25 October 2011|website=Marie Claire Magazine}}{{cite news|first1=Barbara|last1=McMahon|access-date=2021-12-20|title=Sebastian Junger on life after the warzone|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/sebastian-junger-on-life-after-the-warzone-j52nc3fvhq5|issn=0140-0460|newspaper=The Times}} He is an atheist.{{Cite magazine|last=Cocuzzo|first=Robert|date=2016-11-25|title=Sebastian Junger Is Done Talking About War|url=https://www.outsideonline.com/2071316/sebastian-junger-done-talking-about-war|magazine=Outside|access-date=2020-04-17}}

File:A NY scene ( Explored 12.19.17 ) - Flickr - Web-Betty.jpg

Junger co-owned a bar in New York City called the Half King. Named after a Seneca warrior that played colonial forces against each other in the Seven Years War, the bar hosted in-house readings and photo exhibits and was favored by war correspondents and conflict photographers.{{cite news |date=July 29, 2000 |title=Profile: Sebastian Junger |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/profile-sebastian-junger-709506.html |work=The Independent |location= |access-date=July 1, 2022}} Rising rents made the business unsustainable, and the Half King closed in 2019 after 19 years of operation.{{cite news |last=Norman |first=Derek M. |date=January 25, 2019 |title=The Half King is Dead. Long Live the Half King |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/nyregion/half-king-nyc-closing.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York|access-date=June 18, 2022 |quote="We wanted to take one last stand against the 'generification' of New York City."}}

In June 2020, Junger had a near-death experience when his pancreatic artery ruptured while he was at home in Truro, Massachusetts.{{cite news |author= |title=Journalist Sebastian Junger Almost Dies Following Rupture in Pancreatic Artery |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2022/05/23/human-factor---sebastian-jungers-close-call.cnn |work=CNN |access-date=June 17, 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.capecodhealth.org/medical-services/emergency-services/sebastian-junger-its-a-miracle/ |title=Sebastian Junger: 'It's a Miracle' |last=Connors |first=Lisa |date=November 23, 2021 |website=Cape Cod Health News |access-date=June 17, 2022 |quote="A black pit opened up underneath me and I felt myself being pulled into the pit."}} He has written a book about the experience, titled In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife.

{{Main|The Perfect Storm (book)|The Perfect Storm (film)}}

Junger's book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea (1997) became an international bestseller. It recounts a storm in October 1991 that resulted in the Gloucester fishing boat Andrea Gail going down off the coast of Nova Scotia, and the loss of all six crew members: Billy Tyne, Bobby Shatford, Alfred Pierre, David Sullivan, Michael Moran and Dale Murphy.

In 2000, the book was adapted by Warner Brothers as a film of the same name, starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

Junger said that while recovering from a chainsaw injury, he was inspired to write about dangerous jobs.{{cite web |title=Meet the Writers: Sebastian Junger |url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=883401#top |publisher=Barnes & Noble.com |access-date=September 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210100026/http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=883401#top |archive-date=December 10, 2010 |df=mdy-all }} He planned to start with commercial fishing in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He developed this project as The Perfect Storm, as he became more involved with learning about the crew members and the conditions and decisions that contributed to their deaths.{{cite web |title=Sebastian Junger: 'Which Way' To Turn After Hetherington's Death |work=Fresh Air |publisher=WHYY-FM |via=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/04/18/177756486/sebastian-junger-which-way-to-turn-after-hetheringtons-death|date=April 18, 2013}}

Junger established The Perfect Storm Foundation to provide cultural and educational grants to children across the country whose parents make their living in the commercial fishing industry.{{cite web |title=About the PSF |url=http://www.perfectstorm.org/about.cfm |publisher=The Perfect Storm Foundation |access-date=September 10, 2010}}

A Death in Belmont centers on the 1963 rape and murder of Bessie Goldberg. This was during the period from 1962 to 1964 of the infamous Boston Strangler crimes. Junger received the 2007 PEN/Winship award for the book. Junger raises the possibility in his book that the real Strangler was Albert DeSalvo. He eventually confessed to committing several Strangler murders, but not Goldberg's. Roy Smith, an African-American man, was convicted in her death based on circumstantial evidence.{{cite video |people=Sebastian Junger |title=Sebastian Junger-A Death in Belmont |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GbTz6FYRlc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/_GbTz6FYRlc| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=September 10, 2010}}{{cbignore}}

Junger suggests that Smith's conviction for Goldberg's death was influenced by racism. The prosecution called witnesses who remembered seeing Smith chiefly because he was a black man walking in a predominately white neighborhood. (Eyewitness testimony has been shown to be notoriously flawed.) Smith had cleaned Goldberg's house the day she was attacked and left a receipt (for his work) with his name on her kitchen counter. No physical evidence, such as bruises or blood, linked Smith to the crime. In 1976, he was granted commutation of his life sentence. Before he gained release, Smith died of lung cancer.{{cite news |last=Krist |first=Gary |title=The Burden of Proof (book review) |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/20/AR2006042001610.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=April 23, 2006}}{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Laura |title=Dead Certainty |url=http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/04/19/junger/ |work=Salon |date=July 27, 2000 |access-date=September 10, 2010}}{{cite news |title=Scenes from 'A Death in Belmont' |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/books/gallery/death_in_belmont?pg=7 |publisher=Boston.com |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=April 5, 2006}}{{cite news |last=Gwinn |first=Mary Ann |title='A Death in Belmont': A presumption of guilt (book review) |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2002957410_junger30.html |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=April 28, 2006}}

Junger draws no conclusions about the guilt or innocence of either Smith or DeSalvo. Goldberg's daughter has vigorously disputed Junger's suggestion that Smith may have been innocent. Defense attorney Alan Dershowitz said in his review of the book: It "must be read with the appropriate caution that should surround any work of nonfiction in which the author is seeking a literary or dramatic payoff." He noted that Junger did not include endnotes or footnotes, and suggested he may have had too much interest in "playing down coincidences and emphasizing connections."[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/books/review/the-belmont-strangler.html Alan Dershowitz, "The Belmont Strangler"], New York Times, 16 April 2006; accessed 31 October 2018

Fire is a collection of articles about dangerous regions or dangerous occupations. In the chapter "Lion in Winter", Junger interviews Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance and known as the Lion of the Panjshir. He was a famed resistance fighter against the Soviets and the Taliban. Junger was one of the last Western journalists to interview Massoud in depth. Much of this was first published in March 2001 for National Geographic Adventure,{{cite web |last=Junger |first=Sebastian |title=A Lion in Winter |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0103/story.html#story_1 |work=National Geographic Adventure |access-date=September 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711060021/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0103/story.html#story_1 |archive-date=July 11, 2010 |df=mdy-all }} along with photographs by Iranian photographer Reza Deghati and video by cinematographer Stephen Cocklin.{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20120914072448/http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/afghanistan_revealed Afghanistan Revealed {{!}} Watch the Documentary Film Free Online {{!}} SnagFilms]}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/events/01/world/index.html|title=National Geographic Explores a Changing World: Afghanistan|work=nationalgeographic.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010235711/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/events/01/world/index.html|archive-date=October 10, 2008|df=mdy-all}}[http://www.natgeoeducationvideo.com/film/90/afghanistan-revealed Afghanistan Revealed {{!}} National Geographic Education Video] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120905081854/http://www.natgeoeducationvideo.com/film/90/afghanistan-revealed |date=September 5, 2012 }}[https://archive.today/20130123032635/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,253556,00.html "Afghanistan Revealed Review"]. Entertainment Weekly. Massoud was assassinated on September 9, 2001. Junger's portrait of Massoud suggests a different future for the country if he had been able to continue his work. Fire also details the conflict diamond trade in Sierra Leone, genocide in Kosovo, and the hazards of fire-fighting in the state of Idaho in the United States.

File:TimHetheringtonSebastianJungerFeb2011.jpg in 2011]]

In 2009, Junger made his first film, the documentary feature Restrepo, as director with photographer Tim Hetherington. The two worked together in Afghanistan on assignment for Vanity Fair. Junger and Hetherington spent a year with one platoon in the Korengal Valley, which is billed as the deadliest valley in Afghanistan. They recorded video to document their experience, and this footage went on to form the basis for Restrepo. The title refers to the outpost where Junger was embedded, which was named after a combat medic, Pfc. Juan Restrepo, killed in action. As Junger explained, "It's a completely apolitical film. We wanted to give viewers the experience of being in combat with soldiers, and so our cameras never leave their side. There are no interviews with generals; there is no moral or political analysis. It is a purely experiential film."{{cite web |last=Bateman |first=Christopher |title=Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington Head to Sundance |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/12/sebastian-junger-and-tim-hetherington-head-to-sundance.html |work=Vanity Fair |access-date=September 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828080407/http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/12/sebastian-junger-and-tim-hetherington-head-to-sundance.html |archive-date=August 28, 2010 |df=mdy-all }} Restrepo, which premiered on the opening night of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival,{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Brooks |title=Putting the Indie Back in Sundance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/movies/21sundance.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=January 21, 2010}} won the grand jury prize for a domestic documentary. The actor David Hyde Pierce presented the award in Park City, Utah.{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Brooks |title=Sundance Honors 'Winter's Bone,' 'Restrepo' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/arts/01arts-003.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=February 1, 2010}} Junger self-financed the film.{{cite web |last=Saito |first=Stephen |title=The Doc Days of Summer: 'Restrepo'|url=http://www.ifc.com/news/2010/06/doc-days-restrepo.php |publisher=IFC |access-date=September 10, 2010 |quote=We had the terrifying experience of self-financing our film because we didn't want essentially corporate taste in the edit room with us |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831083655/http://www.ifc.com/news/2010/06/doc-days-restrepo.php |archive-date=August 31, 2010 |df=mdy-all }} Restrepo was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary.{{Cite web |url=http://news.columbia.edu/record/2333 |title=Sebastian Junger Visits J-school to Talk About Oscar-Nominated Film Restrepo |access-date=December 6, 2014 |website=Columbia University in the City of New York |last=Piore |first=Adam |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203205352/http://news.columbia.edu/record/2333 |archive-date=December 3, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}

File:Medal of honor recipient Sgt. Salvatore Giunta beside President Barack Obama.jpgThe visits from June 2007 to June 2008 to eastern Afghanistan to the Korengal Valley with Tim Hetherington resulted not only in their reports and pictures published in Vanity Fair in 2008 and the film Restrepo (2010), but also in Junger's best-selling book War (2010), which rewrites and expands upon his Vanity Fair dispatches.{{cite news |last=Caputo |first=Philip |title=Sebastian Junger's 'War,' reviewed by Philip Caputo |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050702254.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 10, 2010 |date=May 9, 2010}}{{cite web |last=Seaborn |first=Jody |title=Sebastian Junger's 'War': A year with a platoon in Afghanistan |url=http://www.statesman.com/life/books/sebastian-jungers-war-a-year-with-a-platoon-716399.html |work=Austin American-Statesman |access-date=September 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607062836/http://www.statesman.com/life/books/sebastian-jungers-war-a-year-with-a-platoon-716399.html |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |df=mdy-all }} Junger in War, tells the story of Staff Sergent Sal Giunta. His actions during the fighting in the Korengal Valley made him the first soldier to still be alive when receiving the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War.{{Cite news|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2035319_2034029_2034015,00.html|title=The Top 10 Everything of 2010 |last=Cruz|first=Gilbert|date=2010-12-09|newspaper=Time|issn=0040-781X|access-date=2016-10-26}} Time magazine named War a "Top Ten Non-fiction Book" of 2010.{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2035319,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212222713/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2035319,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 12, 2010 |magazine=Time |title=The Top 10 Everything of 2010}}

File:Sebastian Junger at the LBJ Presidential Library, April 2013.jpg, which screened Which Way Is the Front Line from Here?]]

In April 2013, Junger's film Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington, debuted at the LBJ Presidential Library. Produced in conjunction with HBO Documentary Films, it documents the life of Hetherington, who was killed in 2011 in Libya.

The 2014 film Korengal continues to follow the soldiers in Battle Company 2/503 during and after their service in the Korengal Valley.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/sebastian-junger-korengal/ |title=Special Film Screening: Korengal – Acclaimed writer and journalist Sebastian Junger returns to the Pritzker Military Museum & Library for a special screening and discussion of his new film, Korengal. |date=September 13, 2014 |access-date=December 6, 2014 |website=Pritzker Military Museum and Library}} The film takes a deeper look into the psychology of the men, who are deployed in the rugged mountains of the Korengal Valley. Junger sought to find out what combat did to, and for them, and seek a deeper understanding of why war is meaningful to them.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/05/31/317398741/what-is-courage-korengal-breaks-down-war-in-afghanistan|title=What Is Courage?: 'Korengal' Breaks Down War In Afghanistan|date=May 31, 2014|work=NPR.org}} The film opened in June 2013 in theaters. It also played at the Pritzker Military Library and Museum, The Pentagon, Army Heritage and Education Foundation Center, Capitol Hill, United States Military Academy, The National Infantry Museum, Little Rock Film Festival, Key West Film Festival, and the DocuWest Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://korengalthemovie.com|title=Korengal – From The Makers of Academy Award® Nominee Restrepo |work=korengalthemovie.com}}

The last of the trilogy about war and its effects on soldiers, this documentary explores "what it means for combat soldiers to reintegrate into daily American life."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/arts/in-the-last-patrol-sebastian-junger-zeroes-in-on-manhood.html?_r=0 |title=Depicting a Man's World With One Key Absence – In The Last Patrol, Sebastian Junger Zeroes in on Manhood |date=November 9, 2014 |access-date=December 5, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |last=Hale |first=Mike}} Junger recruited former US Army Sgt. Brendan O'Byrne, who appeared in the film Restrepo, US Army soldier David Roels, and Spanish photo-journalist Guillermo Cervera to walk the rail corridor between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. The journey was planned as a tribute to deceased photographer Tim Hetherington.{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3594997/battle-scarred-sebastian-jungers-last-patrol-premieres-on-hbo/ |title=Battle-Scarred: Sebastian Junger's Last Patrol Premieres on HBO |date=November 10, 2014 |access-date=December 5, 2014 |magazine=Time |last=Laurent |first=Olivier}} The film premiered at the Margaret Mead Film Festival{{cite web|url=http://www.amnh.org/explore/margaret-mead-film-festival/history-archives/margaret-mead-film-festival-20142/films/the-last-patrol|title=Sebastian Junger – The Last Patrol – HBO Documentary Films|work=AMNH}} and aired on HBO in November. The film played in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, as well as at the Savannah Film Festival, and at Seattle International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://filmfest.scad.edu/screening/the-last-patrol|title=The Last Patrol|work=Savannah Film Festival 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.siff.net/hbo-documentaries/last-patrol|title=The Last Patrol|work=Seattle International Film Festival|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214091603/http://www.siff.net/hbo-documentaries/last-patrol|archive-date=December 14, 2014|df=mdy-all}}

In Tribe (2016) Junger studies war veterans from an anthropological perspective and asks "How do you make veterans feel that they are returning to a cohesive society that was worth fighting for in the first place?" Junger's premise is that "Soldiers ignore differences of race, religion and politics within their platoon..." and upon return to America, find a fractious society splintered into various competing factions, often hostile to one another.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/books/review-sebastian-jungers-tribe-examines-disbanded-brothers-returning-to-a-divided-country.html | first = Jennifer | last = Senior | website = The New York Times | title = Review: Sebastian Junger's 'Tribe' Examines Disbanded Brothers Returning to a Divided Country | date = 18 May 2016 | access-date = 23 May 2016}}

This 2021 travel memoir is an extended meditation on "what it means to be free."{{cite podcast |host=Russ Roberts |title=Russ Roberts |website=EconTalk |publisher=The Library of Economics and Liberty |date=June 28, 2021 |url=https://www.econtalk.org/sebastian-junger-on-freedom/ |time=0:56 |access-date=June 10, 2022}} In the book, which recounts the experiences of two Afghanistan combat vets, a photojournalist and war reporter, and a black dog named Daisy walking 400 miles along railway lines in south-central Pennsylvania, Junger argues that modern civilization has not made people feel safer or contented in their lives, and the weakening of interpersonal bonds has contributed to a rise of anxiety, depression, and suicide, especially among the wealthiest societies. The main theme from Junger's earlier books, "extolling the superiority, both moral and psychological, of life in small nomadic groups (or small embattled platoons) over modernity under capitalism – appears repeatedly."{{cite news |last=Finnegan |first=William |date=May 17, 2021 |title=What Does 'Freedom' Really Mean? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/books/review/sebastian-junger-freedom.html |work=New York Times |access-date=June 10, 2022}}

The 2024 book In My Time of Dying recounts Junger's near-death experience due to an abdominal hemorrhage.{{Cite news |date=2024-07-16 |title=Review {{!}} Sebastian Junger was a skeptic of the afterlife. Then he nearly died. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/07/19/sebastian-junger-time-dying-book-review/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |work=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} That personal experience is a jumping-off point for the book's exploration of near-death experiences and the idea of an afterlife.

• 2007: PEN/Winship award for A Death in Belmont
• 2010: Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary (winner), Academy Award for Best Documentary (nominated) for Restrepo
• 2015: International Press Academy's Humanitarian Award.{{cite web|title= Sebastian Junger Wins Satellite's Humanitarian Award |website= www.pressacademy.com|publisher=International Press Academy|url= https://www.pressacademy.com/news/sebastian-junger-wins-satellites-humanitarian-award/}}
• 2017: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}{{cite news |title=2017 Summit Overview Photo | url= https://achievement.org/summit/2017/}}

{{portal|Journalism|Literature}}

• List of American print journalists

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• {{Official website|http://sebastianjunger.com}}
• {{IMDb name|0432631}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100919163825/http://outsideonline.com/outside/features/literary-all-stars_10.html Outside magazine], articles.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081215181627/http://www.vanityfair.com/search/query?keyword=Sebastian%20Junger Vanity Fair], articles.
• {{C-SPAN|49969}}
• [http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-may-11-2010/sebastian-junger The Daily Show interview], May 11, 2010, on his book War
• [http://ccragg123.libsyn.com/sebastian-junger-on-his-latest-work-war-and-restrepo-created-with-tim-hetherington KGNU interview] with Claudia Cragg on his book War
• {{TED speaker}}

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