Ishmael Beah is a former child soldier, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and Radiance of Tomorrow: A Novel. His latest book is Little Family: A Novel. Full show notes can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/622 What We Discuss with Ishmael: 00:00 - Intro 00:49 - First time seeing violence 02:25 - As a child did Ishmael understand civil war? 08:40 - Everyone thinks they’re the good guys 11:41 - It was impossible to be peaceful even if you wanted to 14:27 - How rap saved Ishmael’s life 23:45 - Kids with RUF carved into their chest and no fingers 31:37 - The intensity of PTSD 33:20 - The drugs Ishmael used to be on 42:13 - Why it’s impossible to opt out of crime 43:03 - The worst brutalities Ishmael saw. 55:42 - Trying to find family after the war 58:46 - Forced to fight again after the war ends 1:04:06 - What child soldier training is like 1:08:54 - The first time Ishmael went into combat himself 1:19:03 - Getting out of Sierra Leone and flying to NYC 1:26:39 - Living in Sierra Leone with his family (present day) Currently, an estimated 300,000 child soldiers are exploited as pawns in over 50 conflicts across the world. And before becoming a New York Times bestselling author, our guest Ishmael Beah spent almost three years of his early adolescence conscripted into service by the government army against the rebels during the Sierra Leone Civil War in the ’90s. He witnessed unfathomable atrocities while committing a number of his own before escaping and finding his way to a foster family in New York, where he was given a second chance at life. On this episode, Ishmael joins us to discuss the events chronicled in his book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Here, we explore what surviving in a warzone looks like from a child’s eye view, how desperation can dispel any semblance of civility from otherwise rational human beings and compel them toward acts of shocking barbarity, and what it takes for someone to return to civilization after being forced to participate in such brutality beneath the ever-present shadow of death. Get the BEST highlights from each episode on our clips channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-cxPJ7QxPE8M7EYe5Vv7ag Want to watch more in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most amazing and successful people? Find full episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNbAQB8BYtM&list=PLxuPu-uyanrrBgAl5-76enemxVsxFjnEQ&index=1 Welcome to The Jordan Harbinger Show, a video podcast where each week you get to join a conversation with some of the world’s highest performers and incredible personalities. I’ll ask them the tough questions to tease out their top tips so that you can reach levels of personal growth and mastery that you never imagined possible. Learn more about Jordan: http://jordanharbinger.com/about