#230 – Kelsi Sheren: War, Artillery, PTSD, and Love

Lex Fridman Podcast

Kelsi Sheren is a veteran, artillery gunner, and founder of Brass and Unity. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Kelsi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/kelsiburns
Kelsi’s Website: https://brassandunity.com
Kelsi’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelsie_sheren
Charity: https://www.heroicheartsproject.org/
Do the F*cking Work (book): https://amzn.to/3mGhguF
Notes from Underground (book): https://amzn.to/3mN5TRF
Brothers in Arms (song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhdFe3evXpk

PODCAST INFO:
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YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:50) – World War II
(18:54) – Yeonmi Park, starvation, and mental health
(33:10) – Kelsi’s 9/11 experience
(36:39) – Becoming a soldier
(43:07) – Artillery: The Hand of God
(52:49) – Weapons training
(1:10:35) – Pre-Deployment
(1:26:42) – Arrival to Afghanistan
(1:48:55) – Tragic war story
(2:13:59) – Feelings after tragedy
(2:17:41) – The Taliban
(2:23:17) – Retrospective: 20 years in Afghanistan
(2:39:57) – How war changes people
(2:45:18) – PTSD
(3:14:13) – Ayahuasca and mental recovery
(3:46:09) – Love
(4:04:12) – Advice for young people
(4:07:33) – Death
(4:13:22) – World War II