What it takes to get here, and was it worth it?
We talk to leaders in politics, business, and public life — not about the highlight reel, but about the long, unglamorous work behind it.
Calm and unhurried. We listen more than we talk, and we leave room for silence.
People who work hard and stay curious — in finance, service, and beyond.
No theatrics. The work, and what it took.
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James Hatch
James Hatch spent more than two decades in Naval Special Warfare before a combat wound in 2009 ended his career; he was awarded the Purple Heart. He went on to study the humanities at Yale, where he now teaches. He is the author of Touching the Dragon and the founder of Spike's K9 Fund, which protects the working dogs that serve alongside police and the military.
He has watched leadership up close across wide and intense spectrums of human striving — from teams under fire to seminar rooms — and he brings that eye to every conversation. On Forged, he asks plain questions, listens hard, and lets the record speak.
In the press
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