Michael Hastings, "The Operators"

Michael Hastings, "The Operators"

From Booknotes+ by C-SPAN

March 24, 2026 · 1h 3m

About this episode

The episode features a replay of an interview with Michael Hastings discussing his book 'The Operators' and its implications on military leadership.

As a follow up to the most recent Booknotes+ featuring Seth Harp on his book "The Fort Bragg Cartel," we are replaying an interview from June 12, 2012. The guest on Q&A, the television program, was 31-year-old Michael Hastings, author of the book "The Operators," which he said is what the special forces call themselves. It is based on a Rolling Stone article that allegedly led to the dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal, who was commander of the Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008. One year almost to the day after our interview with Michael Hastings, he was killed in an automobile accident in Los Angeles at 4:25 in the morning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Michael Hastings

Topics covered

  • military
  • journalism
  • biography
  • politics
  • history

Keywords

  • Michael Hastings
  • The Operators
  • General McChrystal
  • Rolling Stone
  • military journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rolling Stone, Joint Special Operations Command

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