Do it right, or don’t do it at all.

In episode 179, Nick Koumalatsos returns to Veteran Made to talk about his work as a consulting producer on The Punisher: One Last Kill and his collaboration with Jon Bernthal to bring Frank Castle back to the screen with honesty, weight, and realism.

Nick shares how his own background as a Force Recon Marine and special operations veteran helped shape the character, from the tactical details to the deeper emotional truth of a man who has lost his identity, his purpose, and the people who mattered most to him. We talk about how Nick’s book, Excommunicated Warrior, influenced parts of Frank’s arc, why the story needed to show rock bottom instead of explain it, and what it means to portray veterans and special operations service members as human beings rather than untouchable icons.

We also get into the craft behind the film itself — working with Jon Bernthal and the stunt team to build realistic action sequences, refining weapons manipulation and close quarter combat, and understanding the difference between what is real in life and what reads as real on camera.

This is a conversation about transition, accountability, purpose, brotherhood, pain, and the responsibility of telling these stories the right way in the most grounded depiction of a modern veteran in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/nickkoumalatsos/

Discipline, humility, resilience, and what it means to serve the story first.

In episode 178, I sit down with acclaimed actor and audiobook narrator Ray Porter for a wide-ranging conversation about storytelling, performance, and how a workmanlike approach to the craft has shaped his career.

Ray discusses narrating Jack Carr’s The Fourth Option, the start of a new series and character outside the Terminal List universe, and what it’s like to bring Jack’s words to life after years of collaboration across fiction and nonfiction. He shares his unconventional approach to audiobook narration — reading cold, letting the text lead, and trying to disappear so the listener can connect directly with the story.

We also dig into the physical, mental, and creative demands of narration, the difference between acting on stage, screen, and behind the mic, and why audiobook work is far more difficult than many people assume. The conversation moves from craft to calling, touching on burnout, creative renewal, theater, imposter syndrome, and the importance of building a full life outside the work itself.

Ray also reflects on his role as Darkseid in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the long road from being cut out of the theatrical release to finally hearing audiences cheer when the #SnyderCut arrived.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/the.ray.porter/

Forgotten history, political complexity, storytelling, and the strange ways oil, empire, and ideology have shaped the modern world.

In episode 177, I sit down with bestselling author Douglas Brunt to discuss The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel, a sweeping narrative history about oil, revolution, and the forgotten Nobel heir who helped power the war machine.

Doug shares how Emanuel Nobel’s story emerged from his previous book on Rudolf Diesel, why the Russian Nobel family was effectively erased from history, and how Emanuel’s oil empire collided with the rise of Stalin, Lenin, the Bolsheviks, and the violent upheaval of the Russian Revolution. Our conversation explores how narrative nonfiction can make history feel alive, why history is often more complicated than textbooks suggest, and how massive global shifts are experienced by real people on the ground.

We also dig into the craft of writing: research rabbit holes, index cards, archival discoveries, footnotes, building narrative momentum, and the challenge of turning dense historical material into a story with real forward thrust.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/douglas_brunt/

Jack Carr is back on episode 176 to talk about The Fourth Option — his first thriller outside of the James Reece and Terminal List universe.

This one still has all the flavor: authenticity, action, and the kind of detail that only comes from lived experience. But it also introduces a new character, Chris Walker, who brings a very different energy — part warfighter, part searcher, part philosopher, and very much his own man.

Jack and I talk about building a new universe, collaborating with co-author M.P. Woodward, the challenge of letting someone else into your creative process, and why Jack still feels responsible for making every book better than the last.

We also get into what it means to write honestly about the Afghanistan withdrawal, suicide in the veteran community, and the weight veterans carry when the right decisions still lead to painful outcomes. It’s a conversation about craft, responsibility, service, storytelling, and the pursuit of doing the work better every single time.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/jackcarrusa/

On episode 175, I’m joined by writer, educator, and friend Jessica Danger to talk about her memoir, No Heroic Measures.

This conversation is about grief, addiction, caregiving, estrangement, sobriety, and the responsibility that comes with telling the truth on the page. Jessica and I talk about how she shaped an incredibly personal story into a memoir, what it means to tell the truth, and why specificity really is generosity.

We also get into the writing process itself — the messy drafts, the revisions, the details you keep, the details you cut, and how sometimes the story you think you’re writing is not the story at all.

This one is personal, thoughtful, and deeply human.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/mamadanger/

Responsible storytelling + creative collaboration = veteran characters who have depth, purpose, and a future.

In episode 174, I sit down with Luke Tennie to talk about his role as Sean on Apple TV's Shrinking and why the character has resonated so deeply. Luke shares how he approached playing Sean with care, how he and one of the writers on the show, Bill Posley, crafted him Sean as a full human being instead of just a stereotype, and why humor, pain, community, and accountability all matter in telling this kind of story.

We also dig into the deeper themes behind Sean’s arc: PTSD, self-harm, isolation, entrepreneurship, group therapy, and the hard work of full reintegration after service.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/luke.tennie

We must be the ones telling these stories. Not just consulting. Not just advising. Leading. Creating. Producing. Representing ourselves with precision and truth across every level and in every facet of the industry. If we don’t step up, culture will continue to get it wrong.

In episode 173, I sit down with the wild man himself, Rudy Reyes — Marine Corps veteran, actor, stunt coordinator, producer, the driving force behind FOX’s Special Forces.

Our conversation cuts straight to the core of what authentic storytelling  demands. Rudy doesn’t just play roles — he lives them, bringing hard-earned truths from the battlefield to film, television, and commercial advertising. We dive into his latest work as the lead in the VA’s Face Your Dragon campaign, a powerful PSA focused on securing firearms in the home to prevent veteran suicide. This is more than representation, it’s responsibility. Rudy breaks down how his experience as a warfighter directly informs his work as an actor, stunt coordinator, and producer, and why that level of authenticity cannot be faked or outsourced.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/realrudyreyes/

https://www.instagram.com/newwarproductions/

On episode 172, I sit down with my friend Mark Harper — Air Force veteran, executive producer, and founder of GigLine Media — to unpack how a group of military storytellers pulled off one of the most ambitious PSA campaigns the VA has ever attempted. Mark’s journey runs from combat camera documenting the wars in Iraq and Africa to helping build We Are The Mighty into one of the most influential online media platforms for veterans before launching his own advertising agency.

In this conversation, we dig into the real mechanics of representation in media — why veteran stories should be written, produced, and directed by the people who actually lived them — and how that philosophy shaped the VA’s bold “Face Your Dragon” campaign.

Mark and I break down how he partnered with director Ryan Curtis, producer Chase Milsap, and star Rudy Reyes to build a piece of storytelling that’s unapologetically cinematic, deeply creative, and unmistakably direct. We talk about the risks of pitching a VFX dragon for a government campaign, the realities of producing high-end visual effects on a shoestring budget, and why veterans working as writers, producers, and creators matters more than ever.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/markharper147/

Does it matter who’s telling the story?

In episode 171, I sit down with my friend, Ryan Curtis — an accomplished director, filmmaker, and producer — to unpack the creative and emotional mission behind the powerful new PSA campaign for the VA and DoW, “Face Your Dragon.” This campaign tackles one of the hardest conversations in the veteran and military community: suicide prevention.

Ryan walks me through how he approached concepting a message that had to be both responsible and deeply human, and we talk about the role of storytelling in public service campaigns that carry real-life consequences.

From concept to execution, Ryan shares what it means to direct a national message for the veteran community while balancing authenticity, trust, and impact. We also dig into the bigger picture of representation and storytelling in media targeted to the veteran community. Ryan breaks down the creative choices behind Face Your Dragon, the challenges of producing meaningful PSA content, and what filmmakers and producers can learn from working on campaigns that aim to save lives.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/ryan32curtis/

Can we build a blueprint for how the right content can pressure institutions to evolve?

In episode 170, I sat down with my buddy Ethan Nagel — veteran infantryman and lethal filmmaker who lives at the intersection of modern warfare and modern media.

He breaks down exactly what he and the team at VET TV are building with BattleLab, a new live action show that drops two teams of elite operators into high pressure missions that push new military technology to its limits. 

This episode is a straight shot of reality: FPV attack drones are the new IEDs, and the next war is going to punish anyone clinging to comfort. Ethan explains how BattleLab fuses real-world lessons from Ukraine with hands-on experimentation — pitting elite, Tier One operators against emerging drone tactics to expose what works, what fails, and what gets people killed. He also gets brutally specific on storytelling and craft because BattleLab isn’t “tactical content,” it’s a serious training-adjacent series built by people who actually understand the battlefield and how audiences learn. Ethan walks through the production reality: why the first “sports broadcast” approach didn’t hold attention, how they rebuilt the format around after-action breakdowns, and how he balances cinematic filmmaking with capturing honest, usable footage that infantry leaders can actually apply.

Episode Sponsors:

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/ethan.nagel.films/

https://www.instagram.com/vet_tv/

https://www.instagram.com/battlelabhq/

https://www.instagram.com/jeddoc_labs/