RICHARD HATCH

Richard Hatch won the original Survivor in 2000, outlasting fifteen castaways on a Malaysian island in front of 52 million viewers — and then spent the next twenty-five years in a legal battle that began when he contacted the IRS for help determining what, if any, U.S. tax he owed on the prize. That fight, which included federal prison time, remains before the First Circuit Court of Appeals today.

He holds degrees in Applied Behavioral Sciences and Education and Counseling, attended West Point, and is a PADI-certified scuba instructor. A lifelong atheist, he has been asking the same question since he was seven years old: but is this actually true?

Reality Matters: What You Owe Yourself (Deeper Press, 2026) explores the gap between what we believe and what is actually so. Rich writes about his time on the island, in our justice system, and a lifetime spent choosing what is real over what is comfortable. He writes weekly at DeeperWithHatch on Substack and lives in Newport, Rhode Island.