Evan Gershkovich on his time inside a notorious Russian prison

Evan Gershkovich spent 491 days in a Russian prison after being arrested on baseless espionage charges while reporting for The Wall Street Journal. He’s now out with a new tell-all book called This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story. In this episode, Jason and Evan explore the commonalities and differences between their experiences of being taken hostage by foreign governments. They discuss the guilt and confusion that permeate captivity, the ways they learned to survive, and what life is like after being released. It’s an unusually candid conversation between two journalists who have lived through similar harrowing ordeals and emerged determined to keep reporting. Today’s show was produced by Josh Carroll and Layli Nazarova. It was edited by Ted Muldoon. 00:00 When Evan was first picked up by Russian authorities 00:30 Jason Rezaian intro: Evan Gershkovich 01:32 Jason on reading Evan's book through the lens of also having been imprisoned 01:50 Why did Evan go to report in Russia in the first place? 03:26 Evan's first experiences reporting in Russia before Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine 04:30 Evan starting at the Moscow Times in 2017 04:40 Crimea, parts of Donbass occupied by Russia 05:00 Reporting while Alexei Navalny was still free and campaigning as opposition to Putin 05:24 How Russia was getting riskier to report from 05:51 Russia and Putin's failed "lightning strike" at Kyiv, start of full-scale invasion of Ukraine 06:05 Russian censorship laws, "special military operation" vs. "war" 06:22 How foreign journalists were treated vs. Russian journalists in Russia 06:42 Russian foreign minister mocks Western gender identity politics 08:20 When Russia started using hostage diplomacy 09:57 Maria Butina's arrest in the U.S. and Russia's response 10:43 Americans start getting arrested, including Evan 13:06 How Evan dealt with feelings of guilt in taking risk by reporting in Russia 14:47 The death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna 15:07 "Russian government can be unspeakably cruel" 17:07 Evan writing letters in prison, Jason could not when imprisoned in Iran 20:46 Not being able to Google something for 491 days 22:22 Being a cautionary tale 26:12 Russian prisoners who chose war in Ukraine over jail 27:50 Evan's cellmate Nikita 29:24 Evan how he dealt with court appearences and sending a message to family 32:52 How has Evan changed since imprisonment?