544 Days

A special episode from Jason’s new podcast at The Washington Post, “The Freedom Desk.” 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. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A special episode from Jason’s new podcast at The Washington Post, “The Freedom Desk.” Roger Carstens spent nearly five years leading hostage negotiations for the United States. He joins Jason to discuss the high-stakes work of bringing wrongfully detained Americans home—negotiating, at times, with people he fought against during his prior service in U.S. special operations. Carstens explains the role humor, humility and empathy play in negotiations and why authoritarian governments increasingly use detained journalists as political leverage. The conversation turns personal as Jason reflects on his own experiences after being released from captivity in Iran and how they have affected his understanding of freedom. Today’s show was produced by Josh Carroll and Layli Nazarova. It was edited by Ted Muldoon and Reena Flores. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s been 10 years since Jason Rezaian, host of 544 Days, was released from his wrongful imprisonment in Iran. On the anniversary of his freedom, Jason sits down with Tommy Vietor, host of Pod Save The World. They dig into the recent protests in Iran, whether the regime is headed toward collapse, and how Jason is still fighting for press freedom a decade after being held hostage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Evan Gershkovich is based in Moscow for the Wall Street Journal. Most recently, he was writing about how the war in Ukraine is changing Russian society and the shockwaves that conflict is having on the economy. But on March 29th, Russian authorities detained Evan and are holding him in a notorious prison under allegations of espionage. With the parallels to our story in “544 Days,” we want to share this update. Ever since this show was released, Jason Rezaian has been following cases of journalists and other Americans around the world who are being targeted by authoritarian autocratic regimes. You can find that coverage here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jason-rezaian/ This episode originally aired on “The Journal.” You can listen to new episodes every weekday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is it possible to return to “normal” after a traumatic imprisonment? As Jason and Yegi begin to make a new life in the U.S., they each face their own struggles. And they confront the troubling reality that, five years later, Iran and other countries continue taking political hostages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices