Fighting for freedom of expression at home – and in Iran

Regular listeners have heard Jason talk about his imprisonment in Iran. He chronicled his entire ordeal in the podcast “544 Days.” Today, we’re presenting the first episode of that series. For 544 days, Jason Rezaian was held hostage in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. Interrogated. Sealed off from the outside world. He was accused of being an American spy, though his formal title was Washington Post Tehran correspondent. This is a story about government and family and journalism, and what it took to free an innocent man … all while navigating the high-stakes world of nuclear diplomacy. Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa has spent decades defending press freedom, work that made her a target of then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and left her facing years of legal jeopardy. She is out with a new book, “The Fight Back: A Citizen’s Guide to Standing Up to Dictators.”

Brett McGurk has held senior national security roles under four presidents and helped shape some of the most consequential American foreign policy in the Middle East, including the Biden administration’s response to the war in Gaza. He also negotiated Jason’s release from an Iranian prison. McGurk is out with a new book, “Brink: Inside the Race to Free the October 7th Hostages.” In this episode, he takes Jason behind the scenes of the high-stakes negotiations to secure the release of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. McGurk reflects on the moral tradeoffs involved in hostage negotiations, the Biden administration’s clashes with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the missed off-ramps for ending the war in Gaza as the death toll mounted. 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.

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.

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.