An American Journalist Imprisoned as a Spy in Russia

In 2023, Evan Gershkovich was working as a young reporter in Moscow for the Wall Street Journal, when he was arrested by Russian authorities. He was eventually convicted on blatantly false charges of espionage and spent nearly five hundred days in imprisonment. Gershkovich recounts the experience in a new memoir, “This Cursed Beautiful Land,” and in an essay in The New Yorker. He spoke with David Remnick about life inside a Russian prison, the international prisoner swap that freed him, and why the difficult process of reacclimating to his former life complicated how he viewed his incarceration. 

Further reading and listening: 

• “The Russian Prisoner Who Didn’t Want to Be Freed,” by Joshua Yaffa
• “Evan Gershkovich Is Finally Coming Home,” by Joshua Yaffa
• “The Unimaginable Horror of a Friend’s Arrest in Moscow,” by Joshua Yaffa

This segment was recorded live at the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Centers, in New York City.  

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