Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger D. Carstens

Abroad, alone, and locked away on trumped up charges, it's the stuff of nightmares. Yet for one year that has been the reality for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held in a Russian prison on the charges of espionage. Charges he, and everyone who knows him, deny. Now, a Moscow court has extended his detention by three more months. At the same time in Gaza, more than a hundred hostages are still held captive after being taken during the brutal October 7th attack on Israel. Negotiations to release them -and build a ceasefire- have dragged on in Qatar for months. As the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Roger Carstens is at the heart of both these crises, and he joins the program to talk about it.  Also on today's show: correspondent Melissa Bell; Annelle Sheline, resigned in protest from US State Department; Widlore Mérancourt, Washington Post Reporter  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices