Today on The Gist, Princeton PhD researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov joins the show to share her harrowing experience of being kidnapped and held hostage in Iraq for over 900 days by the Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah. She details the brutal realities of her captivity, how she used her intellect to outsmart her captors by leaving hidden "breadcrumbs" for intelligence agencies in forced confession videos, and the bizarre reality of being ordered to write geopolitical analysis for the militants. She also provides a rare, firsthand look at how the proxy group reacted in real-time to the October 7th attacks and the subsequent regional fallout. Plus, the differing approaches of the Trump and Biden administrations to hostage recovery. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected] For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist