Just days before Putin invaded Ukraine, Russian authorities detained U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner on reported minor drug charges. Seven months later, Putin’s war rages on … and Griner—a Black lesbian athlete—remains in Russian custody, facing a brutal nine-year sentence that experts say may be politically motivated. 

 

With her sentencing, Griner joins a growing list of US citizens detained abroad—not by rogue terrorist groups, but by established foreign governments. This week, ESPN investigative reporter TJ Quinn and hostage expert Dani Gilbert join Ray to discuss how state-endorsed hostage-taking creates leverage for autocrats—like Putin—upends American diplomatic norms, and places civilians in the crossfire.

 

Guests:

 

TJ Quinn, investigator reporter and senior writer at ESPN

 

Dani Gilbert, hostage expert and Rosenwald Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security at Dartmouth College

 

Host:  

 

Ray Suarez

 

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