Elizabeth Tsurkov: Surviving 900 Days as a Hostage

The Gist

Peach Fish Productions

Daily News, News

4.5 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2026

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com 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 ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist

Transcript

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0:00.0	One great podcast that talks about everything we're going through in our democracy through a constitutional lens is the oath in the office.
0:07.8	I've been on it.
0:08.6	I listen to it.
0:09.3	It's hosted by bona fide constitutional scholar Corey Brechtnyder, past Just Guest.
0:14.7	And SiriusXM host John Fugel saying, here's a tip, future just guest.
0:19.3	And the show, which always ranks in Apple's top five in government,
0:22.5	has featured guests like Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and journalist Dahlia Lithwick
0:26.7	and Justice Stephen Breyer and me, Mike Peska, in that company.
0:30.1	Smart, accessible, focused on power.
0:33.3	Listen to The Oath in the Office wherever you get your podcast.
0:35.8	Also on YouTube with full video episodes.
0:41.9	It's Monday, March 10th, 2026 from Peachfish Productions.
0:46.2	It's the gist.
0:47.2	I'm Mike Peska.
0:48.4	This is a conversation I was looking forward to having, and it worked even better than I thought it would.
0:54.6	So I knew about what happened to Elizabeth Sarkoff for a while, because my friend
0:59.6	Ben Wittis of Lawfare, hooked up with her sister, Emma, to try to free Elizabeth from a hostage
1:08.5	situation in Iraq.
1:10.3	She was kidnapped by an Iranian-backed militia.
1:13.2	In fact, the most powerful Iranian-backed militia in Iraq.
1:18.2	And there are a few, maybe there will be a few later these days.
1:21.4	Khatib Hezbollah, she put herself on their radar by just being a Westerner.
	...

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