A quick note to readers about my friend, Evan Gershkovich.

Hello,

I wanted to write a brief note to you all: One of my closest friends from college and a former roommate, Evan Gershkovich, was detained by the Russian government for the simple crime of reporting.

From what we understand, he is being held in solitary confinement in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison. This is going to be a long haul. He is being tried on sham espionage charges, and there is a hearing set for May 29. There’s no roadmap here, and things are fluid, but we hope to have a better handle on the situation in the coming days.

I want to be crystal clear: Evan was doing his job as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He was not doing anything else. He is a hostage.

We’re doing everything we can to fight for his safe and quick return. We have been in close contact with Evan’s family and legal team and have been assured that the highest levels of the US government are working on his case.

On that front, I am involved with several ongoing efforts and am putting Cultivated on hold this week — we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next.

There will be plenty for all of us to do to continue putting pressure on the US government to get Evan home. If you care about freedom of the press, or human rights in general, you should care about Evan.

Here are some materials if you’d like to read more about Evan’s life and work:

Journalist Detained by Russia Was Reporting Stories That ‘Needed to Be Told’

Reporter detained in Russia on spying allegations known as dedicated journalist who 'cares a lot ... about the Russian people'

Evan Gershkovich Loved Russia, the Country That Turned on Him

Thank you all for your understanding,

Jeremy