daniel gilbert, a fellow in u.s. foreign policy and international security at dartmouth college. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. kristen: was the denial of her appeal a surprise? >> the denial of her appeal was not a surprise. that does not make it any less devastating. it is hard -- heartbreaking to listen to britney talking and think about what she is going through. she is absolutely correct, people who have committed more serious crimes have gotten a lesser sentence. most people who have the kit -- who have committed to the crime she pled to have gotten lesser sentences. it is devastating, but not surprising. kristen: a lot of people are asking if she is actually a prisoner or a hostage? >> i am careful about using that terminology. i would say 100% brittney griner is a hostage of the putin regime right now. because of the exceptionally severe sentencing she has been given, the fact that the russian government is making demands for her release, those are characteristics of a hostage situation, not a legitimate criminal trial. kristen: let's talk about what

daniel ortega's all out assault on journalism in nicaragua, and rising from mussolini ashes on the italian write. a satirical explainer on the new government in rome. hello, i'm richard gilbert in europe, the listening post where we dig into the coverage and examine how news gets reported. we begin in brazil where voters are heading to the polls on sunday in an election in which democracy is also on the ballot. 4 months now, president j eatable sonata has raised the prospect of electoral fraud. casting doubt on the process before a vote was cast, bosa nato can see what's coming. the right winger is trailing in the polls. he's a long way behind his ideological opposite the to time former president lula da silva. back in 2018. both of nato and his social media team used a variety of falsehoods that went viral on platforms such as whatsapp and facebook . that helped get him into office. brazil has changed since then. the public and the news media have grown more digitally savvy, more attuned to the dangers of disinformation, and more focused on other pocket book issues. but with both sonata promising to accept defeat only if the election is judged to be fair by him, there was p