Background Briefing with Ian Masters - podcast cover

Background Briefing with Ian Masters

Background Briefing goes far beyond the headlines and deep under the radar to bring forward truths unheard elsewhere in American media. Background Briefing features international and national news, expert guests, policymakers, and critics offering analysis and insight on national security, foreign and domestic policy, political, cultural, and social issues. backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
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Episodes

March 26, 2025 - Lincoln Mitchell | Michael Hiltzik | David Daley

Heading Into the Generational Fight Against MAGA Fascism | Can Social Security be Saved From Musk's Wreck Then Rob | Trump's Executive Order to Rig Elections in His Favor He Claims Have Been Rigged Against Him backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 26, 20251 hr 1 min

March 25, 2025 - Jacob Heilbrunn | Gregory Treverton | Samuel Moyn

The Trump Team Group Chat Revels VP Vance is Running the Presidency Along With Stephen Miller | Incompetent and Unqualified Heads of US Intelligence on Display Before the Senate Intelligence Committee Today | The Courts Will Not Save Us Since They Got Us Into This Mess backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 25, 20251 hr

March 24, 2025 - David Phillips | Asher Kaufman | Olga Lautman

Trump Greenlight's Erdogan's Crackdown While Musk Removes Turkish Opposition Content on X | The Strategy Behind Netanyahu's Resumption of His War on Gaza | The Pathetic Asymmetry Between Seasoned Russian Diplomats and Intelligence Professionals Negotiating Against Trump's Real Estate Buddy Witkoff

Mar 24, 20251 hr 10 min

March 23, 2025 - Fred Turner | Robert Suettinger

Musk's Ungoverning Tactic of "Wreck Then Rob" | Inside the PRC's Secretive Internal Leadership Struggles Between Reformers and Reactionaries backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 23, 20251 hr

March 20, 2025 - David Bateman | Ken Vogel | Alex Isenstadt

The MAGA Trump/Vance Takeover of American Education Using Money to Control Minds and Eradicate Intellectual Inquiry | Trump and the GOP Aim to Cripple the Left by Defunding Democrats and It's Underway | Vengeance Drives Trump As He Tears Down People and Institutions backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 20, 20251 hr 6 min

March 19, 2025 - Marci Shore | Michael Gorham | Henri Barkey

Could Massive Demonstrations Against Despots and Kleptocrats in Serbia and Hungary be a Model For the US to Get Rid of Trump and Musk? | Russia Claims Victory After Trump's Call With Putin Who Paid No Price For Rejecting Trump's Ceasefire Deal | Will Erdogan Get Away With the Brazen Jailing of the Leader of Turkey's Opposition? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 19, 20251 hr 1 min

March 18, 2025 - Omar El Akkad | David Faris | Simon Rosenberg

As Netanyahu Renews His War On Gaza, We Challenge the Comfort Zone of What is Happening in Distant Lands | As Musk and Trump Tear Through the Fabric of American Society, the Days of Choosing Between Gutless Liberals and Callous Conservatives are Over | What Kind of Opposition Will Emerge at This Critical Moment For the Survival of American Democracy? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 18, 20251 hr 6 min

March 17, 2025 - John Nichols | Jonathan Zimmerman | Nader Hashemi

A Growing Grassroots Opposition Movement to Catch up to the Damage Musk and Trump Are Doing | Musk's Gutting of the Department of Education Before Trump Abolishes it | The Bombing of the Houthis as a Prelude to a "Peace" Deal With Iran Meant to Deliver Trump a Nobel Prize backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 17, 20251 hr 1 min

March 13, 2025 - David Enrich | James Galbraith | Ben Burgis

The Strategy Behind Trump's War on the So-Called Legacy Media | An Assessment of How the Senate Democrats Might Extricate Themselves From the Government Shutdown Trap | Having Decided Chuck Schumer Is No Longer Jewish, Trump's Conflation of Terrorism, Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 13, 20251 hr 8 min

March 12, 2025 - Tom Mockaitis | Robert Creamer | Michael Swaine

With Trump Attacking Free Speech on Campuses, Expect Patel and Bongino to Order the FBI to Round Up Trump's Critics and Those on Patel's Enemies List? | The Dilemma Senate Democrats Face Whether to Vote For a Bad Bill or Stand up to Trump and Musk and Risk a Government Shutdown | Trump's Losing Strategy of Wooing Putin Away From Xi and Musk's Outsized Influence Over China Policy backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ia...

Mar 12, 20251 hr 4 min

March 11, 2025 - Matt Gold | Margo Schlanger | Mihir Desai

Trump's Escalating Trade War Against Canada Has the Business Roundtable He's Meeting With Nervous | Trump Tries to Deport a Student Protester With a Green Card He Labels as "Pro-Terrorist, Anti-Semitic and Anti-American | As Tesla Stock Plunges by 40%, the World's Richest Man is Beginning to Feel a Reversal of Fortune backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 11, 20251 hr

March 10, 2025 - Lisa Graves | Jacob Silverman | David Halperin

This episode deeply examines the multifaceted threat posed by Trump's potential return, from his unprecedented legal assaults and the "captured" Supreme Court to his brazen crypto corruption and war on education. Guests discuss how Trump and his allies, like Elon Musk and David Sachs, are actively undermining American institutions, democratic principles, and global standing, often aligning with the agendas of adversaries like Putin and Xi. The conversation also explores the public's role in resistance and the critical need for a coherent strategy to counter these destructive forces.

Mar 10, 20251 hr 3 min

March 9, 2025 - Scott Horton | Anders Aslund | Mike Albertus

Trump's March 6 Executive Order Signals His Revenge Tour in Underway With Bondi, Patel, Bongino, Ratcliffe and Gabbard as the Executioners | An Update on How Ukraine is Surviving After Trump Cuts Off Intelligence And Arms | As Trump Eyes Canada, Greenland and Gaza, Climate Change Will Lead to Land and Resource Grabs

Mar 09, 20251 hr 3 min

March 6, 2025 - Orville Schell | Andy Kroll

The Similarities Between Trump and Musk Tearing America Apart and What Mao Did to China in the Cultural Revolution | An Assessment on How Much the Musk Assault on Government is Performative as Our Reality TV President Governs By Stunt backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 06, 20251 hr 4 min

March 5, 2025 - Dr. Allen Frances | Alex Lawson | Karen Greenberg

Trump and Musk's Blitzkrieg Coup Underway to Replace American Democracy With a Plutocracy | Trump Laid the Groundwork to Destroy Social Security With Last Night's Deliberate Demonization | Will the People Wake Up and Boot Out the Wrecking Crew Before Our Electoral System is Rigged? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 05, 20251 hr 1 min

March 4, 2025 - Lucan Way | Dean Baker | Corey Brettschneider

Trump's Assault On Our Friends and Neighbors As He Rewards Our Enemies | How the Tariffs Will Hit Working and Middle Class Americans With a $3,000 Tax Hike | What Will the Democrats Do Tonight at the SOTU in the Face of a Blizzard of Trump Lies? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 04, 20251 hr 2 min

March 3, 2025 - Anna Merlan | Casey Michel | James Thurber

The Trump White House Follows the Kremlin Model Elevating Conspiracy Theorists, Propagandists and Far Right Influencers to Deliver the News | The Grift and Corruption at the Heart of Trump's Sellout to Putin | The Republicans Have Decided to Sacrifice the House in 2026 to Give Away the Store to the Plutocracy Music: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Rich Exuma – Subway Bound For Hell backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.c...

Mar 03, 20251 hr 2 min

March 2, 2025 - Angela Stent | Stephen Crowley | Natalie Melnyczuk

Zelensky, Who Wants to Make Peace, Gets Steamrolled By Trump Who Wants to Make a Deal | Will Trump's Capitulation to Putin Improve Ties or Give Putin a Second Wind to Cause More Mayhem? | Can Ukraine's NATO Allies Fill the Gap as Trump Abandons Ukraine to Putin? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Mar 01, 20251 hr 2 min

February 27, 2025 - Alexander Motyl | Victor Pickard | Brooke Harrington

Is Putin Trump's Case Officer? | Will Trump be Able to Turn the Press Into His Propaganda and PR Arm as Putin and Orban Have Done? | Since Musk's Assault on the Federal Workforce is Only Saving a Pittance, the Real Intention Then Must Be To Cripple the US Government

Feb 27, 20251 hr 9 min

February 26, 2025 - Paul Farhi | Mike Lofgren | Dr. Guy Ziv

Press Freedom in America Under Attack by Trump and Plutocratic Press Owners Cowering Before the Dear Leader | Republicans Vote Against Their Constituent's Interests to Cut Taxes For Plutocrats | Why Did Israel Vote With Russia and Iran Against Ukraine and Its Jewish Leader? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 26, 20251 hr 2 min

February 25, 2025 - Rachel VanLandingham | Bill Scher | Mike German

Trump's Politicization of the Military and the Firing Its Top Lawyers So That His Unlawful Orders Won't be Blocked | The Historical Plunge of Trump's Poll Numbers in Just One Month | Having Patel and Bongino Head the FBI Means Trump Will Go after His Enemies While He Can Break the Law With Impunity backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 25, 20251 hr 6 min

February 24, 2025 - Laura Thornton | Alfred McCoy

Trump's Shameful Vote at the UN on the Third Anniversary of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine and the Results of the German Elections | The Rise and Fall of the French, Soviet and American Empires With the New Chinese Empire Already on Shaky Ground backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 24, 20251 hr 5 min

February 23, 2025 - Nathan Tankus | Bandy Lee | Peter Montgomery

As Assessment of the Damage Already Done by Musk and His Teenage Techies | The Need For Our Politicians, Business Leaders and Citizens to Recognize Trump's Sickness and Intervene Before He Does Any More Damage to the Country and the World | Trump's Lies-Laden Keynote Speech to CPAC Host: Ian Masters Producer: Graham FitzGibbon Assistant Producer: Asher Price

Feb 23, 20251 hr 4 min

February 20, 2025 - Ryan Cooper | Eric Blanc | Erik Baker

The Confirmation of Kash Patel as Trump's Dumbest Self-inflicted Wound to Weaken America and Accelerate Its Collapse as a World Power | In Crushing of the Federal WorkForce, Musk and Trump Will Not Find the Trillions to Make Trump's Tax Cuts to the Super-Wealthy Permanent | The Fraud of the Can-Do Power of Positive Thinking as We Head Into An Era of Techno-Serfdom backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 21, 20251 hr 1 min

February 19, 2025 - Simon Shuster | Emma Ashford | Katherine Stewart

After Throwing Ukraine Under the Bus, Trump is Now Trashing Zelensky | What Can Ukraine Do to Defend Itself and Rebuild After Trump Sells the Country out to Putin? | How Trump Rode Into the White House Again on a Wave of Reactionary Nihilism backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 19, 20251 hr 4 min

February 18, 2025 - Sasha Abramsky | John Ganz | Jacob Heilbrunn

From a Mad English King 249 Years Later to a Mad American King | The Wannabe Mob Boss Trump's Early Years With Made Men His Father Dealt With | Trump's Mafia-Style Foreign Policy as the Mob Boss Putin Meets With The Wannabe Mob Boss in Saudi Arabia backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 18, 20251 hr 3 min

February 17, 2025 - Daniel Treisman | David Andelman | James Risen

While Trump Brings Putin Out From the Cold of International Isolation, He Hangs Ukraine Out to Dry | An Assessment of What the Europeans Can Do to Help Ukraine As Trump Sells Out European Security | Will the Press Make a Stand as Trump Tries to Bring the AP to Heel? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 17, 20251 hr 1 min

February 15, 2025 - Charles Kupchan | Kim Lane Scheppele | James Zirin

Vance Tells Allies Russia is Not the Enemy, Europe's Enemy is Within, and It's... Wokeness! | A Global Alliance of Autocrats and Kleptocrats Emerges as Trump Follows Orban's Playbook | Our Top Law Enforcer Pam Bondi Embraces Lawlessness and Corruption backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Feb 16, 20251 hr 3 min
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