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

September 4, 2025 - Thomas Bollyky | Juliegrace Brufke | Jonathan Guyer

RFK Jr. Grilled by Senate Democrats Who Want him Fired and Republicans He Lied To | A Congressional Reporter on the Women Abused And Trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell as Trump, the Doj and the House Speaker Fight to Keep the Epstein Files From the Public | The Moral and Strategic Collapse of US Policy in the Middle East backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Sep 04, 20251 hr 3 min

September 3, 2025 - Lisa Graves | David Smilde | Dr. Ariel Cohen

With Trump's DoJ and House Republicans on the Side of a Depraved Socialite Instead of the Victims of Her Sex Trafficking, Maxwell's Survivors Had to Speak in Front of the Capitol Today | Is Trump Cooking Up a Nice Little War to Take Out Maduro as a Distraction From Epstein? | ICE's Shameful Deportation of Asylum Seekers Back to Russian Torture and Imprisonment backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Sep 03, 20251 hr 2 min

September 2, 2025 - Sasha Abramsky | Orville Schell | Eric Blanc

A Federal Court Rules That Trump and Hegseth Violated the Posse Comitatus Act and That Trump is Creating a National Police Force With Him As Its Chief | Does Xi Jinping Command the World Stage Because of His Diplomatic Skills or Because of Trump's Blundering Lack of Diplomacy? | A Mayor Mamdani Will Need A Mass Movement Behind Him To Overcome an Establishment Out to Crush Him backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianma...

Sep 02, 20251 hr 5 min

September 1, 2025 - Steven Greenhouse | Sylvia Allegretto | Michael Kazin

The State of Working America Under Assault From Trump and Project 2025 | How Trump and Project 2025 Have Turbocharged the Plutocratic Takeover of American Democracy | The History of Labor Day As Opposed to May Day That Others Celebrate backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Sep 01, 20251 hr 2 min

August 31, 2025 - Karen Greenberg | Lawrence Gostin | Seth Harp

Trump, Hegseth, Ratcliffe, Gabbard, Patel, Bongino and Noem Might as Well be Working For Putin and Xi as They Destroy Our National Security | How the Conspiratorial Mindset of an Entitled Wastrel From a Famous American Political Dynasty is Collapsing America's Public Health | The Blowback at Home From America's Killing Machine in the War on Terror backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 31, 20251 hr 2 min

August 28, 2025 - David Schultz | Moira Donegan | Kevin O'Leary

Another Mass Murder of Children, This Time While They Were Praying in Church on Their First Day at School | The Sadistic Absurdity of Trump, Miller, Noem, Lewandowsky and Homan | Democrats Can Learn From Our Best President's Strategic Shift in the Civil War to Save Our Democracy From America's Worst President backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 28, 20251 hr 3 min

August 27, 2025 - Mikkel Runge Olesen | Rick Wilson | Lawrence Douglas

The U.S. is Caught Spying on a NATO Ally in Support of Trump's Plot to Steal Greenland | Trump's Antisemitic Conspiratorial Rant Threatening George Soros and His Son | Having Survived a Coup Attempt, Can We Endure Dictatorial Creep? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 27, 20251 hr 1 min

August 26, 2025 - David Faris | Robert Hockett | Emma Ashford

Another Governor, Illinois' Pritzker, Stands up to Trump While Democratic Leaders in the House and Senate are MIA | After Trying to Terminate the Fed Chair, Trump Fires the First and Only Black Woman on the Fed, But She is Staying Put | How the U.S. Should Deal With the Way the World is, Not How We Wish It To Be backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 26, 20251 hr 2 min

August 25, 2025 - Stephen Noerper | Philip Rocco | David Hearst

Since Oval Office Flattery is Required, South Korea's President Praises Trump's Garish Redecoration Only to Have Trump Heap Praise on the North Korean Dictator Who Wants to Annihilate South Korea | A Directionless DNC Meets Today With Coffers Empty and a Growing Split Between Younger Activists and Older Centrists While Trump's GOP Moves to Wipe Out the Opposition and Install a Dictator | 5 More Palestinian Journalists Killed Today as Starvation Takes Hold in Gaza backgroundbriefing.org/donate tw...

Aug 26, 20251 hr 3 min

August 24, 2025 - Nina Burleigh | James Fallows | Bill McKibben

Trump Rewrites His Epstein/Maxwell History as He Has Done With "Russiagate" and "Stop the Steal" But This Time Are the American People That Stupid? | Joining the Residents of Washington DC As They Demonstrate Against the Military Occupation of Our Nation's Capital | Among the First to Warn About Global Warming, Bill McKibbon on His New Book Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/prof...

Aug 24, 20251 hr 3 min

August 21, 2025 - Peter Stone | Osita Nwanevu

Trump Patrols the Streets of the Nation's Capital as He Wages War on the Truth | A Case For a Real Democracy in the U.S.A. backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 21, 202558 min

August 20, 2025 - Ryan Cooper | Jeremi Suri | Natalie Melnyczuk

Protestors at DC's Union Station Yell at Vance, Hegseth and Miller Who Calls Them "Crazy Communists" as They Bring Cheeseburgers to National Guard Troops | Texas Gerrymanders 5 Seats For Trump Who is Trying Everything to Stop the Democrats From Taking the House in 2026 | Can Ukraine Hold the Front Against a Russian Offensive Which is Why Putin Doesn't Want a Ceasefire? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersme...

Aug 20, 20251 hr 3 min

August 19, 2025 - David Andelman | Ori Goldberg | James Moore

Trump's Pathetic Idea of Diplomacy and the Art of the Giveaway | After Sunday's Massive Demonstrations, Can Israel's Opposition Stop the War on Gaza? | The Fascistic Thuggery of Republican Legislators in Texas backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 19, 20251 hr 3 min

August 18, 2025 - Charles Kupchan | Richard Hasen | Jeff Hauser

Damage Control at the White House to Prevent Trump's Sellout of Ukraine to Putin | Trump Wants to Get Rid of Mail-in Ballots and Undo the Constitution's Bedrock of States Controlling Elections | Trump's Burgeoning War Chest to Buy theNext Election Just as Musk Bought the Last backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 18, 20251 hr 3 min

August 17, 2025 - Angela Stent | Michael Gorham | Jacob Silverman

The Shameful Amateurism of Trump's Reality TV Diplomacy as He Sells Out Ukraine While Fawning Over a Wanted War Criminal | A Specialist on Russian Media on the Summit the Russian Public Saw on Putin-Controlled State Media | The Possibility of Crypto-Corruption Greasing the Skids to the Summit backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 17, 20251 hr

August 14, 2025 - Harold Meyerson | Julie Roginsky | Robert Stern

Trump's Performative Takeover of the Street of Washington DC as Its Residents Cry "Fascists", "Pigs" and "Go Home" | What Can Democrats Do To Be Proactive, Not Reactive to Trump | California Governor Newsom's Announcement of a November 4 Special Election to Counter the Texas Gerrymander backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 14, 20251 hr 2 min

August 13, 2025 - Tamar Jacoby | Simon Shuster | Steven Simon

How Ukrainians Feel About the Upcoming Summit to Which They Are Not Invited | The 31 Years-Long Dictatorship That Served as a Backchannel For the Putin/Trump Summit | Trump and Hegseth Have Captured the Generals Who Will Show Loyalty Over Legality and Not Rescue us From Trump as Milley, Mattis and Kelly Did Last Time backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 13, 20251 hr

August 12, 2025 - Sarah Leah Whitson | George Beebe | Lucian Truscott IV

The UN's Palestinian Representative's Call For a UN Peacekeeping Protection Force in Gaza | What a Peace Plan to End Russia's War on Ukraine Could Look Like | Trump Moves to Use the Military for Domestic Law Enforcement as the Pentagon Plans For Rapid Reaction Forces to Put Down Civil Dissent backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 12, 20251 hr 2 min

August 11, 2025 - Adele Stan | Dr. Guy Ziv | Dr. Trita Parsi

Like a Tinpot Dictator, Trump Takes Over the Nation's Capital, Sending Troops Into the Streets as a Show of Force | The Growing Rift Between IDF Generals and Netanyahu as More of Israel's Allies Call For a Palestinian State | The Possibility of a New War Erupting Soon Between Israel and Iran backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 11, 20251 hr 4 min

August 10, 2025 - Anders Aslund | Olga Lautman | Renée DiResta

Yet Another Sellout by Trump to His Handler Putin | Since Zelensky Will Have to Reject Trump's Phony Peace Deal, Will That Be Trump's Excuse to Abandon Ukraine? | Gabbard's Ridiculous Revisionist History Aimed to Please the Liar-in-Chief backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 09, 20251 hr

August 7, 2025 - David Salvo | Dr. Sumit Ganguly | David Bell

Low Expectations Among Experts For the Upcoming Putin/Trump Summit in the UAE | Decades of US Efforts to Woo India Away From Russia and Forge a Strategic Partnership Against China Blown Up Overnight By Trump | The Dark Side of A.I. as Silicon Valley Techno-Utopians Oversell Their Products Again backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 07, 20251 hr 3 min

August 6, 2025 - John Nichols | Alexander Motyl | Matthew Klein

Will the Lawless Trump Regime Have the FBI Arrest the Democratic Lawmakers Who Fled Texas to Stop Trump's Power Grab? | As Trump Tries to Persuade Putin Ahead of Friday's Deadline, Can Putin End His War on Ukraine? | An Authoritative Analysis on the Economy and Where Trump is Taking it backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 06, 20251 hr 1 min

August 5, 2025 - Jacob Heilbrunn | Steven Harper | Chris Hedges

The House Subpoenas the Epstein Files and Laura Loomer is Back in the Oval Office | The Dirty Deal Already Made Between Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell | As Netanyahu Plans to Reoccupy Gaza, Speaker Johnson Meets Settlers Telling Them They Are the "Rightful Owners" of Palestinian Territory backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 05, 20251 hr 1 min

August 4, 2025 - David Daley | Lloyd Green | Paul Pillar

Texas Democrats Try to Stop the Trump/Abbott Power Grab to Win the House in the Midterms Before a Vote Has Been Cast | With Signs of Stagflation and Recession Emerging, It's Time For the Democrats to Hammer Trump on the Economy | How Will Trump Respond to the Letter From 600 Top Israeli Officials Asking Him to Get Netanyahu to Stop the Killing in Gaza? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 04, 202559 min

August 3, 2025 - Matt Gold | Scott Horton | Charles Derber

Trump's Tariff Spree and Shooting the Messenger With the Bad Jobs Report | Trump Accuses Obama of "Treason" As He Tries to Rewrite History Based on Forgeries by Russian Intelligence | American Sociocide in the Misanthropic Era of a Malevolent Sociopath backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Aug 03, 20251 hr 3 min

July 31, 2025 - Melinda St. Louis | Michael Gerrard | Dean Baker

50% Tariffs Slapped on Brazil To Force Lula To Drop Charges Against Trump's Fellow Fascist Bolsonaro | Time To Rename the Environmental Protection Agency the Environmental Destruction Agency | In Spite of Trump's Bullying, the Fed Chair Holds Steady on Interest Rates backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Jul 31, 20251 hr 1 min

July 30, 2025 - Erwin Chemerinsky | Stephen Wertheim | Sidney Blumenthal

The Trump-controlled US Senate Elevates Bove as the Law is Weaponized to Keep Unqualified Ideologues On As US Attorneys | The Good and the Bad of Having a Foreign Policy Amateur in the Oval Office | The Senate Tries To Make the Epstein Files Public as the Republicans Stonewall Protecting Their "Dear Leader" backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Jul 30, 20251 hr 1 min

July 29, 2025 - Robert Kuttner | Daniel Treisman | Mitchell Plitnick

Trump's Announce First- Details Later Trade Deal With the EU and "Air Farce One: When Gift Becomes Grift" | Trump's New Ultimatum To Putin Seen as a Step Towards War | Trump Rebukes Netanyahu Over Starving Children But OK's Plan to Annex Gaza backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Jul 29, 20251 hr 2 min

July 28, 2025 - Katherine Stewart | Aziz Huq | Peter Loge

As Trump Appears More Bonkers, We Look Into the "Intellectual" Gloss J.D. Vance Puts on the Administration's Racist and Cruel Policies | What the Supreme Court's Liberals Are Trying to Tell the American People | The Pathetically Thin-Skinned Most Powerful Man in the World Demands "Dear Leader" Worship While Suing Media Outlets That Tell the Truth About Him backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

Jul 28, 20251 hr 4 min
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