Background Briefing with Ian Masters
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.
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Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 16, 2025 • 1h 3min
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
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Feb 13, 2025 • 1h 1min
February 13, 2025 - Allison McManus | Michael Hiltzik | Timothy Shenk
Trump is Selling Out Ukraine to Putin Who He Is Going to Bat For to Have the Pariah Readmitted to the G7 | Republican Senators Confirm an Anti-Vaxxer and Conspiracy Monger to Head HHS | How the Left Lost Its Political Footing and How to Get it Back
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Feb 12, 2025 • 1h 1min
February 12, 2025 - Steven Pifer | Michael Kimmage | Daoud Kuttab
Hegseth Gives Up Ukraine's Leverage Before Russia/Ukraine Peace Talks Begin | Is the Trump Administration Already Capitulating to Putin? | An Assessment of the Awkward Meeting Between Jordan's King Abdullah and Trump
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Feb 11, 2025 • 60min
February 11, 2025 - Nicholas Grossman | Lucan Way
The Frightening Pace at Which the United States is Embracing Authoritarianism | Why is it Trump's Priority to Attack Allies Like Canada While Cozying up to Enemies Like Putin?
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Feb 10, 2025 • 1h 4min
February 10, 2025 - Jason Stanley | Jacques Berlinerbau | Allison Pugh
Has Fascism Already Arrived in America? | The MAGA Christian Nationalists' War on the Separation of Church and State | Musk and His Techies Are Purging Workers to Replace Them With Automation and AI Which is Why He's Buying OpenAI For $97.4 Billion
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Feb 9, 2025 • 1h 5min
February 9, 2025 - Kathleen Clark | Katherine Stewart | Vanda Felbab-Brown
Technocrats Are Purging Bureaucrats to Grab Data, Control Funds, Weaken Government, Cut Services and Install Loyalists to the Dear Leader | The One-Two Punch of Plutocracy and Theocracy Taking Over the Country | The Tinderbox in Eastern Congo Threatening a Regional War
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Feb 6, 2025 • 1h 2min
February 6, 2025 - David Super | Lisa Graves | Michael German
Government Workers Should Not Fall For the Musk/Trump Buyout Trick | The Moral Authoritarian and Billionaire Worshipping Author of Project 2025 About to Head the OMB | Collusion Between the Far Right and American Policing is About to Get Worse Under Trump, Bondi and Kash Patel
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Feb 5, 2025 • 1h 3min
February 5, 2025 - Jacob Heilbrunn | Leila Hilal | Jeet Heer
Netanyahu Meets With the Christian Zionist "Crusader" at the Pentagon Where Top Officials Want to Get Out of the Middle East Quagmire | A Palestinian Perspective on Trump's US-Owned Gaza as a "Riviera of the Middle East" | The Growing Alarm at Musk Having Every American's Social Security Number, Address, Email, Income and Personal Details
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Feb 4, 2025 • 1h 6min
February 4, 2025 - Robert Kuttner | Ioan Grillo | Van Jackson
The Fatal Combination of a Mentally Ill President and a Mentally Deranged Billionaire Out to Destroy Our Government and Democracy | Stopping the Deadly Fentanyl Trade in Mexico, China and Now India | The Folly of a Trade War With China and a Saner Way To Ease Tensions
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Feb 4, 2025 • 1h 2min
February 3, 2025 - Steve Radelet | Moira Donegan | Adele Stan
Musk Shuts Down USAID After Trump Illegally Freezes Foreign Aid for 90 Days | The Failure of the Democrats and the American Left In Allowing a Disastrous Misanthrope to Be Elected President Not Just Once, But Twice | Do 76 Million Americans Not Want a Functioning Government and Prefer to be Entertained by a Reality TV Star?
Host: Ian Masters
Producer: Graham FitzGibbon
Assistant Producer: Asher Price


