
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.
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Latest episodes

Jun 5, 2025 • 55min
June 5, 2025 - Miles Taylor | John Nichols
What it is Like to Be An American Citizen Targeted by the Most Powerful Person in the World Who is Accusing You of Treason For Speaking the Truth | Trump's America: The United States of Cruelty
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Jun 4, 2025 • 1h 1min
June 4, 2025 - Robert Hockett | Oleh Kotsyuba | Mohsen Milani
Trump Digs the Deficit Hole $2.4 Trillion Deeper to Punish the Poor and Reward the Richest | Trump Sells Out Ukraine Again in His Call Today With Putin | Trump Pressure Iran to Sign or Get Bombed, Making a War That Will Not Be a Cakewalk More Likely
Trump Digs the Deficit Hole $2.4 Trillion Deeper to Punish the Poor and Reward the Richest | Trump Sells Out Ukraine Again in His Call Today With Putin | Trump Pressure Iran to Sign or Get Bombed, Making a War That Will Not Be a Cakewalk More Likely
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Jun 3, 2025 • 1h 3min
June 3, 2025 - William Arkin | Halie Soifer | Johnathan Buma
The Pentagon's Slow Learning Curve on Asymmetrical Warfare | The Latest Attacks on Jewish Americans As Our President Continues to Signal his Anti Semitic Leanings | A Former FBI Counterintelligence Whistleblower on the Wrecking of the FBI by Patel and Bongino
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Jun 2, 2025 • 1h 4min
June 2, 2025 - Michael Swaine | Ryan Cooper | George Packer
The Smallest Man With The Biggest Job in America Calls Out China in a Hegemonic Showdown | Trump and Musk's Refugees From an Imaginary White Genocide | Part 2 of George Packer's Atlantic Article on Our Next President, "The Talented Mr. Vance"
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Jun 1, 2025 • 1h 1min
June 1, 2025 - Robert Kuttner | Lisa Graves | George Packer
President TACO Zig-Zags on Tariffs as the Senate Takes Up His "Big, Beautiful Bill" Which Some Republicans Want to Cut More and Others Cut Less | Trump Calls Leonard Leo a "Sleazebag" and Regrets Following the Advice of the Federalist Society | The Growing Possibility Our Next President Will Be J.D. Vance Before Trump's Term is Up
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May 29, 2025 • 1h 4min
May 29, 2025 - Aram Shabanian | Olga Lautman | Chris Hedges
How the Trump Wrecking Crew Are Destroying Our Defense and National Security | How the Media Falls for Trump's Theatre While Ukraine Burns | A Pulitzer Prize-Winning NYT ME Bureau Chief and Veteran War Correspondent on Gaza
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May 28, 2025 • 1h
May 28, 2025 - Daniel Treisman | Jacob Heilbrunn | David Victor
Trump Says the Quiet Part Out Loud About How He Protects Putin | Musk, JD Vance and Rubio Praise the German Neo-Nazi AfD Party While the Trump Administration Weaponizes Aniti-Semitism | The Impact of the US Senate's Republicans Revoking California's Electric Car Mandate
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May 27, 2025 • 1h 1min
May 27, 2025 - Mike Konczal | Joe Cirincione | Jacob Silverman
The Cruelest Cuts in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill | Trump's Golden Dome - A Massive Boondoggle and Payoff to Musk and Thiel | As Trump Monetizes His Presidency, Thanks to Crypto, His Family's Net Worth Increased by $2.9 Billion to $ 5.4 Billion
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May 26, 2025 • 1h 6min
May 26, 2025 - Lucian Truscott IV | Dr. Bandy Lee | Anders Aslund
Trump's Memorial Day and West Point Politicization of the Military | An Investigation of the Evident Deterioration of Trump's Mental Health | Instead of Randomly Imposing Tariffs, The World's Biggest Debtor Should Be Showing Some Humility Towards Its Creditors
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May 25, 2025 • 1h 3min
May 25, 2025 - Rabbi Steven Jacobs | Mitchell Plitnick | Omar Shakir
Netanyahu Blames the Leaders of the UK, France and Canada For the Murders of Young Israeli Diplomats in DC | A Path Forward For Those Who Want to Stop the Killing of Innocents | The Ongoing Humanitarian Nightmare in Gaza
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