
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

Apr 7, 2025 • 1h 1min
April 7, 2025 - William Cohan | Mike Lofgren | Michael Kazin
Trump Urges Americans Not to Be "Weak or Stupid" as the Meltdown on Wall Street Continues | Who Benefits From Trump and Musk's Deliberate Destruction of the American Economy, Our Government and Our Standing in the World? | Saturday's 1,200 "Hands Off" Demonstrations in American Towns and Cities and Others Around the World
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Apr 6, 2025 • 1h 2min
April 6, 2025 - Denver Riggleman | Stephen Wertheim | Karthik Sankaran
Trump's Looney Girlfriend Purges the NSC and NSA | The Future of NATO and a Europe Without the US | In Search of a Methodology Behind the Economic Lunacy of Trump's Tariffs?
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Apr 3, 2025 • 59min
April 3, 2025 - Jeremi Suri | Sarang Shidore | Jonathan Cohn
The Growing Grassroots Revolt Against the Slash and Burn of the American Government, Our Institutions and Our Democracy by Trump and Musk | Trump's Broadside of Tariffs Amid a Blizzard of Lies From the Rose Garden | After Trump, Musk and RFK Jr. Have Purged Scientists, Researchers, Innovators and Experts, Who Will Make America Great Again?
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Apr 2, 2025 • 1h 2min
April 2, 2025 - Richard Parker | Jonathan Guyer | Simon Billenness
Hope on the Horizon for Democrats | Trump's Erratic Middle East Policy as He Threatens to Bomb Iran While Israel Annexes Gaza | Will the Earthquake in Myanmar Spell the End of the Military Junta?
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Apr 1, 2025 • 1h 3min
April 1, 2025 - Michael Martin | Matthew Klein | Michael John Williams
Thanks to Musk, the US is Not Helping the Victims of the Earthquake in Myanmar Because There Are Only 15 Employees Left at USAID | Who Will be Freed on Trump's "Liberation Day" Tomorrow When We'll All Be Paying More? | More Nuclear Proliferation as Europeans Plan to Develop Their Own Nuclear Deterrent and Tactical Battlefield Nukes
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Mar 31, 2025 • 1h 4min
March 31, 2025 - Paul Pillar | Henry Giroux | Lloyd Green
Is Trump Bluffing With Nuclear Threats Against Iran or Does he Want to Nuke Their Underground Nuclear Facilities | Trump and Stephen Miller are Borrowing From the Argentine Junta, Pinochet and the Nazis | A Former Republican Opposition Researcher on Republican Vulnerabilities and How the Democrats Can Up Their Game
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Mar 30, 2025 • 1h 2min
March 30, 2025 - Harold Meyerson | Aziz Rana
Trump's Top Aides Dig the Hole Deeper on Signalgate Speaking Lies on Behalf of Power | An Examination of the Emerging Resistance and How the Only Pathway Out of Institutional Collapse as Our Democracy is Destroyed is on the Left
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Mar 27, 2025 • 1h 1min
March 27, 2025 - Annelle Sheline | Thomas Bollyky | Ruth Conniff
Team Trump's Amateurs and Incompetents Exposed on the Signal Group Chat Prepare to Bomb the Houthis Again, Maybe This Time With "Clean Opsec"? | RFK Jr's Brutal Cuts to HHS as His Quackery Harms Kids From Cod Liver He Recommends Instead of a Measles Vaccination | Are We About to See a Defeat of Musk in Wisconsin After Successfully Buying the White House, the Senate and the House?
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Mar 26, 2025 • 1h 1min
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
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Mar 25, 2025 • 1h
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
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