Background Briefing with Ian Masters

Follow Background Briefing with Ian Masters
Share on
Copy link to clipboard

BACKGROUND BRIEFING: A radio program featuring international and national news, expert guests, policy makers, and critics offering analysis and insight on national security, foreign and domestic policy, political, cultural, and social issues. Five days a week, Background Briefing asks knowledgeable…

Ian Masters


    • Jul 23, 2026 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekdays NEW EPISODES
    • 1h 1m AVG DURATION
    • 1,824 EPISODES

    4.7 from 542 ratings Listeners of Background Briefing with Ian Masters that love the show mention: briefing, kpfk, listening to ian, domestic and international, international affairs, masters, mainstream media, best source, journalists, production values, rational, background, progressive, experts, aaron, journalism, government, programs, political, informed.


    Ivy Insights

    The Background Briefing with Ian Masters podcast is an excellent source of intelligent and informative discourse on current events. Ian Masters does a phenomenal job of presenting complex issues in a thoughtful and articulate manner. He brings on accomplished and authoritative commentators from around the world, providing a global perspective on the issues at hand. Compared to other news sources, this podcast stands out as being more comprehensive and insightful during chaotic and historic times. Even when Masters slips into "grumpy grandpa" mode, his incredulous questioning adds value to the discussion. Overall, this podcast has been highly educational and I am grateful for it.

    One of the best aspects of The Background Briefing with Ian Masters podcast is the choice of interviewees. Masters consistently brings on knowledgeable experts who provide valuable insights into various topics. The questions and remarks by Ian Masters are insightful and well-informed, creating engaging conversations with his guests. The podcast avoids mindless trends and political bias, presenting a fair and unbiased analysis of current affairs. It's impressive how much thoughtful and timely programming is produced every week, showcasing Masters' dedication to delivering high-quality content.

    While The Background Briefing with Ian Masters podcast has many strengths, there are a few potential drawbacks. Some listeners may find that the host's biased perspective leans towards what they would consider "reality." However, others may view this as a positive aspect that separates the show from mainstream media's surrender to radical talking points instead of factual analysis. Additionally, although the interviews are insightful, some individuals may prefer a more balanced range of opinions to form their own judgments.

    In conclusion, The Background Briefing with Ian Masters podcast is an exceptional source of commentary and analysis on current events. Listeners can expect intelligent discussions with well-chosen guests that provide deeper analyses and insights into pressing issues. While there may be instances where personal biases come through, overall, this podcast offers valuable information for those seeking thoughtful analysis in today's world. Ian Masters' dedication to presenting critical issues with well-informed guests makes this podcast a gem in the media landscape.



    Search for episodes from Background Briefing with Ian Masters with a specific topic:

    Latest episodes from Background Briefing with Ian Masters

    July 23, 2026 - Steven Simon | David Faris | James Risen

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2026 60:13


    How Much Will Trump's Nuclear Deal With Saudi Arabia Line His Pockets While Increasing the Danger of Nuclear Proliferation? | Trump Says His War is Going Well as Oil Spikes at $100 a Barrel From the Houthi Closure of the Other Choke Point For Gulf Oil Iran Controls | Trump Drops His Subpoenas Against the New York Times But Continues His War Against Real Journalists backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 22, 2026 - Joe Cirincione | Arnie Arneson | Daniel Boguslaw

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2026 63:09


    Will Trump's Fear Of Being Seen as a Loser Drive Him to Try to Bomb Iran Into a Submissive Failed State? | Rubio's New Red Scare List of "Subversives" Includes Mayors Mamdani and Bass, Amy Goodman and the Co-Founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream | Can the Democrats Hold the Senate Seat in New Hampshire Against Former Senator Sununu Who is MAGA Lite and Awash With Money? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 21, 2026 - Johnathan Buma | Scott Horton | Eli Clifton

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2026 56:17


    Russia's Useful Idiot Who is Destroying the FBI Will Go to Moscow in October As a Guest of Putin's Murderous FSB | Russia's Penetration of U.S. Industrial Innovation, Science and Hi Tech | Is the DSA Cracking Up the Democratic Party in the Way the Tea Party Turned the GOP Into MAGA? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 20, 2026 - Nicholas Heras | Simon Shuster | Rick Hasen

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2026 60:55


    Iran Escalates Greenlighting the Houthis as Trump Vows Revenge While Israel is Poised to Enter the War | Zelensky in Full Damage Control After Firing Popular and Innovative Defense Minister | What Can Citizens Do to Stop Trump From Stealing the Next Election? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 19, 2026 - Patrick Blanchfield | Tom Mockaitis | Dr. Michael McDonald

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2026 62:24


    The ICE Killer's Background of Racism, Spousal Abuse and History of Violence | Antifa is Now the Target of Trump and Miller's New Global War on Terrorism | Trump's Ridiculous but Dangerous Speech on the Next Election He is Destined to Lose But Determined to Win by Any Means Necessary backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 17, 2026 - Brett Adkins | Karen Greenberg | Alan Abramowitz

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2026 62:30


    Will Trump's Roy Cohn Get Confirmed Since One Republican Senator's Vote is All It Takes To Tank Todd Blanche's Nomination? | A New DNI Unwilling To Speak Truth To Power in the Reckless Ignoramus's Oval Office Is a Catastrophe For Our National Security | Trump Will Try to Sell the Save America Act Tonight With Manufactured Intel and Racist Delusions About Georgia's Black Voters In 2020 backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 17, 2026 - Dr. Trita Parsi | Anna Grzymala-Busse | Marci Shore

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2026 60:50


    The MoU Fell Apart Because of Trump, Witkoff and Kushner's Amateurism and Desperation and Now We Are About to Lose the Same War Again | There Is No Communism In America But That Won't Stop Trump and Speaker Johnson From Trying to Start a New Red Scare | An Examination of What Democratic Socialism Really Is backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 14, 2026 - Wendy Via | Mitchell Plitnick

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2026 56:08


    Another Murder on the Streets of America By Untrained ICE Thugs Following Trump's Racist Hate Filled Immigration Policy of Deliberate Cruelty | The Political Landscape in Israel Ahead of Elections With Not Much Difference Between Netanyahu and His Rivals backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    July 13, 2026 - Tad Devine | Danielle Vinson | James Livingston

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2026 56:49


    How To Heal Democratic Divisions as Carville Blames Bernie Sanders for Hillary's Loss and "Left Wing Idiots" of Today For Jeopardizing Senate Must-Wins in Maine and Michigan | The Just-Announced Replacement for the Late Senator Lindsey Graham | The Oligarchical Takeover ot the U.S. by "Ruling Class Clowns" backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    loss maine vinson tad devine james livingston
    July 12, 2026 - Omer Aziz | David Broder

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2026 61:29


    We Have A Fascist in the White House and the Only Democrat Trying to Stop His Second Coup is Marc Elias | A Postmortem on the NATO Summit as Europe Falls Apart backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 9, 2026 - Hussein Banai | Fred Turner | Stephen Marche

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2026 62:25


    An Unstable Stalemate in the Persian Gulf is the Likely Outcome of Trump's Disastrous War | With the World's Richest Oligarchs Pushing AI, Will the People Demand Some Agency Over the Future of Their Communities and Livelihoods? | A View From Canada on the Zombification of America as the USA Destroys Itself backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 8, 2026 - Emma Ashford | Bill Scher | John Pitney

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2026 61:47


    Will the War of Words Between Trump and the Iranians Lead to a Real War? | The Scramble to Replace Platner Who Appears Reluctant to Step Down | The Lack of Vetting and Opposition Research in Choosing Candidates to Run in Democratic Primaries backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 7, 2026 - Daniel Shea | Tamar Jacoby | George Beebe

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2026 62:17


    The Latest Platner Scandal Has Bernie and Mamdani Urging Him to Step Aside | What it is Like to Have Russian Missiles and Drones Heading For Your Apartment Building | The NATO Summit Underway and What Does Putin Want From Trump backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    July 6, 2026 - David Hirshey | Timothy Shenk | Kian Tajbakhsh

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2026 61:16


    Crypto Don Makes a Deal With the Head of the Notoriously Corrupt FIFA Which Will Stain a U.S. Victory If There Is To Be One This Evening | Will Trump's Revival of His Mentor Roy Cohn's Red Scare Work? | The Religious Underpinning of the Iranian Theocracy backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    head revival timothy shenk
    July 5, 2026 - Adele Stan | Aziz Rana

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2026 35:51


    Trump's 4th of July Speech Appropriates Patriotism While Pushing Partisan Election Theft | The Declaration of Independence's Least Quoted Passage of Revolutionary Reform backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 2, 2026 - Lincoln Mitchell | Allan Lichtman | Kent Harrington

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2026 60:39


    The Unsettling Irony That Presiding Over the Celebration of 250 Years of American Democracy is a President Out to Destroy American Democracy | How a Government Of the People, By the People and For the People Can Be Reborn 250 Years After the American Revolution | Former Majority Leader Gephardt and Senator Tim Worth's Warning That Trump is Building the Infrastructure of Authoritarian Control backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    July 1, 2026 - Ken Klippenstein | Hannah Metzger | David Daley

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2026 60:11


    The Ludicrously Unqualified Government "Expert" Witness Who Turned Political Protest Into Terrorism to Put Anti-ICE Protesters Away for 450 Years | The Latest Victory For Democratic Socialists | SCOTUS Gifts Republicans With More Unregulated Dark Money backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 30, 2026 - Mae Ngai | James Zirin | Dr. Henry Abraham

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2026 60:41


    The Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship But Kavanaugh Shows Congress How to Undo it | Trump Claims "No Limits" to His Power As He Adds Himself to the List of Mass Murderers and Bloodthirsty Dictators He Calls "Great Men" | With Reality Intruding on Trump's Malignant Narcissism, Will He Become More Dangerous as He Becomes More Delusional? backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 29, 2026 - Aziz Huq | Nader Hashemi | Christy McGillivray

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2026 62:19


    A Supreme Court in an Alternative Universe Gives More Power to the "Orange Bandit" | How to Bridge the Different Understandings the U.S. and Iran Have Over the Future of the Strait of Hormuz | A Political Activist Who is Making a Difference backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 28, 2026 - David Smilde | David Schultz | Steven Greenhouse

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2026 62:10


    Since Trump Claims He Runs Venezuela, What is He Doing to Help the Victims of the Devastating Earthquakes? | DHS and ICE's Criminalization of Protests Against Their Thuggish Cruelty | As Trump's Poll Numbers Crater, Cracks Are Emerging in Trump's White, Blue Collar Base backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 25, 2026 - Matt Sledge | Josh Fox | Judith Levine

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2026 60:36


    Trump's Favorite Judge Shows How Protesting Against Government Cruelty Can Get You 30 Years in Prison Even If You Weren't at the Protest | Instead of Walls, A Welcome Table | As Trump Tries to End Our Democracy, How Can We Celebrate Our 250th Birthday He is Hijacking? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 24, 2026 - Eric Blanc | Stephen Wertheim | Christopher Miller

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2026 61:04


    What Do the Big Wins By Mamdani-Backed Democratic Socialists in New York Mean for the Future of Democratic Party Leadership | Could There Be a Silver Lining in the Wake of the Otherwise Unmitigated Disaster Trump and Netanyahu Brought to the Persian Gulf? | Could Ukrainian Gains in Crimea Bring About the End of Putin? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 23, 2026 - Dean Baker | Sidney Blumenthal | Steven Levistsky

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2026 61:20


    In Spite of GOP Lies, There's An Easy Fix For a Social Security Shortfall in 2034 | The MAGA Fraud Frays As the Majority Tires of Trump's Lies, Amateurism and Incompetence | The Rise of Right Wing Authoritarian Leaders in Latin America backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 22, 2026 - Polly Toynbee | Karen Greenberg | Timi Iwayemi

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2026 61:01


    The UK's PM Resigns With a People-Friendly Andy Burnham Poised to Replace Him | Why Did Republican Senators Confirm a Russian-Friendly Asset to Head U.S. Intel Who Took Her Marching Orders From a Homophobic, Islamophobe, Tinfoil-Wrapped Cult Guru? | The Crooks In Congress in Crypto's Corner backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 21, 2026 - Sina Toossi | Andrei Markovits | Alexander Motyl

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2026 62:21


    Iran Closes the Strait Of Hormuz as Negotiators in Switzerland Try to Rescue the U.S.-Iran Peace Deal | Nazi Messages From DHS as MAGA-Trump Racism and Xenophobia Contrast with the Multi-Cultural Diversity and Joy of the World Cup |Could Ukraine Win and Bring Down Putin and Change Russia As We Know It? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 18, 2026 - Joshua Landis | R. Daniel Kelemen | Shawna Kidman

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2026 60:46


    Vance Unloads on Israel in an Obvious Warning Not to Spoil the White House Deal With Iran | How to Stop an Autocrat From Rigging Another Election | Efforts to Stop the Paramount-Warner Merger and Its Impact on Jobs, News and Culture backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 17, 2026 - Robert Malley | Joshua Shifrinson | David Walbert

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2026 62:44


    Even if Trump Has Given Away the Store, Diplomacy is Better Than Continuing to Fight a Lost War | The Price the U.S. Will Pay for Trump's Hubris, Hegseth's Incompetence and Netanyahu's Mendacity | In Shelving His New DNI and FISA Deal, Trump Makes Clear That Rigging the Next Election is His Top Priority backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 16, 2026 - Matthew Petti | Charles Kupchan | Jennifer Kavanagh

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2026 60:57


    A Deal to Make a Deal Has Hawks on All Sides Terrified it Will Succeed | G-7 Leaders Bring Trump and Zelensky Together to Change the U.S. Role From Messenger Between Ukraine and Russia to Mediator That Makes Peace | The Iran War and the Future of American Empire and is Trump Blowing a Chance to Make Peace in Ukraine? backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 15, 2026 - Juan Cole | Jeremi Suri | Quinn Slobodian

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2026 63:16


    Iran Will Sign a Deal on Friday as the Winner, But Will the War Be Over? | As Texas Republicans Target Talarico's Masculinity, the White House Puts on a Display of Toxic Masculinity and Cheesy Patriotism | Is the World's First Trilllionaire Elon Musk a "Human Ponzi Scheme"? backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 14, 2026 - Harrison Mann | Aslı Bâli | Aaron Regunberg

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2026 60:47


    Trump's 80th Birthday Present Today Is Mindless Violence Where Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden Once Stood Instead of Iran Signing a Peace Deal | A Post-War Strategic Realignment That Will Leave the U.S. Much Worse Off | With Big Oil a Winner of This War, It's Past Time to Kick the Habit and Get Off The Oil Drug backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 11, 2026 - Robert Pape | Elizabeth Goitein | Moira Donegan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2026 61:38


    Trump Tries To Spin His Way Out of a Defeat and the End of U.S. Hegemony in the Persian Gulf | Trump Ditches Pulte to Unblock FISA So the Government Can Spy on Americans | Trump's Lies About California Vote-Rigging Set the Stage To Rig the November Elections backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 10, 2026 - Paul Pillar | Ira Shapiro

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2026 60:43


    Trump's Plan to Destroy US Intelligence and Steal the Next Election | The Common Sense Coalition's Warning of the Trump Catastrophe For Our Democracy, National Security, Economy and the Future of the Planet backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 9, 2026 - Ben Burgis | Mitchell Prothero | Lisa Graves

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2026 59:40


    In Spite of Hit Jobs From the Liberal Media, a Progressive Populist is Poised to Win in Maine | A Report From Albania on Protests Against Jared and Ivanka's Luxury Resort in a Nature Reserve | Trump Has His Roy Cohn But Will the Mafia Boss Get His Consigliere Confirmed? backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 8, 2026 - Hussein Banai | Ben Freeman | James Risen

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2026 60:15


    Trump to Netanyahu: "I Call The Shots" and You Have To Accept Any Peace Deal I Make with Iran | Amid Heightened Tensions Between the US and Israel, Congress Quietly Moves to Integrate US and Israeli Militaries | Scott Pelley Tells the NYT How Bari Weiss Ordered Changes to a 60 Minutes Report to Support Trump's Lies backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 7, 2026 - David Hearst | Robert Kuttner | Steven Harper

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2026 59:41


    The US and Iran Exchange Fire Jeopardizing a Tenuous Ceasefire As Iran Insists on Trump Handing Over $24 Billion of Its Money Before Finalizing a Deal | Republican Senators Give Stephen Miller $70 Billion On Top Of $100 Billion Unspent to Pursue Cruelty a Majority of Taxpayers Oppose |The DoJ Under Todd Blanche is the Department of Trump Family Crime and Pedophile Protection backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 4, 2026 - James Zirin | Amy Fried | Michael Kimmage

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2026 59:59


    Now That Trump Has His Roy Cohn, Will the Senate Confirm Todd Blanche to be the Nation's Attorney General? | The Impact of the Latest Scandal Swirling Around Graham Platner on the Democrat's Chances to Win Back the Senate | Having Turned Russia Into a Police State, Who is Left to Topple Putin? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    June 3, 2026 - Sasha Abramsky | Edward McCaffery | Steven Simon

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2026 61:22


    Election Results From Yesterday's Primaries With a Focus on California | Trump's Roy Cohn Does a Bait and Switch Ending the $1.8 Billion Slush Fund While Shielding Trump and His Family From IRS Audits | Trump Publicly Displays Anger at Netanyahu While Quietly the Pentagon Takes Over Oversight of Aid to Israel

    June 2, 2026 - Thanassis Cambanis | Anne Nelson | Chris Whipple

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2026 61:39


    After Being Cursed Out, Netanyahu Defies Trump, Declaring "Iran's Days Are Numbered" As He Continues Bombing Lebanon | How Larry and David Ellison's Lackeys are "Murdering" CBS to Please Trump | Does Owning 5 Rundown Trailer Parks in Florida Qualify You to Head Up U.S. Intelligence? backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    June 1, 2026 - Dr. Annelle Sheline | Suchi Mathur | Nina Burleigh

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2026 61:00


    Iran Suspends Peace Talks With Trump as Netanyahu Pounds Lebanon | How ICE Contactors Profit From Misery as Stephen Miller's Cruelty is the Strategy | The Continuing Cover Up Of Trump's Ties to Epstein By the MAGA Toadies Blanche, Patel and Comer backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    May 31, 2026 - Mohsen Milani | Daniel Boguslaw | Stephen Walt

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2026 64:08


    Trump's Silence as Iran Holds the Cards, in Particular the Strait of Hormuz, a Prize Our Idiot Gave Them | As Trump Monetizes His Presidency, His Administration Rewards the Tech Bros By Criminalizing Opposition to AI | Could Trump Just Admit That He Screwed Up? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    May 28, 2026 - Eli Clifton | Olga Lautman | Theodore Hamm

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2026 63:30


    Trump Threatens to Blow Up Oman as Qatar and Bahrain Secretly Pay Bribes to Iran Not to Bomb Them | Trump Sells Out NATO to Putin Just as Ukraine Turns the Battlefield Against Russia | How a Democratic Socialist Beat Machine Politics and Even Won Over Donald Trump backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    May 27, 2026 -David Graham | James Moore | Jeffrey Winters

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2026 61:56


    In Spite of the "Art of the Deal," Trump Keeps Getting Rolled in Negotiations | Paxton and the Moral Decay and Collapse of Decency and Discourse in the Trump Era | How and Why Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracy backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    May 26, 2026 - Katherine Hawkins | Harold Meyerson | Cory Haala

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2026 59:38


    Another US Senator Assaulted by Trump and Stephen Miller's ICE and DHS Thugs | The California Crackup That Could Have Republican Reality TV Gadflys Elected in the Bluest State | The Rise of Progressive Populism in the Heartland as the Con of Trump's Authoritarian Populism Sinks In backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    May 25, 2026 - Robert Young Pelton | Nader Hashemi | Tom Mockaitis

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2026 61:14


    On Memorial Day a Pentagon Run by a Racist Incompetent Whose Number Two is a Defense Contractor Entrenching the Military Industrial Complex | Trump Will Try to Spin a Defeat as a Victory Over Iran Then Maybe Invade Cuba as a Distraction | Asymmetrical Warfare Goes Back to the American Revolution As Nowadays, Cheap Defense Favors Smaller Powers, While Expensive Offense Does Not Secure Victory for Major Powers backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    May 24, 2026 - Jonathan Alter | Gregory Treverton | Afshin Matin-Asgari

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2026 60:55


    With Comedians Leading the Resistance, Colbert is Taken Off the Air by a President Who Can't Take a Joke | Trump's Conspiracy Theorist in Charge of US Intelligence Resigns | The Fate and Future of the Iranian Opposition backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    May 21, 2026 - Jeff Colgan | Ryan Cooper | Edward McCafferey

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2026 62:12


    With Trump's War Stalemated, More Sticker Shock Coming For Working Americans Being Punished at the Gas Pump | The Flimsy DNC Autopsy on the 2024 Loss Fails to Mention Gaza | The Trump Family Are So Good at Being Bad as the Democrats and the Press Get Distracted by the $1.8 Billion Slush Fund When the Real Scam is Barring the IRS From Investigating the Family's Monetization of the Presidency backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    May 20, 2026 - Rick Wilson | Bruce Fein | Bill Scher

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2026 61:05


    Trump's Grip Over the GOP Tightens as His Poll Numbers Tank | Trump's Capture of the DoJ Gives Him a $1.77 Slush Fund and IRS Immunity From Tax Fraud | Hondurasgate Look Worse Than Watergate and Iran-Contra Combined But the US Media Is Ignoring It backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    May 19, 2026 - David Adler | Jeremi Suri | Stuart Schrader

    Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2026 65:04


    A Scandal Worse Than Watergate and Iran Contra Combined Which Is Not Being Covered by the American Press | Trump Endorses a "Christian Crook" in Good News For James Talarico's Texas Senate Race | The Political Clout That Allows Police to Protect and Serve Themselves backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    May 18, 2026 - Orville Schell | Mike Lofgren | Adam Hanieh

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2026 59:09


    The Different Versions on What Trump Had To Say And What Xi Said Happened at the Trump - Xi Summit | The Darkening Embrace of Evil as Trump's Mafia-Like Control of the GOP Strengthens | The Trickle Down Impact of the Gulf Oil Cutoff on Transportation, Food Supplies, Plastics, Chips and the Global Financial System backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

    May 17, 2026 - Kent Harrington | William LeoGrande | A.J.A. Woods

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2026 60:45


    How Xi Handled the Barbarian Who Went Home Emptyhanded Ready to Sell Out Taiwan | The US Offers $100 Million in Aid to Cubans Suffering Collective Punishment As They Run Out of Oil From a Total US Blockade | Republicans Fight Against Imaginary Problems Like Cultural Marxism Because They Have Nothing Real to Offer backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    kent aid harrington william leogrande
    May 14, 2026 - David Daley | Victor Shih | Noam Schieber

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2026 61:01


    The Republican Electoral Coup Underway to Offset a Wipeout in November by Gerrymandering to Hold the House and Senate Before One Vote is Cast | An Update on the Trump - Xi Summit | How a Generation of Over-Qualified Young Americans With Degrees Working in the Gig Economy Will Impact Our Politics in the Future backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social linktr.ee/backgroundbriefing

    Claim Background Briefing with Ian Masters

    In order to claim this podcast we'll send an email to with a verification link. Simply click the link and you will be able to edit tags, request a refresh, and other features to take control of your podcast page!

    Claim Cancel