Background Briefing with Ian Masters
1,575 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 551 ratingsBackground 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
May 19, 2021 - Dov Waxman | Adriana Beltrán | Elizabeth Hinton
May 19, 2021 23:14 - 82.3 MBBiden Leans on Netanyahu to End the Latest War With Hamas | The State Department List of Corrupt Government Officials in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras | The Author of America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 18, 2021 - Amb. Martin Indyk | Joseph Lowndes | Dr. Peter Katona
May 18, 2021 22:55 - 84.2 MBA Veteran of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations on the Current Israel-Hamas War | The GOP's Slide into Authoritarianism and Dictator Worship | Conflicting Messages Over Masks and the Lag in Global Vaccination backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 17, 2021 - Melissa Murray | Mark Perry | Charlotte Alter
May 17, 2021 23:00 - 96.9 MBThe Supreme Court's Decision to Revisit Roe v Wade Places Abortion Rights in Jeopardy | Unconditional Support for Israel in Congress is Starting to Erode | The Emerging Role of Millennials in Politics backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 16, 2021 - Sarah Leah Whitson | Noura Erekat | Laurie Laybourn-Langton and Martin Lawrence
May 16, 2021 18:30 - 109 MBDivisions Among Middle Eastern Rulers and the Arab Street Over the War in Gaza | The Asymmetry of Overwhelming Force Against a Captive People Caught Between Corruption and Fanaticism | A Way to Address Climate Change and Reimagine a Healthier, Happier World backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 13, 2021 - Zara Hassan | Dr. Amesh Adalja | Mike Lofgren
May 13, 2021 23:11 - 84.7 MBCommunal Violence Inside of Israel May Restrain Escalation to an Invasion of Gaza | Fully-Vaccinated Americans Can Now Take Off Their Masks | The GOP is Getting More Extreme and Will Dismantle Democracy if They Win in 2022 backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 12, 2021 - Asher Kaufman | Mitchell Plitnick | Amanda Marcotte
May 12, 2021 23:38 - 88.7 MBVigilante Violence in Israel Against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians | Unconditional Support For Israel in Our Politics and Press is Eroding | The GOP is a Threat to American Democracy. What are the Democrats Doing About it? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 11, 2021 - Victoria Sanford | Dorit Reiss | Patrick Radden Keefe
May 11, 2021 22:32 - 92.5 MBHow to Ensure Aid to Central America Will Reach the People, Not Line the Pockets of Corrupt Leaders | The FDA's Authorization to Vaccinate Teenagers Faces Resistance From Parents | 24 State Attorneys General Oppose Bankruptcy Allowing the Sacklers to Keep Billions in Profit From the Deaths of 500,000 backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 10, 2021 - Gideon Levy | Sean Lyngaas | Michael Khodarkovsky
May 10, 2021 22:04 - 80.1 MBClashes in Jerusalem as Israel Forms a Far-Right Government Under Naftali Bennett | Was the Cyberattack on Critical Infrastructure by Russian Criminals, the State, or Both? | The Trump GOP is Looking More and More Like Putin's United Russia backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 9, 2021 - Harry Litman | Dennis Wadley | Shyam Balganesh
May 09, 2021 19:38 - 81.9 MBBill Barr's and Rudy Giuliani's Growing Legal Troubles | Genocide is Underway Against Tigrayans in Ethiopia | European Leaders Warn Production of Vaccines in the Problem Not Patents backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 6, 2021 - Thomas Bollyky | Charles Zelden | David Rothkopf
May 06, 2021 23:57 - 81.1 MBBiden's Decision to Ease Patent Rules on Vaccines for Poorer Countries | Florida's Authoritarian Governor Signs Voter Suppression Bill With Only Fox News Present | Judge to Reveal How Barr Spun the Mueller Report, and a Second Steele Dossier backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 5, 2021 - Michael Hiltzik | Natalie Manaeva Rice | Ben Burgis
May 05, 2021 23:58 - 101 MBFacebook's Non-Decision on Making its Ban of Trump Permanent | The G7 Decides to Fight Disinformation From Russia and China | How Could the American Left Allow the Republicans to Become the Party of the Working Class? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 4, 2021 - Geoffrey Kabaservice | Lauren Ancel Meyers | Christopher Shaw
May 04, 2021 22:07 - 82.7 MBTrump's GOP Demands Loyalty to the "Big Lie" While Purging Truth-Tellers | A Half-Ill Informed - Half-Sensible Country Cannot Defeat the Pandemic | Removing Trump's Postmaster General and Reviving Post Office Banking backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 3, 2021 - Jeffrey Shaman | Amy Hollyfield | Mark Bittman
May 03, 2021 22:59 - 85.8 MBWith 30% Resisting Vaccination, the U.S. is Unlikely to Reach Herd Immunity | The GOP's Great White Hope, Florida Governor DeSantis's Authoritarian Bent | Mark Bittman's Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal. backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
May 2, 2021 - Craig Unger & Yuri Shvets | Ciara Torres-Spelliscy | Jonathan Taplin
May 02, 2021 18:03 - 103 MBGiuliani in Trouble and Putin Under Threat From Hardliners At Home | A Right Wing Supreme Court Could Give Dark Money Constitutional Protection | Republicans Wage the Culture Wars, While the Left Dominates the Culture backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 29, 2021 - Harold Meyerson | John Lawrence | Michael Mechanic
April 29, 2021 23:24 - 92.9 MBBiden Lays Out A Social Democratic Manifesto Than Harkens to LBJ's "Great Society" and FDR's "Second Bill of Rights" | Only the American People, Not Politicians, Can End Partisanship | While Billionaires Are Richer Than Ever, Ordinary Americans Dream of Winning the Lottery backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 28, 2021 - Scott Horton | Chas Freeman | David Halperin
April 28, 2021 21:19 - 82 MBFeds Raid Giuliani and Victoria Toensing's Law Firm and Confiscate Electronic Devices | Veteran Diplomat Ambassador Chas Freeman on China and the Middle East | Biden's $1.8 Trillion Plan to Tax the Rich to Pay for Education
April 27, 2021 - Thanassis Cambanis | Dr. Michael McDonald | William Arkin
April 27, 2021 22:40 - 98.9 MBDid Iran Send a Signal With the Missile That Landed Near Israel's Reactor at Dimona? | Winners and Losers in the 2020 Census Results | A Leading Expert on Our Endless Wars and the Need For Civilian Control of the Military backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 26, 2021 - Richard Parker | Zoë Carpenter | Sumit Ganguly
April 26, 2021 23:03 - 84.2 MBBiden's 100 Day Approval Rating and How to Build on it For 2022 | How to Combat Weaponized Misinformation When There is no Downside to Lying | Death Toll Mounts as India's Trump Bans Facebook and Twitter to Cover up His Incompetence backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 25, 2021 - Doug McAdam | George Derek Musgrove | Robert Pollin
April 25, 2021 20:41 - 99 MBA Rash of Police Killings Following the Guilty Verdict of George Floyd’s Murderer | Fighting Racism to Bring Democracy to the Nation's Capitol | The Coauthor with Noam Chomsky of Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 22, 2021 - David Marples | David Phillips | Kate Aronoff
April 22, 2021 23:01 - 85.9 MBPutin Warns the U.S. About Red Lines as He Puts the Squeeze on Belarus | How Will Erdogan Respond to Biden Recognizing the Armenian Genocide? | Earth Day's Virtual Summit on Climate Change and the Author of Overheated backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 21, 2021 - Elly Page | Andrew Gordon | Katrina Mulligan & Brette Steele
April 21, 2021 22:42 - 82.2 MBIn Response to BLM Protests, Republican Laws Now Criminalize Protest in 45 States | The DOJ Investigates the Minneapolis Police Department for Over-Policing and Under-Protecting | White Supremacists Are "The Most Persistent and Lethal Threat to the Homeland'' backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 20, 2021 - Mark Osler | Andrew Cockburn | Michael Mann
April 20, 2021 23:32 - 82.3 MBThree Guilty Verdicts in the Trial of the Murderer of George Floyd | Why Does the U.S. Support the Drug-Dealing Leader of Honduras? | The Agreement by China and the U.S. to Work Together Against Climate Change backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 19, 2021 - Vida Johnson | Brian Levin | Ambassador Fesseha Tessema
April 19, 2021 22:56 - 79.9 MBHow to Screen Out Racist Cops Who Join Anti-Government Militias | With a Leader of the Oath Keepers Cooperating With Investigators, We Should Learn More About Who Planned the Assault on the Capitol | Paralysis at the U.N. Caused by China and Russia Allows the Slaughter of Ethiopian Civilians to Continue backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 18, 2021 - Mark Lowenthal | Naomi Oreskes | Ruth Ben Ghiat
April 18, 2021 18:11 - 79.6 MBFinally the "Smoking Gun" of Collusion Mueller Was Looking For Emerges | "Liberty" in the U.S. Now Threatens Life and the Pursuit of Happiness | Fox's Tucker Carlson Mainstreams the Charlottesville Nazi Chant "The Jews Will Not Replace Us" backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 15, 2021 - Dean Baker | Jim Goldgeier | Thomas Barfield
April 15, 2021 22:30 - 83.1 MBPandemic Profiteers and Global Inequality in Vaccination | Sanctions Aimed at "Deterring Russia's Harmful Foreign Activities" | Biden's Critics Are Happy to Waste $2 Trillion in Afghanistan But Won't Spend the Same on Infrastructure at Home backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 14, 2021 - Christine Fair | Stephan Schwartz
April 14, 2021 22:48 - 83 MBThe Tragic Span of America's 20 Year History in Afghanistan Since 9/11 | Why Do American Police Kill 1,099 Civilians Annually Compared to 36 in Canada, 21 in Australia and 11 in Germany? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 13, 2021 - Mark Fitzpatrick | David Albright | Jamie Metzl
April 13, 2021 23:50 - 83.7 MBWith Months Before a Nuclear Breakout, Israel Again Sets Back Iran's Path to the Bomb | Can Deterrence Work Between Israel and Iran? | A Call for More Research on a Possible Lab Leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 12, 2021 - Nina Jankowicz | Kent Harrington | Donna Manning
April 12, 2021 22:12 - 82.8 MBIs Putin Poised to Attack Ukraine Or Using the Threat as a Bargaining Ploy? | The National Intelligence Council's Global Trends 2040 Report | What Residents of Blue States Can Do to Help Citizens in Red States Vote backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 11, 2021 - Pavel Felgenhauer | Adam Ramsay | Mike Elk
April 11, 2021 17:38 - 142 MBPutin Prepares a Knockout Blow to Defeat Ukraine's Military and Topple Its Government | The Tripod of Anglo-British Nationalism; TV, the Tabloids, and the Monarchy | Why the RWDSU Lost the Vote to Unionize Amazon in Alabama backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 8, 2021 - Anne Marie Lofaso | Patrick Blanchfield | Dr. Andrew Hartman
April 08, 2021 21:12 - 89.6 MBAs Joe Manchin Exerts More Power Over Biden's Agenda, an Analysis of What Motivates His Stance | Biden's Modest Proposals to Curb an "Epidemic" of Gun Violence | Absent a GOP Platform, Right Wing Media's Outrage Machine Stokes the Culture Wars backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 7, 2021 - Glenn Cohen | Lincoln Mitchell | Timothy Frye
April 07, 2021 21:21 - 82.7 MBRepublican Hysteria Over Vaccine Passports | McConnell Picks a Losing Fight With Corporate America | Putin as a Weak Strongman and Personalist Autocracies backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 6, 2021 - Trita Parsi | Carlton Larson | Barry Naughton
April 06, 2021 22:37 - 82.3 MBToday's Opening Talks Through Intermediaries Between the U.S. and Iran | The Difference Between Treason and Insurrection as it Applies to January 6 | Is China Trying to Get Out From Under the Dominance of the Dollar? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 5, 2021 - Lynn Parramore | Jillian Schwedler | Ken Deklava
April 05, 2021 20:17 - 89.3 MBYellen's Initiative and McConnell's Determination to Stop Biden's Infrastructure Plan | Palace Intrigue in the Kingdom of Jordan | How Biden Could Learn From the Pope's Diplomatic Initiatives backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 4, 2021 - Jennifer Rodgers | Jim Small | Ryan Brown
April 04, 2021 18:53 - 85.6 MBMatt Gaetz as the Latest Lowlife Exposed in the Trump Era of Sleaze | How the Arizona Senate is Trying to Keep the "Stop the Steal" Scam Alive | A New Study on Radicalization and Deradicalization of Violent Extremists In America backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
April 1, 2021 - Jeff Stein | Michael Davis | Jason Morgan Ward
April 01, 2021 21:56 - 84.2 MBA New Even Wackier Twist in the Emerging Matt Gaetz Scandal | Today's Convictions of Prominent Pro-democracy Activists in Hong Kong | An Historian on Why Georgia's New Voting Law is Jim Crow 2.0 backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 31, 2021 - Constantine Samaras | Aaron Rupar | Kevin Kumashiro
March 31, 2021 23:14 - 78.6 MBBiden's $T Billion Infrastructure Program Will Require Massive Amounts of Electricity From Wind and Solar | The Trumpiest Congressman Embroiled in a Burgeoning Child Sex Scandal | Biden's First Presidential Proclamation in Support of Trans People Who 80 Republican Bills Are Targeting backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 30, 2021 - David Schultz | Jonathan Latham | Anna Massoglia
March 30, 2021 21:53 - 81 MBIn Spite of Damning Testimony, the Derek Chauvin Trial Could End in a Hung Jury | A Case for Why it is More Likely Covid-19 is the Result of a Lab Accident Than a Zoonotic Leap | Why the Democrats Want to Ban Dark Money Even Though They Raised More of it in 2020 backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 29, 2021 - Dennis Kelleher | Lawrence Gostin | Andrew Gordon
March 29, 2021 23:36 - 80.8 MBAnother Bout of Wretched Excess and Lack of Regulators on Wall Street | The WHO Report China Got to Shape on the Origins of the Pandemic | Today's Opening Testimony in the Trial of Derek Chauvin backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 28, 2021 - Justin Levitt | Philip Zelikow | Robert Bell
March 28, 2021 18:52 - 83.1 MBRepublican Lawmakers Shamelessly Set About Stealing Democracy | How Diplomacy Could Have Shortened World War 1 and How it Can Prevent Wars and End Them | Energy Transformation in Coal Country as a Win-Win For Joe Manchin backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 25, 2021 - Lawrence Lessig | Robert Hockett | Trevor Sutton
March 25, 2021 22:43 - 83.4 MBAt Today's First Press Conference Biden Calls GOP Voter Suppression "Un-American" and "It's Sick" | Biden's Ambitious Infrastructure Plans | Biden Reveals Many Long Conversations With Xi and How We Can Win the Struggle Between Democracy and Autocracy backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 24, 2021 - Dr. Comilla Sasoon | Joshua Horwitz | Elie Honig
March 24, 2021 20:49 - 82.5 MBAn ER Doctor Who Treated the Aurora Victims on What Assault Rifles Do to the Human Body | Assessing the Chances of Bringing Back the Assault Weapons Ban | Did the Former U.S. Attorney For D.C. Make it More Difficult to Prosecute the Insurrectionists? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 23, 2021 - Aya Gruber | Saul Cornell | Graham Fuller
March 23, 2021 22:38 - 83.5 MBThe Seventh Mass Shooting in Seven Days in Gun-soaked America | The NRA "Victory" in Striking Down a Boulder City Ordinance to Ban Assault Rifles | Biden's Opening Salvo in Diplomacy Between Superpowers backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 22, 2021 - Jean Guerrero | Paul Pierson | Amy Wilentz
March 22, 2021 22:17 - 83.4 MBRepublicans Seize on Border Issues Using Mexican Trolls for Anti-Immigrant Propaganda | Democrats Should Call McConnell's Bluff on the Filibuster | Gangs and Kidnappers Rule the Streets of Jovenel Moise's Haiti backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 21, 2021 - Mae Ngai | Thomas Frank | Charles Kupchan
March 21, 2021 18:37 - 85.5 MBSeparating Asian Americans From Worsening U.S.-China Relations | Censoring Lies, Idiocy and Hate On the Right is a Declaration of Defeat by the Left | The May 1 Deadline to Get Out of Afghanistan backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 18, 2021 - David Wallace-Wells | Jim Manley | Katie Kalvoda
March 18, 2021 20:18 - 82.6 MBThe Filibuster Wars and the Pros and Cons of Getting Rid of It | Comparing Successful Handling of the Pandemic to the Bungling Leaders in the U.S., the U.K. and Brazil | The Murders of Six Asian Women at the Ignorant Insensitive Remarks by the Cherokee County Sheriff and Congressman Chip Roy backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 17, 2021 - Anders Åslund | Adam Klasfeld | Sarah Anderson
March 17, 2021 23:06 - 80.9 MBThe National Intelligence Council's "Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Federal Elections" Report | The Just-Released ODNI, Homeland Security, DOJ Report on the Growing Threat of Domestic Terrorism | Today's Testimony Before Bernie Sanders' Senate Budget Committee on Income Inequality backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 3, 2021 - Ryan Cooper | Dr. Russell Jeung | Lisa Graves
March 16, 2021 22:45 - 80.9 MBHow the Television Version of Governor Cuomo Differs From What We Now Read in the Newspaper | Assessing the Sharp Rise in Racist Violence Against Asian Americans | Was the FBI Investigation into Charges Against Kavanaugh a Fake? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 15, 2021 - Atain Goelman | Matt Angle | Lane Windham
March 15, 2021 22:21 - 83.5 MBAs Two are Charged in the Death of a Capitol Police Officer, Will Trump be Held Responsible? | Republicans no Longer Want to Compete But Instead Plan to Cheat | The PRO Act and How Americans Like Unions But Only 10.7% of Workers Belong to One backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 14, 2021 - Josh Rogin | Shannon Bennett | Silvio Carrillo
March 14, 2021 19:19 - 87.3 MBThe Inside Story of How Trump Bungled the Pandemic and How it Began | Conflicting Messages on Whether We Are Turning the Corner or the Mutations are Getting Worse | The Need to go to the Source of the Problem of Unaccompanied Minors From Honduras backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia
March 11, 2021 - Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser | Eli Zupnick | Bennett Ramberg
March 11, 2021 22:13 - 84.5 MBPandemic Fatigue, States Opening Up Prematurely and the New Brazilian Covid Variant Among the Challenges Biden Might Address | How to Fix Our Senate | Since Biden is Focused on His Domestic Agenda, Could North Korea Act Up Soon? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia