Background Briefing with Ian Masters
News & Politics
About
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 and thoughtful experts to explain the complexities behind major news stories in long-format interviews.Background Briefing goes far beyond the headlines and deep under the radar to bring forward truths unheard elsewhere in American media.The program airs Monday-Thursday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time and on Sundays from 11:00 to Noon.Broadcast live on http://www.kpfk.orgIAN MASTERS:Ian Masters is an Australian-born and BBC-trained journalist and filmmaker. He has made a career of asking provocative questions of the most informed thinkers in order to bring light to the day's most important news stories. Since 1980 his Sunday program, Background Briefing, has aired on KPFK-FM i
Episodes
- May 19, 2026 - David Adler | Jeremi Suri | Stuart Schrader
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 P…
- May 18, 2026 - Orville Schell | Mike Lofgren | Adam Hanieh
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 Tra…
- May 17, 2026 - Kent Harrington | William LeoGrande | A.J.A. Woods
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 Imagi…
- May 14, 2026 - David Daley | Victor Shih | Noam Schieber
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 De…
- May 13, 2026 - Dr. Henry Abraham | Juan Cole | David Ost
Growing Medical Concern About the President of the United States | The US and Israel Have Destabilized Global Oil and Gas Supplies For the Foreseeable Future | The Meaning of Fascism as Authoritarian Populism is on the Rise backgroundbrief…
- May 12, 2026 - Sidney Blumenthal | Michael Swaine | Molly Crabapple
A Sunsetting Trump's Demonstratively Declining Mental and Physical Abilities | Trump's Weak Hand as He Meets With Xi | Molly Crabapple on the Jewish Labor Bund's Struggle For a Secular, Internationalist Society Based on Socialist Ideals of…
- May 11, 2026 - Mark Fitzpatrick | Jacob Heilbrunn | Andrew Cockburn
Trump Rejects Iran's Offer While Netanyahu Warns of "Reengaging Them Militarily" | In Turning Against Trump's War, a Prominent Neocon Wants a Bigger War | Andrew Cockburn on Corruption and Lies in the Age of Trump backgroundbriefing.org/do…
- May 10, 2026 - Ori Goldberg | Firmesk Rahim | Marc Bennetts
As Trump Desperately Tries to Make a Deal With Iran, Will Israel Be the Spoiler? | Pressure on Trump From the Saudis and Gulf States to Make a Deal With Iran | Russia's Descent Into Madness and Murder Under Putin backgroundbriefing.org/don…
- May 7, 2026 - Dr. Nancy Okail | John Nichols | Quinn Slobodian
Pressure on Trump From the Saudis to Make a Deal With Iran While Israel Warns the Deal Would be a Disaster For Them | Chief Justice Roberts' Hollow Indignation at the American People For Thinking He and His Colleagues Are "Political Actors…
- May 8, 2026 - Nicholas Grossman | Dr. Sara Vakhshouri | Tom LoBianco
More Erratic Moves From Trump as He Appears Desperate and the Iranians seem to be Holding the Cards | How Long Can Iran Ride Out the Oil Blockade and What is Behind the Saudi-UAE Split Over OPEC | Trump's Cult-Like Hold Over the GOP Just G…
- May 5, 2026 - Michael Gorham | Lisa Graves | Scott Ferson
Are Putin's Days Numbered? | Six Right Wing Activists in Robes Killed the VRA to Make Sure Republicans Win Elections Regardless of the Majority Vote | Why the Democrats Lost Not Just the Vote, But the Voter in 2024 backgroundbriefing.org/d…
- May 4, 2026 - Michael Kimmage | Thomas Berger | Oona Hathaway
Leaks From European Intel Say Putin is Increasingly Paranoid and Afraid of His Own Military | Trump Pulls Troops Out of Germany After a Spat With Chancellor Mertz | Trump's Triply Illegal War on Iran Just Got More Dangerous backgroundbrief…
- May 3, 2026 - Hussein Banai | Charles Derber | Peter Dreier
The Deadly, Delusional Amateurism of Trump's On and Off Talks With Iran As He Now Threatens to "Blast the Hell Out of Them" | The Rise of Left Wing Populism After a Devastating Era of Right Wing Populism Perpetrated By a Criminal Fraudster…
- April 30, 2026 - Karen Greenberg | Tamar Jacoby | Thomas Mockaitis
Trump's Briefing Today on How to Get Out From Under His Maniacal Misadventure in the Middle East | A Report From Kyiv on Trump Checking in With the Boss Yesterday in His Hour and Half Phone Call With Putin | Hegseth's Testimony Today Befor…
- April 29, 2026 - Harry Litman | Michael McDonald | Thomas Nichols
A Craven Creep Auditioning For a Mob Boss Who Wants a Consigliere Not an Attorney General | The Fulfillment of John Roberts Long Crusade To Give Republicans An Advantage By Undoing Voting Rights For Minorities | While Insulting House Democ…
- April 26, 2026 - Bill Scher | Peter Loge | Toby Miller
Political Assassins More Often End up Achieving the Opposite of What Their Manifestos Proclaim | Trump's Tactic of Attacking the Messenger in Order to Avoid the Message | King Charles' Repair Job For Anglo/American Relations at the White H…
- April 27, 2026 - Ken Klippenstein | Charles Kupchan | Juan David Rojas
After Trump Assassinated Leaders Abroad, an American Citizen Struck Back Saying He Is "No Longer Willing to Permit a Pedophile, Rapist, and Traitor to Coat My Hands With His Crimes" | Are Our Allies Separating From Us or is a Divorce Under…
- April 26, 2026 - Adele Stan | Matthew Petti | Alfred McCoy
A Celebration of the First Amendment Upended by the Unregulated Second Amendment | Trump's Latest Diplomatic Dance Without a Partner | Will Iran be the Death Rattle of the American Empire? backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmaste…
- April 23, 2026 - Jennifer Kavanaugh | James Zirin | Bruce Fein
While Trump Thrashes About, Iran's Leaders Can Afford to be Patient | The Blowback From Assassinating Heads of State | If the Law is to Bring Down a Lawless President, Impeachment is Much More Likely to Succeed Than the 25th Amendment back…
- April 22, 2026 - Harrison Mann | Jacob Heilbrunn | Kathleen Rogers
Our Reality TV President is at War With Reality in Iran | Trump Is Also Losing on the Domestic Front After Yesterday's Election in Virginia | On Earth Day a World Addicted to Oil Looking For a Fix as the Dealers Fight Over the Supply backg…
- April 21, 2026 - Jonathan Guyer | Stephen Marche | Scott Horton
Kushner/Witkoff Diplomacy Fails Again with Trump "Ready to Go To War" as Iran Has "Prepared New Surprises" | Trump Turns Allies Into Enemies While Weakening America at Warp Speed | How Long Can the Ridiculous Drunken Fanboy in Charge of th…
- April 20, 2026 - Nader Hashemi | Stephen Kinzer | Fred Turner
Uncertainty Over Talks to End the War on Iran Before the Ceasefire Deadline Expires | The CIA's Legacy of Blowback Where, But For Their 1953 Coup, Iran Would be a Thriving, Secular Democratic State Today | Palantir's Manifesto as a Technof…
- April 19, 2026 - Juan Cole | Thanassis Cambanis | Allen Frances
With What Trump Calls the Strait of Iran Closed Again, It's Clear Whomever the Administration is Talking to Are Not in Charge of Iran | Although Trump Forced Netanyahu's Hand Prohibiting Him From Bombing Lebanon, the Israeli Public Wants t…
- April 16, 2026 - Habib Battah | Basav Sen | Lindsay Koshgarian | Amy Goodman
A Reality Check on Trump's Claims He's Stopping His 10th War in Lebanon | How Big Oil is Making an Extra $30 Million an Hour Out of the Iran War | The Average Taxpayer Shelled Out Over $4,000 For War and Weapons Last Year | Amy Goodman on…
- April 15, 2026 - Paul Pillar | Meghan Schneider | Harold Meyerson
Could a Ceasefire Between Israel and Lebanon Lead to an Iran-US Agreement to End the War? | On Tax Day Working And Middle Class Americans Do Their Patriotic Duty While the Richest Among Us Take Their Money and Run | The Delusional Democrat…
- April 14, 2026 - Daniel Immerwahr | Jamie Martin | Maziar Behrooz
The Trump Administration's Explanation of Why We Are At War With Iran..."We're America Bitches" | The History of Blockades and Their Impact on Global Trade | The State of Opposition Movements Against Iran's Brutal Theocracy backgroundbrief…
- April 13, 2026 - Robert Pape | James Carroll
The Escalation Trap Trump Set For Himself Deepens With the Naval Blockade and a Possible Use of a Nuclear Weapon on Esfahan | Trump Depicts Himself As Jesus While Disrespecting the Pope and 1.4 Billion Catholics backgroundbriefing.org/dona…
- April 12, 2026 - Robert Malley | David Broder | Nina Burleigh
An Experienced Negotiator With Iran on Vance's Failure to Make a Quick Deal With an Enemy of 47 Years | An Update on Hungary's Election That Has Trump and Putin Campaigning For Orban | Threatening to Bring Down the Trump Regime, Melania's…
- April 9, 2026 - Hussein Banai | Anthea Butler | James Galbraith
In Desperation, Our Self-Serving and Imbecilic President Has Strengthened a Brutal Regime and Elevated Its Global Position | Will America's Defeat Liberate It From a Broken Imperial Model? | The Pentagon and Trump's War on Pope Leo
- April 8, 2026 - Nicholas Heras | Bill Scher | Adam Green
Both the Arsonist and the Fire Brigade, Trump Celebrates His Ceasefire Deal as "A Total Victory 100%" While Iran Says They Dealt the Enemy "A Crushing Defeat" | Questions of Trump's Competence, Morality, Credibility and Sanity Arise | The…
- April 6, 2026 - Adam Weinstein | Dr. Mohsen Sazegara
Trump's Long and Loony Press Conference and How He Has Not "Decimated" Iran's Anti-Aircraft Capacity | A Founder of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps on What Is Not Being Done to Free Iranians From Their Brutal Theocratic Government backgro…
- April 5, 2026 - Rosemary Kelanic | Moira Donegan | Alex Lawson
Trump's War Has Turned the Strait of Hormuz Into an Iranian Tollbooth With China the Winner | "You're Fired" Pam Bondi and Replaced by an Even Worse Todd Blanche | Trump Told the Truth For Once Trashing Childcare, Medicare and Medicaid as…
- April 2, 2026 - Corey Brettschneider | Kian Tajbakhsh | Leah Litman
In Three Weeks Trump Will Declare Victory Without Securing a Victory, Leaving Someone Else to Open the Strait of Hormuz | How Do Iranians Feel About Trump Bombing Them "Back to the Stone Age Where They Belong"? | With Trump in the Front Ro…
- April 1, 2026 - Jacob Heilbrunn | Joseph Cirincione | David Daley
Trump Poised to Announce Victory in a Surrender of His War on Iran | The Origins of Trump's war on Iran | How Serious is An Executive Order That Has Trump Deciding Who Gets to Vote By Mail? backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmed…
- March 31, 2026 - Robert Kuttner | Jon Hoffman | Sidney Blumenthal
Trump Will Either Double Down or Cut and Run Leaving Us, Our Allies and the Iranian People So Much Worse Off | Trump's Strategic Failure In Iran | Trump's War is Holding Him Hostage backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia…
- March 30, 2026 - Stephen Biddle | Dean Baker | Garrett Epps
The Strategic and Moral Danger of Having Adolescent Bullies Running an Ill-considered War of Choice | An Assessment of the Damage Being Done to the US and Global Economy | In Stripping Birthright Citizenship, Trump and Miller Want to Creat…
- March 29, 2026 - Lance Dodes | Richard Parker | Matt Angle
Dementia on Display at Trump's North Korean-Style Cabinet Meeting Raises the Alarm For VP Vance to Invoke the 25th Amendment | The Political Impact of the Largest Demonstration Against a Sitting President in the History of the United State…
- March 26, 2026 - Jeremi Suri | William Hartung | Frank Dikötter
No Kings and 11 Attempts by Democrats to Fund TSA Blocked by Trump As He Tries To Force His SAVE Act on Senate Republicans | Will Congress Balk at Hegseth's Extra $200 Billion and Trump's Extra $500 Billion on Top of a $Trillion Defense Bu…
- March 25, 2026 - Aslı Bâli | Kim Lane Scheppele | Tom Freston
Our Reality TV President Unable to Deal With Reality, Makes Up Stories About Negotiating With Iran | Trump and Putin Work Together to Reelect Hungary's Kleptocratic Despot Orban | As Trump-Friendly Billionaires Buy Up the Media, the Former…
- March 24, 2026 - Ori Goldberg | Nina Burleigh
Life in Bomb Shelters Under Bombardment in a War 90% of Israelis Support | An Update on the Story Trump Has Waged a War to Distract Us From backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social fa…
- March 23, 2026 - Asher Kaufman | Sarah Leah Whitson | Jamie Court
TACO Trump Now Claims Peace is at Hand But Iran Says No Such Talks Are Taking Place | Crying Foul Over Cluster Bombs as Civilians Are Targeted | Oil Companies and Refiners Are Making Out Like Bandits With California Refiners Gouging a $1.5…
- March 22, 2026 - Robert Young Pelton | Olga Lautman | Nader Hashemi
Contradictory Signals From Trump to Wind Down the War While Sending in More Marines | The Winner of the Iran War Putin Prepares For a Spring Offensive in Ukraine While His Bootlicking Friend Trump Rewards Him With Extra Revenue | Celebrati…
- March 19, 2026 - David Hearst | Harrison Mann | Mike Lofgren
The Global Impact of the Trump/Netanyahu War on Iran as Energy Prices Shoot Through the Roof | A Former DIA Intelligence Officer on the Folly of Sending Marines Into the Gulf | Trump is Being Played at We Deplete Expensive Weapons on Cheap…
- March 18, 2026 - David Adler | Steven Simon
The Organizer of an International Humanitarian Flotilla Delivering Aid to the Desperate and Starving People of Cuba | Possible Scenarios to End the US/Israeli War on Iran and a More Likely Escalation of Attacks on Oil and Gas Terminals and…
- March 17, 2026 - Tom Mockaitis | Christine Fair | Luis Martinez-Fernandez
Today's Blowback and the Historical Record of US Meddling in Iran | The Intensifying War Between Afghanistan's Taliba And Their Former Sponsor Pakistan | Trump's Claim He will Have "The Honor of Taking Cuba" Which is Likely to Fall in a Ma…
- March 16, 2026 - Joshua Shifrinson | Juan Cole | Adele Stan
Although the US Navy Won't Go Into the Gulf, Trump is Demanding Other Navies Escort Tankers Through the Strait of Hormuz | Iran's Strategic Plans For a Long War With Layers of Redundancy in the Ranks of Leadership | The Crackup on the Righ…
- March 15, 2026 - Emma Ashford | Dr. Allen Frances | Justin Levitt
Trump's War of Choice Rattles Allies While Rewarding Russia | Our Commander-in-Chief is a Senile Old Man Who is Losing His Mind | Trump's Cynical SAVE America Act Will Not Save Republicans in November backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.…
- March 12, 2026 - William LeoGrande | Mike Lofgren | Karen Hao
After Declaring Victory Over Iran, Trump Vows That Cuba Is Next | What Can Be Done To Reign In If Not Abolish DHS | AI's Sweeping and Growing Impact on Every Aspect of Society backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.…
- March 11, 2026 - Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse | Jonathan Taplin | Jacob Heilbrunn
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on Trump, Epstein and Putin | The Silicon Valley Billionaire Bros Are Determined to Have the Tech-Industrial Complex Replace the Military-Industrial Complex | The Iran War and the Return of the Neocons background…
- March 10, 2026 - Jonathan Guyer | Dr. Annelle Sheline | Jennifer Kavanaugh
Trump Reverses Himself on Ending the Iran War After A Call With Putin | Iran's New Supreme Leader Will Likely Reverse His Father's Fatwa Against Nuclear Weapons | A Military Analysis of the Iran War and the Russia/Ukraine War backgroundbri…