Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice. Pentagon asking $200 billion for Iran war, SecDef Hegseth says we’re not afraid to kill anybody; Trump, Japan leader Takaichi discuss Iran war, Trump drops comment on war secrecy and Pearl Harbor; State AG Bonta unveils resources … Continued


Background Briefing

Background Briefing – March 19, 2026

On today’s show: The Organizer of an International Humanitarian Flotilla Delivering Aid to the Desperate and Starving People of Cuba We begin with the head of an international humanitarian effort underway to alleviate the suffering of the Cuban people whose country is falling apart all around them as they run out of food, water, gas … Continued


In a genre-bending story about a quest to conquer evil and save the world, the young-adult characters of Kestrel Gaian’s “The Boy From Elsewhere” take a trek through the multiverse where nothing is quite what it seems. The poet, playwright, essayist, composer and author discusses the importance of queer visibility in young adult fiction in a conversation with This Way Out’s David Hunt.


Art Cullen is the editor and co-owner with his brother John of the Storm Lake Times Pilot, a weekly newspaper in that Northwest Iowa county seat – a town of about 12,000. In 2017, Art won the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing “for editorials fueled by tenacious reporting, impressive expertise, and engaging writing that successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural … Continued