Background Briefing (Monday, 5am) – December 8, 2025
This hour broadcasts the show produced by Background Briefing with Ian Masters on Sunday.
Upcoming Episode
Background Briefing (Monday, 5am)
5:00 AM PACIFIC TIME: MONDAYS
This hour broadcasts the show produced by Background Briefing with Ian Masters on Sunday.
Background Briefing (Monday, 5am) – December 1, 2025
This hour broadcasts the show produced by Background Briefing with Ian Masters on Sunday.
Trump’s Decades-Long Obsession With Getting On the Forbes 400 List and How Much Saudi Money Has Lined His Pockets–Musk’s $Trillion Payday and How Billionaires Donated 1 in 13 Dollars Spent in the Last Election–Trump is Shoving Putin’s Wish List Down Zelensky’s Throat With a Thursday Deadline to Capitulate
Trump’s Decades-Long Obsession With Getting On the Forbes 400 List and How Much Saudi Money Has Lined His Pockets We begin with Trump and his family’s monetization of the presidency and U.S. foreign policy as witnessed this week with the White House state visit of Saudi Arabia’s previously-shunned Crown Prince. Joining us to assess how … Continued
From Epstein’s Entanglements to Trump’s New “Enemies” List—Plus: How AI Anxiety Could Drive Voters in the Next Election
Epstein’s Ties to Foreign Leaders and How Much the CIA Has an Epstein Problem We begin with Trump trying to pin the Epstein scandal on Bill Clinton as the recent release of Epstein emails implicate Trump further with Epstein thrashing his former friend, writing “I have met some very bad people. None as bad as … Continued
A breakdown of the government shutdown’s impact on air safety as thousands of aviation workers go unpaid, followed by a look at Trump’s stated plan to rig future elections and a report on New York’s new mayor Zohran Mamdani and his approach to the affordability crisis.
An Assessment of Air Safety as Air Travel Melts Down We begin with the government shutdown now in a record 40th day with 40 major airports cutting flights and cancelling reservations as 13,000 air traffic controllers and 55,000 TSA agents work without pay. We assess air safety and what strategy Trump might be employing as … Continued
An unsettling look at Trump’s dangerous ignorance on nuclear weapons, how Speaker Mike Johnson has effectively shut down Congress without a crisis, and the story of an Iranian journalist silenced for documenting the Women, Life, Freedom movement three years after it began.
The Man With His Finger on the Button Doesn’t Know What He is Talking About When it Comes to Nuclear Weapons We begin with more questions arising about Trump’s mental health following his surprise announcement that the US would resume nuclear testing which he based upon dangerously deficient evidence and deep ignorance particularly when you … Continued
Monuments, Malice, and the Mission Ahead: Trump’s Ego, America’s Takeover, and the Democrats’ Crossroads
Dwarfing the White House, Trump’s Monstrous Monument to His Ego Will be an Enduring Insult From the Worst President in Our History That Will Torment Us For the Ages We begin with the desecration of the people’s house with the East Wing gone in a stealth demolition to be replaced by a monstrous monument to … Continued
Resistance and Repression: From ‘No Kings’ Rallies to Right-Wing Hate and Venezuela Threats
Resistance to Trump is Growing With 2,600 No Kings Protests Across America We begin with the 2,600 No Kings rallies held on Saturday across the country from Maine to the Marianas which peacefully displayed the growing resistance to Trump reflecting a patriotic love for a country the demonstrators are trying to save, the opposite of … Continued
We explore the prospects for peace in Gaza with former NSC official Steven Simon, examine Katherine Stewart’s warning that Trump’s second coup is already underway through a Christian nationalist power grab, and reflect with author James Carroll on what becomes of Israel, Palestine—and America itself—when this long, cruel war finally ends.
Will Peace Happen in Gaza and Trump Get His Nobel Prize? We begin with an assessment whether there will be a peace deal in the next few hours and speak with Steven Simon, who served on the National Security Council staff as senior director for Middle Eastern and North African affairs and also worked on … Continued
We investigate how Trump has turned the Department of Justice into his personal law firm with former defense lawyers acting as political enforcers, with analysis from legal expert Harry Litman; hear from activist David Adler aboard a Gaza aid flotilla under Israeli drone attack; and speak with veteran peace negotiator Robert Malley on the enduring struggle for peace amid today’s devastation.
The Consiglieres Running Trump’s Private Law Firm, the DoJ as Junkyard Dogs Unleashed to Hound, Harass, Bankrupt and Jail the Mob Boss’s Enemies We begin with the mob boss in the White House exposing the Department of Justice as nothing more than his private law firm with consiglieres who are his former defense lawyers unleashed … Continued
We examine Trump’s escalating assault on the First Amendment and his threats to strip major networks of their licenses with Jacob Heilbrunn, then uncover the deeper story behind the Epstein files with economist and investigator James Henry, who traces the web of global finance, espionage, and exploitation linking Robert and Ghislaine Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein’s empire.
The Trump Coup Underway and His Assault on the First Amendment We begin with the assault on the First Amendment by Trump and his MAGA cabinet of yes-men and women with the wannabe mob boss and dictator claiming 97% of the mainstream media’s coverage of him is negative and therefore ABC, CBS and NBC should … Continued