A DAILY PUBLIC RADIO PROGRAM FEATURING NEWS ANALYSIS OF THE DAY'S TOP ISSUES

Background Briefing: June 3, 2026

Election Results From Yesterday’s Primaries With a Focus on California We begin with yesterday’s primary elections, in particular in California and get an analysis of the results from Sacramento-based reporter Sasha Abramsky, who writes the Authoritarian...

Background Briefing: June 1, 2026

Iran Suspends Peace Talks With Trump as Netanyahu Pounds Lebanon We will begin with Iran suspending talks to end the war because of Israel’s military escalation in Lebanon and speak with Dr. Annelle Sheline, a research fellow at The Quincy Institute for...

Background Briefing: May 31, 2026

Trump’s Silence as Iran Holds the Cards, in Particular the Strait of Hormuz, a Prize Our Idiot Gave Them We begin with the silence about a peace deal with Iran that was supposed to happen following Trump’s long meeting in the White House situation room on...

Background Briefing: May 28, 2026

Trump Threatens to Blow Up Oman as Qatar and Bahrain Secretly Pay Bribes to Iran Not to Bomb Them We begin with Trump threatening to blow up Oman, a US ally and important mediator and assess how that is playing in the Gulf as intelligence sources indicate that Qatar...