Special Fund Drive Programming – Background Briefing – February 20, 2025
Today’s episode of Background Briefing is a special 2025 Winter Fund Drive episode. To support our mission, please donate here or call (800) 439-5732.
Background Briefing
3:00 PM PACIFIC TIME: MONDAYS - THURSDAYS
Background Briefing offers an educational approach to providing information in an era of “fake news.”
Simon Shuster / Emma Ashford / Katherine Stewart
After Throwing Ukraine Under the Bus, Trump is Now Trashing Zelensky
What Can Ukraine Do to Defend Itself and Rebuild After Trump Sells the Country out to Putin?
How Trump Rode Into the White House Again on a Wave of Reactionary Nihilism
Sasha Abramsky / John Ganz / Jacob Heilbrunn
From a Mad English King 249 Years Later to a Mad American King
The Wannabe Mob Boss Trump and His Early Years With Made Men His Father Dealt With
Trump’s Mafia-Style Foreign Policy as the Mob Boss Putin Meets With The Wannabe Mob Boss in Saudi Arabia
Charles Kupchan / Kim Lane Scheppele / James D. Zirin
Vance Tells Allies Russia is Not the Enemy, Europe’s Enemy is Within, and It’s … Wokeness!
A Global Alliance of Autocrats and Kleptocrats Emerges, as Trump Follows Orban’s Playbook
Our Top Law Enforcer Pam Bondi Embraces Lawlessness and Corruption
Allison McManus / Michael Hiltzik / Timothy Shenk
Trump is Selling Out Ukraine to Putin, Who He Is Going to Bat For, to Have the Pariah Readmitted to the G7
Republican Senators Confirm an Anti-Vaxxer and Conspiracy Monger to Head HHS
How the Left Lost Its Political Footing and How to Get it Back
Steven Pifer / Michael Kimmage / Daoud Kuttab
Hegseth Gives Up Ukraine’s Leverage Before Russia/Ukraine Peace Talks Begin
Is the Trump Administration Already Capitulating to Putin?
An Assessment of the Awkward Meeting Between Jordan’s King Abdullah and Trump
Nicholas Grossman / Lucan Way
The Frightening Pace at Which the United States is Embracing Authoritarianism
Why is it Trump’s Priority to Attack Allies Like Canada While Cozying up to Enemies Like Putin?
Kathleen Clark / Katherine Stewart / Vanda Felbab-Brown
Technocrats Are Purging Bureaucrats to Grab Data, Control Funds, Weaken Government, Cut Services and Install Loyalists to the Dear Leader
The One-Two Punch of Plutocracy and Theocracy Taking Over the Country
The Tinderbox in Eastern Congo Threatening a Regional War
David Super / Lisa Graves / Mike German
Government Workers Should Not Fall For the Musk/Trump Buyout Trick
The Moral Authoritarian and Billionaire Worshipping Author of Project 2025 About to Head the OMB
Collusion Between the Far Right and American Policing is About to Get Worse Under Trump, Bondi, and Kash Patel
Jacob Heilbrunn / Leila Hilal / Jeet Heer
Netanyahu Meets With the Christian Zionist “Crusader” at the Pentagon, Where Top Officials Want to Get Out of the Middle East Quagmire
A Palestinian Perspective on Trump’s U.S.-Owned Gaza as a “Riviera of the Middle East”
The Growing Alarm at Musk Having Every American’s Social Security Number, Address, Email, Income, and Personal Details