Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the

investigations into the New Year's massacre in New Orleans and the Tesla cyber track explosion in

front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, the former carried out by US Army veteran and the latter

by US Army Green Beret on leave. Joining us is Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago

specializing in international security affairs.

He is the author of Cutting the Fuse, the Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How

to Stop It, Dying to Win, the Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, and Bombing to

Win Air Power and Co coercion in war.

He is the co-author of a study titled The American Face of ISIS,

and we'll discuss his article at the Financial Times.

A new era of political violence is taking hold in America.

Violent populism is growing as norms unravel

and break down. Then we'll look into the foreign policy legacy of President Jimmy Carter,

who tried to bridge divides and contrast it with the divisive style of President-elect

Trump, who will be attending Carter's state funeral a week away on January

9th. Joining us is Chris McGreel, a senior writer for the Guardian U.S. and a former correspondent in

Jerusalem and Johannesburg. He has published several articles on the opioid epidemic in America,

and his latest book is American overdose, The Opioid Tragedy in

Three Acts. We'll discuss his latest article at The Guardian from Panama to Palestine. Jimmy Carter

refused to let his moral voice be silenced. Then finally, we'll speak with Stephen Wirtheim, a senior fellow in the American

...