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

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

We'll begin with former Russian President Medvedev calling on Texas to secede from the United States and bring on another civil war

as an army of armed right-wing militias head for the southern border, while more than 25 Republican governors throw their support behind Texas

Governor Abbott, who is defying federal authority and a five-to-four Supreme Court ruling.

Joining us is Jared Yates Sexton, the author of American rule, How a Nation Conquered the World

but Failed Its People, and The people are going to rise up like the waters

upon your shore, as well as three collections of fiction. The host of the Muckrake podcast,

his political writing has appeared in publications, including the New York Times,

The New Republic, Politico, and Salon.com, and his latest book is The Midnight Kingdom,

A History of Power, Paranoia, and the Coming Crisis.

Then with the second anniversary of Putin's invasion of Ukraine less than a month away,

we'll look into the real reasons behind this brutal war against a neighbor's country, its people, and culture,

and speak with Maria Popova, a professor of political

science at McGill University and the scientific co-director of the Jean-Meney Center in Montreal, Canada.

Also joining us is Oxana Shevel, a professor of political science and director of the

International Relations Program at Tufts University. They are the co-authors of a new book, Just Out, Russia and Ukraine, Entangled History's Diverging States.

Then finally we'll examine why democratic leaders are not pushing back against Republican billionaire donors to the GOP

who are targeting Progressive House Democrats

and are prepared to spend over $100 million to primary members of the squad and their allies.

Joining us is Alexander Salmon, a politics writer at Slate, who has previously written for

Mother Jones, the New Republic and the American Prospect.

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