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 Trump's latest outburst on truth social,

apparently reversing the decision to half fund the SNAP program

by announcing today that, quote,

SNAP benefits, which increased by billions and billions of dollars manyfold

during Crooked Joe Biden's disastrous

term in office will be given only when the radical left Democrats open up government,

which they can easily do, and not before.

Joining us to discuss callousness being trumped by cruelty as one in eight Americans,

many of whom are children, face hunger,

is Marian Nessel, Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health

Emerita at New York University. She holds a PhD in molecular biology and an MPH in Public

Health Nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley, and formerly served

as a senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services.

In 2003, she was awarded the Edinburgh Medal for Science and Society, and she's the author

of Eat, Drink, Vote, an illustrated guide to food politics. And her latest book is What to Eat Now,

The indispensable guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters. Then with elections

today in Virginia, New Jersey, New York City and California, we'll look into the retention election

in Pennsylvania going under the radar for the state Supreme Court in which a billionaire Jeff Yass is trying to unseat three Democratic judges in order to deadlock the court to later bring about one-party plutocratic rule.

Joining us is Ryan Cooper, senior editor at the American Prospect and the co-host of the

Left Anchor podcast, as well as the author of How Are You Going to Pay for that? Smart answers to

...