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 Jimmy Kimmel's return, which was influenced by pressure on Disney from the

talent pool of stars threatening to boycott, while at the same time the billionaires controlling

and buying up the media like Larry Ellison and the owners of Next Star and Sinclair are keeping

Kimball off the air on hundreds of TV stations they own.

Joining us to discuss what it is like when the government tries to shut down your publication is Richard Parker,

who teaches economics and public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government,

and is a senior fellow at the Schorinstein Center.

He is a former managing editor of Ramparts, was a co-founder of Mother Jones magazine,

and serves on the editorial board of the nation.

His books include The Myth of the Middle Class and John Kenneth Garabreth, his life, his politics,

his economics.

Then we'll look into President Zelensky's speech today to the United Nations

in which he warned that the world is in, quote, the most destructive arms race in human history

and that weapons decide who survives. There are no security guarantees except friends and weapons.

Joining us to discuss a way forward to end the war on Ukraine is George Beebe, the director

of Grand Strategy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Stakecraft.

He served in government for nearly 25 years, including as director of Russia analysis at the CIA

and as a White House advisor on Russia matterss for Vice President Dick Cheney.

His latest book is The Russia Trap, How a Shadow War with Russia could spiral into nuclear

catastrophe.

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