Day: October 4, 2026

Briefings

Background Briefing: October 4, 2026

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Will the Macabre Barbarism of a Botched Execution in Tennessee Change People’s Views on Capital Punishment? 

We begin with the botched execution attempts on 50 year-old Christa Pike in Tennessee who was 18 when she murdered 19 year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Christa is clinging to life after multiple attempts to inject two doses of a lethal drug into her by the state and we discuss the extent to which this macabre barbarism is changing how people view the death penalty as executions spike upwards with the return of Donald Trump. Joining us is the Reverend Stacy Rector, Executive Director at Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. An ordained Presbyterian minister, she served as Associate Pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville for nine years and also served as spiritual advisor to Steve Henley, an inmate on Tennessee’s death row who was executed in 2009.

An Analysis of Iran’s Strategic Adaptation and the Likelihood of a Resumption of the Iran War

Then we go to Berlin for an analysis of Iran’s strategic adaptation after losing its proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza then gaining new leverage by controlling the Strait of Hormuz, thanks to Netanyahu and Trump’s stupidity and hubris, and now via the Houthis, control over the strategic chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Joining us to discuss whether the war will be reignited soon or the stalemate will continue is Hamidreza Azizi, Senior Iran Analyst at the International Crisis Group. He is the author of the new book, just out, The Axis of Resistance: Iran, Israel, and the Struggle for the Middle East and he has an article at Time Magazine we discuss, “How the War is Changing the Geography of Iran’s Influence.”

Anna Leah Looks Into the Real Culture War Underway in Ukraine

Then finally, Background Briefing’s Anna Leah looks into a real culture war underway in Ukraine as Putin attempts to erase Ukraine’s language, culture and national identity by raining down drones and missiles on the civilian population to break their will and submit to the Russian dictator. Joining Anna is a professor of history at the City University of New York’s College of Long Island, Susan Smith-Peter. A scholar who has studied Russian journalism and civil society for over two decades, she has published several books about how Russia sees itself, the country’s history, and its deteriorating relations with the international community as Putin tries to destroy what he cannot conquer.