The Backstory
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The Backstory is the daily Radio Sputnik programme John Kiriakou co-hosted with Lee Stranahan, carried on 105.5 FM and AM 1390 in the Washington area from four to six in the afternoon alongside its online audience, and structured around guest segments with live call-ins. Episodes were reissued as a podcast on the usual platforms, and Kiriakou described the run as Monday through Friday.

Origin

The programme exists because its predecessor ended and a career detour failed. Loud and Clear, which Kiriakou co-hosted with Brian Becker, was not cancelled on its merits, "the contract was up is what it was," and the show was shut down around the end of August. Kiriakou went into the private sector; that did not work out. He then telephoned Sputnik back and said he would not mind having another show, and was placed in the same four-to-six slot, this time with Lee Stranahan.

Kiriakou's affection for the predecessor survived the change. He describes deep respect for Becker even where they disagreed politically, "he's such a good kind good-hearted person, I learned a lot from him."

Format

The distinction Kiriakou draws between the two shows is one of register rather than subject. Loud and Clear was the newsier programme; The Backstory, by his own description, is "two guys drinking a beer, just talking about the day."

Kiriakou opens editions in his own name and with his own credential: "welcome back to the Backstory, I'm former CIA officer John Kiriakou." The hosts trade the sign-off, which doubles as the daily promise of continuity: "I'm Lee Stranahan, joined by my co-host John Kiriakou. We'll be back tomorrow. This is The Backstory."

On radio as a medium

When his co-host teased the format as old-fashioned, Kiriakou defended it with evidence from his previous programme: "when Brian and I were doing Loud and Clear, he mentioned to me several times how surprised he was that taxi drivers would tell him that they listened to our show. So a lot of people do listen on terrestrial radio."

The show's recurring guests include the journalist Caleb Maupin, whom Kiriakou introduces as "one of the best informed people out there."

See also

- Caleb Maupin
- John Kiriakou
- Kiriakou's daily news diet
