November 11, 2026

Daily Intelligence BriefNewsOSINT
Written by B.R. Spencer

Daily Intelligence Brief

Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2026 | Edition: 0600 CST | Scope: Past 24 Hours | Format: BLUF + Core Pillars + 13-Vector Watchlist + Strategic Synthesis + Deep-Link Source Directory

Key Judgments (BLUF)

  • U.S. House Blocks Hegseth Impeachment (211–204): The House voted to refer Rep. Thomas Massie's eight Iran War Powers impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee, neutralizing the immediate floor threat after 11 Democrats missed the vote, though Massie pledged to force a separate War Powers resolution [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Day Two of Abu Dhabi Trilateral Talks Amid Ust-Luga Port Strike & 30% Russian Refining Loss: U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian delegations entered their second and final day of direct talks in the UAE while Ukrainian overnight drone swarms ignited Russia's Ust-Luga Baltic oil export terminal and ISW/Reuters assessments confirmed Ukrainian strikes since late October have cut Russian oil refining capacity by 30% (to 700,000 tons/day) [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Hot October CPI Print (+0.4% MoM) Puts 50bp Fed Hike on Table: Stickier-than-expected U.S. headline (+0.4% MoM) and core (+0.3% MoM) inflation pushed the 10-year Treasury yield past 5% and prompted Fed Governor Christopher Waller to signal a potential 50-basis-point rate hike in December [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • France Summons Iranian Envoy Over IRGC Sabotage of 700 Supermarket Cold-Chain Systems: Paris formally attributed October's mass refrigeration controller hacks (which sparked equipment fires across 700 French retail and agri-food sites) to the IRGC's Shahid Kaveh cyber unit and requested EU-wide sanctions, even as two more tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz [Veracity: Trustworthy for diplomatic action & tanker attacks; Likely True for unit attribution].
  • Domestic Regulatory & 2A Shifts: The U.S. Second Circuit struck down New York City's one-handgun-per-90-days purchase rationing rule as unconstitutional under Bruen, California voters rejected the Proposition 40 billionaire wealth tax (~53% No), and newly empowered Texas House Democrats filed HB 218 to repeal Texas's 2025 Anti-Red Flag Act [Veracity: Trustworthy].

Part I: Core Situation Report

U.S. News

  • House Votes 211–204 to Table Hegseth Impeachment Resolution: The Republican-controlled House voted 211–204 on Tuesday evening to refer Rep. Thomas Massie's (R-KY) eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee, effectively killing the privileged floor push during the lame-duck session [Center: CBS News / Law Commentary]. Massie was the sole Republican voting against referral, while 11 Democrats and 7 Republicans missed the vote; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned "this is just the beginning" ahead of January's Democratic majority, and Massie announced plans to force a separate War Powers Resolution vote [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Federal Judge Bars DOJ Attorney for "Deliberate Attempt to Mislead the Court" Over ICE Warrants: U.S. District Judge Sanket J. Bulsara (E.D.N.Y.) sanctioned and permanently barred DOJ attorney Thomas Price from appearing in Benitez v. DHS after finding that the Justice Department's Nov. 4 letter grossly misrepresented a district-wide injunction in Sanchez Alfaro v. Mullin requiring ICE to obtain judicial warrants for civil immigration arrests [Primary Legal Record / Just Security]. Judge Bulsara ordered a review of two additional DOJ attorneys for prima facie Rule 11 violations and warned that any future false statement will trigger an immediate default judgment for the plaintiffs [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • U.S. Boycotts UN Universal Periodic Review Until 2027: The Trump administration refused to participate in the UN Human Rights Council's scheduled Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. human rights record on Tuesday, forcing the Council in Geneva to delay the examination until January 2027 [International Broadcaster: Al Jazeera / UNHRC Schedule] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Microsoft Lobbies White House to Halt Ban on Chinese AI Data Center Components: Industry sources reported that Microsoft is privately pressing the Trump administration to pause planned Commerce Department restrictions barring Chinese imports of specialized optical and power components used in U.S. hyperscale AI data centers [Center/Wire: Reuters / Just Security Early Edition] [Veracity: Likely True].

World News

  • Day Two of U.S.–Russia–Ukraine Trilateral Talks in Abu Dhabi & Kaliningrad Arrests: Negotiators Rustem Umerov (Ukraine), Vladimir Medinsky (Russia), Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner (U.S.) opened the second and final day of direct talks in Abu Dhabi [Center/Wire: AP] | [Regional: Ukrainska Pravda]. While President Zelenskyy welcomed a "change in approach" from U.S. mediators, he mocked Russian claims of occupying half the Donbas as "living in a different reality"; Kyiv insists on a ceasefire and security guarantees prior to discussing broader European security architecture, whereas Moscow demands the reverse and refused sideline meetings with EU envoys [Left-Leaning: The Guardian]. Separately, Russia's FSB announced the arrest of two alleged Polish intelligence agents in Kaliningrad [Veracity: Trustworthy for talks; Unverified for FSB espionage claim].
  • Latvia & Lithuania Scramble Fighter Jets Over Overnight Airspace Intrusion: Latvia's National Armed Forces (NBS) issued yellow and orange air-raid alerts across eastern and central municipalities (Jēkabpils, Madona, Cēsis, Smiltene, and Gulbene) between 23:31 and 03:20 local time after an unidentified aerial object crossed from Lithuanian airspace and was shadowed by NATO Baltic Air Policing fighter jets before exiting Latvian territory [Regional Public Broadcaster: LSM Latvia / Latvian NBS] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Nationwide General Strike Paralyzes Spain Over Housing & Living Costs: Spanish labor confederations and housing unions launched a 24-hour nationwide general strike on November 11, restricting rail and urban transit to minimum services and prompting a U.S. Embassy security alert across Madrid and Barcelona as protesters rally against severe urban rent spikes [Primary Record: U.S. Embassy Madrid Alert] | [Left-Leaning: The Guardian / Al Jazeera] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Indonesian VP Gibran Signals Resignation & Malaysia Moves Najib Razak to House Arrest: Indonesian Presidential Spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi confirmed that Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka informed President Prabowo Subianto of his intention to resign amid a widening controversy over the authenticity of his high-school diploma [Center/Wire: Reuters / Nikkei]. In Malaysia, former Prime Minister Najib Razak was transferred from prison to house arrest to serve the remainder of his 1MDB corruption sentence [International Broadcaster: Al Jazeera] [Veracity: Trustworthy].

OSINT Reporting, "Grey" Literature & Raw Data Aggregators

  • ISW-CTP Iran Update — Removal of 2,000-km Missile Cap & Caspian Arms Corridor: In its Nov 10–11 assessment, ISW-CTP documented that Iran's formal removal of its self-imposed 2,000-km ballistic missile range cap—echoed by Mojtaba Khamenei's directive to strike "without geographical limitations"—places U.S. bases across Europe within reach if warhead payload mass is reduced (a modification Dutch missile analysts assess Iran already used in its Diego Garcia strike) [Grey Literature: ISW-CTP] [Veracity: Trustworthy for doctrine shift; Likely True for payload range modeling]. ISW-CTP also tracked joint Russian–Iranian efforts to shield Caspian Sea weapons shipments and Iraq's announced closure of the Mandali border crossing (Diyala–Kermanshah) set for Nov 13 [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • ISW Russian Campaign Assessment — 30% Russian Refining Loss & 5th Commandant's Regiment: ISW and Reuters industry sources report that Ukrainian long-range drone strikes since late October have knocked out ~30% of Russia's oil refining capacity, dropping output from 930,000 tons/day to 700,000 tons/day [Grey Literature: ISW] | [Center/Wire: Reuters] [Veracity: Trustworthy]. Overnight (Nov 10–11), Russian governors reported a massive Ukrainian drone wave (claimed 627 downed, including 150 over Leningrad Oblast) that ignited a fire and injured three workers at the Ust-Luga Baltic oil export terminal [Center/Wire: AP] [Veracity: Trustworthy for Ust-Luga fire; Unverified for Russian 627 intercept count]. ISW also identified elements of the Russian 5th Separate Commandant's Regiment (51st CAA) operating near Bilytske for the first time [Veracity: Likely True].
  • Maritime AIS Dark Transits & New Hormuz Tanker Strikes: Niche maritime tracker Splash247 and IMO telemetry confirmed two additional commercial tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday while Tehran claimed three vessels struck naval mines [Niche Maritime: Splash247] [Veracity: Trustworthy for tanker attacks; Unverified for Iranian mine claims]. IMO/UANI cumulative telemetry confirms 133 commercial vessel incidents and 25 seafarer deaths since the war began, with U.S. naval forces now escorting an average of 30.3 vessels per day through the southern Hormuz corridor with AIS transponders turned dark [Raw Maritime Telemetry: UANI / IMO] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Just Security Legal Grey Literature — Nord Stream Prosecution & COP31 Retreat: Legal scholars Michael Schmitt and Rob McLaughlin published an analytical brief examining combatant immunity and military objective law in Germany's prosecution of Ukrainian military personnel for the 2022 Nord Stream sabotage, while CSIS hosted its three-year retrospective on the U.S.–Japan–ROK Camp David trilateral framework [Grey Literature: Just Security / CSIS] [Veracity: Trustworthy].

New Technologies

  • Microsoft Record 1,235-Flaw Patch Tuesday, Outlook Zero-Day & Exchange Sign-In Fix: Microsoft's November 2026 Patch Tuesday fixed a record-shattering 1,235 vulnerabilities—including an actively exploited Microsoft Outlook zero-day—and deployed an emergency fix today (Nov 11) resolving Exchange Server sign-in and mail delivery failures caused by October's Windows Server updates [Niche Tech/Cyber: BleepingComputer] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Railway Cloud & Fireworks AI Breaches Expose 100,000 Workspaces ($740K AI Theft): Cloud hosting platform Railway disclosed yesterday that attackers exploited infrastructure flaws to steal customer authentication tokens across up to 100,000 workspaces and generate $740,000 in unauthorized AI compute charges, while AI startup Fireworks AI disclosed a separate breach of its developer machines via a compromised third-party cloud vendor [Niche Tech/Cyber: BleepingComputer] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Anthropic Targets $1.3 Trillion IPO Valuation Amid Nvidia Governance Fallout: Financial filings and market reports indicate AI developer Anthropic is seeking an estimated $1.3 trillion valuation as it prepares to go public [Center/Wire: AP Business], even as Nvidia shares absorbed a ~$190 billion market-cap hit amid board and FBI counterintelligence inquiries into CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with suspected Chinese intelligence asset Alice Huang [Center/Wire: Reuters] [Veracity: Trustworthy for market filings/lawsuits; Likely True for intelligence assessment].

Active Conflicts

  • Ukrainian Deep Strike Hits Ust-Luga Oil Terminal as Russia Pounds 6 Ukrainian Oblasts: Following Ukrainian First Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov's confirmation that Russian strikes (317 drones across two waves, including 193 jet-powered Shaheds, Iskander-M, and S8000 Banderol loitering munitions) caused blackouts across Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Chernihiv oblasts, Ukrainian long-range drones struck Russia's primary Baltic oil export terminal at Ust-Luga overnight, sparking a facility fire [Grey Literature: ISW] | [Center/Wire: AP] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Saudi Air Defenses Intercept 4 Houthi Missiles/Drones as Hormuz Standoff Persists: Saudi Joint Forces Command Spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki confirmed Saudi air defenses intercepted two Houthi ballistic/cruise missiles near Riyadh, one ballistic missile over the Eastern Province, and one attack drone in southern Saudi Arabia [Grey Literature: ISW-CTP]. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told G7 partners in Paris the U.S. has "no need" to restart combat strikes in Iran while Defense Secretary Hegseth declared "We control the Strait of Hormuz" [Center/Wire: CBS / AFP] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Zaporizhzhia Strike Toll Rises to 40 Dead as Putin & Lukashenko Meet: Ukrainian authorities raised the death toll from Russia's recent mass strike on Zaporizhzhia to 40 killed, while Russian President Vladimir Putin held his sixth meeting of 2026 with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Nov 10 [International Broadcaster: Al Jazeera] | [Grey Literature: ISW] [Veracity: Trustworthy].

Migration Reports

  • UNHCR Emergency Yemen & Horn of Africa Displacement Update: UNHCR's External Update #7 (published Nov 10–11) documented continuing maritime and overland refugee movements across the Gulf of Aden, logging 3,836 refugees arriving in Djibouti and 365 in Somalia amid ongoing coalition and Houthi strikes in Yemen [Primary UN Record: UNHCR / ReliefWeb] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Ninth Circuit Vacates Portland ICE Tear Gas Limits as Federal Courts Clash on Enforcement: In a 2–1 ruling on Nov 10, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated lower-court restrictions on ICE's use of tear gas during immigration operations in Portland, even as a separate federal judge blocked FEMA immigration-enforcement grant conditions across 20 states and D.C., and Wichita's City Council rejected an anti-ICE "Trust and Safety" sanctuary resolution last night [Niche Legal Tracker: Immigration Analytics / ACLU of Kansas] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • CRS Report Finds U.S. Labor Force Growth Stalling as Immigrant Share Ties 1890 Record: A newly released Congressional Research Service (CRS) study and demographic analysis reported that U.S. labor force growth has stalled following sharp drops in net migration, while exit polling indicates 6 in 10 midterm voters believed interior enforcement tactics went too far [Niche Legal Tracker: Immigration Analytics / CRS] [Veracity: Trustworthy].

Part II: Thematic Watchlist & Obscure/Niche Indicators

Geopolitical Friction & Flashpoints

  • Border & Maritime Strains: Two more commercial tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday while U.S. naval forces escorted ~30 AIS-dark vessels per day through the southern channel [Niche Maritime: Splash247 / UANI]. On land, Iraq announced the sudden technical closure of the Mandali border crossing with Iran's Kermanshah Province starting Nov 13 [Grey Literature: ISW-CTP], while Latvia scrambled NATO jets over an overnight airspace violation from Lithuania [Regional: LSM] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Diplomatic Ruptures: France summoned the Iranian Ambassador in Paris on Tuesday to condemn IRGC cyber sabotage against 700 French supermarkets and formally proposed EU-wide sanctions, which Tehran denounced as "baseless and hostile" [Niche OT Cyber: Industrial Cyber / CBS]. Simultaneously, the Trump administration boycotted its UN Human Rights Council review in Geneva, and Russia arrested two alleged Polish intelligence operatives in Kaliningrad [Left-Leaning: The Guardian] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Proxy Theater Activity: ISW-CTP assessed that Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are using the threat of renewed U.S.–Iran hostilities as a pretext to defy Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's disarmament orders, while Russia and Iran expand joint counter-interdiction logistics across the Caspian Sea [Grey Literature: ISW-CTP] [Veracity: Likely True].

Cyber & Technological Warfare

  • Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: France's ANSSI and cyber prosecutor attributed October's sabotage of refrigeration PLCs across 700 supermarkets, slaughterhouses, and agri-food cooperatives (which caused equipment fires) to the IRGC's Shahid Kaveh unit [Niche Cyber: Cybersecurity Dive] [Veracity: Trustworthy for incident; Likely True for unit attribution]. Meanwhile, attackers are actively exploiting critical authentication bypass flaws in Xen Orchestra to hijack XCP-ng VM hosts, root-access flaws in Barracuda Email Security Gateways (ESG), and maximum-severity SAP NetWeaver (ICM2SHELL and PROXYGATE) flaws [Niche Cyber: BleepingComputer] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Critical Supply Chain Chokepoints: Threat actors compromised IAM credentials for big-data platform Qubole to exfiltrate data across multiple customer AWS cloud environments, while hackers breached Japanese retail giant Nitori (37.62 million customer records stolen) and SEGA's third-party newsletter vendor ARARA (2.2 million emails exposed) [Niche Cyber: BleepingComputer] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Information Operations & Espionage Malware: Russian state-backed APT Turla deployed a novel malware toolset dubbed Cereal to siphon diplomatic emails from government Microsoft Exchange servers in Romania and Kazakhstan to intercept NATO/EU correspondence [Niche Cyber: BleepingComputer / The Record] [Veracity: Likely True].

Macro-Economic & Resource Pressure

  • Sanctions & Asset Freezes: The European Union activated consultations under its Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox to impose bloc-wide sanctions and asset freezes against Iranian entities tied to the Shahid Kaveh cold-chain sabotage [Niche Cyber: Industrial Cyber], while FinCEN's formal Federal Register order (2026-22962) severing crypto exchange MEXC Global from the U.S. financial system took legal effect [Primary Record: Federal Register] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Currency & Commodity Shocks: U.S. October headline CPI rose 0.4% MoM (above the 0.3% forecast) and core CPI rose 0.3% MoM (putting core PCE on a 4% annualized pace), driving the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield past 5% and prompting Fed Governor Christopher Waller to warn that a "jumbo" 50-basis-point rate hike is on the table for December, even as U.S. household debt hit a record $19.1 trillion [Center/Wire: Reuters / Trading Economics] [Veracity: Trustworthy]. Meanwhile, President Trump stated yesterday that Israel and Gulf allies should reimburse the U.S. for the financial cost of the Iran war [International Broadcaster: Al Jazeera] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Illicit Financial Flows: Cloud infrastructure intrusions at Railway demonstrated a growing illicit monetization vector—credential theft used to spin up $740,000 in unauthorized frontier AI compute clusters across 100,000 workspaces [Niche Cyber: BleepingComputer] [Veracity: Trustworthy].

Domestic Instability, Covert Action & Regulatory Mandates

  • Political Dissidence & Crackdowns: Iranian authorities further hardened domestic internal security controls and checkpoints across major cities amid ongoing strike threats and winter grid/heating shortages [Grey Literature: ISW-CTP / Al Jazeera] [Veracity: Likely True].
  • Civil Unrest: Nationwide picket lines and transportation strikes disrupted Spain today over housing affordability, while over 150 activists packed Wichita's City Council chamber in a contentious late-night standoff over local police cooperation with ICE [Primary Record: U.S. Embassy Spain / ACLU of Kansas] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Unexplained Anomalies: While Ukrainian drones ignited Russia's Ust-Luga Baltic oil port, NATO Baltic air-defense radar tracked an unexplained unmanned aerial incursion transiting from Lithuania deep into central/eastern Latvia before exiting at 03:20 local time [Regional: LSM] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Second Amendment, Red Flag Laws, Price Controls & Collectivist Mandates:
    • Texas Democrats File HB 218 to Repeal Anti-Red Flag Ban & Restrict Private Gun Sales: Following November 3 legislative gains, Texas House Democrats filed HB 218 and companion bills for the 90th Legislature to repeal Gov. Greg Abbott's 2025 Anti-Red Flag Act (SB 1362), authorize court-ordered ERPO firearm seizures, and mandate new restrictions on private firearm transfers [Right-Leaning Statehouse Trackers: The Dallas Express / Texas Scorecard] [Veracity: Trustworthy for bill filings].
    • U.S. Second Circuit Strikes Down NYC Handgun Rationing Law Under Bruen: In a major Second Amendment appellate ruling released Nov 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit invalidated New York City's administrative code limiting residents to purchasing or transferring only one handgun per 90-day period, ruling that temporary rationing infringes the constitutional right to keep and bear arms under Bruen and Wolford v. Lopez [Primary Judicial Record: Second Circuit Slip Opinion via Courthouse News] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
    • California Voters Reject Prop 40 Billionaire Wealth Tax & Clinic Spending Controls: Finalized tallies yesterday confirmed California voters defeated SEIU-UHW-backed Proposition 40 (a 5% wealth confiscation tax on billionaires) by ~53% to 47%, as well as Proposition 44 (which sought to cap and mandate how private healthcare clinics allocate revenue), after Gov. Gavin Newsom and Silicon Valley executives spent $378M opposing the wealth tax [Center/Wire: AP / CalMatters / WBUR] [Veracity: Trustworthy].
    • State "Surveillance Pricing" & Rent-Algorithm Bans Take Effect: New state price-control mandates barring grocers and landlords from using dynamic or pooled-data pricing software ("surveillance pricing" and algorithmic rent setting) are now active across five states (CA AB 325, CT HB 8002, MD, NJ A 3497 FAIR Act, and NY S 3008/S 7882), while New York's sweeping One Fair Price Act (S 8623-B / A 9349-B)—banning personalized retail pricing statewide—sits on Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk with a Dec 31 action deadline alongside NYC Int. 891-2026 [Primary Record: NJ Governor's Office / State Legislative Tracker] [Veracity: Trustworthy].

Part III: Strategic Synthesis & 24-Hour Watchlist

Synthesis & Cross-Domain Implications

The global strategic picture on November 11 is defined by a sharp divergence between diplomatic de-escalation rhetoric and escalating hybrid/economic attrition. While Washington and Moscow engage in trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi and the White House holds fire on Iran, the physical battlefields have shifted toward critical energy and civilian infrastructure—evidenced by Ukraine's 30% degradation of Russian oil refining capacity (capped by last night's Ust-Luga Baltic terminal strike), continued tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and France's formal attribution of the 700-site cold-chain sabotage to the IRGC. Domestically, the persistence of war-linked energy inflation (+0.4% October CPI) has forced the Federal Reserve to actively contemplate a 50-basis-point December rate hike at a moment when U.S. household debt is at a record $19.1 trillion, driving both European general strikes (Spain) and intensifying U.S. state-level battles over algorithmic price controls, wealth taxation, and Second Amendment preemption.

24-Hour Emerging Watchlist

  • Conclusion of Day Two in Abu Dhabi: Watch for joint or separate closing readouts from Umerov, Medinsky, and Witkoff today on whether prisoner-exchange or ceasefire frameworks advance to a third round [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Massie War Powers Resolution Filing: Following last night's 211–204 vote tabling the Hegseth impeachment articles, monitor the House floor for Rep. Massie's pledged War Powers Resolution on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox Sanctions on Iran: Track Brussels member-state consultations today following France's demand for coordinated EU sanctions against the IRGC's Shahid Kaveh cyber unit [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • Mandali Border Closure & Hormuz Escorts: Monitor Iraqi militia movements ahead of the Nov 13 Mandali crossing closure with Iran and UKMTO advisories after yesterday's double tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz [Veracity: Trustworthy].
  • New York "One Fair Price Act" Lobbying: Watch Albany docket activity as retail and tech groups press Gov. Kathy Hochul ahead of the Dec 31 deadline on S 8623-B / A 9349-B [Veracity: Trustworthy].

Part IV: Full Source Links Directory

Primary Records, Court Opinions & Legislative Dockets

Least-Biased Wire Services & Dual-Bias Reporting

Think-Tank "Grey" Literature

Aggregators of Raw Data, Obscure/Niche Blogs & Regional Trackers

B.R. Spencer

I’m a retired U.S. Army veteran, a historian, and a lifelong reader writing under the pen name B.R. Spencer.

My path to becoming an author has been anything but a straight line. I spent my early career in the military before transitioning into the academic world. After earning degrees in Information Security and Teaching, I found my true calling in studying the past and am currently pursuing my Master of Arts in History. I use that blend of rigorous research and real-world experience to write across multiple genres.

Currently, my work is split between historical non-fiction — such as my upcoming release, Chemistry of Hell: How Napalm Ignited a Century of Dirty Wars — and expansive science fiction. My debut sci-fi series, The Nexus Saga, officially launches on July 20, 2026, with The Resonance Awakening.

But long before I was an author, I was a reader. I have always believed that a book is a collaboration: the author puts the building blocks into place, but the reader's mind gives the universe its shape. My goal is to build worlds you can revisit like old friends, walking in the footsteps of the authors who inspired me, from J.R.R. Tolkien, Louis L'Amour, Tom Clancy, Terry Schott, Orson Scott Card, Vince Flynn, Jack Carr, and many more. Expand your boundaries in reading and you may be surprised by the universes you visit.

When I’m not lost in a book or a historical archive, you can find me in the Southwest Missouri, with my kids and dogs.

https://www.brspencer.com
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November 10, 2026 - Morning Edition