  We generalize a result by Carlen and Cordero-Erausquin on the equivalence
between the Brascamp-Lieb inequality and the subadditivity of relative entropy
by allowing for random transformations (a broadcast channel). This leads to a
unified perspective on several functional inequalities that have been gaining
popularity in the context of proving impossibility results. We demonstrate that
the information theoretic dual of the Brascamp-Lieb inequality is a convenient
setting for proving properties such as data processing, tensorization,
convexity and Gaussian optimality. Consequences of the latter include an
extension of the Brascamp-Lieb inequality allowing for Gaussian random
transformations, the determination of the multivariate Wyner common information
for Gaussian sources, and a multivariate version of Nelson's hypercontractivity
theorem. Finally we present an information theoretic characterization of a
reverse Brascamp-Lieb inequality involving a random transformation (a multiple
access channel).
