The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

Alexis Coe is a presidential historian and a fellow at New America, where she is thinking about the presidency in anticipation of America's 250th. She is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George of Washington and Alice+Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis. She frequently appears on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, History, BBC, and PBS, and has been...

Allan J. Lichtman is Distinguished Professor of History at American University and a leading geopolitical expert. He has provided expert testimony in some 110 civil rights cases. He has written 13 books, many hundreds of scholarly and popular articles, and provided worldwide media commentary. His recent books include The Case for Impeachment, The Embattled Vote In America, Repeal the Second Amendm...

Peter Baker is the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times and a political analyst for MSNBC. He has covered the last five presidents for The Times and The Washington Post. At The Post, he also served as Moscow Co-Bureau Chief and covered the opening months of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is author of seven books, including the best-selling The Divider: Trump in the White Ho...

Eric J. Segall is a constitutional law scholar, professor, and author of the books Originalism as Faith, and Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court is not a Court and its Justices are not Judges. His articles on constitutional law have appeared in, among others, the Harvard Law Review Forum, the Stanford Law Review On Line, the UCLA Law Review, the George Washington Law Review, the Washington Univer...

Maura Gillespie is the founder and principal of Bluestack Strategies, and is a communications professional with expertise in strategic messaging and media training. She previously served 12 years on Capitol Hill as Press Advisor to former House Speaker John Boehner and as Deputy Chief of Staff to former Congressman Adam Kinzinger. She is a recurring guest on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Bloomberg, and FOX New...

Michael Cohen is the former personal attorney for Donald Trump and served for years as an executive in the Trump Organization. He is host of the Mea Culpa With Michael Cohen podcast and co-host of Political Beatdown with Michael Cohen and Ben Meiselas podcast. He’s a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His latest book is “Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the US Department of Justice A...

Judy Gold is a film, television and theater actor and writer and comedian. Her stand-up specials have appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, and LOGO, and she’s appeared on Netflix's Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration. She’s the host of the podcast It’s Judy’s Show with Judy Gold; and is featured in the new Netflix documentary Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution, which explores the history of LGBTQ+ standup...

Peter Strzok served in the FBI from 1996 to 2018, rising to the deputy of its Counterintelligence Division. During his career, he worked around the world against national security threats from China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and others, including countering state-sponsored disinformation, prosecuting acts of economic espionage and theft of intellectual property, and combatting the proliferation of weapo...

Michael Steele is the co-host of MSNBC’s ‘The Weekend’ and host of ‘The Michael Steele Podcast.’ Prior to joining MSNBC as a political analyst, he was elected Lt. Governor of Maryland in 2003. Following his time as Lt. Governor, he served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011. Steele was the first African-American to hold either office. He has appeared on Meet the Pres...

Ryan Hamilton is a husband, father, acclaimed singer/songwriter-turned-radio host, and unexpected women’s rights activist who’s been speaking out after he and his wife Jess experienced a nightmarish miscarriage-related situation at a Texas hospital back in May. Please join us for this incredibly moving (and infuriating) conversation as Ryan emotionally recounts their harrowing ordeal in riveting d...

LaDoris Hazzard Cordell was the first lawyer to open a law practice in East Palo Alto, CA, a low-income community of color. In 1978, she was appointed Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Stanford Law School, where she implemented a successful minority admissions program. In 1982, Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to the Municipal Court of Santa Clara County making her the first African American...

Mark McKinnon is a political advisor, reform advocate, columnist, and television producer. He was the creator and co-host of Showtime's Emmy-nominated hit documentary series "The Circus”. He’s worked for many causes, companies, and candidates, including President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, late Governor Ann Richards, and Bono. He was the chief media advisor for five winning presidential...

Jordan Matthew Horowitz is an Emmy-winning writer/director of both documentary and narrative film. His recent documentary, JACK AND SAM, about Holocaust survivors Jack Waksal and Sam Ron, was executive produced by Julianna Margulies and Sarah Silverman, and was shortlisted for a prestigious IDA Award. His other films include the documentary ANGEL OF NANJING and the narrative feature film PAINLESS....

Frank Bruni has been a prominent journalist for more than three decades, including more than twenty-five years at The New York Times, in roles as diverse as op-ed columnist, White House correspondent, Rome bureau chief, and chief restaurant critic. He is the author of four New York Times bestsellers. In July 2021, he became a full professor at Duke University, teaching in the school of public poli...

Maggie Haberman is a journalist who joined The New York Times in 2015 and was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for reporting on the investigations into Donald Trump’s, and his advisers’, connections to Russia. She has twice been a member of a team that was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, in 2021 for reporting on the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus, and in 2022 f...

Ferne Pearlstein is a director, cinematographer, and editor based in New York City. Her most recent film is “XCLD: THE STORY OF CANCEL CULTURE,” a nuanced look at this controversial topic, produced by Trevor Noah and Time Studios for MSNBC’s Turning Point series. As a director and producer, with husband and producing partner Robert Edwards, she has had four features premiere at Tribeca, including...

S.E. Cupp is a CNN political commentator and most recently host of CNN's S.E. Cupp Unfiltered. Before joining CNN she co-hosted MSNBC's The Cycle. She's a nationally syndicated political columnist, culture critic, author and consultant who regularly writes for the New York Daily News, Glamour and CNN.com. She was previously a consultant for Apple TV+'s The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston, R...

Jennifer Rodgers is a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at the NYU School of Law, and a Legal Analyst for CNN. She teaches, writes, and speaks about government ethics, public corruption, sports corruption, and criminal law issues. Between 2000-2013, Jennifer worked at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she ser...

Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of global investment firm SkyBridge and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio. He’s also an author, hosts the OPEN BOOK podcast, and is best known for the 11 roller-coaster days he served in the Trump White House as Communications Director. Join us as Mooch discusses his new book From Wa...

The inimitable Rick Wilson's back in The Back Room! Rick's a renowned political strategist, infamous ad-maker, writer, speaker, political commentator, co-founder of the political action committee The Lincoln Project, co-founder of media company Resolute Square and a two-time New York Times bestselling author. Rick is on fire! Join us as he riffs on Trump, his sons "Uday and Qusay", 'his GOP sycoph...

Jasmine Crockett is an attorney, former member of the Texas House of Representatives and currently serves as the US Representative for Texas’s 30th Congressional District, which covers much of the city of Dallas and parts of Dallas and Tarrant counties. She is a member of the House Oversight and Agriculture Committees. Rep. Crockett is back in THE BACK ROOM discussing her epic "Bleach-Blonde Bad-B...

Donna Pescow is a film, television and theater actor, director and producer with a career spanning five decades . She was born and raised in Brooklyn NY, graduated from New York's prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Shortly after graduation she was cast as Annette in the iconic film SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977), and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by the New York Film Critics C...

Eugene Vindman is an immigrant, a husband, a father of two, a human rights lawyer, and a former Colonel in the U.S. Army. He and his twin brother Alex were born in the Soviet Ukraine. Following the death of their mother, the family immigrated to America as refugees with $759 to their name. In 2019, after serving 22 years in the Army, he served on the National Security Council as the senior ethics...

Elie Honig is an attorney and CNN senior legal analyst and the bestselling author of Hatchet Man and Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It. He’s a former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. He also hosts podcasts and writes for CAFE and Vox Media. Elie's back in The Back Room, this time helping unpack the latest from Donald Trump's New York election-...

Liora Rez is the Founder and Executive Director of Stop Antisemitism, a national watchdog organization working to expose the hate, threats, and outright violence Jews in America are facing each day. Liora herself is a political refugee, who fled the Soviet Union with her family as a young girl due to escalating antisemitism. Join us for this important conversation about the huge rise in antisemiti...