The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

Celina Stewart is the Chief Executive Officer of the League of Women Voters of the United States. Prior to joining the League, she was acting Chief Operating Officer and Director of Philanthropy at an electoral reform nonprofit; served as a litigation consultant to several Am 100 law firms handling complex merger and acquisition transactions; legislative aide at the Michigan legislature handling the public interest portfolio for the House Tax Chair; and as Legal Counsel to the Minority Leader Stacey Abrams at the Georgia House of Representatives. She has served on the Boards of the Bar Association of DC; the Women’s Bar Association of DC; the NAACP ; and was an American Bar Foundation Law Practice Fellow.

Join us as Celina describes the League's critical efforts in educating and engaging voters while defending and protecting our civil, voting and reproductive rights in the era of Donald Trump.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Joe Walsh is a former Republican Congressman from Illinois elected to Congress in the TEA Party wave of 2010. Following his service in Congress, Walsh became one of the most popular conservative talk radio hosts in the country, syndicated in major markets throughout the U.S. In August of 2019 Joe became a candidate for President of the United States, waging a Republican primary challenge against Donald Trump. Joe is the author of F*CK SILENCE: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic, Authoritarian Con Man He Is released in February of 2020. Joe is currently the Director of The Social Contract and the host of a podcast called, “The Social Contract With Joe Walsh,” where Joe has weekly conversations with other well-known people to model how to have respectful conversations with those you disagree with.

Joe comes from the MAGA base and also spends a lot of time engaging, respectfully, with that base. Joe can be seen regularly on CNN, MSNBC and News Nation and has been written up in major publications like the NYT, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Raw Story and Newsweek

Joe's super smart, funny and brutally honest. And, he's now a democrat! Join us for this engaging, pull-no-punches chat about Trump's march towards autocracy, the Musk breakup, the Big Ugly-Ass Bill, Mamdani and the NYC mayoral race, the '26 midterms, and why he joined his new party.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Alex Gibney is an award-winning filmmaker who's been called “the most important documentarian of our time” by Esquire Magazine. His work has been the recipient of an Academy Award, multiple Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, several Peabody Awards, DuPont-Columbia Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, Writers Guild Awards, and more. His films include TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY & THE PRISON OF BELIEF, and many others. His most recent work includes IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON, THE BIBI FILES, WISE GUYS: DAVID CHASE & THE SOPRANOS, and THE DARK MONEY GAME.

Alex is currently in production on the documentaries MUSK and the tentatively titled KNIFE, which is inspired by Salman Rushdie’s memoir “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder”. He is the recipient of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the News & Documentary Emmys.

Join us for this truly engaging conversation about Alex's childhood, his early inspirations, and his illustrious 45-year filmmaking career.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Adam Arkin is an award-winning actor, director, and producer whose distinguished career has spanned over four decades. As a director and executive producer, Adam’s most recent work is featured in season two of the award-winning Peacock series “Poker Face,” which premiered last month and stars Natasha Lyonne. He also recently directed six episodes of Netflix’s “The Night Agent.”

Adam has also executive produced and directed “Sugar”, “Cruel Intentions,” “Rebel”, and “Get Shorty”. His other directing credits include “Northern Exposure”, “The Offer”, “Succession," “Fargo,” “Billions,” “Justified,” "Sons of Anarchy,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Americans" (which he also produced), “Sneaky Pete,” and “Masters of Sex.” He won an Emmy for directing the Showtime film “My Louisiana Sky."

As an actor, his film, tv and theater credits include the Coen Brothers’ Oscar-nominated "A Serious Man”, “Pig”, ”Chicago Hope" (all 141 episodes), ”Life”, "Law and Order," "The Act," "Modern Family," "The West Wing," "Boston Legal," “Monk”, "Brooklyn Boy," "Guys and Dolls," and "I Hate Hamlet.” His work has garnered a plethora of acting and directing award nominations and wins including the Tony’s, Primetime Emmys, Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild of America, and the Daytime Emmys.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Two weeks after graduating from USC, Tracy Walder began her career as a Staff Operations Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Counterterrorism Center before, during and after September 11th 2001, and as Special Agent at the FBI. During her time at the CIA, she lived in and travelled to countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe as well as served in war zones such as Afghanistan. After the CIA, Tracy became a Special Agent at the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, Santa Ana Resident Agency.

Following her time at the CIA and FBI, she received her master’s in teaching at Chapman University and began teaching history and a course created for young women on national security and global policy at high schools in California and Texas. She now works as an adjunct instructor of Criminal Justice at Texas Christian University, is the national security contributor for News Nation and appeared on the Discovery Channel’s Lost Monster Files, the History Channel, and the Discovery Channel. She is currently the star of the number one documentary on Netflix American Manhunt: Osama Bin Laden.

Tracy shares her incredible story of going from sorority sister to CIA and FBI agent, and details her work in law enforcement, counter-terrorism and national security. We discuss her key role in the new Netflix doc, the rampant sexual harassment she experienced at the Bureau, and whether America is safe from domestic and foreign terrorists under the Trump administration.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

George Conway is an attorney, political activist, legal and political commentator, and a founder of The Lincoln Project. He is a host of The Bulwark’s podcast George Conway Explains It All (to Sarah Longwell), and he is a contributing writer to The Atlantic. He previously worked as a litigator for three decades at the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York City.

Few people are smarter, funnier and more outspoken than George! And he's back with us to share his wit and wisdom on Iran and its impact on MAGA; Trump's sociopathy and his assault on democracy; which Cabinet member will be fired first; the Musk breakup; Gavin Newsom and immigration, ICE and the National Guard case; tariffs and trade wars; the failed birthday parade; and the No Kings protests.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Leah Litman is a professor of law at the University of Michigan and a former Supreme Court clerk. In addition to co-hosting Strict Scrutiny, she writes frequently about the Court for media outlets including The Washington Post, Slate, and The Atlantic, among others, and has appeared as a commentator on NPR and MSNBC, in addition to other venues. She has received the Ruth Bader Ginsburg award for her “scholarly excellence” from the American Constitution Society and published in top law reviews. Her new book is LAWLESS: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes.

Leah and I discuss Trump's legal cases, his humiliating birthday parade, the No Kings protests, her scorching new book on the Supreme Court, the key SCOTUS rulings to come by month's end, and, she reveals her favorite musical artists, including her #1, Taylor Swift!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is Professor of History at New York University. She writes about fascism, authoritarianism, and propaganda. She is the recipient of Guggenheim and other fellowships; an advisor to Protect Democracy; an MSNBC opinion columnist and television commentator; and publishes Lucid, a newsletter on threats to democracy. Her latest book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, looks at how illiberal leaders use propaganda, corruption, violence, and machismo - and how they can be defeated.

What's happening in Los Angeles with Trump's use of the National Guard and the Marines? What's his end goal? Are we headed towards autocracy? How effective are the No Kings protests and the resistance movement? And how can her book serve as a guide for navigating through this existential crisis? Ruth answers these questions and more. Don't miss this incredibly insightful conversation.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Co-founder and Board Member of The Lincoln Project, Rick Wilson is a renowned political strategist, infamous award-winning ad-maker and podcast host, writer, speaker, and political commentator on MSNBC, CNN, ABC News, NPR, Real Time with Bill Maher, and various American and international news national outlets. A 30-year veteran of national Republican politics, Rick got his start in the 1988 Presidential campaign of George Herbert Walker Bush and has produced groundbreaking and award-winning political advertising, strategic counsel to winning political candidates, SuperPACS, state parties, the national campaign committees, and corporate, association, and government clients across the nation and around the world. Rick has authored two New York Times bestsellers – Everything Trump Touches Dies and Running Against The Devil – A Plot To Save America from Trump And Democrats From Themselves – and often writes for The Washington Post, Politico, Rolling Stone, The Hill, The Bulwark, and the London Spectator.

Rick brings back his inimitable wit and wisdom for a chat about Trump's incendiary autocratic actions in Los Angeles and his epic break-up with Elon Musk.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Jon Michaels is a UCLA professor of law specializing in constitutional and national security law. His award-winning scholarship has appeared in the Yale Law Journal, University of Chicago Law Review, and Harvard Law Review, and he has written popular essays for the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, and Guardian. A Yale Law graduate and Supreme Court clerk, Michaels is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the advisory board of UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project. His latest book, co-written with David Noll, is VIGILANTE NATION: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens our Democracy

Is what Donald Trump's doing in LA with the National Guard and the Marines legal? Constitutional? And what happens next? Who ultimately will win this consequential national showdown between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Trump. Jon answers these questions and more.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud