The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

John Heilemann is a partner, chief political columnist, and host of the twice-weekly podcast Impolitic with John Heilemann at Puck, as well as national affairs analyst at NBC News and MSNBC. John also co-created and co-hosted Showtime's The Circus, and is the author of the NY Times best-selling books Pride Before the Fall, Double Down, and Game Change, which was adapted into an HBO feature film that won five Emmy Awards, three Golden Globes, and a Peabody Award. He’s previously been co-founder and executive editor of The Recount, co-host of MSNBC and Bloomberg TV’s With All Due Respect, managing editor of Bloomberg Politics, and was a staff writer for New York, The New Yorker, Wired, and The Economist.

John shares his thoughts on the latest news involving Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, the ever-changing campaign and what it all means for the November election. We also chat about dogs, streamers, and John's eclectic music tastes! He's a truly fascinating dude and we've got him for an hour for a fun, insightful in-depth convo!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

The inimitable Rick Wilson is a renowned political strategist, infamous ad-maker, writer, speaker, political commentator, podcaster, co-founder of the political action committee The Lincoln Project and media company Resolute Square, and a two-time New York Times best-selling author.

Rick's back in The Back Room discussing the latest with Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and the presidential campaign

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Kimberly Atkins Stohr is a senior opinion writer and columnist for The Boston Globe with over 20 years of experience covering politics, policy and law. She is an on-air political analyst for MSNBC, a frequent panelist on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and co-host of the popular Politicon legal news podcast #SistersInLaw. She has appeared as a political and legal commentator on a host of national and international television and radio networks, including CNN, Fox News, NBC News, PBS, NPR, Sky News, and CBC News. Before launching her journalism career, she was a civil trial and appellate litigation attorney in Boston, where she argued in a number of courts, including the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the federal 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kimberly helps unpack the latest news involving President Joe Biden's exit from the race; VP Kamala Harris's quick and impressive start; Donald Trump's mounting weaknesses; and what lies ahead for the campaign and the November election. And, she reveals her awesome Top 5 musical artists of all time!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Pete Best was the original drummer with the iconic band The Beatles, playing with them for two years between 1960 and ’62. He was unceremoniously fired from the band and replaced with Ringo Starr after its legendary Hamburg, Germany gigs and just before the band would skyrocket to worldwide success with its first album release and smash single "Love Me Do".

Please join us for this in-depth chat in which Pete shares in riveting detail his unique childhood; the early Beatles years; his heartbreaking dismissal; his subsequent relationship with John, Paul, George and Ringo; John's 1980 murder; his post-Beatles music career; and, at almost 83, his reflections on one of the most bittersweet musical legacies of all time.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Tara Setmayer and Michelle Kinney are co-founders of the recently launched bi-partisan superPAC The Seneca Project, which is dedicated to mobilizing women voters in key swing states to ensure Democratic victory in November in order to safeguard women’s rights, healthcare access, the preservation of democracy, and the defeat of the extremist MAGA agenda.

Tara's a former GOP Communications Director on Capitol Hill and most recently served as a Senior Advisor for The Lincoln Project and host of the live show The Breakdown. She’s a contributor on MSNBC and other news outlets, has been a frequent guest host on ABC’s The View, Sirius XM’s The Michael Smerconish Program, and has several appearances on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher. After 27 years as a Republican she left the party in November 2020 after Donald Trump refused to concede the election to Joe Biden. Michelle previously served as the Creative Director at The Lincoln Project. She's also a photojournalist, previously served as VP of WestSide Democrats in NYC, and was publicly elected to the New York County Democratic Committee. Prior to entering the political arena, she was a performing artist and producer.

Join us for this truly important conversation about the grave threat to women's bodily autonomy and reproductive rights and The Seneca Project's work to defend and protect a woman's right to choose and its efforts to flood the polls in November.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Kara Swisher is the host of the podcast “On with Kara Swisher” and the co-host of the “Pivot” podcast with Scott Galloway, both distributed by New York magazine. She’s also a regular panelist on CNN’s “The Chris Wallace Show.” She was the co-founder and editor-at-large of Recode, host of the “Recode Decode” podcast, and co-executive producer of the Code conference. She was a former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and host of its “Sway” podcast and has also worked for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. The recently released BURN BOOK is her third book.

Kara chatted with me for an hour about the calls for President Joe Biden to quit, the assassination-attempt on Donald Trump, "VP" J.D. Vance, and the potential impact of each on the campaign and election. We also discuss Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the Florida classified documents case, the fate of an appeal, and how the US Supreme Court might ultimately decide. And of course, Elon Musk and the billionaire tech bros!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Elle Reeve is a journalist and CNN correspondent whose work has won numerous awards, including the Emmy, the Peabody, and more. Her writing has appeared in VICE, The New Republic, New York magazine, Elle, The Atlantic, and The Daily Beast. Her just released book is Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics.

Join us as Elle explains in riveting detail the rise of extremism, 'incels' and the alt right; who gets radicalized and why; the ongoing threats from QAnon, militias, and racist groups; and how the dark web and the real world often intersect to tragic consequences.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Attorney, NY Times best-selling author, former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers. Join us for this compelling chat about the calls for President Joe Biden to quit and the impact it could have on the November election.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Rachel Bitecofer is a political scientist and election forecaster turned political strategist. Bitecofer’s interviews and analysis have been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Salon, Politico, The New Republic, Real Time with Bill Maher, CNN, MSNBC, and many other prominent news sources. She worked with Democratic Party candidates and organizations to implement negative partisanship strategy in the 2022 midterms. She is author of the recently released book Hit 'Em Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at their Own Game.

Rachel is a super smart, funny AF election guru who pulls no punches. And she's back in The Back Room discussing the recent presidential debate, the continued calls for President Joe Biden to quit, and why at this late stage in the campaign she believes it's political suicide for Democrats to be publicly attacking him this way. It's a truly don't-miss, timely convo...

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 featured in and published by most major publications, including the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. She is a frequent guest on NPR and hosted the podcasts No Man's Land and Presidents Are People Too!

Join us for this compelling chat about the calls for Joe Biden to quit in the wake of the presidential debate; the ongoing existential threat to democracy of another Trump presidency; the media's role in normalizing Trump and his lies; the Supreme Court's immunity ruling; and the upcoming Trump sentencing in the NY election-interference/hush-money case (now September) and the need for accountability.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud