The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

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 Amendment, and 21 Cracks: Repairing American Democracy After Trump. His Keys to the White House prediction system has successfully forecasted the results of presidential elections since 1984, including Donald Trump’s win in 2016.

This is a truly fascinating chat about Professor Lichtman's model, how it was created, why it's worked flawlessly, and what it currently indicates for the November election. The professor also weighs in on the significance, or lack thereof, of the recent debate, polling, and fundraising on the campaign; the calls for President Biden to quit; and more.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 House, 2017-2021, and The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III, both with his wife, Susan Glasser of The New Yorker. He is a frequent panelist on Washington Week on PBS.

We're thrilled to have had Peter in THE BACK ROOM just as the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision was announced. So join us as he breaks it all down and also shares his thoughts on the the campaign, the debate and the calls for President Biden to quit the race; veepstakes; the impact of RFK Jr, Jill Stein and Cornell West; the November election; and the existential threat to democracy under a Trump 2.0.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 University Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, the Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy, and Constitutional Commentary among many others. His op-eds and essays have appeared in the New York Times, the LA Times, The Atlantic, SLATE, Vox, Salon, and the Daily Beast, among others and his television appearances include CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and France 24.

Join us for this special bonus episode as Professor Segall unpacks today's monumentally consequential Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 News.

Join Maura and I for a compelling discussion on the first presidential debate; the calls for President Biden to quit the race; the threats and dangers of Donald Trump; the broken Republican Party; VeepStakes; and the November election.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 Against His Critics. He’s also Principal of crisis management firm Crisis-X.

Michael's back in The Back Room for a fun, insightful morning-after post-debate analysis.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 comedy.

Her recent film credits include She Came To Me, Tripped Up, and Love Reconsidered. And her TV credits include City On A Hill, Better Things, The First Lady, Extrapolation, Life and Beth, Girls 5 Eva and recurring roles on Awkwafina, Friends from College and Search Party. She’s won two Emmy awards for writing and producing The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and has written and starred in three critically acclaimed Off-Broadway hit shows, Yes I Can Say That!, The Judy Show – My Life as a Sitcom, and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother. Judy’s appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show, and has made numerous appearances on The View, The Today Show, The Drew Barrymore Show, and on MSNBC, CNN and NewsNation as a free-speech advocate. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book Yes I Can Say That: When They Come For The Comedians, We Are All In Trouble.

Judy is funny AF! We have an absolute blast chatting about Jews and Jewish mothers; cats and dogs; cancel culture and the comedy business today; her early inspirations and favorite current comics; and her writing process. And, she reveals the things that piss her off most, as well as her Top 5 musical artists of all-time! And, what would a chat between two Jews be without a passionate discussion of Israel, the protests and antisemitism...

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 weapons of mass destruction. Prior to the FBI, he spent four years on active duty in the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division. He’s an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, is the NYT bestselling author of Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J Trump, and co-host of the Cleanup On Aisle 45 podcast.

Peter's back in THE BACK ROOM sharing his keen insights into America's most dangerous foreign and domestic threats as we head towards the presidential election in November.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 Press, Face the Nation, Real Time with Bill Maher, and The Daily Show and is also the author of two books, “Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda” and “The Recovering Politician’s Twelve Step Program to Survive Crisis”.

It's always a blast when Michael brings his inimitable wit and wisdom into The Back Room! He's back helping unpack the latest with Trump, the campaign, VeepStakes, the debates, the November election, and what concerns him most.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 detail.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

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 woman judge in northern California. In1988, Judge Cordell won election to the Superior Court of Santa Clara County. In all, she' spent nearly 20 years on the bench.

From 2010 to 2015, she served as Independent Police Auditor for the City of San Jose. In 2015 she was a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement. She’s also served as Vice Provost & Special Counselor to the President for Campus Relations at Stanford University; served on the Palo Alto City Council; was the Independent Police Auditor for the City of San Jose; and is the co-founder of the African American Composer Initiative. She is the author of the 2021 book: Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It. And, she’s appeared on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, CBS-5 television and Court TV.

Judge Cordell take us back to childhood and her early inspirations; walks us through her illustrious academic and judicial career; helps unpack the latest with convicted-felon Donald Trump's sentencing options in the New York election-interference/hush-money trial; discusses the need for an enforceable code of conduct for the Supreme Court in the wake of new disclosure violations and conflicts of interest with Justices Thomas and Alito; discusses her book; and shares how music has impacted her life.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud