The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

Mary L Trump is a trained Clinical Psychologist with a PhD from The Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies. She’s the author of two New York Times best-selling books… Too Much and Never Enough and The Reckoning. her next BOOK, Who Could Ever Love You: A Family Memoir, will be published in September. She publishes The Good In Us newsletter on Substack, and is well-known as the niece and outspoken critic of former president Donald Trump.

Join us as Mary helps unpack the week's dizzying legal proceedings and the current toll they're taking on Donald Trump. As always, Mary's insights and perspective keep us riveted!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

If you're a 21st Century parent you likely know what KIDZ BOP is! My close pal of 30 years Cliff Chenfeld co-founded this wildly popular and successful music franchise, and he joined me in THE BACK ROOM for a fun, intimate chat about his illustrious career and the ever-changing music business.

Cliff's an NYU law school graduate, music entrepreneur, writer, radio host, and film producer. He co-founded and was co-CEO of Razor & Tie, an independent music company that included a label, a music publishing company and the top kids’ audio brand Kidz Bop. He’s also been a partner in several music festivals including WonderBus and WonderWorks, and has executive produced of a number of films including Joan Baez: How Sweet The Sound, Serious Moonlight and Concussion. He is the host of the NPR radio show Modern Sounds and writes a monthly Substack column on new music. He serves on several non-profit boards and is active in Democratic politics

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Yes, it's true! At 13 Jonathan worked as a camera operator at a television station on Nantucket for its 5:30pm newscast and then was promoted 2 years later to news director. After college he worked as a cameraman for film and tv. His film credits include Spike Lee's “Do the Right Thing” and “Mo' Better Blues,” “Mountain View” for John Sayles, “A Better Tomorrow” for John Woo, and “Dazed and Confused” for Richard Linklater. He later produced independent films, television, and theater, including the award-winning "Baby Steps", “Higher Ground,” “Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding,” “The Last Keepers” “Rhymes with Banana” and most recently “Antarctica”. His TV projects include “Almost There”, "Ivy Dreams," “Must Do Disney”, The Super Bowl Half Time Show, “Away We Go” by Jonathan Larson, and the “Tomorrow is Tonight Show” starring Ben Stiller.

Jonathan's also produced commercials for Time Warner, Ford, Disney, Chase and American Express. In theater, he produced the Tony nominated Broadway production of Mario Cantone’s “Laugh Whore,” the award-winning play “Avow”, and the 10th anniversary original-cast production of RENT. He is also co-founder of the Nantucket Film Festival, and is event producer for Project ALS, the organization launched by his friend Jenifer Estess, who died from the disease in 2003.

I've known JB a couple of decades now, so it was a lot of fun to sit down with him as part of our Live-Audience Series and learn more about his life, career, and his very poignant memories of his dear friend Jonathan Larson, the famed Broadway composer, lyricist and playwright (RENT).

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Tonya Mosley is an Emmy award-winning journalist and co-host of Fresh Air with Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley. She is also the founder of TMI Productions, an audio documentary production company that produces the award-winning podcast Truth Be Told and the documentary She Has A Name in collaboration with American Public Media. Previously, Tonya was a television correspondent for various news outlets, including NBC and Al Jazeera America. She also served as the LA-based co-host of Here & Now, a midday radio show co-produced by NPR and WBUR.

Tonya and I discuss her childhood and early influences; her new docuseries; and her illustrious career. This is a riveting in-depth dive into Tonya's life and work.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Bill Weir is a veteran award-winning anchor, writer, producer, and host who came to CNN in 2013 after a decade of award-winning journalism at ABC News. In 2019, he was named the network’s first Chief Climate Correspondent, drawing on his experience creating and hosting the primetime CNN Original Series “The Wonder List with Bill Weir,” now streaming on Discovery+.

Throughout his network career, Bill’s reported from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, covering breaking news and uncovering global trends including Hurricane Katrina, the Japan tsunami, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. As a writer and anchor, Weir produced several special hours for CNN and ABC prime time on topics ranging from religion, brain science and Woodstock to the business of mail-order brides and the rise and fall of General Motors. His first book, Life As We Know It (Can Be) is on sale April 16th.

Bill discusses the worry and wonder of climate change and how communities can galvanize around nature and each other to provide hope and real change for a better future.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Stephanie Mencimer covers legal affairs and domestic policy in Mother Jones’ Washington Bureau. She is the author of Blocking the Courthouse Door: How the Republican Party and Its Corporate Allies Are Taking Away Your Right to Sue. She appeared in the documentary “Hot Coffee,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and was based in part on her book. She is also a contributing editor of the Washington Monthly, a former investigative reporter at the Washington Post and senior writer at the Washington City Paper. She was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2004 for a Washington Monthly article about myths surrounding the medical malpractice system.

Join us for this fun, insightful chat about Stephanie's new piece, “From Laddie Mag Model to RNC Co-Chair: Lara Trump, Nepo-Spouse”; Donald Trump; MAGA extremism; the GOP crazy caucus; and RFK Jr and the November election.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Sarah McCammon is a National Political Correspondent for NPR and cohost of The NPR Politics Podcast. Her work focuses on political, social and cultural divides in America, including the intersections of politics and religion, reproductive rights, and the conservative movement. She is also a frequent guest host for NPR news magazines, and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, PBS, and MSNBC. During the 2016 election cycle, Sarah was NPR’s lead political reporter assigned to the Donald Trump campaign and previously reported for NPR Member stations in Georgia, Iowa and Nebraska.

Sarah is the author of the terrific new book The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. In this fascinating conversation, Sarah shares her deeply personal journey of faith to freedom; explains white evangelical support for Trump; and offers compelling insights on religion in America today.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Paul Begala is a CNN political commentator, consultant and NY Times best-selling author. Along with his partner James Carville, he was one of the masterminds behind Bill Clinton's winning presidential campaign in 1992 and later served as Counselor to the President, serving as one of President Clinton's closest aides, and coordinating policy, politics, and communications. In the 2012 campaign, Paul was a senior adviser for the pro-Obama Super PAC, making Begala one of the few people to play a critical role in electing two different presidents.

Paul is back in The Back Room, and as always, he brings his inimitable wit and wisdom on a range of critical subjects including Trump and his existential threat to democracy; right-wing religious extremism and its Orange Jesus worship; RFK Jr and his VP pick Nicole Shanahan; Liz Cheney, the November election and the latest polling; the economy; and more.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Miles Taylor is a national security expert who served in the Trump administration as chief of staff at the US Department of Homeland Security, where he published an “Anonymous” essay in The New York Times, blowing the whistle on presidential misconduct. He later published the #1 national bestseller A Warning, revealed himself to be the author, and launched a campaign of ex-officials to oppose Donald Trump’s reelection. He’s worked as an advisor in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, on Capitol Hill, and as a CNN contributor. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, Blowback, and the host of the “The Whistleblowers” podcast.

Miles is back in The Back Room to discuss his revised paperback edition of Blowback (out April 9) and the intensifying threats of a Donald Trump 2.0, including his promises of dictatorship and weaponizing of the government to exact revenge on his opponents and perceived enemies.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud

Ian Bremmer is a political scientist, Columbia University professor and president and founder of geopolitical risk advisory firm Eurasia Group, and GZERO Media, which covers international affairs. He is the author of eleven books, including the New York Times bestsellers “Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism,” and his latest book, “The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats—and Our Response—Will Change the World”. Ian serves as rapporteur of the UN High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence and is the foreign affairs columnist and editor at large for Time magazine. He is the host of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, a global affairs program that airs weekly on US public television. Ian is also a frequent guest on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and many other news outlets globally.

Ian and I get into it all: Putin, Russia, Ukraine, NATO, Israel, Trump, Biden, the November election and its impact on American foreign policy.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud