The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36) is serving in his fifth term in Congress and currently sits on the House Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology Committees. He was also elected by his colleagues to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, making him the highest ranking Asian American to have ever served in House Leadership. He is a veteran, having served on active duty and then in the Reserve for the Air Force. He retired from the Reserve in 2021 with the rank of Colonel.

Join us as Ted shares his family and childhood background, his early political aspirations and his thoughts and concerns about the Bill Barr/Durham/Russia-Trump inquiry, AI and super-computing, Trump, Trumpism, the GOP House chaos and the 2024 election.

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Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

Shannon Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action, a grassroots group fighting against gun violence. With 10-million supporters and a chapter in every state, Moms Demand Action and its partner, Everytown for Gun Safety, have stopped the NRA's priority legislation and passed hundreds of gun safety laws across the country, most notably the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun safety bill in 26 years. Shannon is also an active board member of Emerge America, which recruits and trains women to run for office, and Advance Peace, a community-based organization that works to end cyclical and retaliatory gun-violence in American urban neighborhoods. She was named one of Glamour’s 2022 Women of the Year and her book, Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World, was released in May of 2019.

Please join us for an incredibly important conversation about America's gun epidemic, the the recent spate of deadly mass-shootings and the continued fight for gun-reform legislation.

Got somethin' to say?! Email us at [email protected]

Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

Kara Swisher is host of On with Kara Swisher and co-host of the Pivot podcast. She’s also editor-at-large of New York Magazine…and the former host of the Sway and Recode Decode podcasts and the co-founder of the technology website, Recode. Kara has been reporting on the tech industry since the early 1990s. Once called “Silicon Valley's most feared but revered journalist," she’s established herself as the oracle of the tech world with unrivaled access to the industry's most significant leaders.

Fans of Kara, as well as those just getting to know her, will really love this conversation. It's about more than just the usual suspects like Elon Musk, Twitter and tech. We learn so much about Kara herself...from the impact of losing her father at the age of 5 to her love of Air-fryers, Yellowstone, Johnny Cash and the Frozen soundtrack. And why her Instapot yells "fuck you" to her!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

Aaron Rupar is an independent journalist and the publisher of the Public Notice newsletter covering US politics and media. He previously worked at Vox, where he covered Trumpism and the Trump administration. Most recently he was notably involved in a controversial dust-up with Twitter’s 'Chief Twit' Elon Musk, who ‘temporarily’ permanently suspended him last month before lifting the suspension after much public outcry and a truly bizarre online poll.

Join us for a fascinating chat as Aaron gives us the skinny on what went down with Musk; his overall take on Twitter; and his thoughts on a range of political subjects including Trump, Kevin McCarthy, George Santos and the House drama, and the Biden/Trump mishandled classified documents scandals. You'll also learn whether those mop-topped lads from Liverpool made into Aaron's Top 5! of all time!

Got somethin' to say?! Email us at [email protected]

Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

Joe Walsh is a former Tea Party Congressman from Illinois and a former nationally syndicated far-right talk-radio host who ran for President in 2020 against Donald Trump. He's the author of the 2020 book "F-ck Silence: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic, Authoritarian Con Man He Is" and is host of the podcast, "White Flag With Joe Walsh". He is Chairman of non-partisan "Center Street PAC", a board member of bi-partisan gun safety group "97Percent" and is a frequent commentator on CNN and MSNBC.

But most notably, Joe was a lifelong Republican who left the party three years ago, became an independent and is one of the most outspoken conservative critics of Trump, Trumpism and the dangers of the MAGA cult.

I love talking with Joe. We disagree on many political and social issues, but he's a straight-shooting right-winger who's chosen to be on the right side of history. Take a listen to our truly insightful, brutally honest, fun, funny chat. You'll be glad you did!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

Matthew Dowd is a political commentator and strategist, NY Times best-selling author and media analyst. He was chief strategist for President George Bush and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 2021 he made his own run for office running as a democrat for Texas Lt. Governor. He recently joined MSNBC and prior to that was Chief Political Analyst for ABC News. His latest book is Revelations on the River: Being a Prophet for Your Own Path.

Matthew shares his astute insights into Donald Trump, the Republican Party, Kevin McCarthy and the current House drama, the classified documents scandals, George Santos and more. He also takes us back in time to his early political inspirations, his role as chief strategist for President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and also explains their public falling out by 2007. And, you'll get his Super Bowl prediction!

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Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

Michael Cohen is host of the Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen podcast and is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His current 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. And he’s most notable for having served for many years as Donald Trump’s personal attorney and also as an executive in the Trump Organization.

Strap yourself in for a wild ride as we've got a very unplugged, unfiltered, unabashed and indignant Michael in his most unique, revealing interview yet. Trust me, you don't wanna miss this chat! You'll love the fascinating, candid, funny AF insights into his childhood, career, past legal troubles, prison, Trump, the Trump kids (including Tiffany and Barron), Trumpism, Bill Barr and more!

Got somethin' to say?! Email us at [email protected]

Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

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, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell and HBO's hit series, The Newsroom. She has been a contributor to TheBlaze's Real News and contributing editor for Townhall Magazine.

We're thrilled to have S.E. in The Back Room for an engaging, insightful and brutally-honest in-depth chat about life, religion, mental health, politics, music and more.

And as always, we talk dogs, cats and music too! Find out if that little band from Liverpool, The Beatles, made it into S.E.'s Top 5 of all-time!

Got somethin' to say?! Email us at [email protected]

Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

Steve Israel was an 8-term Democratic Congressman from Long Island, NY, representing District 2 until the 2012 election when he was redistricted into the 3rd District, the seat won in November '22 by Republican scandal-plagued pathological-liar George Santos. He spent four years as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee before retiring in 2017. He currently serves as Director of the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs; and is an author and commentator who can be seen on CNN and MSNBC and whose writing has appeared in the NY Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic.

Check out this timely, insightful, in-depth conversation about the Santos shit-storm and the right-wing extremist culture responsible for creating and enabling it. We also discuss Trump, Kevin McCarthy and the House drama, Mike Pence, Liz Cheney and the '24 election. And, Steve tells us about Theodore's Books, the awesome independent bookshop in Oyster Bay which he opened in 2021!

Got somethin' to say?! Email us at [email protected]

Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff

We're thrilled to have Emmy Award-nominated actress, director and producer Cheryl Hines in The Back Room! Best known for her role as “Cheryl David” on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, she can also be seen in Season 2 of the critically-acclaimed HBO Max series The Flight Attendant. Other television credits include Suburgatory, Son of Zorn and 3Below: Tales of Arcadia. She's directed many TV series and also produced School Pride, Hollywood Residential and the award-winning series Campus Ladies. She's starred in several films including A Bad Moms Christmas, RV, Wilson and Waitress, and directed the Andy Ostroy-produced feature film Serious Moonlight, written by Andy's late wife Adrienne Shelly and starring Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton.

Don't miss this truly entertaining chat with one of the funniest, nicest humans on the planet as she explains her journey from her early acting days in Florida to becoming one of the most talented and loved performers in Hollywood.

Got somethin' to say?! Email us at [email protected]

Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff