

The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
Produced by RFR and Andy Ostroy
The Back Room with Andy Ostroy presents a humorous, honest take on politics and pop culture featuring notable guest interviews, a shit-ton of righteous indignation, and rip-roaring repartee with co-producers Matty Rosenberg and Jen Hammoud. We're havin' a ball, and so will you!
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud
@ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud
@ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 14, 2023 • 0sec
Rep. Pat Ryan (NY-18)
Pat Ryan is the Democratic Representative serving New York's 18th congressional district. He's a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Prior to his election last Fall he served as the representative for New York's 19th congressional district after winning a special election in 2022. He previously served as the county executive of Ulster County, NY. Pat is a West Point graduate and former Army Captain and combat veteran who served two tours in Iraq and earned two Bronze Stars.
Join us as we unpack critical issues of geopolitical, national and New York significance including national security, relations with China, President Biden's and Democrats' leadership and legislative successes, the GOP House chaos, George Santos, toxic partisanship, the SALT Caucus fight to fully preserve the state and local tax deduction, the Central Hudson billing fiasco and New York's new status as a congressional battleground state.
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Feb 11, 2023 • 0sec
Reed Galen
Reed Galen is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project and host of The Lincoln Project Podcast. Join us as Reed shares his childhood/family involvement in politics and his early political inspirations, as well as his thoughts on everything from Trump and Trumpism to Kevin McCarthy and the House chaos, George Santos, Biden's State of the Union address, the '24 presidential race and third-party candidates, and his new media venture, Resolute Square, which he launched with other Lincoln Project key players Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens as well as Democratic strategist Joe Trippi.
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Feb 7, 2023 • 0sec
Rick Wilson
Rick Wilson is a renowned political strategist, infamous ad-maker, writer, speaker, political commentator, co-founder of the political action committee the Lincoln Project and the media company Resolute Square, a 2x New York Times best-selling author and host of The Enemies List podcast.
The always insightful, hilarious and inimitable wordsmith Rick shares his wit and wisdom on a range of subjects in the news including Trump and Trumpism, Kevin McCarthy and the GOP House chaos, George Santos, the 2024 campaign and whether Marjorie Taylor Greene's Jewish Space Lasers are an effective Balloon Defense System!
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Feb 4, 2023 • 0sec
Rep.Ted Lieu
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.
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Jan 31, 2023 • 0sec
Shannon Watts
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 BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Jan 28, 2023 • 0sec
Kara Swisher
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!
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Jan 24, 2023 • 0sec
Aaron Rupar
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 BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Jan 21, 2023 • 1h 11min
Joe Walsh
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!
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Jan 14, 2023 • 0sec
Matthew Dowd
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!
Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Jan 10, 2023 • 1h 5min
Michael Cohen
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 BackroomAndy@gmail.com
Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
Twitter: @AndyOstroy
Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud
Music by Andrew Hollander
Design by Cricket Lengyel