The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

Adrienne Elrod is a political strategist, government affairs expert and communicator with over 25 years of experience working on Capitol Hill, the executive branch and advising corporate, political and non-profit organizations. She most recently served as Sr. Advisor and Sr Spokesperson to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. She held this same position for President Biden’s re-election campaign. A veteran of the Biden Administration, she served as Director of External and Government Affairs for the CHIPS Program Office. During the 2020 general election, she served as a top aide to Biden's general election campaign. A native of Arkansas, she began her political career in President Bill Clinton’s Administration, serving in both the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. On the 2016 presidential campaign, she served as Hillary for America’s Director of Strategic Communications. She was a senior communications aide to Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. She’s also a frequent contributor to NBC and MSNBC news. Adrienne and I discuss Trump, Musk/DOGE, the Republican voter backlash, and the catastrophic Oval Office meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

Mimi Rocah was most recently District Attorney of NY’s Westchester County. During her four years as DA, she modernized the DA’s Office, aggressively pursued gun and violent crime, developed ways to better serve crime victims, and instituted sensible criminal justice reforms. Prior to becoming DA, she served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) for nearly 17 years from 2001-2017 rising to become Chief of the White Plains Criminal Division. As an AUSA, she prosecuted and oversaw cases involving violent crime, organized crime, human trafficking, sex trafficking, child exploitation, frauds and public corruption and co-chaired task forces on public health and sex trafficking. Before running for office, Mimi was a Legal Analyst with MSNBC/NBC News from 2017-19 and is now a frequent commentator on MSNBC, CNN, The Contrarian, and numerous podcasts and radio shows on topics relating to law, justice, women’s issues and antisemitism, and has written and published dozens of opinion pieces on those topics. She is an expert in the rule of law, democracy and the corruption and abuse of the justice system. And she is currently an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law. Join us for this compelling conversation as Mimi and I discuss the legal and political realities facing Trump, the Republican Party, Democrats, and the challenging road ahead. 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

SLOANE CROSLEY is the author of The New York Times bestselling books Grief Is for People, How Did You Get This Number, and I Was Told There’d Be Cake. She is also the author of Look Alive Out There and the novels, Cult Classic and The Clasp. Her work has been translated into ten languages. She has been featured in The Library of America's 50 Funniest American Writers, The Best American Non-required Reading, The Best American Travel Writing, Phillip Lopate’s The Contemporary American Essay and others. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair, her work has appeared in various publications including The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue and The Guardian. She has been an adjunct professor in Columbia University’s MFA program and a guest teacher at Dartmouth College and The Yale Writers’ Workshop. Death is something we all experience. Myself included. Which is why I so loved this conversation with Sloane about life, love, loss, grief and whether we can ever truly achieve ‘closure’. 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

E.J. Dionne, Jr. is a distinguished university professor in the Foundations of Democracy and Culture at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, and a senior fellow and W. Averell Harriman Chair in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is also a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post. He is the author or co-author of nine books including, most recently, 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting. Others include NYT Bestseller Why the Right Went Wrong, Our Divided Political Heart, and Why Americans Hate Politics. He is the co-editor of What’s God Got to Do With the American Experiment? His media career also includes 20 years with NPR, and 14 with the New York Times, including stints in Paris, Beirut, and Rome. E.J. and I discuss Trump 2.0, what Democrats must do in this Constitutional crisis to combat the attacks on democracy, and how they can win the 2016 midterm elections. 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

Mark S. Zaid is a Washington, D.C. based attorney specializing in crisis management and handling administrative and litigation matters relating to national security, international law, foreign sovereign and diplomatic immunity, and the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts. His clients typically include former/current federal employees, particularly intelligence and military officers, defense contractors, Whistleblowers and members of the media who have grievances, have been wronged or are being investigated by agencies of the United States Government or foreign governments. Mark is also the Executive Director and founder of the James Madison Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization with the primary purpose of educating the public on issues relating to intelligence gathering and operations, secrecy policies, national security and government wrongdoing. And he is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University in the Global Security Studies program and at Texas A&M’s George H.W. Bush School of Government & Public Service where he teaches on national security issues. Mark and I discuss Trump 2.0, the recent revocation of his security clearance, and whether the judicial system will hold under the weight of the administration's attacks on the rule of law. 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

Barry Sonnenfeld is a filmmaker and writer who broke into the film industry as the cinematographer on the Coen Brothers' first three films: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. He also was the director of photography on Throw Momma from the Train, Big, When Harry Met Sally, and Misery. Sonnenfeld made his directorial debut with The Addams Family in 1991, and has gone on to direct a number of films including Addams Family Values, Get Shorty, and the first three Men in Black films. His television credits include Pushing Daisies, for which he won an Emmy, Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and most recently Apple TV+'s Schmigadoon! He is the author of Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time and Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother. Don't miss the super-fun, fascinating chat as Barry takes us on a journey through his storied life and career and takes us behind-the-scenes of some of the most iconic films ever! 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

Sabrina Singh is a veteran strategist with 15 years of experience advising national leaders on crisis communications, strategic messaging, and policy issues. In addition to frequently appearing on international and national broadcast TV and digital platforms, she’s advised senior leaders at all levels of government, including Members of the U.S. House and Senate, Governors, the Secretary of Defense, and the Vice President of the United States. Most recently, she served as the deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense. Additionally, she served as an advisor to Secretary Lloyd Austin and frequently traveled with the Secretary overseas, including to Ukraine, Japan, the Philippines and Israel. She was one the Department’s most outward facing voices on the Pentagon’s efforts to surge security assistance to Ukraine and support to Israel following the October 7th attack. Sabrina previously served as deputy press secretary for Vice President Kamala Harris, senior spokesperson roles for Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign, Cory Booker’s presidential campaign and previously served in various communications roles for Democratic committees, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and Members of Congress. Join us for this compelling chat about Trump 2.0, Musk, DOGE, the challenging road ahead, and the fate of democracy. 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

Deborah Pearlstein is Director of the Princeton Program in Law and Public Policy and Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor of Law and Public Affairs. Her research on the U.S. Constitution, international law, democracy and national security has appeared widely in leading law journals and in the popular press, including The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy, and was appointed in 2021 to a U.S. State Department Advisory Committee focused on helping to ensure the timely declassification and publication of government records surrounding major events in U.S. foreign policy. Throughout her tenure, she has worked closely with members of the defense and intelligence communities, including in helping to bring together retired military leaders to address key policy challenges in U.S. counterterrorism operations. Before embarking on a career in law, she served in the White House from 1993 to 1995 as a Senior Editor and Speechwriter for President Clinton. Deborah and I discuss her latest New York Times opinion piece, The Law Is Not Fully Trump's Yet, and whether the judicial system can and will serve as an effective check on Donald Trump's most destructive, democracy-endangering actions. 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of global investment firm SkyBridge. He's the author of five books, including last year’s From Wall Street to the White House and Back, and his new book The Little Book of Bitcoin: What You Need to Know that Wall Street Has Already Figured Out (Feb 11). He also hosts the Open Book podcast and co-hosts The Rest is Politics: US podcast. And he’s of course well-known for the 11 roller coaster days he served in the first Trump White House as Communications Director, after having served on Trump's Finance Committee and then on his Presidential Transition Team. Mooch opines, as only Mooch can, on Trump 2.0, the GOP, Democrats and the challenging road ahead! 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel

Norman Ornstein is an author, political scientist and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He’s is a contributing editor and writer for The Atlantic and has been an election eve analyst for CBS News and BBC News. He was named one of the top 100 global thinkers in 2012 by Foreign Policy Magazine and one of the 250 most influential people in Washington in 2021 by Washingtonian Magazine, and in every year since. His many books include The New York Times bestseller, It's Even Worse Than It Looks with Tom Mann, and the NYT and WAPO best-seller One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate and the Not-Yet-Deported with EJ Dionne and Tom Mann. Join Norm and I as we discuss Trump 2.0 and the challenging road ahead, as well as our shared experience with tragedy, loss and grief. It's an in-depth chat you don't wanna miss... 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 Design by Cricket Lengyel