The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

Latest Episodes:

Jess Michaels on her Epstein Survivor Sisters' Huge Victory in Congress and the Uncertainty that Remains Over Releasing the Full Files Nov 22, 2025

Show notes

Jess Michaels is a 3x Founder, TEDx speaker, Advocate, and 1991 Jeffrey Epstein survivor who has lived with PTSD for 30+ years. She is founder and CEO of 3Joannes Inc and the #withyoutoo Social Safety App, which guides users to "know what to do when someone says #metoo”.

Jess is back with us to share her thoughts on this week's emotional roller-coaster involving the monumental passage of the Epstein bill and the uncertain road ahead for getting the full files released by the Justice Department as mandated by the new law.

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Leave us a message: 845-307-7446
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Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud
@ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Jonathan Freedland on his New Book, British Politics, Nigel Farage's Reform UK, and the Populist Parallels to MAGA Nov 20, 2025

Show notes

Jonathan Freedland is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Save the World and he’s a weekly columnist for the Guardian and previously the Guardian’s Washington correspondent. He hosts the Guardian's Politics Weekly America podcast, presents BBC Radio 4's The Long View and co-hosts the Unholy podcast,. He is also the author of several thrillers under the pseudonym Sam Bourne and is a past winner of the Orwell Prize for Journalism. His new book is The Traitors Circle: The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany—and the Spy Who Betrayed Them”

Jonathan and I discuss his incredible new book as well as British politics and Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, and the populist parallels to Donald Trump's MAGA movement.

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

Ron Reagan on Trump, Epstein, Elections, Shutdown, East Wing, Canadian Tariff Ads, his Dad and More! Nov 18, 2025

Show notes

For forty years, Ron Reagan has been a television and radio correspondent, host and political commentator with ABC, MSNBC and Air America among others. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller My Father at 100.

Join us for this fun, insightful chat about the Epstein shitstorm, the blue wave election, the shutdown, the East Wing demolition, and Trump's meltdown over the Ontario tariff ad featuring his dad.

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

Tara Palmeri on the BOMBSHELL Epstein Emails Nov 15, 2025

Show notes

Tara Palmeri is the host of The Tara Palmeri Show and author of The Red Letter newsletter. She has spent more than 15 years covering national politics and foreign affairs, previously working as a White House Correspondent for ABC News and chief national correspondent for Politico. She has hosted multiple podcasts, including Broken: Jeffrey Epstein and Power: The Maxwells, and previously hosted Somebody’s Gotta Win for The Ringer while writing a political column for Puck.

What are the Epstein emails telling us? Is the Epstein scandal too big to fail? Will it eventually bring down the Trump presidency? Tara addresses these questions 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, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff Design by Cricket Lengyel

Michael Cohen on the Epstein Emails, the Shutdown Shitshow, the Election and If He's Running For Congress! Nov 13, 2025

Show notes

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 YouTube channel The Michael Cohen Show, host of the Mea Culpa With Michael Cohen podcast and co-host of Political Beatdown with Michael Cohen and Ben Meiselas podcast. He’s also a 2x NYT best-selling author. His latest book is “Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the US Department of Justice Against His Critics. You can also find him on Substack @TheRealMichaelCohen, where he writes the newsletter Truth and Consequences.

Michael's back to discuss the latest Epstein developments, the Democrats' shutdown shitshow, the recent blue wave election, and, if he's planning to run for Congress in New York's 12th District!

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

Jonathan Karl on the Election, the Shutdown and his Terrific New Book "Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America" Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

Jonathan Karl is the chief Washington correspondent for ABC News and co-anchor of This Week with George Stephanopoulos. He’s covered every major beat in Washington, D.C., including the White House, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the State Department. He’s reported from the White House under four presidents and fourteen press secretaries, and is a former president of the White House Correspondents' Association. He is the author of the NY Times instant bestsellers Front Row at the Trump Show, Betrayal, and Tired of Winning. And he’s in THE BACK ROOM to discuss his new book, "Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America".

Jonathan and I discuss the recent election, the shutdown and his terrific new book.

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

Rick Wilson's Election Takeaways Nov 08, 2025

Show notes

Co-founder and Board Member of The Lincoln Project, Rick Wilson is a renowned political strategist, infamous award-winning ad-maker and podcast host, writer, speaker, and political commentator on MSNBC, CNN, ABC News, NPR, Real Time with Bill Maher, and various American and international news national outlets. A 30-year veteran of national Republican politics, Rick got his start in the 1988 Presidential campaign of George Herbert Walker Bush and has produced groundbreaking and award-winning political advertising, strategic counsel to winning political candidates, SuperPACS, state parties, the national campaign committees, and corporate, association, and government clients across the nation and around the world. Rick has authored two New York Times bestsellers – Everything Trump Touches Dies and Running Against The Devil – A Plot To Save America from Trump And Democrats From Themselves – and often writes for The Washington Post, Politico, Rolling Stone, The Hill, The Bulwark, and the London Spectator.

Rick brings his inimitable wit and wisdom back to The Back Room for a post-election wrap up!

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

Paul Begala on Tuesday's Blue Tidal Wave! Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

Paul Begala is a CNN political commentator, consultant and NY Times best-selling author... his most recent book was the election-year hit You’re Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump. He’s also been a columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and was one of the founding contributing editors of his late friend JFK Jr’s magazine George. But perhaps most notably…he helped engineer Bill Clinton's winning presidential campaign in 1992 with his partner, James Carville. He 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 him one of the few people to play a critical role in electing two different presidents.

Paul's back in The Back Room to unpack Election Day's blue tidal wave!

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

Amy McGrath on her U.S. Senate Campaign, Trump's Military Exploitation, Nation Guard Deployment, Nuclear Testing, the Shutdown and More Nov 03, 2025

Show notes

Amy McGrath is a political and national security analyst, a former fighter pilot and U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, founder of Democratic Majority Action PAC, Democratic nominee for the U.S. House and Senate from Kentucky and the author of "Honor Bound: An American Story of Dreams and Service." She, along with co-host Denver Riggleman, recently launched the brand new podcast, “Truth in the Barrel,” about politics and national security. And, she once again has launched a U.S. Senate campaign for Kentucky’s open seat

Amy discusses her Senate campaign, Trump's exploitation of the military, National Guard troop deployment, nuclear testing, the shutdown 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, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud
@ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Design by Cricket Lengyel

Kate Shaw on National Guard Deployment; DOJ Weaponization; the Comey, James and Bolton Indictments; SNAP Funding; and More Nov 01, 2025

Show notes

Kate Shaw is a Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where she teaches and writes about the presidency, the law of democracy, the Supreme Court, and reproductive rights and justice. Her scholarly writing has appeared, among other places, in the Harvard Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, and the Northwestern University Law Review, and her popular writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. She co-hosts the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny and is a Contributing Opinion Writer with the New York Times.

Kate helps unpack the legal developments involving National Guard troop deployment; Trump's weaponization of the Justice Department; the James Comey, Tish James and John Bolton indictments; the government shutdown and funding of SNAP benefits; 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, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud
@ Radio Free Rhiniecliff
Design by Cricket Lengyel

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