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Living together in a group is a strategy many animals use to survive and thrive. And a big part of what makes that living situation successful is listening. In this episode, we explore the collaborative world of the naked mole-rat. Threshold is nonprofit, listener-supported, and independently produced. You can support Threshold by donating today . To stay connected, sign up for our newsletter . Operation frog sound! Send us your frog sounds for an upcoming episode. We want you to go out, listen for frogs and toads, and record them. Just find someone croaking, and hit record on your phone. It doesn’t matter if there’s background noise. It doesn’t even matter if you’re not sure whether or not you’re hearing an amphibian—if you think you are, we would love to get a recording from you. Please also say your name and where you are in the world, and then email the recording to us at outreach@thresholdpodcast.org…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
Produced by RFR and Andy Ostroy
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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 H ...
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Andrew Feinberg on Tariffs, Trade Wars, Turmoil, Musk and More!
47:27
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Andrew Feinberg has been a journalist in the nation's capital for nearly two decades and is currently the White House correspondent for The Independent, covering the executive branch, Congress, campaigns and political investigations across the United States. He was the first journalist to report on the exact timing of the unprecedented first federa…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Elie Honig on Trump 2.0's Legal Cases, Due Process, the Rule of Law and the Courts
47:42
47:42
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Elie Honig is an attorney and CNN senior legal analyst and the bestselling author of Hatchet Man and last year's Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It. He’s a former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. He also hosts podcasts, writes for CAFE, Vox Media and writes a weekly column for New York Magazine.…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Filmmaker Kevin Macdonald on his New Documentary ONE TO ONE: JOHN AND YOKO
37:32
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Kevin Macdonald is a Scottish born filmmaker who’s worked across feature films, documentary and television over the last 25 years. His best known films include: ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER, (Oscar win for Best Documentary, 2000) TOUCHING THE VOID, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, LIFE IN A DAY, MARLEY, WHITNEY, THE MAURITANIAN, and his new film, ONE TO ONE: JOH…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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David Enrich on Trump 2.0 and His New book "Murdcer the Truth" About the Attacks on the Media
39:10
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David Enrich is the Business Investigations Editor at the New York Times and the bestselling author of “Dark Towers and Servants of the Damned”. The winner of numerous journalism awards, he previously was an editor and reporter at the Wall Street Journal. His first book, “The Spider Network: How a Math Genius and Gang of Scheming Bankers Pulled Off…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Victoria Nourse on Trump 2.0, Congress and the Assault on the Rule of Law and Democracy
30:38
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Victoria Nourse is the Whitworth Professor of Law at Georgetown. She teaches and writes about Congress and the separation of powers. She has worked in the White House for former Vice-President Biden as his chief counsel, and in the Congress, DOJ, and in private practice. Join us for this compelling chat about Trump 2.0, the role of Congress, and th…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Andrew Weissmann on the Status of Trump 2.0's Legal Cases
48:06
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Andrew Weissmann is the co-host of the popular podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump and is a frequent legal analyst for NBC/MSNBC. He serves on the board of Just Security and writes frequently for it, as well as The New York Times, The Atlantic, & The Washington Post. From 2017-2019 Andrew served as a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Coun…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Liza Treyger On Her Netflix Comedy Special, Doing Stand-Up in the Age of 'Woke', And More!
55:46
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Liza Treyger is an actress, comedian, and podcaster. She’s been named one of Variety’s “Top Ten Comics to Watch,” Rolling Stone’s “Ten Comics to Watch,” and Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch”, and her first ever hour-long comedy special entitled “Night Owl” just dropped on Netflix. She recently wrapped production on season two of Netflix’s critical…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Michael Ian Black On Comedy, Acting, Trump 2.0, CNN's "Have I Got News For You" & More!
40:14
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Michael Ian Black is an actor, writer, and comedian who began his career with the legendary sketch comedy troupe, The State. He then went on to co-create several television shows, including Viva Variety, Stella, and Michael & Michael Have Issues. His other tv credits include Ed, Another Period, The Jim Gaffigan Show, and the Wet Hot American Summer…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Lindsey Boylan On Former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sexual Harrassment and Abuse of Power
58:06
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Lindsey Boylan has spent her career in urban planning and public service. She is the former Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Housing for New York and served as Special Advisor to former Governor Andrew Cuomo. She was the first woman to come forward with accusations about Cuomo’s abuse of women and his related abuses of power. An unapol…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Sabrina Singh on 'SignalGate', the Worst National Security Fiasco In Decades
22:49
22:49
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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. Ho…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Amanda Litman Wants You to Stay Positive, Stay Engaged, and Run For Office!
32:53
32:53
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Amanda Litman is the co-founder and President of Run for Something, a national organization that recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for local office. She's also the author of the book, “Run for Something: A Real Talk Guide to Fixing the System Yourself,” and previously hosted two podcasts, “Run for Something: The Podcast” and…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Jocelyn Benson on Standing Up to Trump; Defending the Constitution; Running for Governor; and Her New Book!
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Jocelyn Benson is Michigan's 43rd Secretary of State and is running to be the next governor of the state in its 2026 election. She has become one of the nation’s most prominent leaders in ensuring elections are secure and accessible. Her work overseeing Michigan’s 2020 and 2022 general elections earned her national recognition, including the John F…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Jim Acosta on Trump 2.0, Musk and DOGE, and the fate of the Media
1:07:33
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Jim Acosta is an award-winning broadcast journalist, with 25 years of experience in network television news, at CNN and CBS News. Perhaps best-known for his time as the Chief White House Correspondent for CNN, he has covered six straight presidential elections at the network level. He’s also as an anchor and reporter covering some of the biggest ne…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Kara Swisher on Trump, Musk, the Tech Broligarchs, Schumer and more!
28:18
28:18
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Kara Swisher is the host of the podcast On with Kara Swisher, and the co host of the Pivot podcast with Scott Galloway. Both are distributed by New York Magazine. Kara co-founded and was the editor-at-large of Recode, host of the Recode Decode podcast, and co-executive producer of the Code Conference. She was a former contributing opinion writer fo…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Brooke Harrington on the Trump Broligarchy
1:12:33
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Brooke Harrington is Professor of Economic Sociology at Dartmouth College. Her most recent book, Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, which the Financial Times named one of the Best Books of 2024, and the New Yorker highlighted it among the “Political Books That Help Us Make Sense of 2024.” Harrington’s previous book on offshore financ…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Gay Valimont on Her Special Election Campaign For FL-1
28:40
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Gay Valimont is the Democrat candidate in the April 1st special election in Florida’s 1st Congressional District. She’s a gun violence prevention activist with a prior career in sports medicine. In 2012 she joined Moms Demand Action for Gunsense in America, rising from full-time grassroots activist to Florida State Lead. Gay has suffered unfathomab…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Chris Matthews on Trump 2.0; Musk/DOGE, Republican Buyers' Remorse; the Midterms & More!
29:48
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Chris Matthews is a journalist and political commentator, columnist, author, television host and professor. His 15 years in politics and government includes speechwriter for president Jimmy Carter. Administrative assistant to House Speaker Tip O’Neil. Columnist for the San Francisco chronicle. Syndicated columnist and Washington bureau chief for SF…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Skye Perryman on Democracy Forward's Trump Litigation
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Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman is in THE BACK ROOM discussing her organization’s litigation against the overreach of the Trump administration in various critical cases relating to DOGE’s unlawful spending cuts, DEI, USAID, immigration and ICE raids, and the successes being achieved in the courts. Don’t miss this very important an…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Josh Weil on His Special Election Campaign For FL-6
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Joshua Weil is the Democratic nominee for Congress in Florida’s 6th Congressional District. On April 1st he'll be facing Trump-endorsed State Senator Randy Fine in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Mike Waltz, who was selected by Trump to serve as National Security Advisor. Josh is a public educator and a single dad of two boys. He’s w…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Adrienne Elrod on Trump, Musk/DOGE, Republican Voter Backlash and the attacks on Zelenskyy
27:34
27:34
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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 h…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Mimi Rocah on Trump's Legal Battles and the Fight For the Rule of Law
1:09:45
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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 Sou…
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The Back Room with Andy Ostroy
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Sloane Crosley on Life, Love, Loss, Grief and Whether We Can Ever Truly Achieve ‘Closure’
54:17
54:17
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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 Funnie…
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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-autho…
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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 …
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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…
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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. Ho…
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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…
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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 c…
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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 …
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Rosanna Arquette is an award-winning actor, film director, producer and activist. Her film credits include SOB, THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG, DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, AFTER HOURS, PULP FICTION, CRASH, NOWHERE TO RUN, NEW YORK STORIES and THE BILLIONAIRE BOY’S CLUB. She’s done a ton of television over the years, including WHAT ABOUT BRIAN, THE L WORD, R…
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Congressman Pat Ryan represents Upstate New York's 18th Congressional District. He's a West Point graduate, former Army Captain, and Ulster County Executive. He served two tours in Iraq where he led soldiers of all backgrounds in combat and earned two Bronze Stars. Join us for this important chat about the current political landscape under Trump 2.…
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Ron Filipkowski is a former US Marine, State prosecutor, federal prosecutor, police academy director, lifelong Republican, Republican Club President, and was appointed by Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis to the Judicial nominating committee. Ron was a Republican Against Trump in 2020 and switched parties Jan 7, 2021. He left private-practice a year ago …
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R.J. Cutler is an award-winning director and producer who has been making documentary film and television series for over thirty years. Cutler’s work has been nominated for an Academy Award, and he is the recipient of numerous other awards including three Emmys, two Peabody Awards, and a GLAAD Award. In 2009, the Museum of Television and Radio held…
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Christopher Cox is a Senior Scholar in Residence at the University of California, Irvine, a Life Trustee of the University of Southern California, Chair of the Rhodes Scholarship selection committee for Southern California and the Pacific, and a member of several nonprofit and for-profit boards. Between two decades as a practicing lawyer, he served…
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Juanita Tolliver is an MSNBC Political Analyst, an Opinion Contributor for theGrio, and a Contributor for SiriusXM Progress. Previously, she served as the Director of Campaigns at the Center for American Progress. She is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. …
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Michael Steele is the co-host of MSNBC’s ‘The Weekend’ and host of ‘The Michael Steele Podcast.’ Prior to joining MSNBC as a political analyst, he was elected Lt. Governor of Maryland in 2003. Following his time as Lt. Governor, he served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011. He was the first African-American to hold e…
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Jill Wine-Banks is an attorney, author, speaker, MSNBC Legal Analyst, and co-host of the award-winning #SistersinLaw podcast. She also hosts the YouTube show, Just The Facts. Her 2020 memoir is The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against A Criminal President, about her life and work as a Watergate prosecutor, and a film adaptation of…
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Andrew McCarthy is an award-winning travel writer, television director, and actor. He’s appeared in over two dozen films including such iconic 80s movies as PRETTY IN PINK and ST. ELMO’S FIRE. His recent documentary, BRATS, debuted at #1 on Hulu. He’s directed nearly 100 hours of television, including Orange Is the New Black and The Blacklist. Andr…
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Helen Ouyang is an emergency physician, associate professor at Columbia University, and contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine. She is also a fellow at the Type Media Center. She has written for The Atlantic, Harper’s, Los Angeles Times, New York, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others. Her writing has been…
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Dawn Porter has emerged in the entertainment industry as a leader in the art of storytelling; directing and producing critically acclaimed films and series. A two-time Sundance film festival director, her work has been featured on HBO, Netflix, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, ESPN, Discovery, National Geographic and others. Dawn’s films include GIDEON’S ARMY, THE…
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Christine C. Quinn is the President and CEO of Win, the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for families experiencing homelessness in New York City and the nation. Win has also been at the forefront of the city's response to the ongoing migrant and homelessness crisis. She was also the first female and openly gay Speaker of the NYC C…
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Eric J. Segall is a constitutional law scholar, professor, and author of the books Originalism as Faith, and Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court is not a Court and its Justices are not Judges. His articles on constitutional law have appeared in, among others, the Harvard Law Review Forum, the Stanford Law Review On Line, the UCLA Law Review, the G…
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Frank Figliuzzi is a national security contributor and regular columnist for NBC News and MSNBC. He was the assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, where he served 25 years as a special agent and directed all espionage investigations across the government. He held senior FBI leadership positions in major American cities and was appoi…
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Dylan Douglas, a 2022 graduate of Brown University, has spent much of his young adult life working on a variety of political campaigns and grassroots movements. During the 2020 election, while still in college, Douglas served as deputy campaign manager for a high-profile congressional race and later co-founded a progressive political action committ…
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Max Rose is a former member of Congress from New York City and a Senior Advisor to Vote Vets. He's a highly-decorated combat veteran who currently serves as a company commander in the New York Army National Guard. As a Congressman, he chaired the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counter-terrorism and served on the committees for Homeland Security a…
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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 …
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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, politi…
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Charlie Sykes is the author of nine books, including his latest, How the Right Lost Its Mind. An 'OG Never-Trumper', he is the author of the Substack newsletter, “To the Contrary,” and contributes to The Atlantic and MSNBC. He's written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, Commentary, The Wall Street Journ…
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Modi Rosenfeld was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and at 7 emigrated with his family to the United States and was raised on Long Island. After graduating from Boston University, he worked as an investment banker until he fell in love with stand-up comedy during his first open-mic performance. He’s a regular at the New York and Los Angeles comedy clubs a…
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At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television – and culture – forever. Directed by Jason Reitman, written by Gil Kenan & Reitman and told in real time, SATURDAY NIGHT is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Ni…
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