WASHINGTON DC – J Street and Crooked Media today announced a new partnership that will see Ben Rhodes and Tommy Vietor host a live podcast taping and interview prominent policymakers, elected officials and candidates at J Street’s 2019 National Conference, taking place October 26-29th in Washington, DC.

Rhodes served as Deputy National Security Advisor under President Obama, while Vietor served as National Security Spokesman. The two former Obama officials are now co-hosts of Crooked’s hit foreign affairs podcast Pod Save the World and regular contributors to Pod Save America.

“Political leaders need to lay out a compelling foreign policy vision that responds to the terrible damage caused by the Trump administration’s policies,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “We’re thrilled to partner with Crooked Media to make this year’s J Street Conference a platform for candidates and policymakers to discuss the future of American leadership in the Middle East. Having dedicated their careers to promoting strong diplomacy, Ben and Tommy are the perfect people to help  drive these conversations.”

“While Trump, Pompeo and Bolton seem eager to exacerbate conflict and drag us into war, now is the time for Democrats to chart a smart, principled and effective course for US foreign policy,” Rhodes said. “With their strong support for the Iran nuclear agreement and the two-state solution, J Street has been a leading advocate for diplomacy. They have been instrumental in shifting the US political conversation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a more pragmatic and constructive place, and we can’t wait to join them to dive into these issues.”

The J Street conference is one of the largest annual gatherings of American Jews and pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans. More than 3,500 people attended the group’s 2018 conference. Over the next few months J Street will be announcing a full roster of speakers from the worlds of politics, policymaking and activism. Previous speakers have included Vice President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Bernie Sanders, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erakat.

“We’re excited to work with J Street because they are elevating foreign policy as an issue in this primary campaign and pushing candidates to focus on diplomatic solutions to our problems,” said Vietor. “Pod Save the World and Crooked Media listeners are eager to hear more detail and we look forward to geeking out with these candidates in front of thousands of J Street supporters in Washington.”

Members of the media interested in attending and covering the J Street conference should contact Logan Bayroff: [email protected].