This episode of The Speechwriter's Room features Hartley Voss, the chief speechwriter for the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Before Hartley embarked on his path in speechwriting, he had built a career in Hollywood, writing on television shows like Mad Men and Orange is the New Black.
Hartley and Mary talk about the similarities between the working environments of Hollywood and Washington and their experience resolving disagreements during a speechwriting process. They also take a look at what is arguably the most famous speech from Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) https://www.c-span.org/clip/house-proceeding/dick-durbin-floor-speech-on-baseball-bats/4504704
"Bob and Eric's book" refers to the Political Speechwriter's Companion: https://collegepublishing.sagepub.com/products/the-political-speechwriters-companion-2-257507
In the episode, Hartley recommends
Pam Douglas's book on writing and producing for television:
And Secret Stairs: https://secretstairs-la.com/
To learn more about Mary Robbins, visit storiedcommunications.com