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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    The Not So Glamorous Life of a Political Speechwriter

    What's it like to write speeches for an American politician? We hear from a writer who calls it a horrible experience…that he wouldn't trade for the world. Barton Swaim was an English major in college who couldn't come up with a job in academia. Then he heard that the Governor South Carolina needed a speechwriter.

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    By Warren Olney • Jul 21, 2015 • 1 min read

    What's it like to write speeches for an American politician? We hear from a writer who calls it a horrible experience…that he wouldn't trade for the world. Barton Swaim was an English major in college who couldn't come up with a job in academia. Then he heard that the Governor South Carolina needed a speechwriter. Now he's author of The Speechwriter: A Brief Education in Politics.

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    Polls Show Trump Surging Ahead, but Are They Accurate?
    1. 1:17President Obama Speaks before the VFW
    2. 8:10Are Polls Trumping Political Reality?
    3. 41:26The Not So Glamorous Life of a Political SpeechwriterYou’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Andrea Brody

      Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Christine Detz

      Producer, 'To the Point'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Barton Swaim

      speechwriter and author

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    Polls Show Trump Surging Ahead, but Are They Accurate?
    1. 1:17President Obama Speaks before the VFW
    2. 8:10Are Polls Trumping Political Reality?
    3. 41:26The Not So Glamorous Life of a Political SpeechwriterYou’re reading this
    Back to To the Point