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Sarah's Bookshelves Live

Ep. 26: Beck Dorey-Stein (Author of From the Corner of the Oval) + Book Recommendations

Sarah's Bookshelves Live

Sarah Dickinson

Arts, Books

4.7 • 785 Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Episode 26, Beck Dorey-Stein, author of From the Corner of the Oval (my review), joins me to talk about working in the White House, being in your 20's, and her second book! 

This post contains affiliate links, through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).

Highlights

  • A couple fun anecdotes about Presidential staffers and life in the White House.
  • How / when Beck decided to write about memoir about her experience.
  • The original premise of Beck's memoir (which was different than the final book)…and how The New Yorker's David Remnick helped shape it.
  • Our thoughts on why your 20's are an underrated hard time in your life.
  • Beck's advice for women in their 20's.
  • How she decided what personal details to include.
  • How her book was "vetted" by the White House prior to publication.
  • What Beck has been up to since she left the White House.
  • How Beck de-stresses after writing each day.
  • A bit about Beck's second book (which is in the works!).
  • Having creative dreams in Washington, D.C.
  • A book of poems for people that don't generally read poetry.
  • Trash-talking with President Obama.

Beck's Book Recommendations

Two OLD Books She Loves

Two NEW Books She Loves

One New Release She's Excited About

Other Books Mentioned

About Beck

Author Website | Instagram |Facebook | Twitter

A graduate of Wesleyan University, BECK DOREY-STEIN worked as a White House stenographer from 2012 to 2017. Previously she worked as a high school English teacher in Hightstown, New Jersey, Washington, DC, and Seoul, South Korea. This is her first book.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live. I'm Sarah of the blog Sarah's Bookshelves. Each week, I'm talking with one bookish

0:13.2

guest about two old books they love, two new books they love, one book they don't love, and one new

0:19.6

release they're excited about. We're going to get real

0:22.1

and sometimes a little bit snarky about all things books. This is a brand new podcast, so if you

0:28.2

like it, I'd really love your support. Please spread the word to your reader friends, subscribe to the

0:33.0

show, and rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts. Let's get rolling.

0:43.9

Hey everyone, welcome to Sayre's Bookshelves Live. This week, I'm so excited to have Beck Dory Stein,

0:49.0

the author of the memoir from the corner of the Oval, which, by the way, came out in paperback yesterday. Joining me today, she was a stenographer in the Obama White House and a few months into the Trump White House.

0:57.9

And that is the basis of her memoir. From the corner of the Oval was optioned by Universal Studios.

1:04.8

And prior to that, she was a teacher in New Jersey at Sidwell Friends in D.C. and also in Seoul, South Korea. Welcome back.

1:12.5

Thanks, Sarah. Thanks for having me. Your book is something that I listened to when it first came out

1:18.0

last year and then again a couple weeks ago and so many questions for you. So I'm so glad to have

1:23.6

you here. So many questions, too, that I know you you cannot answer which I'm not even going to bother

1:27.9

asking sounds good I just did a shimmy when you said the paper back came out I feel like I should

1:33.9

detail that that my whole body just did this like excited dance yes as it should for those listeners

1:39.4

who have not read your book yet can you tell us a little bit about what your job as a stenographer entailed

1:45.2

and sort of the access that you had because you had a lot of access? Sure. When I applied for this

1:51.5

job on Craigslist, it was just listed as a stenographer in a law firm, so I thought I would just

1:56.1

be typing in this law firm. I thought stenographers didn't even exist after like 1950, but basically you type,

2:02.8

you're transcribing what you hear. And luckily, at the White House, this epicenter of power,

2:08.0

you actually don't have to have that much skill as a stenographer. I didn't have to type in real

2:12.1

time. I didn't have a little tiny typewriter. I basically got to enter the Oval Office or the Roosevelt

...

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