(Photo by Sarah Silbiger)This week, Ira spoke with Steven L. Herman, author of "Behind the White House Curtain: A Senior Journalist’s Story of Covering the President—and Why It Matters". In this presidential episode of “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Steve talks about why he wrote the book, which explains the mechanics of covering the White House; working for the Voice of America (VOA) and what kind of organization it is; why VOA is the only news institution mandated to be objective; why the VOA is part of the press pool and what a press pool does; the vetting of White House journalists by the Secret Service; why there are 49 seats in the press briefing room and why the White House Correspondents Association determines seating; how White House reporting can be both a boring and thrilling job; why radio is his first love; the concept of accuracy over speed; his biggest challenge in the White House; “confirmation bias”; and the most surprising thing he discovered when writing the book.