Key Takeaways
- “A Great Book with Barack Obama” premieres Sept. 24 through a partnership between Higher Ground and Audible.
- The podcast will center on six works, including titles by James Baldwin and Toni Morrison.
- Barack will host conversations examining how each book influenced his worldview and society.
If you love hearing Barack Obama’s voice as much as we do — whether he’s making cameos on our favorite shows or stressing the importance of family and politics — we have good news. On Monday (Aug. 10), the 44th U.S. president announced that he’ll be hosting a podcast centered around a small but mighty list of books that have “profoundly shaped his worldview and our society.”
The series is set to arrive Sept. 24 through Amazon’s Audible, which signed an exclusive first-look deal with Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground in 2022. According to Variety, the Chicago native will sit down with “thinkers, writers, and artists” to unpack each title.
While the special guests haven’t been revealed (though he notes they’re just “some friends”), we do know which literary works Barack will be cracking open: James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time,” Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon,” Cormac McCarthy’s “All the Pretty Horses,” Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead,” Robert Penn Warren’s “All the King’s Men,” and John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
“Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe,” he said. “The six books featured in this series have stayed with me throughout my life, and each one has something to teach us about the human experience.”
The father of two continued, “For this podcast, I invited some friends to explore why they resonate, how they can shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and why literature matters now more than ever. I hope listeners will be inspired to discover or rediscover books that change the way they see themselves and the world.” While we wait, take a look at the announcement post below.
Inside Barack Obama’s first Audible podcast and Higher Ground’s upcoming projects
While Higher Ground and Audible have already released five projects together, including “Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast” and Jad Abumrad’s Peabody Award-winning “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man,” the upcoming “A Great Book” will technically be Barack’s first time hosting one himself.
“President Obama has a remarkable ability to connect books to the questions of who we are and how we see the world,” Rachel Ghiazza, Audible’s chief content officer, shared. “This series represents everything we strive for at Audible: connecting listeners with transformative storytelling through the intimacy of audio.”
As REVOLT previously reported, Higher Ground has no shortage of upcoming projects in the works. The media company is also behind the forthcoming Graham Moore-written “The Altruists,” as well as a mother-daughter comedy starring Julianne Moore that was announced in May. And just last month, it was announced that Michelle would executive produce Tasha Smith’s Women Like Us, which begins production in the fall.