Barack Obama Is Launching a New Podcast About the Books That Shaped His Life

Barack Obama is preparing to take on a new role behind the microphone, this time without politics serving as the primary subject. The former president will host A Great Book with Barack Obama, a six-episode Audible Original series premiering on 24 September and produced by Higher Ground, the media company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, in partnership with Audible. The project marks the first time Obama will serve as the primary solo host of a podcast, after previously appearing in other audio productions and conversations. Rather than revisiting his presidency or focusing on current political battles, the limited series will turn toward literature and six books that influenced him personally, examining how stories helped shape his thinking about family, faith, race, politics and the United States.

Each of the six standalone episodes will center on a different book selected by Obama, with a guest joining him to explore why the work has remained significant and what its themes can reveal beyond the page. The collection spans American fiction, essays, political literature and espionage: 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. Together, the selections touch on subjects ranging from race, religion and identity to political power, loyalty, betrayal, family and personal transformation. Obama has regularly shared reading recommendations publicly, but the podcast gives him a longer format to revisit works that influenced his worldview rather than simply presenting another list of titles.

Obama presented the project as an argument for the continuing importance of reading at a moment when sustained attention to books can be increasingly difficult. Announcing the series on Instagram, he wrote, «At a time when fewer people are able to sit down with a book, it's important to remember the joy and power that can come from reading. And some books don't just tell a story — they change the way we see the world.» Obama explained that he had returned to several works that affected him when he was younger and invited friends to discuss why their ideas continue to resonate. «I invited some friends to explore why these books resonate, how they can shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and why literature matters now more than ever,» he wrote. The series will be released exclusively through Audible beginning on 24 September.

The six selections offer a broad view of the subjects that have followed Obama throughout his public and personal life. Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon examines identity, ancestry and Black American experience, while James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time confronts race and religion in the United States. Marilynne Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead turns toward faith, family and generational memory, and Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses follows a young man through love, loss and a changing American West. The remaining selections bring politics and institutional loyalty into the conversation: Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men explores political ambition, corruption and idealism, while John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy examines espionage, betrayal and loyalty during the Cold War. Audible describes the series as using these works to explore identity, power, memory and culture.

The project also expands a relationship between Higher Ground and Audible that has produced several audio programs since the Obamas' media company entered a multiyear first-look agreement with the Amazon-owned platform in 2022. Higher Ground's previous audio projects include Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast, which transformed conversations from the former first lady's book tour into an Audible Original, while Barack Obama has continued to appear in other productions. Most recently, he participated alongside Malcolm Gladwell and other historians and storytellers in Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise, an Audible series examining the political and social struggle that followed the Civil War. Obama also previously co-hosted Renegades: Born in the USA with Bruce Springsteen, making A Great Book notably different: the new production places him at the center of a series built around his own literary influences and one-on-one conversations with six guests.

For Obama, however, the project is ultimately less about compiling another reading list than examining why particular books can remain influential decades after they are first encountered. In announcing the podcast, he recalled returning to the six works because they had affected how he understood subjects including family, faith, race, politics and America when he was younger. He described the conversations as an opportunity to consider why literature can continue shaping how people understand themselves and one another, ending his announcement with an invitation to listeners: «I hope you'll check it out starting September 24 on Audible and discover or rediscover books that stay with you long after you read them.» A Great Book with Barack Obama will debut exclusively on Audible on 24 September, with the platform confirming that Obama will be joined by six guests across conversations devoted to the books that shaped his life and perspective.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.