Barack Obama launches Audible podcast exploring six influential books
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Barack Obama has confirmed a new podcast, "A Great Book with Barack Obama," which will see the former US president discuss six books that have shaped his worldview alongside six as-yet-unnamed guests. The series is produced by Audible and Higher Ground, the media company Obama runs with Michelle Obama, and forms part of the pair's ongoing exclusive content deal with the audiobook platform. Obama said the chosen titles have helped him "figure out who I am and what I believe" and that he hopes listeners will be inspired to discover or rediscover books that change how they see the world.
The podcast launches exclusively on Audible on 24 September 2026 and is the sixth release under the Audible-Higher Ground partnership. Obama's six selections are 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." The identities of his six conversation partners have not been disclosed, though the series is billed as exploring identity, power, memory and culture, following earlier Higher Ground-Audible projects such as "Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast" and "Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise."
- Obama to host Audible podcast on six books that shaped him
- Launches 24 September 2026; guests still unnamed
- Sixth release under Obama-Michelle's Higher Ground/Audible deal
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Barack Obama, the former US president, is launching a new podcast called "A Great Book with Barack Obama." It is being made by Audible, the audiobook and podcast service owned by Amazon, together with Higher Ground, the production company Obama runs with his wife, Michelle Obama, which has previously made films and podcasts including some Oscar-winning documentaries.
The programme forms part of an existing arrangement between Audible and Higher Ground under which Audible gets first rights to release the company's new audio projects. In each episode, Obama will discuss one of six books that have influenced him, joined by a different guest each time, with the conversations expected to touch on subjects such as identity, power and culture.
The project is one of several ventures through which Obama has stayed engaged in media and public life since leaving office, and it adds to a growing list of celebrity-fronted book and culture podcasts on streaming platforms.
More coverage
- The Hollywood Reporter — President Obama’s New Podcast Is Focused on the Books That Shaped Him
- Deadline — President Barack Obama Loves Books & Lists, So He’s Combining Them For A New Audible Series
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Originally published by Variety as “Barack Obama to Host Podcast Digging Into Six Books That ‘Helped Me Figure Out Who I Am and What I Believe’”.