Michelle and Barack Obama Will Be Making All of Your Future Favorite Podcasts—For Spotify
Michelle and Barack Obama thrived when they were running the White House, but they may be doing even better in their post-presidency era. America’s favorite couple—at least judging by Michelle’s record-setting recent memoir, Becoming—just landed a major new deal with Spotify, and soon they will be even more prevalent in our day-to-day lives.
That’s because the Obamas’ Higher Ground media company is now getting into the podcast world. The Obamas will be working to create a series of podcasts for the streaming service that will even include their voices. “We’ve always believed in the value of entertaining, thought-provoking conversation,” Barack Obama said in a statement, as the Los Angeles Times notes. “It helps us build connections with each other and open ourselves up to new ideas. We’re excited about Higher Ground Audio because podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together.”
At the moment, the details around the content they will be creating are limited. For example, it’s unknown exactly how many podcasts they will be working on, what they will be called, or what the focus of each will be. But you can expect that their podcasts will quickly become go-tos for Obama fans.
It would also not be a surprise if music was central to at least one of the podcasts. After all, Barack has made a habit out of sharing his Spotify playlists with the world (as well as his favorite books of each year). Back in December 2017, when he shared his top books and songs of the year, he prefaced those lists with the note, “During my presidency, I started a tradition of sharing my reading lists and playlists. It was a nice way to reflect on the works that resonated with me and lift up authors and artists from around the world. With some extra time on my hands this year to catch up, I wanted to share the books and music that I enjoyed most.”
Meanwhile, the Obamas’ plate keeps getting fuller. In addition to their new deal with Spotify, Barack and Michelle are also at work creating content for Netflix, with a deal between the entertainment streaming service and their Higher Ground company that will include everything from educational programming for a range of ages to a fashion-centric show called Bloom. So while they may be officially out of politics, they will very much continue to be in all of our lives.
