He’s In — Barack Obama Stuns Nation with Announcement2
Former President Barack Obama is returning to podcasting with a new six-episode series centered on books that he says have shaped his life, worldview and understanding of society.
Audible and Higher Ground, the media company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, announced that “A Great Book with Barack Obama” will debut exclusively on Audible on Sept. 24.
The series will feature Obama in conversations with six writers, artists and thinkers about books that have remained important to him and the ideas those works continue to raise about identity, power, memory, culture and the human experience.
“Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe,” Obama said in announcing the project.
“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,” he added.
Obama said he invited guests to discuss why the books continue to resonate and how literature can influence the way people understand themselves and others.
The 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 works span decades and genres, from Baldwin’s essays on race and religion in America to Morrison’s exploration of family and identity, McCarthy’s Western fiction, Robinson’s meditation on faith, Warren’s political novel and le Carré’s Cold War espionage story.
Audible said the six guests who will join Obama will be announced at a later date.
The new podcast extends Obama’s longstanding public association with books. Since leaving the White House in 2017, he has regularly shared reading recommendations along with lists of favorite films and music.
The format gives the former president more room to explore individual works than his usual reading lists, allowing each episode to focus on why a particular book mattered to him and what it may still offer readers today.
Several of the selected authors wrote extensively about themes that have also appeared throughout Obama’s public life, including race, political power, morality, faith and American identity.
Obama also had a personal connection to Morrison. As president, he awarded the Nobel Prize-winning author the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
“A Great Book with Barack Obama” is the latest project produced through the partnership between Audible and Higher Ground.
The companies entered an exclusive first-look audio deal in 2022 and have since released a range of programs, including “Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast,” “Your Mama’s Kitchen,” “The Wonder of Stevie,” “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man” and “Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise.”
The latter, hosted by Malcolm Gladwell and featuring Barack Obama, examines Reconstruction after the Civil War and the period’s continuing influence on the United States.
Higher Ground has also built a substantial film and television portfolio since its launch in 2018.
Its projects include the Academy Award-winning documentary “American Factory,” the Netflix thriller “Leave the World Behind,” the biographical drama “Rustin” and other documentary and scripted productions.
The new literary series adds another audio project to the Obamas’ expanding post-White House media work while building directly on Barack Obama’s years of publicly recommending books.
Audible described the podcast as a series of personal conversations about the stories that helped shape Obama’s life and perspective on the world.
With the Sept. 24 premiere set, one major detail remains undisclosed: the identities of the six guests who will join the former president for the discussions.
He’s In — Barack Obama Stuns Nation with Announcement 22
Former President Barack Obama is returning to podcasting with a new six-episode series centered on books that he says have helped shape his worldview and understanding of the human experience.
Audible and Higher Ground, the media company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, announced that “A Great Book with Barack Obama” will debut exclusively on Audible on Sept. 24, 2026.
Each episode will focus on one book selected by Obama and feature a conversation with a writer, artist or thinker about the work’s lasting influence, its central ideas and the reasons it continues to matter.
“Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe,” Obama said in announcing the project.
“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,” he added.
The 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 list spans essays, literary fiction, political drama, Western fiction and Cold War espionage while touching on themes that have appeared throughout Obama’s public life, including race, faith, identity, political power, morality and the American experience.
Audible said Obama will be joined across the series by six writers, artists and thinkers. The company has not yet announced the guest lineup.
The format expands on Obama’s longstanding habit of sharing reading recommendations with the public. Since leaving the White House in January 2017, he has regularly released lists of books he has read and enjoyed, often alongside selections of films and music.
Rather than simply recommending a title, the new podcast will give Obama an entire episode to examine why a particular work stayed with him and what readers can still draw from it.
Several of the selected authors have direct connections to subjects Obama frequently discussed during and after his presidency.
Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time,” first published in 1963, examines race, religion and American identity. Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” explores family, history and Black life in the United States, while Warren’s “All the King’s Men” centers on political ambition, power and corruption.
The remaining selections broaden the series beyond explicitly political themes. McCarthy’s “All the Pretty Horses” is a coming-of-age Western, Robinson’s “Gilead” is a meditation on faith, family and mortality, and le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” is a Cold War espionage novel built around betrayal and loyalty.
Obama also had a personal connection to Morrison. As president, he awarded the Nobel Prize-winning novelist the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“A Great Book with Barack Obama” is the latest audio project produced through the partnership between Audible and Higher Ground.
Higher Ground has developed a growing slate of podcasts, films, documentaries and scripted projects since the Obamas launched the company in 2018.
Its previous productions include the Academy Award-winning documentary “American Factory,” the Netflix film “Leave the World Behind,” the biographical drama “Rustin” and Michelle Obama’s “The Light Podcast.”
Barack Obama has also appeared in previous audio projects, including “Renegades: Born in the USA,” his conversation series with Bruce Springsteen, and “Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise,” a Higher Ground series hosted by Malcolm Gladwell that examines the post-Civil War era and its continuing influence on the United States.
The new series places literature itself at the center of the discussion, with Obama using six individual books as a starting point for broader conversations about ideas, history and personal experience.
May you like
The project also reflects the Obamas’ continued expansion into media after leaving the White House, where their work has increasingly combined storytelling, history, culture and public affairs rather than traditional political campaigning.
With the Sept. 24 premiere now set, one major detail remains undisclosed: the identities of the six guests who will join Obama for the conversations.
