Barack Obama Builds a Six-Book Podcast Around Baldwin, Morrison and More
- PowerPage Staff
- 8 hours ago
- 1 min read
Barack Obama is turning his long-running public conversation about books into a hosted audio series.
A Great Book with Barack Obama will premiere September 24 on Audible as a six-episode production from Audible and Higher Ground, the media company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama. It will be the former president’s first time hosting an Audible podcast himself.
Each episode will center on one book and a conversation with a guest drawn from writers, artists and thinkers. The guest list has not been announced, but all six titles are confirmed: 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 selection gives the series a broader purpose than a recommendation list. Baldwin and Morrison open direct paths into race, identity, memory and the American experience. The remaining works allow Obama to move through moral responsibility, political power, faith, belonging and espionage.
Higher Ground and Audible have already worked together on multiple audio projects. This series places Obama’s voice at the center while using literature as the structure, a format that can reach listeners who may not ordinarily choose a traditional book program.
No episode-by-episode guest assignments have been announced. That is the next detail likely to shape audience expectations. For now, the value of the concept is clear: six books, six conversations and a chance to examine why certain stories continue to influence how people understand public life and themselves.
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