Former President Barack Obama will be hosting a new podcast dedicated to books, and among the guests will be the notable author and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates. The podcast, named A Great Book, will have each of the six episodes hosted by Obama in discussion of a favorite book with his invited guest.
The podcast is a collaborative production between Audible and Higher Ground, the production company the former president created with his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama. A description from the release reads: “Reflecting on identity, power, memory and culture, the conversations between President Obama and his guests explore one central question: What do the stories we love tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create?”
The podcast will premiere on September 24, exclusively on Audible. The six episodes cover some striking books along equally compelling guests. For the first episode, Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks will be on hand to talk about “Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson. Ta-Nehisi Caotes will join Obama to discuss the pivotal book on America during the Civil Rights era, James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jill Lepore will be the guest for the fhird episode, discussing “All The King’s Men” by Robert Penn Warren. Author and former National Security Advisor Ben Rhoades joins his former commander-in-chief for the fourth episode, discussing the John le Carré “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”
The series closes out with National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Percival Everett and Obama discussing Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon”, and New York Times bestselling author Lauren Groff joining the podcast to talk about Cormac McCarthy’s “All The Pretty Horses”.
“Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe,” Barack Obama said in a statement at the initial announcement of the series. “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.”
The podcast will also be available on YouTube and other platforms where the public gets their podcasts later on in the year. It marks the sixth podcast collaboration with Audible by Higher Ground, with the highly acclaimed Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast and the Peabody Award-winning Fela Kuti: Fear No Man hosted by Jad Abumrad.
