Michelle Obama’s latest venture: a podcast
Michelle Obama continues to stay busy in life after the White House.
The former first lady will debut a podcast on Spotify as part of a deal between the music streaming giant and Higher Ground, the production company she shares with former President Barack Obama. Michelle Obama’s newest venture, aptly titled “The Michelle Obama Podcast,” will focus on “meaningful” relationships and conversations, and will include guests ranging from her own mother and brother, Marian and Craig Robinson; to talk-show host Conan O’Brien; to former presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett.
In a video announcement released Thursday, Obama said she hopes to have discussions about pertinent topics that affect everyone, from the global pandemic to a nationwide reckoning with race.
“My hope is that this series can be a place to explore meaningful topics together and sort through so many of the questions we’re all trying to answer in our own lives,” Obama said. “Perhaps most of all, I hope this podcast will help listeners open up new conversations — and hard conversations — with the people who matter most to them. That’s how we can build more understanding and empathy for one another.”
Obama’s Spotify podcast is her most recent project in a growing list of media ventures since starting Higher Ground.
In early 2018, Barack and Michelle Obama signed a multiyear deal with Netflix for their company to produce film and TV projects. (Higher Ground’s first film, “American Factory” — which tells the story of a Chinese billionaire who opens a factory in an abandoned General Motors plant in Dayton, Ohio — went on to win the 2019 Academy Award for best documentary feature.)
Michelle Obama released her memoir “Becoming” in late 2018, which sold 2 million copies in its first two weeks, making it the fastest-selling book that year.
She sold out several arenas nationwide on an accompanying book tour that featured special guests such as mogul Oprah Winfrey, actress Tracee Ellis
Ross and “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.
And two months ago, Higher Ground released a documentary on Netflix — also called “Becoming” — that followed Obama as she traveled the country on said tour.
“The Michelle Obama Podcast,” available to both free and premium users, premieres July 29 on Spotify, with episodes debuting weekly.