Former President Barack Obama has long shared what he is reading with the public.
Now, he plans to delve into a collection of books that have influenced him in a new podcast that will debut in September. The podcast, titled “A Great Book With Barack Obama,” was announced on Monday by Audible and Higher Ground, the media company of the former president and the former first lady Michelle Obama.
“Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe,” Obama said in a statement. “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 former president added that a small group of friends would join him on the podcast to discuss the selections — aiming to “explore why they resonate, how they can shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and why literature matters now more than ever.”
“I hope listeners will be inspired to discover or rediscover books that change the way they see themselves and the world,” he said.
In a separate social media post, Obama said, “At a time when fewer people are able to sit down with a book, it’s important to remember the joy and power that can come from reading.”
The podcast will be a limited series examining “The Fire Next Time,” by James Baldwin; “Song of Solomon,” by Toni Morrison; “All the Pretty Horses,” by Cormac McCarthy; “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson; “All the King’s Men,” by Robert Penn Warren; and “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” by John le Carré.
The guests on the podcast, which a news release called “six of the most compelling thinkers, writers and artists of our time,” have not been announced. But Obama’s affection for many of his selected authors is no secret.
In 2012, he presented Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That same year, Robinson was awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2017, Obama called Robinson a “good friend” whose writing helped him feel more connected to the people he met on the campaign trail. Reading fiction, he told The New York Times, “exercises those muscles.”
The new podcast will not be the first collaboration between Audible and Higher Ground. They have worked together to help create “Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast,” hosted by the former first lady, as well as shows hosted by the journalist Michele Norris and the author Malcolm Gladwell.
The chief content officer at Audible, Rachel Ghiazza, said Obama had “a remarkable ability to connect books to the questions of who we are and how we see the world.”
Dan Fierman, who oversees audio at Higher Ground, said that “A Great Book” will remind listeners “why storytelling matters.”
Since its founding in 2018, Higher Ground has built a portfolio of projects across film, television, theater and other areas. This year, a revival of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Proof,” starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle, was the company’s first foray into Broadway.