"HE'S IN: Barack Obama Stuns Nation With A Massive Announcement!"
Barack Obama Returns to Podcasting With Six-Part Series on the Books That Shaped His Worldview
“A Great Book With Barack Obama” will debut on Audible on September 24, pairing the former president with Tom Hanks, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jill Lepore, Ben Rhodes, Percival Everett and Lauren Groff for conversations about six influential works.
Former President Barack Obama is returning to long-form audio with a new literary podcast built around books he says helped shape the way he understands himself, society and the world. “A Great Book With Barack Obama” is a six-episode Audible series scheduled to debut on September 24, 2026, in partnership with Higher Ground, the media company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama.
Audible and Higher Ground first announced the project on August 10, describing it as an intimate series in which Obama would sit down with six prominent guests to revisit books that have stayed with him throughout his life. The project is the sixth release under Audible and Higher Ground’s exclusive first-look audio agreement.
“Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe,” Obama said when the series was announced. He added that the six works selected for the podcast have remained important to him over time and continue to offer lessons about the human experience.
The project extends a public tradition Obama has maintained for years. Since leaving the White House in 2017, he has regularly released lists of books, films and music he has enjoyed, often turning his reading recommendations into widely discussed cultural events. The new podcast moves beyond a simple recommendation list by devoting a full conversation to each title and the ideas it raises.
The six books span fiction, essays, political literature and espionage. They 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.”
Taken together, the selections touch on themes that have appeared repeatedly in Obama’s own writing and public life: race and identity, power and corruption, faith and moral responsibility, personal memory, political institutions and the tensions inside American society. Audible describes the series more broadly as an exploration of identity, power, memory and culture through literature.
One major detail has changed since the podcast was first announced. The guest lineup, initially withheld, was revealed on September 17. Each episode will pair Obama with a different writer, historian, artist or former adviser to discuss one of the six books.
The first episode will feature Tom Hanks discussing Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead.” Robinson’s novel, which centers on an aging Congregationalist minister writing to his young son, explores faith, memory, family and mortality. Obama has long spoken publicly about Robinson’s work and has previously interviewed the novelist about religion and American life.
The second episode will bring together Obama and Ta-Nehisi Coates for a discussion of James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time.” Baldwin’s 1963 work remains one of the most influential examinations of race, religion and American identity in modern U.S. literature, making it a natural fit for a conversation about how books can challenge a reader’s understanding of the country.
Historian and journalist Jill Lepore will join Obama for Robert Penn Warren’s “All the King’s Men,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning political novel about ambition, corruption and the compromises surrounding power. The pairing places a historian of American institutions alongside a former president to examine a book that has remained a major reference point in discussions of democratic politics.
The fourth episode will feature Ben Rhodes, a former senior Obama foreign-policy adviser, discussing John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” The Cold War espionage novel focuses on loyalty, betrayal and the morally ambiguous world of intelligence work — subjects that lend themselves to a broader discussion about statecraft, secrecy and political judgment.
For the fifth episode, Obama will be joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Percival Everett to discuss Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.” Morrison’s novel holds a particularly important place in Obama’s literary life. He has previously said that the book taught him something about how to understand himself and the world around him.
Obama’s connection to Morrison extended beyond admiration from a distance. In 2012, he awarded Morrison the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. At the White House ceremony, Obama praised her work for its moral and emotional intensity and highlighted “Song of Solomon” among the novels through which she reached readers across generations.
After Morrison died in 2019, Obama described her as a “national treasure” and wrote that her work was both beautiful and meaningful, challenging readers’ consciences and encouraging greater empathy. That history gives the “Song of Solomon” episode an additional personal dimension beyond the book’s status as a landmark of American literature.
The final episode will pair Obama with novelist Lauren Groff for Cormac McCarthy’s “All the Pretty Horses.” McCarthy’s novel follows a young man across the American Southwest and Mexico and examines freedom, violence, loss and the mythology of the frontier. Its inclusion gives the series a broad literary range beyond works focused explicitly on politics or public affairs.
The guest list also shows that the series is not structured as a conventional author interview program. In several cases, the guests did not write the books being discussed. Instead, the format is designed around two readers examining why a particular work matters and what it can still say to contemporary audiences.
That structure reflects the way Audible and Higher Ground have described the project from the beginning. The central question is not simply whether a book is considered a classic, but what the stories people return to reveal about their values, their understanding of society and the world they hope to create.
“A Great Book” is also not Obama’s first major podcast project. He previously co-hosted “Renegades: Born in the USA” with Bruce Springsteen, a conversational series in which the two discussed race, fatherhood, music, work and the contradictions of American life. The new Audible series returns Obama to an extended conversation format, this time with literature as the organizing framework.
The podcast is part of a wider audio portfolio built by Higher Ground after the company signed a multi-year first-look agreement with Audible in 2022. Previous audio projects under that relationship include “Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast,” “Your Mama’s Kitchen” and other documentary and interview series.
Higher Ground’s work extends beyond podcasting. The company’s film and television projects include the Academy Award-winning documentary “American Factory,” the civil-rights drama “Rustin” and the Netflix adaptation “Leave the World Behind.” The Obamas have used the company to develop projects across documentary, scripted film, television and audio rather than focusing exclusively on political commentary.
That distinction is relevant to the new podcast. Although several of the selected works deal directly with race, public life and political power, “A Great Book” is being presented primarily as a cultural and literary project, not as a policy podcast or campaign vehicle. The emphasis is on how reading can shape identity and judgment over time.
The timing also places the series in a broader debate about reading habits. In announcing the show, Obama argued that it is worth remembering the pleasure and influence of books at a moment when many people feel they have less time to sit down and read. The podcast’s format effectively uses audio — a medium often consumed while commuting or multitasking — to direct listeners back toward long-form written works.
Audible says the series will debut exclusively on its platform on September 24, with broader distribution planned later in the year through YouTube and other podcast platforms. That gives Audible an initial exclusivity window while eventually allowing the conversations to reach listeners outside its subscriber ecosystem.
The updated guest announcement also resolves one of the major unanswered questions in the original rollout. Rather than six unnamed “friends” or “luminaries,” listeners now know that the conversations will span Hollywood, journalism, history, foreign policy and contemporary fiction.
For Obama, the project turns a long-standing public habit into a more substantial media format. Instead of posting a list of favorite books and moving on, he will spend six episodes explaining why particular works have stayed with him and inviting other prominent readers to challenge, expand or complicate those interpretations.
The result is a podcast that sits at the intersection of Obama’s post-presidential media work and his well-established identity as a public reader. With the six books and six guests now confirmed, the main remaining question is not who will appear, but what the conversations will reveal about the works Obama has carried with him — and why he believes they still matter in 2026.
"🚨 BRANSON'S SCATHING ATTACK! — HE BLASTS TRUMP OVER PUTIN TIES AND URGES EUROPE TO STAND FIRM!"
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has launched a fierce public attack on Donald Trump, accusing the U.S. administration of appeasing dictators and putting personal preferences ahead of American and allied interests.
The Virgin Group founder made his criticism in a LinkedIn post published this week, questioning why Trump appeared so willing to accommodate Russian President Vladimir Putin while Ukraine continues to face Russia’s invasion.
Branson described the administration as an “appeaser to autocrats and dictators,” arguing that its approach could weaken confidence among America’s traditional allies and undermine the interests of democratic nations.
He also raised a pointed question about the president’s relationship with Putin, asking why Trump seemed to flatter the Russian leader despite the continuing war and widespread international concern over Moscow’s actions.
The remarks come amid renewed controversy over a reported agreement involving Russian diesel supplies and a temporary easing of U.S. sanctions on Russian energy exports.
Trump has defended the arrangement as beneficial to fuel markets, while critics argue that allowing Russian energy revenues to flow could indirectly help Moscow sustain its war effort.
Branson called the deal deeply hypocritical, pointing to the contrast between Washington’s previous willingness to penalize countries purchasing Russian energy and its own decision to ease restrictions.
His criticism extended beyond energy policy. He also condemned Trump’s public attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, describing the administration’s treatment of Ukraine as a betrayal during a period of war and suffering.
The billionaire’s intervention follows mounting concern in Kyiv and across Europe about the durability of American support for Ukraine, particularly as diplomatic efforts have struggled to produce a lasting settlement.
Branson also expressed alarm about reports involving restrictions on Starshield services used by Ukraine, a technology issue that has raised questions about the country’s access to crucial battlefield communications.
Some of Branson’s claims about the consequences of satellite-service restrictions have not been independently confirmed, and the details of decisions involving military communications remain disputed.
He urged European leaders to respond more decisively, arguing that the continent cannot simply wait for Washington to determine the future of Ukraine’s security and its broader relationship with Russia.
His proposed response reportedly included considering the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine and supplying more advanced weapons, measures that would intensify the confrontation with Moscow.
The comments place Branson among a relatively small group of prominent business leaders willing to criticize Trump directly over foreign policy, despite the political and commercial sensitivities surrounding such interventions.
Branson has previously spoken out in support of Ukraine and criticized approaches that he believes would pressure Kyiv into accepting an unfavorable peace agreement with Russia.
The latest dispute also comes at a politically sensitive moment in the United States, with congressional midterm elections approaching and foreign policy increasingly intertwined with domestic debates over leadership and national priorities.
Supporters of Trump’s approach may argue that direct engagement with Moscow and energy-market flexibility can serve American interests, even when such policies provoke disagreement among allies.
Critics counter that concessions to Russia risk weakening deterrence and sending an unsettling message to countries relying on the United States for diplomatic, economic and military support.
The disagreement reflects a broader debate over whether negotiations and economic pragmatism can help end the war—or whether they could give Moscow additional leverage without securing meaningful concessions.
For Ukraine, the stakes remain immediate: continued military pressure, uncertainty over international support and the search for a settlement that preserves its sovereignty remain central concerns.
Branson’s intervention adds another prominent voice to the dispute, challenging the White House’s handling of Russia and demanding a stronger response from Europe as the conflict continues.
