Michelle Obama’s podcast launches with her first guest, Barack Obama

Michelle and Barack Obama have been “loving” their time together in lockdown. “We’ve had a great time,” said Michelle during the inaugural episode of her new podcast in which she hosts her husband, the former President of the United States. “We’ve had some interesting conversations because these are some crazy times. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how our views of community shape who we are, shape our choices, and shape our reactions.”In the first episode, which was released today, the Obamas tackled the topic of their own relationship to their community and country, their responsibility during this tough political, social, and economic time, and how that’s tied to those communities. The couple took us back to their childhoods, with Barack describing how, “There was a neighbourhood, a community, extended families, structures around that helped families raise their kids in a loving environment.”[video_embed id='1969678']RELATED: Obama pens essay on how to bring about real change[/video_embed]They also discussed how politics and government are perceived by young people and the lack of political engagement that’s a result of the political system’s failure to reach out to that particular demographic in a meaningful and hopeful way. “The only time they know about what the government is doing is when it’s not doing it,” said Barack.“Right, when it doesn’t work,” added Michelle.

 

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Can’t wait for you to hear the first episode of The #MichelleObamaPodcast! It’s a long, thoughtful talk with @BarackObama—we had some fun with this one. That conversation goes live tomorrow, but you can follow us right now by clicking the link in my bio to hear a preview.

A post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama) on Jul 28, 2020 at 11:32am PDT

The former First Lady hopes that her podcasting efforts will encourage other people to have the kinds of conversations she’s having with her guests — conversations about what they’re feeling right now and about what their hopes for the future are. “Once you do those things, I think you’ll have a better sense of your community, your country, and yourselves,” she wrote in an Instagram post promoting the show. “If enough of us can do that — and if enough of us can empathize with one another — then over time –– and it will take a long time, we can come up with some solutions and create the change we’re all hoping for.”This season of the podcast will see Obama invite close friends and family like her mother, her brother, and Valerie Jarrett, the woman she calls her “mentor,” to have similar personal conversations about the state of the world, our places in it, and our relationships to one another. The podcast is available to stream for free right now on Spotify.[video_embed id='1948040']Before you go: A trailer for Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ doc is here[/video_embed]