Former President Barack Obama is preparing to return behind the microphone with another media project as he and former first lady Michelle Obama continue expanding their work outside politics. The former president says the new venture is intended to address something he believes Americans are increasingly struggling to find the time to do, while exploring ideas that have influenced his own worldview.
Obama announced Monday that he will host a six-episode podcast titled “A
Great Book With Barack Obama,” which will debut next month and examine six books that influenced his thinking about politics, faith, race and American life.
“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,” Obama wrote in announcing the project on social media.
“And some books don’t just tell a story — they change the way we see the world,” he added.
Each episode will focus on a different work selected by Obama and include conversations examining why the book remains meaningful and what readers can take from it today.
The six selections 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.”
Obama said he will be joined by guests for conversations about the books, although the full lineup of participants has not yet been announced.
“I invited some friends to explore why these books resonate, how they can shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and why literature matters now more than ever,” Obama said.
Several of the authors have connections to subjects Obama frequently discussed during and after his presidency, including American history, race, morality, political power and national identity.
Obama also had a personal relationship with Morrison, whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
The former president later described the Nobel Prize-winning novelist as a “good friend” following her death in 2019.
“A Great Book With Barack Obama” will be distributed through Audible and
produced in collaboration with Higher Ground, the media company Barack and Michelle Obama founded in 2018. The project is the latest addition to a growing collection of podcasts, films, documentaries and other programming produced under the Higher Ground banner.
Higher Ground previously partnered with Audible on “Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast,” an 11-episode series released between March 2023 and February 2024.
Barack Obama also recently teamed with author Malcolm Gladwell for “Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise,” an eight-part Higher Ground series examining the period following the Civil War and its continuing influence on the United States.
Higher Ground has expanded well beyond podcasting since its creation, producing projects including the Academy Award-winning documentary “American Factory,” the Netflix thriller “Leave the World Behind” and “Rustin,” a biographical drama about civil rights leader Bayard Rustin.
The Obamas’ growing media portfolio follows years of work building a post-White House presence that extends beyond traditional political speeches, campaigning and memoir writing.
Books have remained a particularly visible part of Barack Obama’s public identity since he left office in January 2017.
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. And some books don’t just tell a story – they change the way we see the world. That’s why I’m excited to share my latest podcast from… pic.twitter.com/217Df4SwBF
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 10, 2026
Obama regularly releases reading recommendations, including an annual summer reading list, along with year-end selections highlighting books, movies and music that caught his attention.
The new podcast effectively expands that tradition by giving Obama an opportunity to spend an entire episode discussing individual works instead of simply recommending them to his followers.
The former president’s selections also span decades and genres, ranging from Baldwin’s examination of race in America and Warren’s political novel to McCarthy’s Western fiction and le Carré’s Cold War espionage story, The New York Post reported.
With the six-episode series scheduled to begin next month, the remaining major detail is Obama’s guest list, which has yet to be revealed.
