This week's hottest audio release? The Michelle Obama Podcast - which I tuned into on the warmest day of the year and it was a scorcher; the temperature and the podcast.
Joining Michelle on the other side of the mic is Barack Obama. Not bad as first guests go, eh! If any newbie podcaster is going to secure the former President of the United States as their inaugural guest, it's Michelle. A stellar line up from the get-go.
I didn't know what to expect before listening, but Michelle quickly sets the scope of her series: to explore the relationships that make us who we are and to spark conversations with those closest to us in the hope of fostering empathy and understanding. She says she spent a year reflecting after the whirlwind of living in the White House and came to the podcast as a way of talking through big topics affecting all of us, while having fun along the way.
Unsurprisingly, it's a warm and inspiring listen. The style is very relaxed and echoes the discussions you imagine the couple having over a regular meal. But while we're all chatting about the new Taylor Swift album over a reheated jacket potato, the Obamas are diving deep into some very big questions - and this podcast offers a unique opportunity to pull up a chair and listen-in on their dinner table conversations.
At the heart of this first episode is the idea of community over individuality. Both share stories of their families, hometowns, university lives and workplaces that shaped a belief in the power of communities and relationships. Michelle admits to personal dissatisfaction with an early career in corporate law that distanced her from the people and places she saw and knew best; and speaks movingly about how community organising offered a way of reconnecting, engaging and learning from those around her. Satisfaction, she realised, came not from a hefty pay packet, but through the relationships forged in helping others.
Those early days of meeting people from all walks of life in Chicago revealed how communities work and flourish and highlighted the importance of fostering commonality over difference. There is a real tinge of nostalgia to Michelle and Barack's conversation as they remember a time when people were perhaps more willing to look out for those around them: classmates, friends, elderly relatives and neighbours. Rose tinted spectacles or not, they suggest our current privileging of the self and relentless celebration of individual betterment obscures the need to share and connect with others - and crucially, stems from a continuous erosion of the very institutions that make up a community.
We've lost our way because society around us is being shaken to the ground.
It's packed with BIG ideas, but it's not a dull or tiring listen. In fact, the opposite! The episode flies by and there are many laughs along the way. Both admit they don't have the answers, but Michelle's slight cynicism about the future is tempered by Barack's unwavering optimism; a hope, he says, informed by the young people he meets and a belief that the arc of history ultimately bends towards justice.
If any listeners are unsure about what to do with all this newfound wisdom, Michelle gives a little pep talk at the end about striking up these kinds of conversations with our family and friends. Coaxing us away from the merits of T-swizzle's 'cardigan' towards engagement with the injustices and challenges facing us and voicing our hopes for what the future might look like. Channelling frustration and disappointment into conversations that may turn out to be useful and perhaps even hopeful. She admits change often takes a long time to achieve but is confident that starting small can ultimately generate very large waves.
The pod is beautifully produced with enjoyable musical dividers throughout and although it feels polished, it has a very informal air - the pod opens with Michelle rehearsing her opening lines... A final showreel teases future episodes with family, friends and colleagues and you're left with little doubt that they'll be just as enjoyable and profound.
The Obamas may no longer be in the White House, but they're still pushing for change.
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