Michelle Obama's podcast sounds suspiciously like a stump speech
Former first lady Michelle Obama has officially joined the ranks of Snooki, Snoop Dogg, and your old college roommate by starting her own podcast. In a sense, The Michelle Obama Podcast was inevitable: the Obamas pivoted from being politicians to celebrities after leaving the White House, and a requirement of being a famous person in 2020 is talking into a microphone for fans who may or may not exist.
Since handing over the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to the Trumps, the Obamas have fully embraced their celebrity status, signing a $65 million joint book deal, landing a massive, multi-year producing gig with Netflix, and, most recently, booking Obama's podcast (Spotify, which has the exclusive, inked similar deals around the same time with Kim Kardashian West, Joe Rogan, and DC Comics). Though Michelle Obama isn't hawking vagina candles or posting FabFitFun sponcon on Instagram, the Obamas aren't exactly following the Jimmy Carter model of living modestly while quietly building thousands of homes for Habitat for Humanity, either. Perhaps most frustrating for their supporters, the couple's pivot into celebritydom has seemed accompanied by a reluctance to speak out about politics in any meaningful way.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Obama says her podcast is intended to explore "relationships" by digging into her own. But it quickly becomes clear that there's a bigger picture: "We weren't built to do this thing called life in a vacuum. It is much more hopeful, it is much more gratifying, much more effective to live this life as a 'we,'" she stresses.
It's a good line — she should have saved it for the convention speech.
-
Political cartoons for January 28Cartoons Wednesday's political cartoons include slipping in the polls, Kristi Noem in trouble, and ICE in the classroom
-
The Week contest: How now, smart cow?Puzzles and Quizzes
-
The UK’s supposed Christian revivalThe Explainer Research has shown that claims of increased church attendance, particularly among young people, ‘may be misleading’
-
Washington grapples with ICE’s growing footprint — and futureTALKING POINTS The deadly provocations of federal officers in Minnesota have put ICE back in the national spotlight
-
Trump’s Greenland ambitions push NATO to the edgeTalking Points The military alliance is facing its worst-ever crisis
-
Why is Trump threatening defense firms?Talking Points CEO pay and stock buybacks will be restricted
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Trump considers giving Ukraine a security guaranteeTalking Points Zelenskyy says it is a requirement for peace. Will Putin go along?
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
Will California tax its billionaires?Talking Points A proposed one-time levy would shore up education and Medicaid
-
A free speech debate is raging over sign language at the White HouseTalking Points The administration has been accused of excluding deaf Americans from press briefings
