Barack Obama launches podcast about books that ‘shaped his worldview’

The former US president will host six episodes of A Great Book for Audible, discussing work from Toni Morrison and John le Carré to James Baldwin

Barack Obama is set to host a podcast about books that have “profoundly shaped his worldview and our society”, from Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré .

The podcast, called A Great Book with Barack Obama , will launch on Audible on 24 September.

In each of six episodes – produced by the Amazon-owned company in collaboration with the Obamas’s production company Higher Ground – the former US president will discuss one of his chosen titles with a guest.

Along with the Morrison and le Carré, Obama has chosen The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson , and All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren.

“Great books have always helped me figure out who I am and what I believe,” said Obama. “The six books featured in this series have stayed with me throughout my life, and each one has something to teach us about the human experience.

“For this podcast, I invited some friends to explore why they resonate, how they can shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and why literature matters now more than ever,” he said. “I hope listeners will be inspired to discover or rediscover books that change the way they see themselves and the world”. The podcast’s guests are yet to be announced.

Obama has publicly shared his favourite books for years, posting summer reading lists and end-of-year roundups. This summer’s list, which he published in late July, includes Kin by Tayari Jones, Vigil by George Saunders, The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout, Transcription by Ben Lerner, and Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead.

While his roundups are often made up of recently published books, all of his picks for his podcast were published in the 20th century, except for Robinson’s Gilead, released in 2004. Robinson and Obama struck up a correspondence after he invited her to dinner at the White House, and in 2012, he awarded her the National Humanities Medal.