Michelle Obama to debut podcast on Spotify

Former first lady Michelle Obama is debuting a podcast on Spotify later this month as part of a partnership between the firm and the Obamas’ production company. 

“The Michelle Obama Podcast” will be released exclusively to premium and free Spotify subscribers starting on July 29. It will include “candid, human, and personal conversations to show us what is possible when we dare to be vulnerable,” Spotify said in a statement announcing the show. 

In a video announcement, Obama said that she hope the show can serve as a place to explore “big topics,” including the coronavirus pandemic and the nation’s reckoning when it comes to issues pertaining to race. Guests are set to include late-night host Conan O’Brien, former Obama White House aide Valerie Jarrett, actor Craig Robinson and Sharon Malone, who is married to former Attorney General Eric Holder. 

“What I love about these conversations is that they’re topics and issues we’re all dealing with no matter what’s going on,” Obama said. “Whether that’s a global pandemic or a nationwide reckoning with race. My hope is that this podcast can be a place for us to sort through the questions that we’re all trying to answer.”

The podcast will come as Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama gradually expand their media footprint through Higher Ground Productions. The production company signed a multiyear deal with Netflix in 2018 to produce film and television projects and reached a deal in 2019 with Spotify to produce podcasts. 

“American Factory,” the first film produced by the Obamas’ production company, won the Academy Award for “best documentary feature” earlier this year. 

Michelle Obama also released a memoir, “Becoming,” in 2018, which sold about 10 million copies worldwide within its first six months. Penguin Random House, the book’s publisher, said it could be the “most successful memoir in history.”

As podcasting gains more popularity, Spotify has made a series of big investments in the medium. In May, the company reached a multiyear deal with Joe Rogan for exclusive rights to the “The Joe Rogan Experience,” a show that is regularly at the top of Apple Podcasts. Kim Kardashian West also signed a deal in June to host a podcast exclusively on the streaming platform.