Michelle Obama is getting her own podcast!
The former first lady announced the exciting news via Twitter on Thursday, revealing that it will be titled The Michelle Obama Podcast with episodes starting July 29 on Spotify.
“I’m thrilled to announce a new project: The #MichelleObamaPodcast with @Spotify!” she tweeted. “It’s been a tough year and I hope this podcast can help us explore what we’re going through and spark new conversations with our loved ones. I can’t wait for you all to listen on July 29!”
In a video accompanied with the tweet, Obama teased that she’s going to be talking with some of the people she’s closest with — “my mom, my brother, my friends. my colleagues and many others” — during the podcast’s first season.
“We’ll be discussing the relationships that make us who we are. We’ll be talking about the challenges and the joys of being a parent or a spouse,” she explained. “The friendships that help us through the toughest times. Or, the growth we experience when we lean on the colleagues and mentors around us.”
“What I love about these conversations is that they’re topics and issues that we’re all dealing with, no matter what’s going on,” she continued. “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. A place to open up and be a little vulnerable, and have some fun along the way.”
Obama added that most importantly, she hopes the podcast will spark ideas and topics that listeners can open up with within their own circles.
“Maybe it will inspire you to have some conversations with loved ones that you’ve been meaning to have,” she said.
Back in May, Obama and her husband, former President Barack Obama, participated in the Dear Class of 2020 virtual event, aiming to bring hope and positivity to students graduating amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Life will always be uncertain. It is a lesson that most of us get the chance to learn over the course of years and years, even decades, but one you’re learning right now,” she said in a commencement speech. “So, graduates, I hope that what you’re going through right now can be your wake up call, that pushes you to think about not just what kind of career you want to build, but what kind of person do you want to be? And here’s the thing, you have the opportunity to learn these valuable things faster than the generations before you.”
“That leads me to my second lesson. In an uncertain world, time tested values like … empathy and compassion. That’s the only real currency in life,” she added. “Treating people right will never fail you.”
