![EXCLUSIVE: Former First Lady Michelle Obama steps out with friends Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa at celebrity restaurant Polo Bar in New York City. The two families have been friends since The Boss campaigned for Barack Obama during his successful run for the White House in 2008. Michelle famously told her President husband he needed to spend more time with Springsteen. Both men have talked about their friendship — fortified in part by the bond between their wives, Michelle and Patti. In the first episode of a podcast, called Renegades, Obama, 59, said he and Springsteen, 71, "grew to trust each other" based on conversations in which they reflected on feeling "invisible" throughout their childhoods. Springsteen sang with a gospel choir at the newly elected president's inauguration in 2009 and later recalled how he thought Obama had the wrong number the first time the Chicago Democrat called him. "And I said, 'OK, let me figure this out. I am a guitar-playing high school graduate from Freehold, New Jersey. And — OK — you want me to do what?" Springsteen said. Over the years, both have realized they had more in common than they initially realized. Namely, that they both felt like outsiders. "I always kept one foot in sort of the blue collar world and one foot in the counter culture world," Springsteen said of growing up in New Jersey. "And I never truly belonged completely in either of them, you know?". 28 Sep 2022 Pictured: Michelle Obama. Photo credit: ZapatA/MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA902427_026.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/michelle-obama-nyc-mega.jpg?quality=100&w=293)
The first guest on The Michelle Obama Podcast needs no introduction, but Michelle Obama is giving him one anyway. The former FLOTUS is sitting down with her husband, former President Barack Obama, for her inaugural July 29 episode! And from the first teaser released from the episode, it’s clear that it’s going to be an amazing conversation. The teaser, which you can listen to above, is only a 17 seconds long, but Michelle manages to get in a hilarious dig at her husband.
“You’re the eternal optimist,” Michelle says, as Barack begins to speak. She jokingly cuts him off to call him “The ‘Yes We Can’ Man” in a mocking tone. Barack cracks up and agrees with her. For those too young to remember, “Yes We Can” was Barack’s campaign slogan for the 2008 presidential election. The slogan became a part of American cultural history, along with his red and blue “HOPE” posters by artist Shepard Fairey.
Her episode with Barack is called “Community,” and will focus on “our relationship to our communities and to our country,” she revealed in the introductory message released by Spotify. “I asked a special someone to join me for this conversation because he’s navigated these questions throughout the course of his entire life,” she said, referring to her husband. He’s the perfect guest; before he was a politician, Barack was a community organizer. In fact, he moved to Chicago in 1985 to take a job as the director of the Developing Communities Project. Chicago is where he met and fell in love with a remarkable woman named Michelle.
In the preview of her first episode, Michelle explained why she decided to “press record” and finally do a podcast. “I hope this podcast can be a place for us to explore big topics together… to sort through the questions that we’re all trying to answer… to open up, and be a little vulnerable, and have some fun along the way,” she says. “I just want it to feel like we’re sitting together on a park bench or in the booth of a restaurant with the jukebox playing. And most importantly, I hope this podcast sparks ideas and topics that all you listeners can open up with in your own circles.”
The guest list for the first nine episodes of her podcast is positively star studded. Not only will she talk to celebrities, but she’ll sit down with political figures, friends, and her own family. Here’s who you can expect to hear from, and what they’ll be discussing:
Episode 1: Community with Barack Obama
Episode 2: Self in the time of Covid with Michele Norris
Episode 3: Women’s Health with Dr. Sharon Malone
Episode 4: Siblings with Craig Robinson
Episode 5: Girlfriends with Dr. Sharon Malone, Kelly Dibble, and Denielle Pemberton-Heard
Episode 6: Marriage with Conan O’Brien
Episode 7: Mentorship with Valerie Jarrett
Episode 8: Mentees with Chynna Clayton, Yene Damtew, and Kristin Jones
Episode 9: Kids with Mrs. Robinson and Craig (Michelle’s mom and brother)
The Michelle Obama Podcast premieres July 29 on Spotify. Listen HERE.