Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are doing a podcast.
Spotify announced on Monday the launch of “Renegades: Born in the USA”, featuring the former president and the legendary rock star in conversations on issues ranging from politics and the state of America to parenting, marriage and masculinity . The talks will last eight episodes, the first two of which will air on Monday.
The podcast, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s producer Higher Ground, is decidedly the highest profile collaboration in the history of podcasting.
“It’s a personal and in-depth discussion between two friends exploring their pasts, their beliefs and the country they love – what it was like, what it looks like and what it should look like going forward,” Spotify said in a statement, noting that the two men “formed a deep friendship since they met in the campaign in 2008. “
It is also another landmark moment in Spotify’s aggressive effort to dominate the podcast business. The Swedish streaming service has committed more than $ 500 million to acquire podcast companies and has signed exclusive deals with big names, including Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian and major brands like Warner Bros.
In 2019, Spotify signed an exclusive contract with Obama to produce podcasts. Their first production, The Michelle Obama Podcast, was the best global podcast when it was released last summer, and Spotify is betting that the Obama-Springstreen series will have similar appeal worldwide.
Many of the talks between Obama and Springsteen are likely to focus on correcting America’s cultural and political divisions.
“How did we get here? How could we find our way back to a more unifying American history?” Obama asks in his introduction to the show. “On the surface, Bruce and I don’t have much in common. But over the years, what we’ve found is that we have a shared sensitivity. About work, about family and about America. In our own way, Bruce and I have done parallel trips trying to understand this country that gave us so much. “
Obama and Springsteen unveiled the “Renegades” podcast during a virtual Spotify event, in which the company also announced an expansion of its DC Comics programs and a new partnership with the Russo brothers, the directors of the “The Avengers” films.
