This May 11, 2019 file photo shows former first lady Michelle Obama during "Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama," in Atlanta. The Obama’s Higher Ground and Spotify announced Thursday that the former first lady will host “The Michelle Obama Podcast” on the streaming service. The podcast will debut exclusively on Spotify on July 29. (Photo by Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP, File)
By Jonathan Landrum Jr.
Michelle Obama will let her own voice be heard on a new podcast.
The former first lady will host The Michelle Obama Podcast from Obama's Higher Ground production company, Spotify announced Thursday. The podcast will exclusively debut on the streaming service on July 29.
"My hope is that this series can be a place to explore meaningful topics together and sort through so many of the questions we're all trying to answer in our own lives," Obama said in a statement.
The new podcast is the first title in the ongoing collaboration between Spotify and Higher Ground, a production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama. Last year, the former president and first lady partnered with Spotify to produce exclusive podcasts for the platform.
Michelle Obama's new podcast expects to hold candid and personal conversations with a focus on topics concerning relationships and health. She expects to have several guests on the series including talk-show host Conan O'Brien and Valerie Jarrett, businesswoman and former senior advisor to Barack Obama.
"Perhaps most of all, I hope this podcast will help listeners open up new conversations — and hard conversations —- with the people who matter most to them," she said. "That's how we can build more understanding and empathy for one another."
Obama released her Netflix documentary Becoming in May. The project was an extension of her 2018 best-selling memoir of the same name and a kind of authorized filmic portrait of Obama.
Last year, she embarked on a rock-star-style tour of more than 30 cities to promote her book.
This year on Black Friday, the National Basketball Players Association launched a traveling NBPA-branded holiday pop-up called 'NBPA 450 Gives.' This was a 14-day long experiential and digital activation showcasing the best gifts for this holiday season, featuring items from black-owned businesses to celebrate Google's black-owned Friday initiative. JD sat down with Brooklyn Nets player, Blake Griffin, who helped launch this initiative.
The one-hour special 'Cannabiz: Legalization Goes Mainstream' explores the state of marijuana. Cheddar News is joined by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Village CEO Dan Pettigrew, and many more.
Bitcoin is still struggling to hold $47,000 and is well off from the near $68,000 high it saw in November. As the Federal Open Market Committee wraps up its two-day monetary policy meeting, some crypto investors are worried as they wait for news on policy. Shiv Madan, CEO of Moonwalk joins Cheddar News to discuss what's in store for the industry.
After becoming the must-have app in 2020, TikTok continues to be a dominant force in the music industry. According to TikTok's 2021 music report, 430 songs exceeded 1 billion video views on the platform this year, three times as many songs as last year. TikTok's music editorial lead, William Gruger, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
The Trevor Project released its latest extensive peer-revied study examining hormone therapy among transgender and nonbinary youth. The article is the first large-scale study to examine the relationship between receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy and rates of depression and suicide risk. Jonah DeChants, a lead research scientist for The Trevor Project, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
'And Just Like That' viewers we're left speechless after Carrie Bradshaw's 'Mr.Big' suffered a heart attack post-peloton ride and died in the show's premiere episode last week. This death by peloton caused a real-life hit to the company's stock, but it appears peloton has already bounced back. Tiffany Rolfe, R/GA's Global Chief Creative Officer, joins Cheddar News to discuss.