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.
MacKenzie Scott donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International and 84 of its U.S. affiliates – the largest publicly disclosed donation from the billionaire philanthropist since she pledged to give away the majority of her wealth in 2019.
The government can't afford to keep paying some Covid bills, a cheerleader gets an NIL deal for March Madness rescue, and fans will get to watch Beyoncé during the Oscars. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code and author of "Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think), joined Cheddar to discuss the many challenges for women in the workplace after the upheaval caused by the pandemic and the solutions she presents.
Companies are leaning towards hybrid workforces due to the pandemic as a means of bringing back workers to the office — especially women employees. Head of HR technology at Capital One, Maureen Jules-Perez, joined Cheddar News to talk about initiatives and technology that the bank is taking to set up a successful hybrid workplace. "Do we have the experiences or the spaces for everyone to feel belonging or included? Do we feel heard? And of course, when it comes to building products, we have all the different, diverse perspectives and thoughts and ideas being incorporated to have the optimal solution or delivery," she said.
Hate crimes from the start of 2022 against Asians reportedly more than doubled compared to 2021, according to the NYPD. Amid the surge of attacks, Amber Reed, the president and co-founder of the grassroots organization AAPI Montclair, joined Cheddar News to talk about how it's looking to help Asian Americans with classes and techniques to defend themselves. “We're seeing racism literally killing people who look like us, and these self defense classes are a chance for us to rewrite a narrative of victimhood into one of empowerment," she said. "We learn first how to be aware of our surroundings because we know that being distracted, appearing weak can make you a target, and then that we focus on disengagement."
Sunny Balwani faces allegations of defrauding investors and patients. He's been charged with several counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, with each carrying a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Cheddar News sat down with Andrey Spektor, partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and former federal prosecutor, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
