🎬 BARACK OBAMA GOT A PODCAST COMING... AND HIS BOOKSHELF IS ABOUT TO GET A MICROPHONE

Okay, President Obama!

While everybody else is starting podcasts to argue about relationships, tell us who cheated on who, and explain why somebody didn't text back...

BARACK SAID, “BRING ME JAMES BALDWIN.” 😂

Former President Barack Obama is launching a new six-episode podcast called A Great Book with Barack Obama, and this isn't just some vague project he's “attached to.” He's actually hosting it.

The series premieres September 24 on Audible and is being produced by Audible and Higher Ground, the media company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama.

And baby, Barack didn't reach for the little paperback sitting by the grocery-store checkout.

We're talking BOOK books.

The six works Obama selected are books he says have stayed with him and helped shape the way he sees the world. Among them are:

📕 James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

📗 Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

Plus works from John le Carré, Cormac McCarthy, Marilynne Robinson and Robert Penn Warren. 

Now hold on.

JAMES BALDWIN AND TONI MORRISON?!

Barack said we're not doing:

"Ten Ways To Become A Millionaire Before Tuesday."

We're not doing:

"How To Manifest A Range Rover."

We're not doing:

"Girl, Leave Him: Deluxe Edition."

😂😂😂

WE ARE READING TODAY.

And this is where it gets interesting.

Each episode will focus on one book, with Obama discussing its ideas and why it mattered to him. He'll also be joined by a guest for each conversation, although those guests haven't been announced yet. 

Obama says the books influenced how he thinks about subjects including race, faith, politics, identity and American life. 

And THAT'S what makes the Baldwin episode especially interesting.

Because you cannot crack open James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time and expect everybody to sit around discussing punctuation.

BABY, THAT CONVERSATION IS GOING SOMEWHERE. 👀

And Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon?

One of the giants of Black literature being discussed by America's first Black president?

Yeah...

I'M LISTENING.

And here's the part I love.

At a time when everybody is fighting for your attention with 12-second videos, Barack Obama basically said:

“How about we sit our asses down and READ?”

😂📚

Sir...

Some of us have been scrolling since breakfast.

Give us a minute.

But I ain't mad at it.

Because whether you agree with Barack Obama politically or not, putting James Baldwin and Toni Morrison in front of a potentially huge new audience is worth paying attention to.

So September 24, Obama's stepping up to the microphone.

Not to give a State of the Union.

Not to campaign.

Not to debate.

But to talk about books.

BARACK BOOK CLUB DONE GOT A MICROPHONE, BABY. 🎙️📚😂

And I already know what somebody listening to 730 BOOM is thinking:

“Lady Red... do I actually have to READ the book first?”

Chile...

LET ME FIND THE AUDIOBOOK TOO. 😭😂😂

730 BOOM RADIO | RED ALERT: THE DIRT™

IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM! 💥