Barack Obama launches Audible series exploring six influential books

Barack Obama is set to host a six-part Audible series called A Great Book with Barack Obama, focusing on literature that has informed his worldview. Each episode pairs the former president with a distinguished guest to examine a selected work, including The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. The podcast will debut exclusively on Audible on Sept. 24 and represents the sixth collaboration between Audible and Higher Ground after a first-look agreement.

Rachel Ghiazza, Audible’s chief content officer, highlighted the series as an example of connecting listeners to transformative storytelling. The launch adds to a slate of Audible-Higher Ground projects such as Michelle Obama’s The Light Podcast and Malcolm Gladwell’s Reconstruction.