The Michelle Obama Podcast: My Review
As a podcaster myself, I had to do a review on the Michelle Obama podcast. She’s one of the most iconic women in American history, and she’s alive and present today. Relish in it folks! Michelle is beautiful and radiant, and her energy comes across on this platform. We are witnessing (or hearing) greatness. Here’s my overview and review of the Michelle Obama Podcast, from episode one of Michelle’s podcast series on Spotify.
How could she start a podcast series without inviting a special guest, her wonderful husband… the man behind the woman, our former President (and bringer of memories a brighter day) former President Barack Obama. I just missed hearing his voice, and I didn’t realize it until I heard it.
Michelle Obama starts out her first episode with the theme of relationship with communities. She starts to unravel her experience living in a large family home and how she came from a lower socioeconomic background. True to Obama style, the podcast doesn’t move fast with the chatter. It’s thoughtful and articulate, with tons of pauses for breathers and chill music clips. Michelle’s humor about the idea of stairs in her home as an idea of success was eye opening, and cute. She makes light of this image the media painted for her growing up.
The technique of storytelling, bringing The Obama’s background into the fold right from the start… well, it reminded us of why we fell in love with this couple in the first place. Plus, their chemistry is as strong as ever. It’s just so wonderful to hear what we’ve seen for years. Barack and Michelle have such a deep connection and support for one another and it’s apparent in episode one of Michelle Obama’s Podcast.
“I looked at what those civil rights workers had done, and what the freedom writers had done. I thought that looks like hard and risky work but it never looked like lonely work. That never looked like selfish, isolated, meaningless work.”
-Barack Obama
Barack Obama went into his experience with social work at the beginning of his career and Michelle and him compare their early career experiences. His education provided him the opportunity to do the work he wanted to do vs chasing money. Michelle joined “the wine club” because she thought it was what she was supposed to do and she was “punching the ticket”. She didn’t feel like she had the option to do other things. “School shows you a bunch of careers, but not jobs” Michelle adds. I believe she was painting a picture of what Black-America was like for them with a good education, coming from a poor background. As a woman, she felt it was her duty to make money. He felt that education opened doors to do social work.
Michelle then delves into her experience making the transition to realizing she wanted more out of her career. She proclaims that she never felt further from the neighborhood she was from than from a skyrise looking upon it, writing briefs. When she got into the community by being in the “dirt and the grit” she finally felt like she was a part of the community again. She started to feel alive helping 18-30 year olds find jobs in public service.
One of the most enlightening pieces of the episode was when Michelle Obama outlined that Chicago kids never leave the neighborhood and that a lot haven’t even seen Lake Michigan…. ever. The reasons for this are race, segregation, gangs, economics. Michelle saw more of the city because she went to a High School where she had to ride a bus for an hour. It was wild to hear that such a small thing could have caused such a big impact on someone’s life.
“The average Father today does believe that she [their daughters] can be anything she wants to be. They’re delivering those messages around the dinner table. We delivered the messages to the dinner table, but we didn’t take them to the board room. We didn’t change our workplaces. We didn’t institutionalize the values we had been teaching this generation of kids. So now, they’re growing up. They’re leaving the dinner table. They’re going out into the world and going ‘the world doesn’t look like what I was taught back at home, and this isn’t right’.”
- Michelle Obama
The above quote from Michelle Obama in this first podcast episode was perhaps the biggest take-away for me. I’ve been reflecting on this concept for a whole day and I’m starting to develop a full podcast episode on this concept alone. We need to be evolving our boardrooms to match the dreams we help our children build. Yes! Of course!
Final Thoughts on My Review of the Michelle Obama Podcast on Spotify:
Overall, I highly recommend The Michelle Obama Podcast. I just wanted to write a Bite Sized piece to encourage everyone to go listen to this podcast episode. I’ve only experienced Michelle’s first episode and I’m already hooked. It’s a must listen. It’s a Spotify exclusive and you can listen here.
If you’re interested in checking out my podcast series, you can give me a one episode try on any of these platforms and all episodes are free!
Podcast Services & Where to Listen
Spotify - Apple - Google - iHeart Radio - Stitcher - Podbean - iTunes
