Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen Release Podcast On ‘Unifying America’

Former President Barack Obama and music icon Bruce Springsteen are making an eight-episode podcast series together.

Spotify announced the series, titled “Renegades: Born in the USA,” on Monday and released the first two episodes. Obama and Springsteen’s recorded conversations “will explore topics of race, fatherhood, marriage, and the future of America” over the course of the first season, according to Spotify. The announcement did not say whether the show will be around for future seasons.

“How did we get here? How could we find our way back to a more unifying American story?” Obama says in the first episode. “That topic came to dominate so many of my conversations last year — with Michelle, with my daughters and with friends. And one of the friends just happened to be Mr. Bruce Springsteen. On the surface, Bruce and I don’t have a lot in common. But over the years, what we’ve found is that we’ve got a shared sensibility. About work, about family and about America.”

“In our own ways, Bruce and I have been on parallel journeys trying to understand this country that’s given us both so much,” he continues. “Trying to chronicle the stories of its people. Looking for a way to connect our own individual searches for meaning and truth and community with the larger story of America.”

The podcast is the second show to come out of the partnership between the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground Productions and Spotify, which has exclusive rights to host the new podcast. Michelle Obama announced the launch of her podcast in September.

Obama and Springsteen’s podcast is comprised of conversations the two recorded at Springsteen’s New Jersey studio from July to December. A recent DWI charge against the singer did not impact Spotify’s plans to release the podcast, and no references to alcohol were redacted after news of Springsteen’s arrest went public earlier this month, according to The New York Times.

Springsteen was arrested in New Jersey on a DWI charge in November. As The Daily Wire reported:

Music icon Bruce Springsteen was arrested for DWI in New Jersey last year, reports revealed days after he appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Jeep.

Authorities arrested Springsteen, who is due in court in several weeks, on Nov. 14 at Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, New Jersey. He was cited for DWI, reckless driving, and consuming alcohol in a closed area, according to TMZ, which first reported the arrest. A spokesperson for the National Parks Service confirmed the arrest to the New York Post.

News of Springsteen’s DWI charge came after the singer appeared in his first ever Super Bowl advertisement. The Jeep ad featured clips of Springsteen and a Jeep with a voiceover by the singer calling for Americans to move toward “the middle” for unity. The ad stands in contrast to previous comments made by the singer, most notably about former President Donald Trump, who Springsteen referred to as a “threat to democracy.”

After news of the arrest went public, Jeep pulled its ad featuring Springsteen, saying, “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate. But it’s also right that we pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established. Its message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned.”

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