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Former President Barack Obama hasn’t slowed down since his time in office, and now he has a new book coming out with rock music icon and longtime friend Bruce Springsteen based on their acclaimed podcast and shared bond as outsiders.
The two were interviewed for a segment on CBS This Morning regarding the release of their book based on their podcast, Renegades: Born in The USA. Former President Obama stated that it was his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama who suggested that he should get to spend more time with the singer-songwriter as they had just struck up their friendship. “I said, ‘Well, why is that?’”,Obama recalls asking at the time. “She says, ‘You know, he understands all his failings and flaws as a man, and you don’t seem to understand as well just exactly how messed up you are.” His response? “You’re right. No doubt.” He reached out to Springsteen, and through those long conversations, he was inspired to create the Higher Ground podcast based on what was shared in those talks. “And I thought this might be something that would be useful for folks to hear,” Mr. Obama said.
The two hung out at Springsteen’s farm in New Jersey and spoke about their different experiences and what makes them outsiders. “That’s the American story, you know?” Springsteen said. “When I was young, I felt voiceless. You know, I felt invisible, and I think we’re in trouble and that a lot of people do feel very voiceless.” Obama agreed, speaking to how that feeling resonates: “You end up having, on the one hand, change happening very rapidly, too rapidly for a big portion of the population. For another portion of the population, it’s like, ‘You know, how long are we gonna keep having to defer this dream? And I think that part of what we tried to do in the podcast was to get everybody to feel a little more willing to recognize, you know, our own faults.”
Renegades: Born In The USA is available for pre-order.
