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Not the podcast we needed, but the one we deserved!
By Tomás Diniz Santos — Written on Feb 24, 2021
Two legends, one podcast. Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama collaborated on a new podcast called Renegades: Born in the USA, where they talk about similar interests, including music and America.
Throughout the pandemic, many are finding new hobbies — including podcasts — which have seen a surge in popularity since it all started. This is why the new podcast featuring POTUS and The Boss is perfect timing and comes with high expectations.
Off the heels of a rough year in 2020, this collaboration is a small win in what we hope to be a better year in 2021.
So what do the former president and famous rockstar talk about?
The first two episodes of the eight-episode program were released on Monday through Spotify.
According to Spotify, the program is “a series of conversations between President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen about their lives, music, and enduring love of America—despite all its challenges.”
The series starts strong with the former president and the rock legend talking about their childhood, focusing on their relationships with their fathers, as seen in the trailer, and how race played a role in their lives and in those around them.
The first episode of the series was actually recorded just hours after Obama eulogized Civil Rights hero and Georgia congressman John Lewis.
It was on July 30, so almost six months ago.
“In our own ways, Bruce and I have been on parallel journeys,” Obama said in the first episode.
“We still share a fundamental belief in the American ideal. Not as an airbrushed, cheap fiction or an act of nostalgia that ignores all the ways that we’ve fallen short of that ideal. But as a compass for the hard work that lies before each of us as citizens.”
According to Obama in the trailer on Spotify, they recorded the podcast just a few miles from where Springsteen grew up in Newark, New Jersey.
Although they talk about harder topics, such as the race riots near Springsteen’s hometown and Obama’s exposure to racism in Hawaii, the two talk about how to unite Americans in the future and the first two episodes include lighthearted jokes and eye-opening conversations that make it a great and informative listen.
Although Obama and Springsteen met in 2008 on Obama’s campaign trail, the two can’t remember exactly how it went or many of the details.
Thankfully, we have camera footage of Springsteen’s performance on the show and the two of them hugging it out on stage.
It’s probably not a bad sign they can’t remember meeting, as it’s a good thing when experiences together are so great they begin to merge together into one big ball.
The first episode begins with POTUS talking about the current state, at the time of the recording, of the division in the United States which has created conversations with those around him.
“For three years, I’d had to watch a presidential successor who was diametrically opposed to everything I believed in. And witnessed a country that seemed to be getting angrier and more divided with each passing day.
Then came a historic pandemic, along with a slip-shot government response that rained hardship and loss on millions. And forced all of us to consider what’s really important in life.
How did we get here? How could we find our way back to a more unifying American story? 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.”
The production of the podcast is not a first for Higher Ground Productions, which was founded by Barack and Michelle Obama.
It’s the company’s second original podcast with the first having been “The Michelle Obama Podcast." Although the name’s not very creative nor original, it was Spotify's top series for the months of July and August during the summer of 2020.
The podcast’s release came at a very odd but necessary time.
Just a few weeks ago, Springsteen was making headlines for news of his arrest announced at the beginning of this month. He was charged and arrested on a DWI among a couple of other charges.
On Wednesday, Feb. 24, it was announced that Springsteen’s charges were dropped after tests showed that his alcohol level was below the legal limit.
In a time where he was arrested for DWI and starred in a Super Bowl commercial, the musician is now co-starring in a podcast with the former president of the United States.
In the wake of President Biden’s inauguration and former president Trump’s removal from office, the country has seen some difficult times, as Obama talks about in the first episode of the podcast.
This podcast came at a great time to see a former president doing some good and giving some much-needed insight into the divide of the country.
As news of the podcast was released on social media, many of its users celebrated and expressed their excitement for the interesting and unique collaboration.
“Obama and The Boss!! Two terrific men. Melt my heart. And they both care about all of us and work for us through their own mediums. Motivation is all for good,” one Twitter user wrote.
This podcast is not the podcast we needed, but it’s the one we deserved.
The rest of the episodes can be found on Spotify as they are released.
Tomás Diniz Santos is a writer living in Orlando, Florida. He covers news, entertainment, and pop-culture topics.