Michelle Obama spent months airing marital grievances on her IMO podcast to anyone who would listen.
Now Barack wants his own turn at the mic.
Megyn Kelly heard the pitch and immediately had a clinical term for what Barack is doing.
Barack Obama Announces A Great Book Podcast on Audible
Barack Obama announced this week he is hosting A Great Book With Barack Obama, a six-episode series debuting September 24 exclusively on Audible.
The premise: Obama will sit down with six unnamed "luminaries" to discuss six books he says influenced him as a young man – James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses, Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, and John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
That James Baldwin and Toni Morrison top the list will surprise nobody who followed his eight years in office.
"Great books have always helped me figure out who I am," Obama wrote in his announcement.
It is the sixth project released under Obama's Higher Ground media company through its exclusive deal with Audible.
Megyn Kelly was unimpressed.
"I'm bored already," she said on The Megyn Kelly Show, joined by Maureen Callahan, host of The Nerve on MK Media.
"[It's] not current books; [it's] just books that have impacted him over his life," she continued. "[It screams], 'I'm narcissistic. I know you all love me so much. Let me show you how I got this way, and the books that I read 30 years ago.'"
Megyn Kelly Calls Barack Obama's New Podcast Narcissistic
Callahan agreed.
"There is so much he could be doing with his post-presidential life and legacy, and all he wants is to just be a celebrity," she said.
Callahan pointed to Obama's recent cameo in Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, Larry David's HBO sketch series that Higher Ground produced.
"Barack is very wooden and he can't really act," she noted. "It's just like what are we doing here."
Megyn turned to Trump.
"This is why you shouldn't become president too early," she said. "This is why it's better to do it the way Trump did it: Live a big life, accomplish a lot in the world and in business, put your name on things in a way that people remember, and then, if you want to make the presidency your crowning professional achievement when you really don't have anything to lose, I think that's great."
"Your 'give a s***' meter changes when you're at that point in your career," she added. "Barack Obama did it in his young forties and now he wants the job [Maureen] and I have."
Higher Ground – the media empire Barack and Michelle built together – is walking away from Netflix after eight years and more than 20 projects.
The Obama name no longer guarantees a greenlight in Hollywood – the company's own leadership acknowledged as much publicly last year.
Michelle's IMO podcast – where she spent episodes processing her marriage on air alongside her brother Craig Robinson – has not delivered the breakout numbers the Obamas expected.
"Your wife is busy also just wanting to be famous, being a celebrity, being adored and aggrieved, and her podcast is unlistenable," Callahan said. "And nobody is going to go listen to Barack's, like, sizzling podcast."
Megyn had a recommendation for listeners who actually want a quality book show.
"If you want a good podcast on books, you should listen to Dedicated with Doug Brunt," she said. "Which actually talks with authors about their process and their books and it's fun."
Trump put his name on skyscrapers and his face on television for decades before he ever ran for office – and arrived at the presidency with an empire already in place.
Obama left at 55 with a Nobel Peace Prize and the biggest platform in the world – and landed here: six episodes on Audible about books he read before most of his audience had ever heard his name.
Sources:
- Meg Storm, "'I'm Bored Already': Megyn Has Some Issues with Barack Obama's 'Narcissistic' New Podcast," MK Media, August 14, 2026.
- Audible Newsroom, "President Barack Obama to Host 'A Great Book' on Audible," Audible, August 11, 2026.