Tom Hanks and More to Join A GREAT BOOK WITH BARACK OBAMA on Audible

Audible has revealed the guest lineup for A Great Book with Barack Obama, a new original podcast hosted by President Obama. In this intimate series, President Obama sits down with six luminaries to discuss the books that have profoundly shaped his worldview and our society.

The sixth release born out of Audible and Higher Ground's longstanding relationship to produce limited series, A Great Book is a six-episode series that debuts exclusively from Audible on September 24, 2026. A Great Book will also be available on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcasts later this year.

The guests in conversation with President Obama include:

Episode 1

Tom Hanks, Academy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Award-winning actor, on Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Episode 2

Ta-Nehisi Coates, National Book Award-winning author, MacArthur Fellow, and journalist, on The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

Episode 3

Jill Lepore, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist, on All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

Episode 4

Ben Rhodes, former National Security Advisor and author, on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

Episode 5

Percival Everett, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author, on Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Episode 6

Lauren Groff, three-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author, on All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Some books change the way you see the world. In A Great Book with Barack Obama, President Obama is joined by six of the most compelling thinkers, writers, and artists of our time to revisit the books that shaped his life and perspective on the world. Reflecting on identity, power, memory, and culture, the conversations between President Obama and his guests explore one central question: what do the stories we love tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create?