Obama Joins Gladwell on 8-Part Reconstruction Podcast
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- "Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise" is an eight-part History Channel podcast hosted by Malcolm Gladwell and featuring President Barack Obama, produced with Higher Ground, Pushkin Industries, and Audible.
- The series examines the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era beginning in 1865 and its "missed opportunities and complicated legacy," with Obama calling it "a brief but pivotal and turbulent chapter in our nation's history."
- The podcast premieres June 4 exclusively on Amazon's Audible, with all episodes rolling out on major podcast platforms between June 18 and July 16.
- Gladwell draws on archives, letters, diaries, court records, and eyewitness testimonies, alongside scholars and cultural figures including Eric Foner, David Blight, Jelani Cobb, Wyatt Cenac, and Ashley C. Ford; the series opens and closes with a candid Obama-Gladwell conversation.
- The project is part of the History Channel's History Honors 250 campaign leading up to the 250th anniversary of the U.S.
- A+E Global Media, parent of the History Channel, holds worldwide distribution rights; the series marks the latest title under Higher Ground's first-look Audible deal that also produced "Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast" and Peabody winner "Fela Kuti: Fear No Man."
Why it matters: Through its first-look Audible deal, the Obamas' Higher Ground has built a steady slate of star-driven audio projects, adding an eight-part Reconstruction series that debuts on Audible June 4 before wider release through July 16. The Obama-Gladwell pairing positions the podcast as a tentpole piece in the History Channel's History Honors 250 campaign ahead of the nation's semiquincentennial.
