Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, premiered their podcast "IMO" at London's SXSW festival on Tuesday, discussing their career paths and how they got into the podcasting world, as well as naming one of their favorite guests.
The former first lady said that while she never expected to become a podcast host, other life challenges she faced unknowingly prepared her for it.
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«"That's courage, isn't it? The feeling that, like, we can do this because we've been through so much. Courage makes you able to try anything at any age," she said. "I lived in the White House. I was First Lady. This wasn't part of my plan; I had no training for it. It wasn't my idea! But we did it.".
Obama added: "I thought, if I can be First Lady, I might as well do a podcast with my brother!"«
Obama and Robinson launched the "IMO" podcast in March 2025 as part of Higher Ground Productions, a project co-founded by her and Barack Obama. According to the synopsis, the podcast is dedicated to "conversations about life, leadership, and the challenges we all face." Over the past year, they have interviewed guests such as Jimmy Kimmel, Dave Chappelle, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ayesha and Steph Curry, Halle Bailey, Conan O'Brien, and many others.
During a conversation at SXSW in London, Obama said Chappelle was "one of our favorite guests" when discussing financial freedom. She and Robinson traveled to Yellow Springs, Ohio—the small town where Chappelle grew up and still lives—to record the episode, which premiered last month.
«"Dave Chappelle is one of the smartest people on the planet, the funniest, just incredible," she said. "When he finally came into his own, he came back, bought a farm, and raised his family on it. One of the questions was, 'Why here?' And he said, 'I wanted to have financial freedom so I could be bold.' And I thought, 'Bars,' you know? And it's true, and that's what I would tell young people and my daughters: live modestly, without spending a lot of money.".
In recent years, the comedian has become a controversial figure for his jokes about transgender people. When Obama and Robinson asked him about it on "IMO," Chappelle said the media had misinterpreted his humor.
«"People might think this is a standoff between me and the gay community. I've never seen it that way," Chappelle said. "I've always thought it was corporate interests and culture negotiating with itself. So, you know, most of the people who criticized what I did didn't seem like they were supporters of it. It was like they had their faces pressed against the glass, commenting on what we were doing, but they weren't there themselves.".
He added, "Nothing angers a comedian more than getting a newspaper joke wrong. You know, reading a joke is completely different from hearing it or being the joke, and the premise of a comedy show is very unique. We play with what constitutes culture, we analyze it, and we either get it right or we get it wrong. But in any art, if it's to be good or even, hopefully, great, there has to be a certain margin of error.".
Obama's foray into podcasting followed the release of her memoir, "Becoming," which sold over 11.5 million copies. In addition to podcasts like "IMO," Higher Ground also worked on the documentary "Crip Camp," the biopic "Rustin," and other projects.
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