Podcasts are the A-list’s new must-have
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) and Oprah Winfrey. Image: Stringer/AFP
Michelle Obama, Joe Rogan, Demi Moore, Snoop Dogg… It’s hard to keep count of the number of American celebrities branching out into the burgeoning podcast industry. The most recent to date are two very major names: Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey. The renowned talk show host will be discussing new books, while the former president will be meeting with famous Americans.
For her new podcast project, Oprah Winfrey is adapting her legendary Oprah’s Book Club to the audio format. The first season of the new show will focus on the highly successful social history “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by author Isabel Wilkerson.
When it came out in August of this year, Wilkerson’s bestseller was unanimously lauded by the critics and dubbed an “instant American classic” by the New York Times.
The eight pillars of caste described in the book will be the subject of extensive discussions between Oprah Winfrey and Isabel Wilkerson in the “Oprah’s Book Club” podcast, whose first episode dropped online on Tuesday, September 8.
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Several other guests will be joining Oprah Winfrey and Isabel Wilkerson in the course of the eight episodes of the show, which will be released every Tuesday and Thursday on the Apple Podcasts platform.
The Clintons strike back
Fans of podcasts will soon be able to enjoy all of the episodes of “Oprah’s Book Club”, however, they will have to wait until 2021 to discover Bill Clinton’s new offering.
The new format audio program will build on the success of the former president’s previous show “Why Am I Telling You This?”, which he hosted with his daughter Chelsea until October 2019. This initial offering will be remembered for the many high-profile American guests welcomed by the father and daughter duo, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, José Andrés and Dr. Vivek Murthy.
The new podcast will also showcase Bill Clinton’s “gift for storytelling, his ability to explain complex issues in a relatable way,” explains Craig Minassian, the chief communications and marketing officer for the Clinton Foundation.
The new Bill Clinton podcast is in the works and will soon be available on the web. However, the launch date for a much-awaited show with his wife Hilary has yet to be announced. Politico revealed in February that the former Secretary of State had entered into a partnership with iHeartMedia to develop a new format audio program along the lines of “The Michelle Obama Podcast”. NVG
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