I must say, it’s pretty cool to see the latest podcast interview with Obama released on Valentine’s Day, of all days, hosted by Brian Tyler Cohen (I don’t think the day of love timing was a coincidence, given the stark contrast of his presidency to the current one). www.youtube.com/watch

It’s long at 47 minutes, but worth the entire listen! It’s refreshing to hear him talk again, especially now in 2026. He complimented Bad Bunny’s Superbowl performance, which was cool to see. The thing is, Obama has this magic, charismatic aura. You just can’t help but listen to the guy and like him. There’s just this thoughtful way of public speaking, in how he gives nuance and wisdom to politics. Nothing new there. What did surprise me though was that he talked about the importance of having younger newcomers in politics, and mentioning there’s a time when you “age out” of politics and relating to young people well, as a member of the youngest cohort of baby boomers, now 64 years old (maybe it was a subtle reference to Biden)?

Substantively, as a progressive, while I resonated with Obama’s content here, I do think he downplayed and dismissed the well-documented dangers of so-called “corporate Democrats,” especially with big money in politics, and condemned only the most heinous of ICE’s actions in WAY too mild of terms. I also found it interesting, but very on brand, that he wouldn’t answer which foreign leaders didn’t like as president, but referenced the vast “public record” on it. I’m sure those like Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hamid Karzai rank high on the Obama (honorable no-mention) shit list…