Making Obama: All Episodes

December 27, 2018 12:31 PM

Former President Barack Obama — along with key advisers, mentors, and rivals — tells the story of his climb from Chicago to the national stage. A six-part podcast from WBEZ.

This podcast covers the period between Obama arriving in Chicago in 1985 to his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, and gives a quick primer on politics on the south side of Chicago along the way.

posted by dinty_moore (1 comment total)

I saw this mentioned on some best of list yesterday and ended up mainlining it. I grew up on the south side of Chicago during the period this covers, so that was part of the appeal, but I honestly think that the first few episodes - where they talk about they talk about what happened as a community organizer, the politics of the south side, and how Harold Washington became mayor was the most fascinating part.

It's also interesting to hear how some of the interviewees portrayed outside of their typical political context: Rahm Emanuel, Chuy Garcia, and Tom Dart, for starters. They're sort of given a value-neutral introduction because it's not really about their political career, but I do have to wonder if further knowledge of who these guys are and what they're famous for helps explain their responses.
posted by dinty_moore at 12:55 PM on December 27, 2018 [1 favorite]