Former President Barack Obama and singer Bruce Springsteen are about to give their podcast “Renegades: Born in the USA” a remix. The duo is set to release a 320-page book, which will expand upon the podcast with more than 350 photographs, plus “exclusive bonus content, and never-before-seen archival material.” Renegades: Born in the USA will be released on Oct. 26, 2021. The hardcover book will cost $50 and be published by Penguin Random House, in association with Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground.
“In Renegades: Born in the USA, readers are invited to sit alongside these two longtime friends, in a recording studio stocked with dozens of guitars and during at least one Corvette ride, as they discuss marriage and fatherhood, race and masculinity, the lure of the open road and the call back to home, some of the most inspiring American heroes of all time, and music. … They talk a lot about music,” according to a statement from Penguin Random House.
Other highlights in the book will include Obama’s never-before-seen annotated speeches, including his “Remarks at the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery Marches.” Some of Springsteen’s handwritten lyrics for songs spanning his 50-year career and rare and exclusive photographs from the authors’ personal archives will be added to the reading as well.
In February, Obama and Springsteen launched their eight-episode podcast series called “Renegades: Born in the USA.” The two discussed growing up in America, race relations, politics, fatherhood, music and more.
“Since the podcast was released, we’ve heard from folks who’ve reached out to say something in what they heard connected with them, whether it was the imprint our fathers left on us; or the disappointments and moments of grace that arose as we navigated America’s racial divide; or the joy and redemption that our families have provide us,” explained Obama on Instagram.
“They also asked us questions, wanting to know a little more about the stories we told — which is why we’re releasing ‘Renegades: Born in the USA’ book. In the book, you can read our conversations in full, read the text of speeches, see personal photos, and hand-written song lyrics that track some of the moments described in the podcast, and that serve as reference points for the crisscrossing roads that each of us have traveled,” he wrote.
Check out the trailer for the book on the next page.
