Barack and Bruce speak
A couple of days ago, Spotify dropped the first two episodes of its podcast series featuring Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen called "Renegades: Born in the USA." Recorded starting in late July, 2020, at Springsteen's home in New Jersey, the first episode largely covers their origin stories and how they met, while the 2nd focuses on race. The podcast is, in a word, terrific. It starts with Springsteen offering Obama whiskey. "You need it, you go get it," Bruce says. When they talk about their early meetings, Obama mentions White House dinners, singing Broadway tunes, "and there were libations involved, there was drinking." "That was good," Springsteen chimes in. This seems a bit disquieting, perhaps, considering Bruce's now-dismissed DWI charges from a few months later. The conversation quickly turns serious, warm-hearted, realistic, and to the "deep waters below the stillness" that they found as a common thread betwe...