Podcast of the Day — February 24
Barak Obama and Bruce Springsteen — Renegades: Born in the USA — Spotify — 2021
Barak Obama and Bruce Springsteen — Renegades: Born in the USA — Spotify — 2021
24.February.2021
Barak Obama & Bruce Springsteen
Renegades: Born in the USA
Spotify
2021
There is something dubious about two of the most recognized and successful people in the world …ever, sitting down to chat about being “outsiders” or “renegades.”
Once you set that aside, what you hear are two men talking about their life experiences — wildly different but similar.
Even though only two episodes are currently available (come on Spotify, get with it!), what comes across is that Obama and Springsteen, before they are what they are now, were — and remain — just guys.
And that’s the charm of the show.
The first episode tackles that feeling of being an “outsider.” It seems hard to think that one of the biggest rock stars ever, and one of the most revered and respected politicians, ever consider themselves to be “outsiders.”
A child of mixed race, growing up in Hawaii, well, that’s gotta lend itself to feeling like an “outsider.” But a white Irish-Catholic and a working-class kid from Freehold, New Jersey? Come on.
Springsteen’s “outsider” feeling stems from his relationship with his father. In recent years, Springsteen has opened up about his own issues with depression and with his father’s illness — this is the first time I’ve heard him refer to his father as “schizophrenic.”
Growing up in the 60s with a sporadically employed mentally ill man at a time when mental health issues were not just misunderstood but flagrantly ignored. The work that goes into masking mental illness, even today, is …hard work. So yea, that certainly qualifies Springsteen as an“outsider.”
Despite their status and achievements, you get the feeling that this is still something they both struggle with. It also sounds as though it serves as one of the firmaments of their friendship and their chosen professions.
Renegades: Born in the USA was recorded last year between July and December, and that first episode has a lead-in from Obama talking about all that had taken place in the last few months.
In this first episode, Obama explains that he was coming from giving the eulogy for Representative John Lewis. Naturally, and like so much of conversations today, the conversation slides into race.
It’s Springsteen who even acknowledges how hard it is to talk about race. And he peels back some real personal feelings and very insightful perspectives. After a very long silence, he says: “Why is it so hard to talk about race? To talk about race, you have to talk about your differences. To talk about race, you have to talk about, um, to some degree (long pause) deconstructing the myth of the melting pot.”
What makes this podcast so interesting is the very thing you would think it would make it self-serving and self-indulgent.
Two of the biggest names in culture, one political and one musical, talking. But it’s much more than that. Obviously, they have a deep and genuine friendship and respect for one another that comes through. What they also have, and highlight in Renegades: Born in the USA, is the one thing we all have in common — we’re all just people trying to do the best we can.
This first episode's full title is: “Outsiders: An Unlikely Friendship,” and after listening, it’s not that unlikely. They may be “outsiders,” but they found each other, and it’s nice to hear two of the most recognized and successful people …ever open up to each other and speak frankly.