A Promised Land

A Promised Land is a book by Barack Obama, published in 2020. This Waffle podcast explores the book across 11 episodes.

What turned your search for belonging into a commitment to public service, and what did that commitment demand of your young family? How did building a Senate campaign and learning to serve constituents prepare you to answer Michelle’s question about why you should become president? How did disciplined organization, small-dollar fundraising, and relationships built by field organizers turn the promise of a new politics into an Iowa caucus victory? How did you sustain a multiracial coalition through electoral setbacks and the Reverend Wright controversy while securing the delegates needed to win the nomination? How did the demands of winning the general election intersect with your responsibility to respond to a financial crisis before you held presidential power? Why did you entrust a change agenda to experienced Washington figures, and how did that team navigate congressional constraints to pass the Recovery Act? How did you decide which risks to take in stabilizing the banks and resetting the Afghanistan mission—and where did pragmatism threaten your promise of change? What made healthcare reform worth the political risk, and how did you decide which compromises to accept when the Affordable Care Act appeared doomed? Why did you authorize another troop surge in Afghanistan, and how did the review sharpen your understanding of military advice, civilian control, and responsibility for the lives at stake? After the personal strains and political losses of your first two years, how did you decide what to defend, what to change, and where to compromise? How did you decide that uncertain intelligence justified the bin Laden raid, and why was it easier to unite Americans around that mission than around your domestic agenda?

These episodes are AI-generated adaptations grounded in the book. Listen to the first episode here and continue the series in the Waffle app.