Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen Launch Spotify Podcast Series

Former U.S. President Barack Obama and rock music idol Bruce Springsteen are the new co-hosts of a Spotify SPOT podcast.

What Happened: The new "Renegades: Born in the USA" podcast is slated for an eight-episode run and will present the co-hosts discussing political, socioeconomic and personal issues. The first two episodes, which went live Monday, find Obama and Springsteen recalling their respective formative years as outsiders and considering the state of race relations in today’s America.

Obama and Springsteen became friends during the 2008 presidential campaign. In 2016, Obama presented Springsteen with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and praised the entertainer by noting how “his songs capture the pain and the promise of the American experience.”

Why It Matters: The new podcast is the latest production between Spotify and Higher Ground, the production company created by Barack and Michelle Obama. Their first endeavor, “The Michelle Obama Podcast,” launched last summer.

"It is a personal, in-depth discussion between two friends exploring their pasts, their beliefs, and the country that they love – as it was, as it is, and as it ought to be going forward," Spotify said in a statement.

See Also: Michelle Obama Launches Instagram Series

The podcast represents Obama’s first public venture following the inauguration of his former vice president, Joe Biden, as the nation’s 46th president.

This also represents Springsteen’s first foray back into public following news from earlier this month that the performer was arrested last November for drunk driving in New Jersey. Following the leak of that news, a television commercial for Jeep featuring Springsteen that premiered during the Super Bowl was abruptly taken off the air by the vehicle’s parent company, Stellantis (STEL).

Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama in a publicity photo released by Spotify.