The former president tells the rock legend that his father left when he was two and he didn’t meet him until he was ten years old and came to visit for a month.
“I had no way to connect to guy … he’s a stranger who’s suddenly in our house,” Mr Obama says.
Springsteen similarly talks about his own paternal relationship in a project in which the two men discuss their personal life experiences in relation to the larger story of America.
In Renegades: Born in the USA, recorded over several days in 2020 just a few miles from where Springsteen grew up, they begin by reminiscing about their unlikely friendship in the first episode.
They met on the campaign trail in 2008 when Springsteen performed at a rally for Mr Obama.
Episode two covers issues of race in the US. Future editions promise more discussion about their lives, music, and their enduring love of America, despite all of its challenges.
Introducing the podcast on Twitter, Mr Obama wrote: “Last year, I sat down with my good friend Bruce Springsteen for a long and meaningful conversation that touched on so much of what we’re all dealing with these days.”
“I’m excited to share it with you over the next few weeks,” he added.
Mr Obama explains that the origin of the podcast is the stirring of emotions that 2020 brought about having watched three years of the country get angrier and more divided under his successor.
This was then amplified by the onset of the pandemic, the slip-shot government response, the murder of George Floyd, and the violent storming of the Capitol.
“How did we get here?” he asks. “How could we find our way back to a more unifying American story? That topic came to dominate so many of my conversations last year – with Michelle, with my daughters, and with friends. And one of the friends just happened to be Mr Bruce Springsteen.”
