Bruce Springsteen and former President Barack Obama formed an unlikely partnership when they launched their podcast "Renegades: Born in the USA" earlier this year and although the pair have been friends for over a decade, Springsteen admitted he was still taken aback when Obama approached him with the idea.
Springsteen made the revelation while speaking with CBS News' Anthony Mason in an interview set to be aired on "CBS Sunday Morning" and "CBS Mornings" on Sunday and Monday.
"I initially thought that he had gotten a wrong number when he called me," Springsteen said. "And I answered. I said, 'OK ... let me figure this out. I am a high school graduate from Freehold, a guitar-playing, high school graduate from Freehold, New Jersey. And, OK, you want me to do what?'"
Obama, who appeared alongside Springsteen during the interview, explained that the podcast that first aired in February was an extension of dialogues they had already been having.
"And we just ended up being in settings where we'd have these long conversations. 'What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be an American?'" Obama recalled. "These were things that were just kind of popping up over a meal or a drink. And I thought, 'You know what? This might be something that would be useful for folks to hear.'"
The interview comes ahead of the release of Springsteen and Obama's book, also named "Renegades: Born in the USA," which is a reflection of their podcast. In a statement, Penguin Random House announced that the book will be published through its imprint, Crown, and will include frank and open conversations about various topics.
"In 'Renegades: Born in the USA,' readers are invited to sit alongside these two longtime friends, in a recording studio stocked with dozens of guitars and during at least one Corvette ride, as they discuss marriage and fatherhood, race and masculinity, the lure of the open road and the call back to home, some of the most inspiring American heroes of all time, and music," the statement cited by Forbes read. "They talk a lot about music," it added.
Commenting on their latest endeavor, Obama said that, while on the surface he and Springsteen "don't have a lot in common," they had a "shared sensibility."
"About work, about family, and about America," he said, according to Forbes. "In our own ways, Bruce and I have been on parallel journeys trying to understand this country that's given us both so much."
The book, he added, was about them "trying to chronicle the stories of its [America's] people. Looking for a way to connect our own individual searches for meaning and truth and community with the larger story of America."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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