Former President Barack Obama has shared end-of-year lists of his favourite songs, movies and books of the year, and he’ll make you wish you (or your parents) were this cool.
Highlights from his list of favourite songs of 2018 include ‘Make Me Feel’ by Janelle Monáe (what, not ‘Pynk’???), ‘Apeshit’ by The Carters, and ‘Need A Little Time’ by our very own Courtney Barnett. What?! Courtney has officially made it, if a former US President (and one of the more tolerable ones) is recommending her stuff. Huge.
As for his favourite movies, the list includes Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Roma and Annihilation.
Cinephiles have a lot of opinions about what was left off this list.
Me learning Obama didn't love First Reformed pic.twitter.com/64j4V9mbAn
— Jacob Shamsian (@JayShams) December 28, 2018
Gonna assume you haven't seen Into the Spiderverse. https://t.co/UOWOdO5Kgi
— Nathanael (@nateschmitz_) December 28, 2018
Barack Obama has such good taste in movies lol but his Simple Favor erasure is unacceptable pic.twitter.com/PCrCnXMPvW
— Robert Kessler (@robertkessler) December 28, 2018
Personally, I’m upset that The Favourite isn’t on there.
The last list he shared was his list of favourite books, and topping the list is Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming, because he’s nothing if not a supportive husband.
Also included were Zadie Smith’s Feel Free, An American Marriage by Tayari Jones and There There by Tommy Orange, which, coincidentally, I am currently reading, and thoroughly enjoying.
An interesting inclusion is Why Liberalism Failed by political scientist and professor Patrick Deneen. Its inclusion is interesting because, at least according to one Twitter user, much of Deneen’s argument could be seen as blaming Obama for liberalism’s failures.
Not surprised by Obama's great ear for music (Fatoumata Diawara!) but interesting he chose among books Patrick Deneen's 'Why Liberalism Failed.' Much of Deneen's argument could be seen as faulting Obama – calling liberalism an 'anti-culture' hostile to local religious belief https://t.co/24UELGevS2
— Shaun Tandon (@shauntandon) December 28, 2018
Evidently, unlike other, more recent Presidents, Obama doesn’t avoid criticism or different viewpoints. According to his book list, at least.
So there you go. If you wanted some recommendations for things to consume over the summer, look no further than this 57-year-old man’s Instagram.