2024
Steven Bartlett says the death of Michelle Obama's mother, Marion Robinson, was recent, in 2024.
“How did that loss impact the family? It's 2024, so it's fairly recent.”
Topic
Michelle Obama
23 facts from 1 episode, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
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Michelle Obama grew up in an upstairs apartment of a bungalow on Chicago's South Side owned by her great aunt Robbie and Robbie's husband Terry.
“It was a single family home, a bungalow on the south side of Chicago, and our aunt Robbie was married to, uh, her husband, Terry, and they owned the home.”
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Michelle Obama says her father worked for the city of Chicago and had no college education.
“Because my father was a city worker, he was a working class guy, didn't have a college education.”
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Michelle Obama says her father had multiple sclerosis and used a cane throughout her childhood.
“even though he had multiple sclerosis and walked with, uh, a assistance, he had a cane when we were younger”
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Michelle Obama skipped second grade after testing prompted by her mother's complaint about a chaotic classroom.
“Got the results and the results proved that I could skip 2nd grade and it was a lifesaver for me.”
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Michelle Obama defines white flight as white residents selling their homes en masse when Black families begin moving into a neighborhood.
“When black people sort of start making their way up socioeconomically and can buy homes or rent homes in neighborhoods that are predominantly white.”
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Michelle Obama says that at Princeton she realized wealth, legacy and athletic preferences also influence admissions.
“there's all kinds of affirmative action that I that never talk about. You know, there's wealth and legacy, uh, there there's athletic, uh, affirmative action.”
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Michelle Obama says her first-year associate salary at a corporate law firm exceeded her parents' combined income.
“So at that age, as I started as a 1st year associate, I was making more than my parents made combined”
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Michelle Obama's college friend Suzanne died of lymphoma within months of her diagnosis, around the time Michelle's father also died.
“one of my best friends from from college, uh, Suzanne, um, died of, uh, lymphoma, and it was sudden. She was diagnosed in December and she died in May.”
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Michelle Obama was a first-year associate assigned to advise Barack Obama when he joined her firm as a summer associate.
“I was a 1st year associate, so they tried to pair 1st years, sort of w with with new summer associates.”
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Barack Obama's first date with Michelle included a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago and lunch at the museum.
“And we went to the Art Institute, where he showed me his suave, you know, view of art. And we had lunch at the museum.”
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In a letter read by Steven Bartlett, Valerie says she offered Michelle Obama a job on the spot when Michelle was 27.
“I was so in awe of her clarity of purpose, determination and vulnerability that I offered her a job on the spot.”
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Michelle Obama says that when she and Barack were engaged, their combined student loan payments exceeded their mortgage payment.
“we were cobbling together our payments for our student loans at the time, which were more than our mortgage”
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Michelle Obama cites Dr. Sharon Malone as explaining that women are born with a finite number of eggs that decline each month.
“she reminded us that women we are born with a finite set of eggs and we don't get any more, and every month we're losing them.”
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Michelle Obama says the IVF she underwent was not covered by insurance at the time.
“now it's time for IVF, um, if you can afford it, which it wasn't covered by insurance at the time.”
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Michelle Obama says the First Family pays for its own food and travel in the White House, though not for housing and staff.
“you're paying for every food, every bit of food that you eat, you, you know, y, you're not paying for housing and the staff in it, but everything, even travel.”
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Michelle Obama says the family had to pay for her daughters' travel on the first lady's plane when they were not traveling with the president.
“If you're not traveling with the president, if your kids are coming on a bright star, which is the first lady's plane, we had to play pay for their travel to be on the plane.”
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Michelle Obama says her main condition for supporting Barack's run was that he quit smoking, along with financial security.
“I told him that he definitely had to quit smoking because he was still toying with smoking.”
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Michelle Obama says her daughters began their new school in second and fifth grade escorted by armed Secret Service agents they did not know.
“So they started school in second grade and fifth grade in armed cars with primarily men with guns going into a new school, um, strangers that they did not know.”
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Michelle Obama fought to keep two consistent Secret Service detail leaders with her daughters until they became teenagers.
“It was important for me that we find uh, two detail leaders that stayed with the girls for most of their time until they became teenagers.”
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Michelle Obama says her mother Marion Robinson was the center of the White House household, mothering staff and family.
“Everyone came to her door and sat in her room and sucked up her wisdom.”
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Michelle Obama describes the IMO podcast she hosts with her brother Craig Robinson as a way of offering back mentoring and advice.
“in my opinion, our podcast is sort of that offering back.”
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Michelle Obama says she chose not to attend Trump's inauguration because she decided she had done enough of always doing the expected right thing.
“I think I just told myself, I think I've done enough of that, and if I haven't, then I never will.”
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