{"id":1178,"date":"2026-06-02T11:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2026-06-02T11:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:37:25","slug":"michelle-obama-praises-dave-chappelle-as-one-of-the-smartest-people-on-the-planet-after-imo-podcast-appearance-one-of-our-favorite-guests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1178","title":{"rendered":"Michelle Obama Praises Dave Chappelle as \u2018One of the Smartest People on the Planet\u2019 After \u2018IMO\u2019 Podcast Appearance: \u2018One of Our Favorite Guests\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\nMichelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson brought a live recording of their \u201cIMO\u201d podcast to SXSW London on Tuesday, discussing their career journeys and entering the podcasting space \u2014 and revealing one of their favorite guests so far. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1176\">\u2018Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping\u2019 Star Iona Bell Signs With Paradigm (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe former First Lady said that though she never expected to become a podcast host, the other challenges she\u2019s faced in life unknowingly prepared her for it.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s that courageous thing, right? The feeling that, OK, I guess we can do this because we did all these other things. The bravery makes you brave to try anything at any age,\u201d she said. \u201cI mean, I lived in the White House. I was the First Lady. That wasn\u2019t my plan, I had no training for that. Wasn\u2019t my idea! But we figured it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tObama added: \u201cI figured, if I can be First Lady, I can do a podcast with my brother!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tObama and Robinson launched the \u201cIMO\u201d podcast in March 2025 through her and Barack Obama\u2019s Higher Ground productions, dedicated to \u201cconversations about life, leadership and the challenges we all face,\u201d according to its synopsis. Over the past year or so, they have interviewed guests including Jimmy Kimmel, Dave Chappelle, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ayesha and Steph Curry, Halle Bailey, Conan O\u2019Brien and more.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tDuring the SXSW London conversation, Obama revealed that Chappelle has been \u201cone of our favorite guests\u201d while speaking on the topic of financial freedom. She and Robinson traveled to Yellow Springs, Ohio \u2014 the small town where Chappelle grew up and still lives \u2014 to record the episode, which premiered last month. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1174\">Rosamund Pike Calls Out Audience Member for Texting During West End Performance of \u2018Inter Alia\u2019: \u2018You Know Who You Are\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cDave Chappelle is one of the smartest people on the planet, the funniest, all get out,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce he became himself, he moved back, bought a farm and has raised his family on this farm. One of the questions was, \u2018Why here?\u2019 And he said, \u2018I wanted to have the financial freedom to be courageous.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Bars,\u2019 you know? And that\u2019s the truth, and what I would say to young people and to my girls: Live smaller than you need to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe comedian has been a controversial figure over the last few years due to his jokes about transgender people. When Obama and Robinson asked him about the subject on \u201cIMO,\u201d Chappelle said that the media has gotten his comedy \u201cwrong.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cPeople would think it\u2019s me vs. the gay community. I never looked at it like that,\u201d Chappelle said. \u201cI always thought it was corporate interest and culture negotiating itself. So, you know, most of those people who were critical of what I was doing didn\u2019t seem like they were of it. It\u2019s like they had their faces pressed against the glass, commenting on what we were doing in there, but they weren\u2019t in there doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHe added: \u201cNothing makes a comedian madder than reading his joke wrong in the paper. You know, and reading a joke is nothing like hearing one or being one, and the intention of a comedy show is a very unique intention. We are playing with whatever the culture is made of, and we break it down and we get it right or we get it wrong. But in all art, if it\u2019s going to be good or even hopefully great, you gotta have a margin of error.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tObama\u2019s dive into podcasting comes after the release of her memoir, \u201cBecoming,\u201d which sold over 11.5 million copies. In addition to podcasts like \u201cIMO,\u201d Higher Ground has also been behind the doc \u201cCrip Camp,\u201d the biographical film \u201cRustin\u201d and more.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1172\">Karlovy Vary Film Festival Artistic Director Karel Och Unveils Lineup for 60th Edition: \u2018The Program Boasts Extraordinary Geographical Diversity\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michelle Obama said at SXSW London that Dave Chappelle was one of her favorite podcast guests, calling him one of &#8220;the smartest people on the planet.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1153,1087],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital","tag-michelle-obama-2","tag-sxsw-london-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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