And she’s not above indulging in pop culture to decompress.
Was there anything in pop culture that has served a similar purpose for you?
MICHELLE OBAMA:Oh, music of course.
Penguin Random House
I keep my headphones in my ear.
It is the motivating soundtrack to my world for sure.
So music is that for me.
“Chewbacca the Wookiee, the furry Star Wars character pictured here next to Barack, scared Sasha so badly that she retreated to her bedroom until we assured her he’d left the Halloween party,” Obama writes.Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
I mean, before I’m about to walk in here, there’s music playing in my hold.
It calms me down.
It gets me focused.
It revs me up.
What are you listening to now?
Beyonce’sRenaissanceis on the top of my playlist right now.
I’m loving her new album!
There’s this young jazz, blue-eyed soul kid, Jarrod Lawson, that I’m loving.
Jon Batiste, his latest album, I’m loving that.
What have you binged lately as an escape?
This is the thing about streaming, right?
I loveBlack-ish, Grown-ish, but I thought theGrown-ishseason was off.
The last season ofAtlanta, I finished that.
I didn’t bingeDescendant, but I watchedDescendant.Luckiest Girl Alive, that was pretty powerful.
I was hooked from start to finish!
But that’s not a binge because that’s a movie.
Is there something you and your family like to watch together?
We really loveAbbott Elementary!
It’s so fresh and thoughtful it’s so easy to sit on the couch and watch it together.
Has she gotten over her fear?
It took her a little bit, but she got over it.
It’s funny because Sasha was just like me.
When I was growing up, I had a similar fear stuffed turtles.
Both of us needed the space to realize we had nothing to be afraid of.
We practiced our fears.
We needed to sit with it for a bit.
That’s how we both made it through.
So yes, I’m proud to report that 21-year-old Sasha Obama is no longer afraid of a Wookie.
What’s something in pop culture you’ve been debating with your husband or your daughters?
It’s like, well, what’s with the silk robe for Willy Wonka?
Is that really what Willy Wonka would wear with the top hat?
So I think we had some back and forth on Halloween costumes for them this year.
Reporting by Sandra Sobieraj Westfall.
