2019 Essence Festival - Day 2© GettyImages

Michelle Obama shares a rare peek at her family in her Washington D.C. home

The former First Lady’s podcast teaches us a lot about her


OCTOBER 22, 2020 4:11 PM EDT

Since America was introduced to the Obama family more than a decade ago, fans of the former first family have been trying to get a peek at their personal lives in any way they can. Luckily, since they left the White House in 2017,  Michelle Obama  and  Barack Obama  have been doing a number of different projects that allow us to get little glimpses into their lives every now and then.

One of the most personal projects for the former First Lady is her new podcast, The Michelle Obama Podcast, which she launched this summer. Since starting the series, she has done episodes with her husband, Barack, Michele Norris, Dr. Sharon Malone, and Conan O’Brien.

The fourth episode of Obamas’s podcast features her brother, Craig Robinson, who the Chicago native is very close with. Following their episode together, the former First Lady posted a photo that gives us a look inside of the “studio” where they film The Michelle Obama Podcast, which is really just her home office.

“So much of who I am and how I exist in the world is because of my relationship with my big brother, @CraigMalRob,” she wrote in her caption. “He‘s my best friend––and we have some great stories to tell. I can’t wait for you to hear some of them tomorrow on The #MichelleObamaPodcast.”

This photo gives us a rare, intimate look at Michelle’s home office, which is located at their home in Washington D.C. The Obamas purchased the house in 2018. This very home is where she and the rest of her family stayed for the majority of the pandemic, before recently relocating to the family‘s vineyard in Massachusetts.

While the space is very simple and modest, what’s most noticeable in the photo--beside the huge smiles on their faces--are the several nods to Michelle and Barack Obama‘s production company, Higher Ground. A framed picture with the company’s logo hanging on the wall matches perfectly with the branded cups both Michelle and her brother, Craig are drinking out of.

During the actual episode of the podcast, the siblings opened up about what their childhood was like, growing up in Chicago. In a very personal moment, Craig even told a story about the first time his sister let her family meet her then-boyfriend, Barack.

“You drove in your nice black Saab, and you were driving of course, and he gets out of the passenger side, and I remember the first thing mom said, ‘Oh, he’s tall, he’s kind of good looking,’” Robinson recalled.

Michelle also ended up asking her brother to play some basketball with her now-husband so that he could “check out” his character, where he obviously passed with flying colors.