Former President Barack Obama is making another major move in the media world, returning to podcasting with a new series focused on literature as he and former First Lady Michelle Obama continue expanding the media operation they built after leaving the White House.

Obama announced Monday that he will host a six-episode podcast titled **“A Great Book With Barack Obama,”** with the series set to debut this month.

The podcast will explore six books that Obama says helped shape his views on politics, race, faith and American society, giving the former president another platform to discuss the ideas and cultural issues that have defined much of his public career.

“At a time when fewer people are able to sit down with a book, it’s important to remember the joy and power that can come from reading,” Obama wrote in a social media post announcing the project.

“And some books don’t just tell a story — they change the way we see the world,” he added.

Each episode will center on a different book, with Obama and his guests discussing why the works continue to resonate and what lessons they believe readers can draw from them today.

The six books selected for the series are James Baldwin’s **“The Fire Next Time,”** Toni Morrison’s **“Song of Solomon,”** Cormac McCarthy’s **“All the Pretty Horses,”** Marilynne Robinson’s **“Gilead,”** Robert Penn Warren’s **“All the King’s Men”** and John le Carré’s **“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”**

Obama said the series will also feature conversations with invited guests.

“I invited some friends to explore why these books resonate, how they can shape our understanding of ourselves and each other, and why literature matters now more than ever,” he said.

The subject matter is hardly disconnected from Obama’s years in politics.

Several of the authors on his list wrote extensively about race, political power, morality and American identity — subjects that have also occupied a central place in Obama’s speeches, books and political career.

Obama also had a personal connection with Toni Morrison.

As president, he awarded the Nobel Prize-winning author the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Following Morrison’s death in 2019, Obama described her as a close friend.

The new podcast will be distributed through Audible and produced in partnership with **Higher Ground**, the media company Barack and Michelle Obama launched in 2018.

It marks yet another expansion of the Obamas’ sizable post-White House media presence.

Higher Ground has already assembled a growing collection of films, documentaries and audio programs. Previous projects include Michelle Obama’s **“The Light Podcast,”** the documentary **“American Factory,”** the Netflix film **“Leave the World Behind”** and **“Rustin,”** the biographical drama centered on civil rights leader Bayard Rustin.

Barack Obama has also remained closely associated with books since leaving the White House in 2017, regularly publishing annual lists highlighting his favorite books, movies and music.

The new podcast takes that tradition significantly further.

Instead of simply publishing a reading list for his millions of followers, Obama will now have an entire episode to discuss each selected work, the ideas contained within it and why he believes those ideas remain relevant.

His selections stretch across decades and genres.

They range from Baldwin’s examination of race in America and Warren’s novel about political power to McCarthy’s Western fiction and le Carré’s Cold War espionage story.

But Obama’s return to the microphone also comes at a politically consequential moment.

The 2026 midterm elections are rapidly approaching, and an enormous financial battle is already underway over control of the United States Senate.

The Senate Leadership Fund, the powerful Republican super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, says it and its affiliated organizations have raised more than **$500 million** ahead of the 2026 elections.

According to SLF, that represents more money than any previous Senate-focused political effort.

The organization alone has already committed more than **$350 million** to supporting Republican Senate candidates across the country.

Republican groups have spent months assembling a massive financial operation aimed at defending the GOP Senate majority while forcing Democrats to compete across an increasingly expensive electoral map.

SLF is targeting pivotal Senate contests in states including **Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and North Carolina**, while directing additional resources toward other competitive races.

Republicans are seeking not only to defend their existing majority but potentially add seats.

“Thanks to Leader John Thune and our generous investors, Senate Leadership Fund and its affiliated groups have raised more resources than any other Senate effort in history,” SLF Executive Director Alex Latcham said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The original report also pointed to financial pressure facing Democrats, noting that the Democratic National Committee used its headquarters building as collateral for a $15 million loan over the summer.

For Republican groups, the fundraising numbers are being presented as evidence that there is no reason to ease up as Election Day approaches.

“However, we cannot slow down as Chuck Schumer and Radical Democrats seek to take our nation back to open borders, rampant crime and crushing inflation,” Latcham added.

Against that backdrop, Obama is once again expanding his public platform.

Nearly a decade after leaving the White House, the former president continues to maintain a prominent presence through books, speeches, political appearances and the growing entertainment operation he and Michelle Obama have built through Higher Ground.

Now, he is adding another microphone.

And with the battle for Congress intensifying ahead of the 2026 midterms, Obama’s latest media venture arrives at a moment when the political fight over the direction of the country is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Dolly Parton had one final message for the music world — and it was delivered after her death.

The country music legend appeared on screen Wednesday night during the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards, where she was posthumously honored with the Americana Lifetime Achievement Award.

Parton died Aug. 25 at the age of 80 following what was described as a “brief battle with cancer.”

But before her death, Parton had recorded a video accepting the prestigious honor. When it played before the audience Wednesday night, fans were given one more chance to hear from the woman whose unmistakable voice, personality and songwriting helped define generations of American music.

And in classic Dolly fashion, she opened simply.

“Well, hey, it’s Dolly. I’m honored to be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association.”

Parton then looked back at where it all began — in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, surrounded by the roots music that would eventually help propel her from humble beginnings to worldwide fame.

“I mean, roots music, or what is now called Americana music, is what I grew up playing back in the Smoky Mountains,” Parton continued. “It’s that same music that drew me back to East Tennessee in 1997 to write and record my album, Hungry Again. And that project really opened the door to a series of bluegrass and acoustic albums that changed the course of my career in so many ways.”

Those projects brought Parton back to the acoustic sounds of her childhood while introducing her music to another generation of listeners.

Looking back, Parton recognized just how important that chapter had become.

“Now, new fans discovered these albums, new Americana music communities embraced them, and now looking back at it all, I see this era of my career as a musical renaissance of sorts,” Parton said. “I want to thank everyone at the AMA for recognizing me with this award. It’s a great honor truly, and just know that I will always love you.”

Those final words carried unmistakable weight.

“I will always love you” wasn’t merely a farewell. It was also a poignant reference to one of the most famous songs Parton ever wrote — turning the closing moments of her prerecorded acceptance into an especially emotional goodbye.

The tribute didn’t end there.

Dolly Parton posthumously accepts award in pre-recorded Lifetime Achievement speech 🤍 pic.twitter.com/dRzCHuzc0Q

— TMZ (@TMZ) September 17, 2026

Longtime friend and fellow country music icon Emmylou Harris took the stage to remember Parton’s extraordinary journey from a young Tennessee singer with enormous ambitions to one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world.

Harris recalled the pivotal moment in 1967 when Parton joined Porter Wagoner’s television program, an opportunity that helped introduce her to a national audience.

But Harris made clear that Parton was never destined to remain in someone else’s shadow.

“In 1967, Dolly got a good start on her big dream when she landed a gig as the girl singer with Porter Wagoner. Their duets were a hit on the show and on the charts, but Dolly was nobody’s sidekick. She wanted more and she deserved more, and she set out to get it always, always on her own terms,” Harris, 79, said. “And we all know what happened when Dolly set her sights on something.”

What happened was a career that exploded far beyond the boundaries of country music.

Parton became a crossover pop success, a movie star and an internationally recognized entertainer while maintaining the East Tennessee identity that remained central to her public image and music.

Her songwriting alone established an enormous legacy. But Harris reminded the audience that Parton’s talents went far beyond the songs she wrote.

“She was one of our all-time greatest songwriters, but she shined just as brightly on stage,” Harris shared. “She lit up the TV screen and then she, she lit up the movie screen.”

Then there was the personality.

Parton’s ability to move an audience with a song and, moments later, make that same audience laugh became one of the trademarks of her decades in the spotlight.

“Her stunningly beautiful, pure mountain voice could make us cry and then crack us up with a well-aimed, sometimes body joke,” Harris said. “There was nothing Dolly couldn’t do, and so she did it.”

The evening’s tribute ultimately returned to the music.

Brandi Carlile and I’m with Her performed Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors,” one of the songs most closely associated with her upbringing and remarkable journey from the Smoky Mountains to international superstardom.

Parton was honored alongside other recipients at Wednesday’s ceremony, including Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant.

But it was Parton’s own prerecorded words that provided one of the night’s most poignant moments.

A final appearance. A final thank-you.

And an ending that could hardly have been more fitting:

“Just know that I will always love you.”

A stunning new development in the death of actress Hayden Panettiere is raising questions about whether a single pill may have been enough to end her life.

Investigators reportedly suspect the 36-year-old “Heroes” and “Nashville” star took what she believed was oxycodone — but that the pill may have been contaminated with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Now authorities are reportedly focusing attention on the person suspected of supplying Panettiere with drugs before her death.

Multiple law enforcement sources told TMZ that Panettiere apparently met with her alleged longtime drug dealer in Los Angeles before traveling to South Carolina.

Just days later, she was dead.

Panettiere died Aug. 16 at a temporary residence in Greenville, South Carolina, only five days before what would have been her 37th birthday.

First responders discovered the actress unresponsive and in cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful.

Investigators reportedly believe Panettiere took a single pill on the morning she died. Sources suspect that pill was oxycodone contaminated with fentanyl, an extraordinarily potent synthetic opioid.

But one crucial question remains unanswered.

Panettiere’s official cause and manner of death have not yet been determined. Authorities are awaiting toxicology results, and an autopsy reportedly found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death.

The investigation has now expanded beyond the circumstances inside the South Carolina residence.

According to TMZ, authorities were “zeroing in on a potential drug dealer,” while Drug Enforcement Administration officials in both Los Angeles and South Carolina have reportedly become involved.

Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was also staying at the South Carolina residence and had traveled there with her from Los Angeles.

Hickerson has reportedly met with DEA officials, but he has not been accused or charged in connection with Panettiere’s death.

Exactly what he told investigators remains unclear.

According to a police report, Hickerson previously showed authorities a “bag of medication” that Panettiere had with her.

The names of the medications were redacted from the report, although the document appeared to identify nine separate drugs.

The circumstances surrounding Panettiere’s death are especially heartbreaking in light of her years of remarkably candid disclosures about addiction.

The former child star had publicly discussed her struggles with drugs and alcohol, including in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” released just three months before her death.

Panettiere previously said she was only 15 years old when someone on her team began giving her what she described as “happy pills” ahead of red-carpet appearances.

“They were to make me peppy during interviews,” she told People magazine in 2022.

Looking back, Panettiere said she did not understand the consequences of what was happening at such a young age.

“I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”

As she grew older, she said the situation became increasingly difficult to control.

“But things kept getting out of control [off set],” she admitted.

“And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”

Panettiere also revealed that her problems with alcohol intensified while she struggled with postpartum depression following the 2014 birth of her daughter, Kaya, whom she shared with former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Eventually, the physical consequences became impossible to ignore.

The actress was hospitalized with jaundice as her liver function deteriorated.

“Doctors told me my liver was going to give out,” she said.

The warning became even more dire.

“A doctor told me that if I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead within five years,” she revealed in her book.

Now, investigators are trying to determine exactly what happened during Panettiere’s final hours — and whether a pill she may have believed was oxycodone was actually contaminated with fentanyl.

Until toxicology testing is completed, that remains an investigative theory rather than an officially established cause of death.

But if investigators’ suspicions are confirmed, the actress’s death could have come down to a devastatingly small amount of a drug she may never have intended to take.