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Barack Obama's 2018 favorites include Michelle's book and Cardi B

Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Former President Barack Obama posted his year-end list of his favorite books, movies, and music that he found "most though-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved" on Facebook Friday morning.

Details: Obama's favorite book was his wife Michelle's, "Becoming" ("obviously my favorite!" he wrote). He also gave a shout out to movies like "Black Panther" and "Eighth Grade," as well as songs such as "I Like It" by Cardi B and Prince's "Mary Don't You Weep."

Some of Obama's mentionable favorites:

Books
  • "An American Marriage" by Tayari Jones
  • "The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die" by Keith Payne
  • "Educated" by Tara Westover
  • "Factfulness" by Hans Rosling
  • "A Grain of Wheat" by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
  • "How Democracies Die" by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
  • "In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History" by Mitch Landrieu
  • "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
  • "The New Geography of Jobs" by Enrico Moretti
  • "The World As It Is" by Ben Rhodes
Movies
  • "Annihilation"
  • "Black Panther"
  • "BlacKkKlansman"
  • "Burning"
  • "The Death of Stalin"
  • "Eighth Grade"
  • "Minding the Gap"
  • "Roma"
  • "Support the Girls"
  • "Won’t You Be My Neighbor"
Music
  • "Apes••t" by The Carters
  • "Bad Bad News" by Leon Bridges
  • "Every Time I Hear That Song" by Brandi Carlile
  • "I Like it" by Cardi B (feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin)
  • "Kevin's Heart" by J. Cole
  • "Make Me Feel" by Janelle Monáe
  • "One Trick Ponies" by Kurt Vile
  • "Wait by the River" by Lord Huron
  • "Wow Freestyle" by Jay Rock (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
  • "The Great American Songbook" by the late Nancy Wilson

See his full list here.

Go deeper

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Trump revokes ethics order barring former aides from lobbying

Photo: Spencer Platt via Getty

Shortly after pardoning members of Congress and lobbyists convicted on corruption charges, President Trump revoked an executive order barring former officials from lobbying for five years after leaving his administration.

Why it matters: The order, which was signed eight days after he took office, was an attempt to fulfill his campaign promise to “drain the swamp.”

  • But with less than 12 hours left in office, Trump has now removed those limitations on his own aides.
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Why it matters: Broidy was a deputy finance chair for the Republican National Committee early in Trump’s presidency, and attempted to leverage his influence in the Trump administration on behalf of his clients. The president's decision to pardon Broidy represents one last favor for a prominent political ally.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
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59 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Trump grants flurry of last-minute pardons

Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

President Trump issued 73 pardons and commuted the sentences of 70 individuals, hours from leaving office early Wednesday, hours from leaving office.

Why it matters: It's a last-minute gift to some of the president's loyalists and an evident use of executive power with only hours left of his presidency. Axios reported in December that Trump planned to grant pardons to "every person who ever talked to me."

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