-Welcome back, everybody.
We are here with the one and only Michelle Obama.
Now...
[ Cheers and applause ]
We're always so happy you come on the show.
Thank you very much. I noticed that you went back --
you went back to the White House recently.
You haven't been back. -No. Wasn't invited.
[ Laughter ]
Ooh, shade.
[ Laughter ]
-Wow. Wow.
I'm adding a chapter right here. Hold on.
-Oh, yeah. -And so you return.
What did it feel like to go back
and you go, "Oh, yeah, I lived a lot of time in this place"?
-We were -- We were good when it was time to go.
No, it was really a beautiful experience
because, you know, that's a tradition.
You do your official portraits.
The next president is supposed to invite you back to hang them.
We were never invited back.
So these pictures had been done for a long, long time.
But it's also a chance for the staff
to come back and reminisce and to be together.
It's a -- It's a ritual. So it was good to see everybody.
It was good to see all of the staff.
I mean, as quiet as it's kept,
my girls lived in the White House
longer they lived any house. -Yeah.
-So that's where they grew up.
So to go back and to see all the staff that are still there,
to see all the people that they grew up with,
it was really --
Well, the girls weren't there at the time,
but it was good for Barack and I to see everyone.
-Do you ever have dreams that you still live there?
-Oh! No. Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to say that like that.
It's like -- No, no, I don't -- I don't have dreams.
-You don't ever go like, "Oh, yeah, I'll go down
the steps here and do that." -No. No. Funny story.
At Biden's inauguration,
all the formers gathered,
and they were doing a public service announcement.
And then we had to leave.
And this is the first time Barack attended --
I think he was there when somebody else's
presidential motorcade was out.
So he walks out, and usually the first car up
is the President, right?
And he goes walking to the first car, and his security is like,
"Sir, um, that's not -- that's not your car."
-Oops. -He's like, "Oh."
He's like, "Okay. Well, where do I go?"
So we had to pass the presidential motorcade,
then the VP, and then we went way back, and then it was ours.
Because you go in descending order.
-You're like, "But I was just..."
-But the thing was, we were so glad
to get in that back motorcade and to go home...
-Yeah. -...to our house.
-To your actual house.
-You know, that's the progress of democracy.
You do your time, you pass it on,
you let the next president lead.
And so it was -- it's kind of a relief.
-In this book,
there's so many great stories about your life,
but there's also tips on how to deal with
what we're dealing with, with everything,
with what we all -- isolation with COVID.
And just everything is kind of touched in this book.
And one thing I loved is "the power of small."
-Yeah, yeah, that's one of the early chapters because --
I wrote this chapter particularly for young people
who are feeling so anxious about the state of the world.
I mean, no wonder.
Climate change, riots on Capitol Hill,
gun violence, on and on.
And these young kids, young kids as young as 15,
are trying to figure out how to solve these problems,
and they're getting all twisted
because they don't yet have the power
because they're trying to bite off too much, too soon.
And so "the power of small" is to focus
on what you can uniquely control.
And for a kid in high school,
it's graduating from high school.
You know, get your education because you can't do that --
You can't end violence in your neighborhood
unless you focus on what's at hand.
So starting small, even for us as adults,
is about focus on your own knitting
because there's power in that.
You know, if each of us just raise the children
we bring into the world --
you know, if we did nothing else but do that --
oh, just imagine where we would be as a nation,
as a human race, if we just took care of that,
if we showed them the love and the focus
and if we put our time and energy into that
instead of trying to solve all the big problems.
So change happens in small bites.
It's not just the big stuff.
-Yeah, because it starts small,
then it goes to a family, then it goes to a community.
And it was great. There's also a chapter
dedicated to "when they go low, we go high."
-Well, people still keep asking me,
"You still mean that?" -Yeah.
But that was -- that was an epic line.
That was just -- It stuck in everyone's head.
Did you realize how powerful that would be years after?
-No, no. I didn't know I'd be known for that line.
But I'm proud of that.
People ask me, do I still -- do I ever go low?
And, yeah, I go low.
-You do. -I go low a lot of times.
But I think for people who have a platform,
who are being looked up to,
we have a responsibility to stay high
because kids are watching us.
If you need to go low, go low at home.
Do it with your kitchen table, with your spouse.
But we set the example, because leaders set the tone.
And we felt what it felt like to be led with low,
and it didn't feel great.
That's why it's important. It's a practice. It's a habit.
It's something we show the next generation,
that we don't -- That doesn't mean we settle.
That doesn't mean we're complacent.
It means we think before we speak,
because words matter, and I still believe that.
And I try the best that I can when I'm in the public eye,
when I know that kids are watching,
to stay high because high begets high.
-That's right.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Now, uh...
you went on a book tour around the country,
and you had amazing conversations
with amazing people.
Our pal Gayle King, who we love. Tyler Perry.
-Lots of great people. -Hoda Kotb.
-David Letterman. -David Letterman.
-Oh, so many. Sure. Conan O'Brien. Sure.
-Alright. Alright. You were busy.
-Yeah, yeah. It's interesting.
But, you know, there's always time
for another book, you know? Um...
But the list is -- Amazing people.
And you turned it into a podcast.
-Yeah. -And this is great.
It's a great thing. You have to listen to it.
It's such great conversation. -"The Light Podcast."
So, for those who missed the book tour,
we've recorded every conversation,
edited down to the best of the best.
And, you know, it touches on the book,
but we also each share our own stories of finding light
and developing friendships and relationships.
It's really a fun set of conversations
that are now on Audible.
-And then you have -- One of the interviews
or the conversations are with Oprah Winfrey.
-The one and only. -Yeah. Oprah Winfrey.
And it airs -- -That Oprah.
-That Oprah.
And it's airing on April 25th on Netflix as a special.
-Yeah, that will be televised because when you're with Oprah,
you just televise it.
-I just feel like, yeah, you have to televise it.
Yeah, but you have actually become friends
with Oprah Winfrey. You guys are really --
-I mean, Oprah was one of the very early supporters
before Barack was even thinking about running.
I mean, she spotted him when he was a U.S. senator.
And she has sort of been --
Oprah is that person who never asks for anything
but is always there with her generosity and love and support.
There isn't anything you can't ask her to do
if you're a friend that she won't try to do.
She is who she appears to be. -Yeah.
-And I am lucky to call her a friend.
-I want to show a clip from your special.
Here's a look at "The Light We Carry:
Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey."
-When you first arrived in Hawaii,
you were looking for -- and I understand why --
You were a working woman and had never been to Hawaii.
So you're looking for the Hawaii in "Hawaii Five-0."
Those of you who remember that show.
-Mai Tais and sunsets on the beach.
-And honeymoon suites. -Instead...
-Yeah, instead, it was a trip home to visit his family.
That's where he was from.
He wasn't going back to some island vacation.
He was going back to be with his people.
But I was young and I was -- It was cold in Chicago,
and I thought, "I'm going to Hawaii with my man.
It's going to be so romantic."
[ Laughter ]
And then we landed, and we went straight
to Toot and Gramps' apartment. No ocean.
It was a high-rise building.
Go up to the 10th floor. You know, walk in.
Looks like my grandparents' house.
Might as well be on the South Side of Chicago.
-[ Laughs ] It's not reality. I love it.
Michelle Obama, everybody.
"The Light We Carry:
Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey"
premieres April 25th on Netflix.
More "Tonight Show" after the break.
Stick around. Thank you, as always.