Podcast Summary: "Surrender to the Process"

Podcast: IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
Episode: Surrender to the Process with Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad
Date: January 28, 2026
Host: Higher Ground

Overview

In this uplifting and vulnerable episode, Michelle Obama and her brother Craig Robinson sit down with creative power couple Jon Batiste (musician, composer, bandleader) and Suleika Jaouad (writer, artist, cancer survivor). The conversation traces their unique upbringings, creative processes, and experiences with adversity—both personal and familial—culminating in wisdom on surrendering to life’s unpredictable journey. The episode centers around how to remain authentic, resilient, and connected, even in the face of uncertainty, illness, and creative doubt.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Upbringing

• Suleika’s Multicultural Childhood

  • First-generation American with Tunisian and Swiss parents; moved often until age 12 ([05:28]-[05:42])
  • Navigated feelings of being a misfit and played the "translator" for her family into American culture ([19:43])
  • “As beautiful and enriching as it was to have this multicultural, interfaith household, I think as a little kid, all you want is to be normal. You wanna fit in.” —Suleika [06:03]

• Jon’s New Orleans Family & Musical Roots

  • Grew up in a musical family, with encouragement from his mother to try various pursuits before focusing on piano ([13:36]-[14:23])
  • “My mom…would always come home with a new offering of tutelage for us… But you are a piano player. And I’m gonna take you to these lessons every Saturday morning.” —Jon [14:13]

2. The Meeting: Band Camp Origins & Reconnection

• Suleika and Jon meet at band camp in Saratoga Springs as pre-teens ([07:09]-[07:29])
  • Jon, shy and reserved; Suleika, more outgoing
• Memorable Observations
  • “I saw Suleika wearing Birkenstocks. That was the first time I saw somebody wearing Birkenstocks.” —Jon [07:22]
  • “At the end of summer recital, Jon played a solo and it was like the entire audience took in a collective inhale.” —Suleika [12:23]
• Reconnected by chance on a NYC subway in their teens
  • “I turned to my friend Michelle and I said, I know that guy. That’s Jon Batiste from band camp. And then out of nowhere, I said, that’s the man I’m going to marry someday.” —Suleika [32:28]-[32:41]

3. Identity, Assimilation, and Coming of Age

• Navigating Multiple Cultures

  • Suleika describes feeling responsible for helping her family assimilate and dealing with the complexities of cultural identity, including the balancing act of fitting in at school ([19:43]-[22:44])
  • Kept lists of American idioms to fit in, e.g., “talk to the hand” ([21:38]-[22:04])

• Accepting Misfit Status

  • Both guests reflect on moments they stopped trying to fit in and embraced their uniqueness (“being smart is actually the coolest thing I can do”—Suleika [24:36])

• No Final Arrival

  • “I’m now of the opinion that life is just a series of coming of age arcs. There’s no ‘there’ there where you get to a place and you’re like, this is who I am, this is what I’m doing.” —Suleika [28:22]

4. Creative Process, Music, and Inevitability

• The Divine Nature of Music
  • “There’s a power to what we do. It comes from the divine stream of consciousness where all creative comes from. And we’re the vessel… each note and the next note… it's inevitable.” —Jon [27:03]
  • On not commodifying or manipulating art: “When we’re true to that, there’s a purity to that connection.” —Jon [27:03]
• Defining “Social Music” and “Stay Human” Band
  • Jon shares his philosophy for music that draws on varied folk traditions and aims to foster connection ([35:39]-[36:20])
  • “It was performance attire, but it was more than that. It was a form of expressing the identity… discovering in the sound, in the look.” —Jon on his early style [34:51]
• Suleika’s Creativity During Illness
  • After her leukemia diagnosis, Suleika began a journaling project that led to a published column ([28:22]-[29:41])
  • “While I couldn’t be a war correspondent in the way I thought, I was reporting from the front lines of my hospital bed.” —Suleika [29:22]

5. Building a Life Together Amidst Illness and Uncertainty

• Their Approach to Partnership
  • Early in their relationship, Jon and Suleika wrote letters to each other to deepen their understanding and connection ([42:01]-[43:47])
  • “You just decide that we’re in it. However it needs to be set up, and it’s going to be ever evolving… you got to know that the person you’re with is not going to quit.” —Jon [40:39]
  • “There’s no longer that question of, am I in or am I out? But if this is the person I’m going to be with, how do I move forward as productively as possible?” —Suleika [42:01]
  • They integrate Suleika’s illness without letting it define their relationship.

6. Journaling as Self-Discovery and Daily Practice

• The Book of Alchemy
  • Suleika explains her new book about journaling, featuring prompts and essays ([45:42]-[46:53])
  • “I’m of the opinion that there are no rules when it comes to journaling…” —Suleika [47:44]
• Michelle and Craig’s Personal Practices
  • Michelle shares she kept oral “journals” (recorded, transcribed interviews) during the White House years, which became essential to writing her book Becoming ([47:56]-[50:52])
  • “When life is moving so fast… you don’t remember any of your teens. And a lot of that is because you’ve packed so much life in.” —Michelle [49:53]
  • Craig reflects on keeping a small memory book after his mother’s passing ([47:56])

7. Audience Question: Illness, Family, and Self-Care

• Listener Sharon asks about balancing her multiple sclerosis with caring for her daughter and self ([51:43])
• Impact of Parental Illness on Michelle & Craig
  • Growing up with their father's disability made Michelle more aware of vulnerability, while for Craig it created “a place of fear” ([52:34]-[54:07])
• Self-Care Lessons from Illness
  • Suleika, as both patient and caregiver, stresses making space for fear but not letting it dominate: “You have to actively figure out how to be in relationship with the fear that’s there because it’s there.” ([56:43])
  • Recommends starting each day with a “to feel list” before a to-do list—clarifying desires and self-care ([58:08])
  • Jon: “You don’t have to martyr yourself in service of those you love. In fact, that’s a disservice to those you love.” ([60:57])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Assimilation:
  “I felt like the translator of, you know, this American culture that we were trying to assimilate into… I felt this maybe outsized sense of responsibility to get everybody on board, as if assimilation was some kind of family project.”
  —Suleika Jaouad [19:43]

• On Journaling for Self-Understanding:
  “I don’t even know what I’m thinking or feeling until I start writing it down. And it takes me a page to get through all the emotions to actually get to the heart of the thing.”
  —Suleika Jaouad [45:20]

• On Music’s Inevitability:
  “When we’re true to that [divine stream of creativity], there’s a purity to the expression… it's inevitable. It’s the only thing that could have happened…”
  —Jon Batiste [27:03]

• On Facing Uncertainty Together:
  “You just decide that we’re in it… it’s ever evolving. You got to know that the person you’re with is not going to quit.”
  —Jon Batiste [40:39]

• On Living with Illness:
  “When you’ve had the ceiling cave in on you, you no longer assume structural stability. You’re kind of living on fault lines, and that can make it hard to push yourself out into the world.”
  —Suleika Jaouad [56:43]

• On Self-Care as an Act of Love:
  “Sometimes the best way to care for someone is to model care by caring for yourself… It’s not selfish or indulgent to take a moment for yourself. It’s actually a way of giving permission to the other people in your radius to do the same thing for themselves.”
  —Suleika Jaouad [62:07]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [05:28] Suleika on her multicultural upbringing
• [07:09] Meeting at band camp
• [13:36] Jon’s early musical journey
• [19:43] Suleika on being the “translator” for her family in the US
• [24:36] Accepting intelligence as identity
• [27:03] Jon explains music as “inevitable”
• [28:22] Suleika on her leukemia diagnosis and transformation
• [32:28] Suleika’s subway “premonition” about marrying Jon
• [35:39] Jon’s “social music” and creative independence
• [42:01] Jon/Suleika on journaling together as a couple
• [45:42] Suleika’s Book of Alchemy and journaling philosophy
• [51:43] Audience question about living with illness and caring for family
• [54:07] Craig and Michelle on their father’s disability
• [58:08] Suleika’s “to feel list” for daily priorities
• [60:57] Jon on self-care as a practice

Episode Tone

Warm, insightful, candid, and playful—genuine curiosity and humor run throughout, mixed with hard-won wisdom and vulnerability. The group maintains a supportive, honest atmosphere, with moments of laughter, empathy, and deep reflection.

Final Thoughts

This episode offers a heartfelt lesson in how to surrender to the process of life, find resilience amid uncertainty, and honor both our roots and ever-evolving selves. Jon and Suleika’s perspectives—infused with artistry, adversity, and authentic love—pair beautifully with Michelle and Craig’s own family wisdom, demonstrating the power of creativity, self-care, and candid communication in navigating life’s biggest challenges.

For more on journaling and self-reflection, check out Suleika’s “The Book of Alchemy” and Michelle’s approach to self-discovery in “Becoming.”