From WBEZ Chicago, I'm Jen White and this is Making Oprah.

In this bonus episode, we're going to take a look at the role that politics played and

didn't play in the history of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

As we've talked about before on Making Oprah, the Oprah Winfrey show became a place where

viewers learned how to live their best lives.

And over the history of the show, she talked to the audience about just about everything,

dating, the best pair of jeans for your body, racism, spirituality.

But for more than 10 years after the show launched, Oprah deliberately avoided having politicians

on her show.

But in the latter half of the Oprah Winfrey Show's history, two future US presidents would

appear on stage with Oprah.

I interviewed Oprah twice for this podcast, and part of our conversation focused on the

times the show did step into the world of politics.

And that part of our conversation didn't make it into the three-part documentary, but

it was so interesting that we wanted to put it out in this bonus episode.

And keep in mind, this was recorded in late August 2016.

Were there conversations being had behind the scenes about the show delving into the world

of politics?

Yeah, many conversations, because I didn't want to delve into the world of politics because

I felt that I lost control of any situation where I was seated with a skilled politician.

I can't get them to actually respond, because a skilled politician knows how to give the

answer they want regardless of what question you ask.

...