So, what's, what 's been going on while I 've been gone?

On the back end now of my presidency, now that it's completed,

I 'm spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do

for my next job.

And, what I'm convinced of is that although there are all kinds of issues that I care about,

and all kinds of issues that I intend to work on,

the single most important thing I can do is to

help in any way I can prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton,

and to take their own crack at changing the world.

Because the one thing that I'm absolutely convinced of

is that yes, we confront a whole range of challenges from

economic inequality and lack of opportunity,

to a criminal justice system that too often is, is skewed in, in ways that

are unproductive,

to climate change, to, you know, issues related to violence.

All those problems are serious, they're daunting, but they're not insoluble.

What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress

really has to do with our politics and our civic life.

It has to do with the fact that because of things like political gerrymandering,

our parties have moved further and further apart

and it's harder and harder to find common ground.

Because of money and politics,

special interests dominate the debates in Washington

in ways that don't match up with what the broad majority of Americans feel.