CHICAGO — Stephen Colbert devoted one of his final episodes of “The Late Show” on CBS to an interview with Barack Obama on Tuesday night, asking him about the opening of his new Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

The appearance came during the final weeks of Colbert’s run on CBS as the show heads towards its scheduled sign-off on May 21. The two spoke in pretaped interviews from Chicago, where the Obama Center is scheduled to open in Jackson Park on June 19. (Tickets to visit the Center’s museum went on sale Wednesday.)

They spoke in front of a window in the museum’s tower shadowed with some of the already iconic concrete letters of Obama’s 2015 “You Are America” speech.

Colbert began with the question, “What does this neighborhood mean to you?”

Obama proceeded to tick off most every major event in his pre-presidential life, from meeting and marrying Michelle to the origins of his political career to the birth of daughters Malia and Sasha. All took place near the Center’s 19.3-acre campus on the South Side.

Colbert, of course, is also famously from Chicago, having started his show-business career at Second City — formative years he has spoken about often on his show. Colbert and Obama also share some on-air history — Obama appeared on his “Colbert Report” on Comedy Central and previously on “The Late Show” in 2016 and 2020.

Colbert subjected Obama to a lightning round “to test his Chicago bona fides.”

Is a hot dog a sandwich? “No, it’s a hot dog,” Obama answered correctly. No ketchup.

Favorite place in Chicago? “There’s a point right near here,” Obama said, referencing Hyde Park’s Promontory Point as the first place he grilled outside in a Chicago park.

Least favorite place? “Well, I had to go to the DMV,” Obama allowed. Colbert mentioned his own as the city’s auto impound lot below Lower Wacker Drive.

Tavern style or deep dish? Tavern style. Cubs or White Sox? Sox.

Obama then pondered the question of, in 50 or 100 years, what should visitors take away from a visit to the Obama Presidential Center?

That they should take his presidency in context. “Yes, I was the first African American president,” Obama said. “But it was an extraordinary journey this country took to get here.”

Colbert and Obama spoke for a while about current events and politics — including about the powers the office of the presidency should and should not have — followed by a walking tour of exhibits in the museum.

What’s going to be the biggest draw?

“Michelle’s dresses,” Obama answered.

He showed off merchandise such as sneakers and breakfast cereal that had been decorated with his image, including the cover of the “Amazing Spider-Man” Marvel comic issue No. 583, illustrated with his portrait.

They concluded by returning to the earlier question about visiting. “What I really want people to take away,” Obama said, “is that they are the force behind change.”

©2026 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.