Apple CEO Tim Cook and Others to Share Commencement Speeches on Special Podcast for National Graduation Day

iHeartMedia today announced that Apple CEO Tim Cook will be participating in its special podcast "Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020."

0AA223CA 3877 4D05 A409 98E4E3D4C02E
With most college graduates unable to attend commencement this year, the podcast will help fill the void with a series of speeches from Cook and a long list of other notable figures, such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Becky G, Rita Wilson, Khalid, Mary J. Blige, Hillary Clinton, John Legend, and Tim McGraw.

iHeartRadio knows how important the graduation ceremony is. After four long years of hard work, commencement offers one last moment to reflect before you toss your hat into the air and take on the world. We know that during these difficult times, most graduates won't get to attend their ceremony in person. So, we've partnered with some of the biggest names across industries, to write a commencement speech just for you. From 4-star generals to all-star comedians, legendary coaches to John Legend himself, these are the words we hope will inspire you.

The podcast episodes will be released on May 15, ahead of "National Graduation Day" on May 17 in the United States, as noted by Variety.

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 Next Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
Apple Pay Walmart Feature

Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today. A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

Kuo: iPhone 17 Models Won't Have Smaller Dynamic Island

Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store Levels

Gurman: Apple Stores Receiving 'Merchandise' Updates Next Week

Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch. In each of the past four years, ...
apple power beats pro 2

Apple's First Product Announcement of 2025 is Imminent

Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year. Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...

Top Rated Comments

Plutonius Avatar
62 months ago
A podcast will not fill the void for the students who graduated this year.

Graduation is one of the special times in a person's life and they will never get that time back :(.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
calzon65 Avatar
62 months ago
This has nothing to do with Tim, but most commencement speeches are already boring as graduates impatiently want to get to the postparty. I can only imagine a "dial in" commencement speech would be a snooze fest.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
62 months ago
I bet fifty bucks he opens with GURD MORN-NENG
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
62 months ago
Who wants to wager how many grads will tune in to listen?
Commencement speeches are just filler at graduation to burn time. Nobody wants to hear them. And now since there's no graduation — they're absolutely pointless
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yaxomoxay Avatar
62 months ago

Commencement speeches are just filler at graduation to burn time. Nobody wants to hear them. And now since there's no graduation — they're absolutely pointless
I disagree in making this generalization. Just look at Steve Jobs' commencement speech. There are other good ones (the one from the Navy Admiral etc.).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
akuma13 Avatar
62 months ago
Graduates have other things to worry about? Doubt graduates will tune in. This is just for the universities to validate the high cost of tuition they gouge out of students.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)