Under the title "A Couple in Chicago," this week's New Yorker published excerpts from an interview with Michelle and Barack Obama conducted by Mariana Cook back in 1996. The interview and the wonderful photograph of the fresh-faced, thirtysomething Obamas (which The New Yorker also reproduced) were part of Cook's photography project on couples in America.

The couple -- who are now, of course, the couple -- talk candidly about their plans for the future, themselves, and...