Yep, Obama Said the N-Word. Here Are the Other Candid Things He Said.

John Harrington/ZUMA

Appearing on comedian Marc Maron’s WTF podcast on Friday, President Obama shared his views on gun violence and racism in America—two topics that have been thrust to the forefront of a national conversation following the massacre in Charleston, South Carolina last week. The interview, which was posted online today, featured a number of candid moments for the president, including a rare moment in which he said “nigger” to underscore the reality that the country’s enduring legacy of racism is far from over.

“The legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination in almost every institution of our lives, you know, that casts a long shadow, and that’s still part of our DNA that’s passed on,” Obama said. “We are not cured of it and it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say nigger in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination.”

On the issue of gun violence, he expressed his continued frustration with how little legislative action has been taken on gun control.

“I have done this way too often,” he said. “During the course of my presidency, it feels as if a couple times a year, I end up having to speak to the country and to speak to a particular community about a devastating loss. The grieving that the country feels is real, the sympathy, the prioritizing, the comforting of the families, all that’s important. But I think part of the point that I wanted to make was that it’s not enough just to feel bad. There are actions that could be taken to make events like this less likely. And one of those actions we could take would be to enhance some basic, common sense gun safety laws—that by the way, the majority of gun owners support.”

In his remarks shortly after Dylann Storm, the suspected gunman who killed nine people in the Charleston church, was captured Thursday, the president said that most other advanced countries don’t see the kind of mass killings that have become all too familiar in America. He reiterated this point to Maron on Friday, telling him gun violence is “unique to our country.”

Listen to the incredible hour-long interview here.