Marc Maron to end his 'WTF' podcast after 15 years of interviewing
comics, actors, musicians, Obama
[June 03, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comic and actor Marc Maron said Monday that he's
ending his popular and influential podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” after
nearly 16 years.
Maron said on a newly released episode that the last of the nearly 2,000
episodes he has hosted will be released later this year.
“Sixteen years we’ve been doing this, and we’ve decided that we had a
great run,” Maron said. “Now, basically, it’s time, folks. It’s time.
‘WTF’ is coming to an end. It’s our decision. We’ll have our final
episode sometime in the fall.”
The 61-year-old Maron said he and producing partner Brendan McDonald are
“tired” and “burnt out” but “utterly satisfied with the work we've
done.”
Maron was a veteran stand-up comic who had dabbled in radio when he
started the show in 2009, at a time when stand-ups were trying out the
form in big numbers, and many listeners still downloaded episodes on to
iPods.
The show early on was often about Maron talking through his beefs with
fellow comedians, but it soon stood out and became a widely heard and
medium-defining show with its thoughtful, probing longform interviews of
cultural figures.
It became a key stop on press tours for authors, actors and musicians
and reached a peak when then- President Barack Obama visited Maron's
makeshift Los Angeles garage studio for an episode in 2015.
Maron used a simple interview style to get guests to share stories
they'd rarely told elsewhere. Seeking to know the biggest influences on
their lives and careers, Maron would ask, “Who are your guys?”
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Marc Maron arrives at the premiere of "Stick" on Thursday, May 29,
2025, at AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris
Pizzello, File)
 Other memorable episodes include a
2010 personal and emotional interview with Robin Williams that was
re-posted and widely listened to after Williams' death in 2014. The
episode earned a place in the National Recording Registry at the
Library of Congress.
Maron kept doing standup specials and expanded his acting career
while the show aired, including a three-season run on the Netflix
series “GLOW.”
The show's guitar-rock theme song opened with a clip of Maron
shouting, “Lock the gates!” in his role as a promoter in the film
“Almost Famous.”
The solo episode openings became a confessional space for Maron
where he talked about his life, relationships, years of doing
stand-up comedy and struggles with drug addiction.
Maron gave tearful tribute to his girlfriend, director Lynn Shelton,
in the episode after her death in 2020.
“People who listen to the podcast know me pretty well, and it’s all
good. They have a relationship with me that’s one sided, but it’s
real and I try to be as gracious about that as possible,” Maron told
The Associated Press in 2019. “My particular little slice of the
show business world is very me specific and it’s very personal and
usually that’s a good thing. But I’ve had to learn how to balance
how much of my life I reveal and what I keep to myself, and try to
find a little space.”
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