Marc Maron is ending his podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, after 15 years – after interviewing musicians, actors, comedians, politicians and more across almost 2000 episodes.
Announcing the news on Monday (June 2), Maron said he and his producing partner, Brendan McDonald, are “burnt out”. He confirmed that the final episode would air “sometime in the fall”.
Since launching in 2009, famous guests to have appeared on Maron’s podcast have included Chris Rock, Robin Williams and then-president Barack Obama. The show, which originally started as Maron’s way to discuss his thoughts and anecdotes about being a comedian and actor, eventually evolved to have guests, pioneering the podcast style as it is known today.
In September Maron’s podcast will be turning 16, and he has confirmed that at around that time, he will stop releasing episodes.
“Sixteen years we’ve been doing this, and we’ve decided that we had a great run. 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,” Maron said in the introduction to his episode with John Mulaney, released on June 2.
“It really comes down to the fact that we’ve put up a new show every Monday and Thursday for almost 16 years and we’re tired. We’re burnt out. And we are utterly satisfied with the work we’ve done,” he continued.
“This doesn’t mean I’m never going to do something like this again. Doesn’t mean I’ll never have talks like I do here, or some kind of podcast at some point in time. But for now, we’re just wrapping things up. It’s OK. It’s OK to end things. It’s OK to try to start some other chapter in your life.”
Fans have been reacting to the news online, with some commending his presenting style and personality.
“I didn’t listen to every episode, but I was constantly impressed by Maron’s ability to be able to talk to anyone about anything,” one Reddit user wrote. “One of the greats, no question.”
“He was the original podcast star, it was nice to witness his mental state slowly improve with each episode,” wrote another. Check out some of the reactions below.
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Maron has been known to not shy away from trending topics in the news in his episodes, and makes his opinion on certain issues clear. Back in March, he criticised TV host Bill Maher for positive comments about President Donald Trump, calling the comedian “a bitch”.
In the episode where he spoke to comedian and former CNN host W. Kamau Bell, he spoke about figures in comedy who have given Trump a platform. “Are you going to be like Bill Maher, you know, ‘I’m going to agree with some of the things that Trump is doing,’” he said. “It’s like, dude, you’re a bitch.”
That was not the first time Maron, an ardent critic of the Trump administration, has taken his fellow comics to task on the matter of support for the politician. In the lead up to the 2024 election, contemporaries of Maron such as Theo Von and Joe Rogan had Trump as a guest on the show, but not his opponent Kamala Harris.
Writing on his newsletter in October of last year, Maron said: “When comedians with podcasts have shameless, self-proclaimed white supremacists and fascists on their show to joke around like they are just entertainers or even just politicians, all it does is humanize and normalize fascism. When someone uses their platform for that reason they are facilitating anti-American sentiment and promoting violent autocracy”.