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WTF with Marc Maron

American comedy podcast

Summary

American comedy podcast

FieldValue
titleWTF with Marc Maron
imageWTF with Marc Maron.png
captionPodcast artwork
hostMarc Maron
genre
productionBrendan McDonald
audio_formatMP3
length60–120 minutes
languageAmerican English
updatesSemiweekly: Mon. & Thurs.
countryUnited States
began
ended
providerAcast
website
fetchwikidataALL

WTF with Marc Maron is a podcast and syndicated radio show that was hosted by the American stand-up comedian Marc Maron. It was launched on September 1, 2009 and ended on October 13, 2025 after 1,686 episodes, and aired weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. The show was produced by Maron's former Air America colleague Brendan McDonald.

Background

The show's title stems from the slang abbreviation WTF (for "What the fuck?"). WTF launched in September 2009 following the cancellation of Maron's Air America terrestrial radio program Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder. Maron retained his Air America building keycard and, without permission, used their studios to record the first several episodes of WTF.

After the first episodes, Maron moved from New York to California. Most episodes are generally recorded in Maron's home garage, nicknamed "the Cat Ranch", in Los Angeles. He ends most podcasts with the phrase "Boomer lives" in honor of a cat he brought from New York who went missing. The phrase became a hashtag and his production company name.

Occasionally shows are recorded in Maron's various hotel rooms (while on the road performing stand-up), the offices of his guests, or other locations. Every show opens with an audio sample of one of Maron's lines from the film Almost Famous: "Lock the gates!"

WTF began being distributed to radio by Public Radio Exchange in 2012. On the episode released on June 2, 2025, Maron announced that WTF would end later that year. Maron interviewed Barack Obama again for the final episode, released on October 13, 2025.

Reception

WTF has received generally positive reviews, including positive write-ups in The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. On average, it receives over 443,000 downloads per episode, with the show purportedly surpassing 600 million downloads by July 2022. In 2014, Rolling Stone listed WTF #1 on their list of The 20 Best Comedy Podcasts Right Now. In 2022, the episode featuring Robin Williams from April 26, 2010, was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," becoming the first recording from the 2010s to be inducted.

Awards

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.Academy of PodcastersiHeartRadio Podcast AwardsAmbies
2015Best Comedy Podcastdate=2015-06-10title=2015 AofP Winnersurl=http://academyofpodcasters.com/2015winners/website=Academy of Podcastersurl-status=deadarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014050853if_/http://academyofpodcasters.com/2015winners/archive-date=2016-10-14publisher=Podcast Movementaccess-date=2025-01-18df=mdy-all}}
2016date=2016-07-06title=2016 AofP Winnersurl=http://academyofpodcasters.com/2016winners/website=Academy of Podcastersurl-status=deadarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129210354if_/http://academyofpodcasters.com/2016winners/archive-date=2016-11-29publisher=Podcast Movementaccess-date=2025-01-18df=mdy-all}}
2017date=2017-08-23title=Awardsurl=http://academyofpodcasters.com/winners-and-nominees/website=Academy of Podcastersurl-status=deadarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213003457if_/http://academyofpodcasters.com/winners-and-nominees/archive-date=2017-12-13publisher=Podcast Movementaccess-date=2025-01-18df=mdy-all}}
2019Best Comedy Podcastlast=Fieldsfirst=Taylordate=2018-10-22title=iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: See The Full List of Nomineesurl=https://www.iheart.com/content/2018-10-22-2019-iheartradio-podcast-awards-nominees/website=iHearturl-status=livearchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809225331if_/https://www.iheart.com/content/2018-10-22-2019-iheartradio-podcast-awards-nominees/archive-date=2022-08-09language=enaccess-date=2025-01-18df=mdy-all}}
2021Governors' Award

Notable podcasts

References

References

  1. Berman, Marc. (2022-07-28). "Pioneering The Podcast: 'WTF With Marc Maron' Celebrates 13 Years With A New Partnership With Acast".
  2. Bailey, Jason. (2013-06-12). "Interview: Marc Maron on Life at the "Cat Ranch"".
  3. Movieclips. (2011-10-11). "Almost Famous (5/9) Movie CLIP - Do You Wanna Buy a Gate? (2000) HD". [[YouTube]].
  4. Schwartz, Terri. (2012-07-19). "Marc Maron's podcast headed to public radio".
  5. Barco, Mandalit del. (2025-06-02). "Marc Maron ends iconic podcast after 16 years: 'We're burnt out'". [[NPR]].
  6. Dalton, Andrew. (October 13, 2025). "Marc Maron ends his podcast with final guest Barack Obama after 16 years and nearly 1,700 episodes".
  7. Saltzstein, Dan. (2011-01-06). "The Comic Who Explores Comedy's Darkest Side". [[The New York Times]].
  8. Rottenburg, Josh. (2011-06-24). "Marc Maron: The comedian's comedian".
  9. (2014-05-08). "Listen Up: The 20 Best Comedy Podcasts Right Now".
  10. (2022-04-13). "National Recording Registry Inducts Music from Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Journey and More in 2022". [[National Recording Registry]].
  11. Ulaby, Neda. (2022-04-13). "The Library of Congress is preserving these major historical recordings for posterity".
  12. (2015-06-10). "2015 AofP Winners". [[Podcast Movement]].
  13. (2016-07-06). "2016 AofP Winners". [[Podcast Movement]].
  14. (2017-08-23). "Awards". [[Podcast Movement]].
  15. Fields, Taylor. (2018-10-22). "iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: See The Full List of Nominees".
  16. Garvey, Marianne. (2021-04-12). "'WTF With Marc Maron' awarded the Governors Award by The Podcast Academy". [[CNN]].
  17. (2021-04-12). "Marc Maron to Accept Top Accolade".
  18. (2010-04-26). "Episode 67 - Robin Williams". WTF with Marc Maron.
  19. (2014-08-11). "Remembering Robin Williams". WTF with Marc Maron.
  20. Avins, Jenni. (2014-08-12). "Listen to Robin Williams 'interview' himself about the time he considered suicide".
  21. (2010-05-24). "Episode 75 - Carlos Mencia". WTF with Marc Maron.
  22. (2010-05-27). "Episode 76 - Willie Barcena / Steve Trevino / Carlos responds". WTF with Marc Maron.
  23. Stranahan, Lee. (2011-05-25). "Marc Maron Enters Mind of Carlos Mencia, Then Has Trouble Leaving". [[The Huffington Post]].
  24. (2010-10-04). "Episode 111 - Louis CK part 1". WTF with Marc Maron.
  25. (2010-10-07). "Episode 112 - Louis CK part 2". WTF with Marc Maron.
  26. (2014-12-14). "Best podcast episodes ever: The 25 best from Serial to the Ricky Gervais Show".
  27. Gadino, Dylan P.. (2012-05-18). "Marc Maron shooting scenes for 'Louie' so we transcribed the famous friendship chat from WTF".
  28. (2011-01-17). "Episode 141 - Kevin Smith". WTF with Marc Maron.
  29. Sharf, Zack. (2022-03-30). "Kevin Smith Apologizes to Bruce Willis Over Petty 'Cop Out' Complaints: 'I Feel Like an A–hole'". [[Variety (magazine).
  30. Ferrier, Aimee. (2023-01-29). "Exploring the feud between Bruce Willis and Kevin Smith".
  31. (2011-01-31). "Episode 145 - Gallagher". WTF with Marc Maron.
  32. Rabin, Nathan. (2015-11-16). "That Time Gallagher Displayed His True Awfulness and Stormed Out on Marc Maron".
  33. (2011-07-07). "Episode 190 - Todd Hanson". WTF with Marc Maron.
  34. Rabin, Nathan. (2015-06-01). "What Made Todd Hanson's Episode of 'WTF' One of the Most Powerful Podcast Episodes Ever".
  35. (2012-01-16). "Episode 245 - Todd Glass". WTF with Marc Maron.
  36. Luippold, Ross. (2012-01-16). "Beloved Comedian Comes Out As Gay On 'WTF'". [[The Huffington Post]].
  37. (2014-03-10). "Episode 477 - Kevin Macdonald / Kevin McDonald". WTF with Marc Maron.
  38. Horst, Carole. (2013-12-12). "Marc Maron's Morning Scramble Was a True 'WTF' Moment".
  39. (2015-06-22). "Episode 613 - President Barack Obama". WTF with Marc Maron.
  40. Larson, Sarah. (2015-06-22). ""WTF" with Barack Obama".
  41. Zaru, Deena. (2015-06-22). "Obama uses N-word, says we are 'not cured' of racism".
  42. (2015-11-09). "Episode 653 - Lorne Michaels". WTF with Marc Maron.
  43. Love, Matthew. (2015-11-09). "10 Things We Learned from Lorne Michaels' WTF Interview".
  44. (2017-08-20). "Remembering Jerry Lewis". WTF with Marc Maron.
  45. Ross, Martha. (2017-08-21). "Jerry Lewis was difficult but awkwardly hilarious in his final interviews". [[The Mercury News]].
  46. (2017-09-25). "Episode 849 - Pete Davidson". WTF with Marc Maron.
  47. Huff, Lauren. (2017-09-26). "'SNL' Star Pete Davidson Reveals Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis".
  48. (2019-02-18). "Episode 995 - Mandy Moore". WTF with Marc Maron.
  49. Stiernberg, Bonnie. (2019-02-18). "Mandy Moore Addresses Ryan Adams Relationship on Marc Maron's 'WTF' Podcast".
  50. (2020-01-23). "Episode 1091 - Josh Klinghoffer". WTF with Marc Maron.
  51. DeVille, Chris. (2020-01-23). "Josh Klinghoffer Calls Red Hot Chili Peppers Ouster "A Complete Shock But Not A Surprise"".
  52. (2022-01-24). "Episode 1299 - Peter Dinklage". WTF with Marc Maron.
  53. Salam, Maya. (2022-01-25). "Peter Dinklage Calls Disney's 'Snow White' Remake 'Backward'". [[The New York Times]].
  54. McDonald, Brendan. (2025-10-13). "Episode 1686 - Barack Obama".
  55. Shanfeld, Ethan. (2025-10-13). "Marc Maron Ends ‘WTF’ Podcast With Barack Obama Giving Him Advice: ‘Be a Little Brain-Dead for a While’ and ‘Don’t Rush’ Into What’s Next".
Wikipedia Source

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