One of the most prominent and prolific interviewers in podcasting is planning on hanging up the microphone this fall.
Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast will come to an end after more than 1,600 episodes, he announced Monday.
“Sixteen years we’ve been doing this, and we’ve decided that we had a great run,” Maron said on the intro to Monday’s episode, which features comedian John Mulaney. “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.”
Citing burnout, Maron will leave behind a legacy of making news with some of the biggest figures in entertainment, politics and culture, largely from the garage of his Los Angeles home.
While then-President Barack Obama’s appearance in 2015 drew perhaps the most attention — Obama used the N-word when discussing race relations in America — “WTF” also frequently featured significant revelations about celebrities’ personal lives.
Leaning on his own past with addition and an up-and-down career in comedy, Maron has sat down with “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels and comedians like Robin Williams and Pete Davidson, drawing out revelations like Todd Glass’ publicly announcing for the first time that he is gay.
Maron also has hosted A-list stars like Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt and the elusive Leonardo DiCaprio.
Maron added on Monday that he and producer Brendan McDonald do not plan to coast into the show’s end, as they’ll “try to have as many people on as possible.”
Looking at what’s already been accomplished, however, Maron noted how “WTF” altered his career.
“Because of the podcast, my life changed dramatically … I did the podcast as sort of a hail Mary pass to be a standup with an audience, to try my hand at acting, to have experiences with other people that were one-of-a-kind and completely exciting and unique and engaging and revealing, to talk to a president in my garage,” Maron said. “So many things happened because of just setting up a mic in my garage with Brendan on the knobs, producing it, discussing with him how we do it all, it was a real creative partnership. And you, the audience have been here through all of it. I shared everything I could with you because that’s the way I do it, and with my guests, and there’ve been so many amazing guests … And now, this is part of it, ending it the way we want it to end.”
