WTF with Marc Maron Podcast

Bernie Taupin is a songwriter responsible for many of the most beloved songs ever recorded. But he actually thinks of himself as a cinematographer, taking what he sees in life and turning those mental snapshots into fantastical stories. Bernie and Marc talk about the origins of his more than 50-years-long partnership with Elton John, his friendship with Alice Cooper, the influence of The Band, and...

Michael Symon’s food journey has taken many unexpected turns, from revitalizing the Cleveland restaurant scene to changing his own diet after being diagnosed with autoimmune disorders to being at the ground floor of the Food Network phenomenon. Michael and Marc talk about home cooking, fermenting, hyper-local BBQ and the perfect egg. Plus, old friend Todd Barry stops by to talk about his new stand...

Jeff Sharlet is a reporter Marc turned to regularly during his days as a radio host to help explain the role of religion in American culture and politics. Jeff’s decades on the religion beat put him in a unique position to decode our modern social divisions, a journey he chronicled in his new book The Undertow. Now, as Marc increasingly seeks to understand the oncoming threat of fascism, he once a...

Maria Bamford is not only one of Marc’s favorite comics, she’s one of Marc’s favorite people to talk with, as evidenced by her six appearances on WTF. Now, more than 13 years after their groundbreaking, highly confessional first episode, recorded as they drove down the California coast, Marc and Maria catch up on their mental health outlooks, particularly after Maria just chronicled her lifelong j...

Andrew Leland started having trouble seeing when he was in high school. He learned about his degenerative condition that would slowly render him blind over the course of his life. Now, two decades into his career as a writer, editor and lecturer, Andrew continues to lose his vision and adapt to a world that has a very binary view of blindness. Andrew and Marc talk about technological advancements...

Amanda Seales was on the show Insecure, but only when she had an actual crisis of confidence did she feel like she could get control of her life and career. Amanda and Marc find out they have a lot of similar hang-ups and philosophies about creativity, despite their very different backgrounds. They talk about Amanda's comedy being rooted in her time with Def Poetry Jam, her life as Amanda Diva, he...

Nimesh Patel got advice from his comedy hero Chris Rock that comics need to get personal in order to become universal. After that, Nimesh was able to take his background as a first generation Indian-American whose dad owned a liquor store, a med-school drop out, a cancer survivor with a Jewish wife, and turn it all into an act that works on equally well on stage as it does on TikTok. Nimesh also t...

Jessica Chastain is one of our most celebrated actors, with a recent Oscar win, a Tony-nominated Broadway run, and a highly praised performance as Tammy Wynette opposite Michael Shannon’s George Jones. As Jessica tells Marc, she’s always been a sensitive person and ever since she was the shy kid in high school, she learned to channel that sensitivity into performance. They also talk about how she...

Adam Conover felt out of place in a family of scientists, but his decision to pursue a philosophy degree actually played into three major aspects of his adult life: Standup comedy, his educational television shows Adam Ruins Everything and The G Word, and civic engagement. Adam talks with Marc about what led him to comedy, why he made TV shows that helped explain the world, and what it's like on t...

Alex Winter was an actor for much of his young life until he realized it wasn’t his preferred way to tell stories. Now, the man many people knew as one half of Bill and Ted is an accomplished documentary filmmaker. Alex talks with Marc about his new film The YouTube Effect, as well as his other work on the growth of online communities and his doc about Frank Zappa. They also question whether show...

Gary Mule Deer's career has spanned more than 60 years, but he's got enough in it to fill at least 600. Gary tells Marc how a guy from South Dakota who stumbled into his first performing gigs by happenstance wound up as a touring musician with bands like the Beach Boys, a popular standup comic in clubs around the country, and a variety TV regular with more than 350 guest shots on everything from C...

Melissa Villaseñor spent six seasons on Saturday Night Live and left her mark with a wide array of impressions. It was a road to success she might not have taken had she not gone to The Laugh Factory Comedy Camp when she was fifteen. Melissa and Marc talk about her early days performing and how she reluctantly auditioned for America's Got Talent, a gig that allowed her to quit her job at Forever 2...

George Schlatter's lifetime in show business encompasses way more than Marc could cover during George's last appearance on WTF. Now that the Laugh-In creator has published his memoir, Still Laughing: A Life in Comedy, he has a lot more stories at the ready. George tells Marc about his time with Sammy Davis, Jr., Don Rickles, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra, Goldie Hawn, Tiny Tim and more. They also ta...

There's a reason Jim Gaffigan is back for his seventh appearance on the show. No matter how much older they get, no matter how much has changed in their lives, Marc and Jim remain two comics who are still figuring out life and having a good time talking about it. With the release of his tenth comedy special, Dark Pale, Jim and Marc talk about the way they're still confounded by their fellow humans...

Michael Rowe and Marc knew each other decades ago from the comedy club scene, but Mike says there was a specific moment when standup left his body for good. He tells Marc how his love of joke writing gave him entry into the world of comedy and then gave him a fulfilling career as a writer that outlasted his time on stage. Mike recounts a life changing phone call from Rodney Dangerfield, his friend...

Cillian Murphy knew he wanted to become an actor when he saw A Clockwork Orange. Not the Kubrick film, but an avant-garde theatrical production in a nightclub. From there he left his dreams of being a musician behind and began his acting journey. Cillian tells Marc the lessons he learned from directors like Ken Loach and Christopher Nolan, with whom he’s collaborated on six films. They also talk a...

Sarah Tiana and Marc are very much co-workers. They see each other at “the office” regularly but they’ve never had an extended period of time to get to know each other. Sarah and Marc get to sit down and compare notes on their experiences at The Comedy Store, both when they started out and how things are now, and Sarah tells Marc about her background doing comedy in war zones. They also talk about...

Lukas Nelson doesn’t fear any comparisons with his father, Willie, because his dad taught him by example to do what you love with all your heart. And Lukas loves making music. Lukas talks with Marc about songwriting, the evolution of country, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Kris Kristofferson, hip hop, his new album, and the fortunate set of circumstances that led him to work on the fi...

Joanna Gleason lives in a vibrant community of artistic people. In a way, it's what she's always known, growing up surrounded by the community of her father, Monty Hall, in the early days of television. Joanna and Marc talk about parents not having the ending you hope, making art that gives them the ending they deserve, and more art that allows you to process the grief. They also talk about her br...

Marc admits to a certain amount of conspiracy-driven paranoia when he was younger, which gives him a unique vantage point to observe the conspiracy theories shaking our culture. Conspiracy scholar Robert Guffey joins Marc to talk about the origins of modern conspiracy theories. What is the Illuminati? Why is Freemasonry central to so many conspiracies? How do cultural icons like Rudyard Kipling, J...

A bike accident and a cracked bone delayed Clifton Collins Jr.’s appearance in the garage, but now he’s all healed up and ready to go. Clifton talks with Marc about his extensive career, including films like Traffic, Capote and Nightmare Alley, and his family’s cultural legacy stemming from the Mexican carpa scene to Vaudeville to the Hollywood studio system. Clifton also explains why the film Joc...

The Full Maron is our WTF+ subscription tier that gives you weekly bonus episodes. It's now a year old, so that means there's 52 weeks of bonus episodes waiting for you in the archive. To give you a sense of what's in store for subscribers, we've put together a selection of Full Maron highlights, including answers from an Ask Marc Anything episode, a post-show chat with Jeremy Strong, Marc's immed...

Kyle Kinane is a comedian Marc enjoys so much, he had him on multiple early episodes of WTF. But at some point, Kyle felt he hit a wall in show business, feeling weary from the demands of constant pitches and the necessities of self-promotion. Kyle returns to the garage to tell Marc where he went, why he lived in a van for a while, and how he wanted to approach making new comedy, including his new...

Comedian Tom Dreesen was hanging out with Marc in The Comedy Store parking lot, telling stories of show business and organized crime. Marc had such a good time listening to Tom’s stories, he invited him back on the show to share some of them with WTF listeners. Tom talks about his early days working in mob-run clubs, touring with Sammy Davis, Jr., and an epic tale of Frank Sinatra saving Johnny Ca...

Ben Kingsley believes his job is to reflect truth and in order to do that he keeps many voices in his heart and mind. Those voices include Steven Spielberg, Otto Frank, Elie Wiesel, Rajmohan Gandhi, and others who gave him gifts of wisdom and encouragement as he performed some of his most memorable roles. Sir Ben also talks with Marc about how his science eduction informs his acting, how Shakespea...