Marc Maron to end 'WTF' podcast after 16 years: 'We're burnt out'
Marc Maron is signing off.
The comedian will end his influential interview podcast "WTF" this fall after 16 years. Maron announced the news at the start of his Monday, June 2, episode interviewing John Mulaney.
Maron, 61, said he made the decision to end the show with his producer, Brendan McDonald.
"We both realized together that we were done," he said. "There was no convincing or pushback or arguing. We were done, and it's OK for things to end."
He went on to explain, "It really comes down to the fact that we have 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."
Maron launched "WTF" in September 2009, years before the proliferation of similar celebrity interview podcasts hosted by stars like Dax Shepard and Conan O'Brien. He has spoken to many of the world's biggest stars and in 2015 sat down with former President Barack Obama for what The New York Times described as "almost certainly the first time that a sitting president has recorded an interview in a comedian’s garage."
In 2022, Maron's conversation with Robin Williams from 2010 was added to the National Recording Registry.
On his June 2 episode, Maron said that the quality of the podcast is important to him and that he doesn't want to "keep plugging along because we can at the risk of our burnout, or our passion (starting) to drift." He said it's possible he could return to podcasting at some point down the line but noted that "for now, we're wrapping things up."
After Maron's solo introduction, the comedian broke the news to his guest, Mulaney, who expressed his shock. But Maron told the comic, "I don't think we live in a time where people of my generation and slightly older know how to move on from anything or stop."
Maron, who has starred in shows like "GLOW" and his own IFC series "Maron," also told Mulaney he doesn't "really know what this means for me," quipping that the podcast "is most of my social life."