Episode 1686 - Barack Obama
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All right, let's do this. How are you, folks? This is it. This is the last episode of WTF. I didn't really know what we were going to do for this episode. Initially, I thought, well, maybe I could just talk to you guys and reflect. But we did that on Thursday. So then it came down to, well, who are we going to have on the last episode? And well, you know, I do a lot of talking about how I feel about the world, both interior and exterior, micro, macro, what's going on in me, how am I reacting to what's going on in the world? And it became clear that the guest we needed to have was singular. in that he could address the importance of this being our final episode, but also address how we move through the world we're living in, as frightening as it is, with what's happening.
And how do we do it with some grace and perhaps some hope and some focus and really call on what's going on, what it is. And that guest is President Barack Obama. So I went to Washington, D.C. He came to my house the last time, so I figured I'd go to him. And we sat down for about an hour plus, and we talked about a lot of things. But I think there's a lot of grounding, sort of instructive, in this conversation about how we frame where we're at and how we think about it and what's necessary. So this is me talking to Barack Obama, President Barack Obama, in Washington, D.C.,
Can I say, before we start, or whenever you want to start, to me, I can't imagine anything tougher or more terrifying than doing stand-up comedy. So once you do that, I mean, everything else is... Is easy? I won't say easy. I'm saying... Not as frightening. Yeah. The... To me, standing alone on a stage and hoping a bunch of people laugh at your stuff.
Yeah. You get used to it, but not unlike, I'm sure, your gig. Sometimes it's not going to go exactly right.
It's not always going to – you're not always going to hit it out of the park. Right. But I guess what I'm saying is at a certain point for you, there's got to be just – you've had a lot of reps.
Yeah.
Reps are helpful, man.
Reps in talking to people and reps in comedy. But it's weird with both for me. Because I seem to get just as anxious and... It never goes away. Not for me. Because I don't know if it's part of my preparation, but with stand-up, it's a little less where I know that a part of me lives up there, that I exist on that stage. And so I don't freak myself out as much, but... But with conversations, I don't generally know what's going to happen, and the anxiety is different. But, yeah, I still keep it fresh by being terrified.
Well, look, there's Bill Russell. Yep, Bill Russell. Greatest champion of North American sports.
Yep.
Kept throwing up even right before games.
It's true, right?
Yeah. I mean, you've got to have a little bit of – a few butterflies, otherwise. You don't get it? You know, not just having a conversation. Right. You know, if there's a big speech that I've got to give, then there's still a little bit of- A little bit of fear? A little bit of adrenaline. Yeah? Yeah. A little bit of like, all right, let me make sure that I got- You're ready to go?
You're focused? I'm focused. Lit up? I'm pumped up.
Yeah. Are we just going to dive in here? I think we're already doing it. We're already doing it? I do want to ask you.
Let's go. I got a weird question I want to ask you, and I decided to start with this as opposed to end with it. It's kind of business, but it's important for me. It's important for the show. I'm going to ask you for your signature on something. Absolutely. What do we got?
Is it a commutation? I can't do that anymore.
No, I created this pseudo-legal document. This is our last episode. And this is something I wrote, and it's honest, but I wanted to witness, and you're here. So to all concerned, this is dated 10-13-25, the date of the last show. I, Mark Maron, hereby formally release. Brendan McDonald, from the professional responsibility of listening to me talk from now and in perpetuity. Brendan has listened to me talk no less than 10,000 hours over the last 22 years, often several hours in one sitting.
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