WTF with Marc Maron Podcast

Episode 1303 - Judd Hirsch

07 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Judd Hirsch is interested in the pursuit of truth. That's why he loved math as a student, that's why he got a physics degree, and that's why he has a ...

Episode 1302 - Sam Richardson

03 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sam Richardson thinks desperation is the key to comedy. His characters from shows like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave are a testament to that...

Episode 1301 - Tony Kushner

31 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tony Kushner is one of the most important American playwrights of the past 50 years who is now a creative partner of one of the most important America...

Episode 1300 - Dana Stevens

27 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Film critic Dana Stevens took her love for Silent Movie Era star Buster Keaton and told the story of the 20th century film industry as it evolved alon...

Episode 1299 - Peter Dinklage

24 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Dinklage spent a good portion of his life trying to come to terms with ambition. It's something he's had an adversarial relationship with, going...

Remembering Louie Anderson

21 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hear Marc's two conversations with comedian and actor Louie Anderson from June 2016 and April 2018. Louie died on January 21, 2022 at age 68. Sign up ...

Episode 1298 - John Mellencamp

20 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

John Mellencamp considers his whole career to be a total fluke. Maybe that's because he never planned for anything in his life and just let the chips ...

Episode 1297 - Nicole Byer

17 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nicole Byer hosts the hit shows Nailed It! and Wipeout, is working on her new standup hour, hosts four different podcasts and is starring in the new p...

Episode 1296 - Drew Michael

13 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Drew Michael wants his comedy to feel different. He wants the audience to have a unique experience. This mindset actually reminds Marc of his own styl...

Episode 1295 - Javier Bardem

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Javier Bardem finds lots of inspiration in his native Spain: the art, the creativity, the history, the ham. Marc talks with Javier about the importanc...

Remembering Bob Saget

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Marc pays tribute to comedian Bob Saget and revisits his three WTF appearances from September 2010, April 2014 and November 2017. Bob died on January ...

Peter Bogdanovich from 2015

07 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From 2015, Marc talks with director Peter Bogdanovich about his life as a filmmaker, his days in the theater and his friendship with Orson Welles. Pet...

Episode 1294 - David Manheim

06 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Most people who know David Manheim don't know him as David Manheim. To fans of the Dopey podcast, he's just Dave (no last name given), a recovering dr...

Episode 1293 - The Smothers Brothers

03 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Recently, Marc talked with television historian David Bianculli about The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and the important place it holds in American c...

Episode 1292 - Rory Cochrane

30 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When Rory Cochrane started acting, he knew he didn't want to be a movie star. He wanted to be a freight train that keeps on moving. Rory tells Marc ab...

Episode 1291 - Aida Rodriguez

27 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Aida Rodriguez wanted her first HBO special to be more than a comedy show. She wanted to depict the parts of her past that are foundational to her com...

Episode 1290 - Guillermo del Toro

23 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Guillermo del Toro believes in one universal truth: We all get to a moment in our lives when we see ourselves for who we really are. That belief not o...

Episode 1289 - Peter Jackson

20 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Despite multiple Oscars and billions of dollars in box office returns, Peter Jackson still has the same interests he had when he was 10 years old: Fir...

Episode 1288 - Cat Power

16 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At one point, Chan Marshall was in a band called Cat Power. But it's appropriate for someone like Chan, who had to be self-reliant almost from birth, ...

Episode 1287 - Halle Berry

13 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Halle Berry wasn't supposed to be in the movie Bruised. And she definitely wasn't supposed to direct the movie Bruised. Then she wound up being in it ...

Episode 1286 - Jesse Plemons

09 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Still only in his early 30s, Jesse Plemons has already delivered a laundry list of indelible performances in everything from Breaking Bad to Friday Ni...

Episode 1285 - Jennifer Hudson

06 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jennifer Hudson didn't start singing with her eyes open until she was 19 years old. That's not a metaphor. Jennifer tells Marc how she was so afraid t...

Episode 1284 - Benedict Cumberbatch

02 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Benedict Cumberbatch is a busy man. When he's not holding the Marvel Universe together as Doctor Strange or making prestige dramas with celebrated dir...

Episode 1283 - Bill Pullman

29 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Bill Pullman's upbringing in rural Western New York prepared him for a multifaceted life, since he always had to keep his options open. So aside from ...

Episode 1282 - Jason Bailey / Fun City Cinema

25 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

WTF takes over the historic Paris Theater in New York City for the first live audience episode of the show in more than six years. Marc is joined by f...

Episode 1281 - Ridley Scott

22 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ridley Scott has a secret weapon as a filmmaker and it probably has a lot to do with his career longevity and versatility. As a young boy, he would dr...

Episode 1280 - Kenneth Branagh

18 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kenneth Branagh had a lot on his mind when making the movie Belfast, a film based on his own childhood. He thought mostly about loss. Loss of family, ...

Episode 1279 - George Clooney

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

George Clooney is 60. Which means, much like Marc, he's always reminding himself that he doesn't know how much time he has left. George tells Marc how...

Episode 1278 - "Canceled Comedy" w/ Kliph Nesteroff and David Bianculli

11 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Marc is trying to get to the bottom of something. What does it really mean to be 'canceled' in comedy? Is it something comedians have always worried a...

Episode 1277 - Felipe Esparza

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The challenges of standup comedy were nothing compared to the obstacles Felipe Esparza faced throughout his childhood. His family was caught crossing ...

Episode 1276 - Bob Spitz

04 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How did Bob Spitz become the preeminent biographer of the most important and influential names in rock and roll? Before he wrote the definitive narrat...

Episode 1275 - Ricky Velez

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Being from Queens is as much a part of Ricky Velez's personality as his humor, his dyslexia and his depression. Ricky tells Marc how he put it all tog...

Episode 1274 - Jennifer Lee Pryor

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jennifer Lee Pryor was there for Richard Pryor's highest highs and his lowest lows. She experienced so much with Richard that she married him twice. J...

Episode 1273 - Hasan Minhaj

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Hasan Minhaj took the pressures put on him to become a lawyer and channeled them into the ambition necessary to start a standup career, become a Daily...

Episode 1272 - David Chang

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

David Chang wouldn't have opened his first restaurant if he wasn't depressed. Now, with his Momofuku empire that brings joy to foodies everywhere, Dav...

Episode 1271 - Jane Goodall

18 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jane Goodall has hope. Yes, even in these times. That doesn't mean the good doctor looks at the world with rose-colored glasses. It means she knows ho...

Episode 1270 - Alan Ruck

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As Connor Roy on Succession, Alan Ruck finally has the kind of role he's been waiting to get for more than 30 years. And as Alan tells Marc, some of t...

Episode 1269 - Taraji P. Henson

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Taraji P. Henson says all her f***s are behind her now. But after three decades in show business, Taraji admits she only feels freedom from her f***s ...

Episode 1268 - Kelefa Sanneh

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kelefa Sanneh has been writing about music for his entire career. Drawing on his experience as the music critic at The New York Times, a staff writer ...

Episode 1267 - Julie Delpy

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

American audiences fell in love with Julie Delpy as the romantic French traveler Celine in Before Sunrise and its two sequels. But Julie didn't have a...

Episode 1266 - Rosebud Baker

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rosebud Baker knows all about the fine line between sadness and funny. She's learned how to get laughs out of the tragedy that befell her family, her ...

Episode 1265 - B.J. Novak

27 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Even when he was a kid, B.J. Novak wanted to achieve greatness. His hard work and ambition brought him to Harvard, to the Lampoon, to doing standup, t...

Episode 1264 - Franklin Leonard

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Franklin Leonard helped change the way movies get made in Hollywood. It's not what he expected as a young Black math wiz growing up in Georgia. But af...

Episode 1263 - David Chase

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

No one is harder on David Chase than David Chase. Even after a successful career as a screenwriter, show creator and director, after changing the face...

Episode 1262 - Melanie Vesey

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Melanie Vesey has a dividing line in her life: Before and after she got shot. The before part includes being a Juilliard and Alvin Ailey trained dance...

Norm Macdonald from 2011

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From October 2011, Marc's revelatory conversation with Norm Macdonald about life, comedy, gambling, death and Rodney. Norm died on September 14, 2021 ...

Episode 1261 - Tim Reid

13 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Reid's life changed on a New Year's Eve in the 1960s when he lucked his way into a club to see a hot young comedian. That club was Mister Kelly's,...

Episode 1260 - Steve Buscemi

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Buscemi has covered a lot of ground in New York City: standup comedy, experimental theater, independent film, even firefighting. Marc talks with...

Remembering Michael K. Williams

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Marc revisits his conversation from earlier this year with actor Michael K. Williams. Michael died at age 54 on September 6, 2021. Sign up here for WT...

Episode 1259 - Sasheer Zamata

06 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sasheer Zamata doesn't have a ton of free time. She's on the Hulu series Woke, the ABC sitcom Home Economics, a voice actor, a standup, a podcast host...

Ed Asner from 2015

04 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From 2015, Marc talks with actor Ed Asner about his legendary career, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the time he played Marc's dad, and more. Ed died on A...

Episode 1258 - Zoe Lister-Jones

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When Zoe Lister-Jones found herself dealing with the anxiety and uncertainty we all encountered during the pandemic, she made a movie about the end of...

Episode 1257 - Billie Jean King

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Billie Jean King is forever remembered as the winner of the Battle of the Sexes, but the battles she fought for equal pay and non-discrimination are s...

Episode 1256 - Kimmy Gatewood

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ever since Marc and Kimmy Gatewood said goodbye to each other and their fellow castmates on the set of GLOW, the world has been in a constant state of...

Episode 1255 - Barry Jenkins

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Barry Jenkins is grateful that he's been able to harness the tools of filmmaking in order to tell the stories of his ancestors. Barry and Marc get int...

Episode 1254 - Liesl Tommy

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When Liesl Tommy got hired as a first-time feature film director to make the new Aretha Franklin movie Respect, she knew there were 100 reasons why sh...

Episode 1253 - Marlon Wayans

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Marlon Wayans and Marc spent their time on the set of the movie Respect cracking each other up and that dynamic continues in the garage. It's a situat...

Episode 1252 - Sterlin Harjo

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sterlin Harjo is relishing the opportunity to depict Native lives and stories on mainstream television with his new FX comedy series Reservation Dogs....

Episode 1251 - Tom McCarthy

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tom McCarthy approaches his films like a journalist, even when he's creating a work of fiction. Just as a reporter discovers facts about their stories...

Episode 1250 - A.O. Scott

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Marc is concerned about the erosion of critical thinking as a broad part of American society. So who better to talk criticism than a person who makes ...

Episode 1249 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

02 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's long career in show business has left him with a keen sense of the problems caused by the constant bombardment of media and tec...

Episode 1248 - Lindsey Buckingham

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lindsey Buckingham wasn't going to let anything - from the pandemic to major heart surgery - stand in the way of finishing his new self-titled solo al...

Episode 1247 - Matt Damon

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Damon's continuing presence and popularity in American films can be summed up in four words: He loves to act. Matt tells Marc how he made the mos...

Episode 1246 - Sovereign Syre

22 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sovereign Syre and Marc have been friends for several years, sharing career paths in comedy, podcasting and writing. Now, as she ventures for the firs...

Episode 1245 - Rick Rubin

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rick Rubin's love of music led him to help popularize hip-hop, rejuvenate artists' careers, and leave his mark on literally thousands of popular songs...

Episode 1244 - Rick Ingraham

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian Rick Ingraham is a Comedy Store institution. But he's also the last of a system that was in place going back to the ‘70s, where young c...

Episode 1243 - James Murphy

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

LCD Soundsystem is one of the hippest, most beloved bands of the early 21st century, but its frontman says he's spent a lifetime being uncool and no f...

Episode 1242 - John Swab

08 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

John Swab could have been a real world version of the characters from his films who are casualties of addiction and criminality. But his desire to cre...

Episode 1241 - Danny Trejo

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are Hollywood tough guys and then there's Danny Trejo. No need to front when you've lived a life of crime, drugs, and prison as explicitly as Da...

Episode 1240 - Steven Soderbergh

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There's a reason Steven Soderbergh's movies are always so unlike whatever movies he's made before. He tells Marc his goal is to take things that have ...

Episode 1239 - Quentin Tarantino

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic forced a lot of changes on all of us, but for Quentin Tarantino, he was already undergoing a huge change right as the pandemic started: H...

Episode 1238 - Erik Griffin

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If he hadn't been getting laughs as a high school basketball coach, Erik Griffin may never have gone back to comedy. He tells Marc the story of his co...

Episode 1237 - Ellen Burstyn

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ellen Burstyn doesn't stop working. She's an Emmy, Oscar, and Tony winner with iconic performances in everything from The Last Picture Show and Alice ...

Episode 1236 - David Hidalgo

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

David Hidalgo has been making music and touring the world with his bandmates in Los Lobos for almost 50 years. From their start playing in schools, in...

Episode 1235 - Anthony Carrigan

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anthony Carrigan set out to become an actor despite growing up with alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. When he finally went comple...

Episode 1234 - Jackson Browne

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jackson Browne is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters in modern music. He talks to Marc about how a lot of his aptitude comes from his enjoyme...

Episode 1233 - Helen Hunt

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Helen Hunt: Oscar winner, Emmy winner, filmmaker, mother, and self-proclaimed “worst celebrity in the world.” Helen sits down with Marc to...

Episode 1232 - Danny Elfman

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Danny Elfman did not set out to become one of the most prolific film composers in history. He was a distractible kid who couldn't focus on much of any...

Episode 1231 - William Zabka

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

William Zabka spent the ‘80s playing a variety of bullies all seemingly modeled after his star-making performance in his first movie, The Karate...

Episode 1230 - Andrew Santino

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Santino and Marc didn't know much about each other, aside from both being Comedy Store regulars and comedians from different ends of a generati...

Episode 1229 - Gabe Kaplan

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whether he was getting booked on The Tonight Show or becoming the first standup to have a hit sitcom based on his act or finding success as a professi...

Episode 1228 - Rickie Lee Jones

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rickie Lee Jones is, first and foremost, a storyteller. She realized at a young age that she could process her feelings and tell her own story through...

Episode 1227 - Eric Bana

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

American audiences know Eric Bana from his complex performances in movies like Munich, Black Hawk Down and Ang Lee's Hulk. But in his native Australia...

Episode 1226 - Kristin Hersh

13 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kristin Hersh needs to make music. Whether it's with her bands Throwing Muses and 50FOOTWAVE or in her solo albums, making music is a compulsion. But ...

Episode 1225 - Steve Miller

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Steve Miller didn't expect to become a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with hit songs that stand the test of time, like The Joker and Fly Like An Eagle. H...

Episode 1224 - Mark Normand

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Normand is relieved to get back to the comedy clubs after a year of doing outdoor shows and other compromised sets during the pandemic. But Mark ...

Episode 1223 - Nancy Wilson

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nancy Wilson is one of the world's great guitarists, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and creator, along with her sister Ann, of one of the grea...

Episode 1222 - Robert Smigel

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Smigel became best known for having a foul-mouthed dog puppet on his hand, but the truth is he's a defining force in popular comedy for the pas...

Episode 1221 - Richard Kind

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Kind knows his face is memorable, but he still thinks he uses it too much. He knows his characters often exude warmth and joy, even though he ...

Episode 1220 - John Waters

22 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On the day this episode is released, John Waters is celebrating his 75th birthday. But he's still doing the same things that brought him cultural noto...

Episode 1219 - Tom Jones

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Jones doesn't feel like resting on his laurels. He tells Marc there's one main reason he's going strong, recording new music and performing live a...

Episode 1218 - Yo-Yo Ma

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Yo-Yo Ma remembers a moment in his childhood where it all began to make sense. As a seven-year-old prodigy, he was playing cello in front of an audien...

Episode 1217 - Sally Struthers

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sally Struthers is thinking a lot about the passage of time these days. For one, this year is the 50th anniversary of All In The Family premiering on ...

Episode 1216 - Katey Sagal

08 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Katey Sagal is known by the public in ways she doesn't see herself. She's known as an actor, but always thought of herself primarily as a singer. She'...

Episode 1215 - Hunter Biden

05 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Marc only knew Hunter Biden from what he saw in the news. He never heard him speak, he had no sense of who he really was, and he wasn't sure he cared ...

Episode 1214 - Daniel Kaluuya

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Kaluuya doesn't want to stop the journey. Getting nominated for Oscars, winning a Golden Globe, hosting Saturday Night Live. These are moments ...

Episode 1213 - Azazel Jacobs

29 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Writer-director Azazel Jacobs was born into the world of experimental film. But it was a combination of comic books, old radio shows, Mad Magazine and...

Episode 1212 - Eddie Huang

25 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Eddie Huang has been fighting for things his whole life. Whether fighting for respect from a culture that is unwelcoming, or fighting for normalcy ami...

Episode 1211 - Christopher Lloyd

22 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Lloyd has a career spanning more than 60 years on stage, TV and film. But Marc was enamored with stories about the first movie Christopher...

Episode 1210 - Serj Tankian

18 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Serj Tankian from System of a Down says he is dedicated to the truth in a very naive way. That basic need to tell the truth and be honest with himself...