Shalom Auslander gave voice to something Marc was thinking for most of his life: That he’s been living in a world of Feh. What that Yiddish word means and why Shalom believes it’s an organizing idea that’s been forced on human beings, particularly Jews, for thousands of years is the subject of Shalom’s new book. Shalom and Marc talk about breaking the cycle of Feh, how Shalom did so by completely breaking away from his family, and why the nonstop news cycle is one of the biggest causes of collec...
Jul 22, 2024•1 hr 29 min
First, hear Marc's 2014 conversation with Bob Newhart from Bob's home in Bel-Air. Then, a follow-up conversation from 2018 where Marc and Bob talked on the phone. Bob Newhart died on July 18, 2024, at age 94. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 19, 2024•2 hr 3 min
It’s been a long time since Dan St. Germain had his first big gig as an opener with Marc in Sacramento. As the years have gone by, Dan took a few breaks from standup, worked as a writer on several TV series, dealt with the heartbreak of a declining parent, and struggled with sobriety. Dan tells Marc how he managed to pull things together, get clean and self-release his latest comedy special. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/w...
Jul 18, 2024•1 hr 25 min
Despite Phish’s enormous following, frontman Trey Anastasio still sees himself as an outsider. Trey talks with Marc about his earliest influences, which were not jam bands, but groups like the Jackson 5 and musicals from Broadway. They also talk about the pressure Phish encountered after Jerry Garcia died, how the party scene surrounding the band spiraled out of control, and how Trey’s deep connection with his bandmates served him well when he was at his lowest point. Sign up here for WTF+ to ge...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 48 min
Clarence Maclin was uniquely suited to make his film debut in the new movie Sing Sing, starring alongside Colman Domingo. That’s because the film is based on a real life group of incarcerated men at Sing Sing prison and Clarence plays a fictionalized version of himself. Clarence talks with Marc about how a theater program run by an organization called Rehabilitation Through the Arts turned around his life on the inside and helped him find who he needed to be when he got on the outside. Sign up h...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Stavros Halkias titled his Netflix special Fat Rascal in part because he doesn’t know any other reality than a life with addictive food issues. Marc is no stranger to addiction or food-based trauma, so he can relate. But both Stavros and Marc can also still get really excited talking about Greek food and their love of diners. Stavros explains the food connection with his heritage, the formative moments of his life in Baltimore’s Greektown, and how he shares an unpleasant connection with Marc’s p...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr 32 min
Julianne Nicholson came over to the garage at the right time. With Marc deep in the middle of an acting job, it was helpful for both his curiosity and his confidence to talk to an expert actor like Julianne who is so versatile in all her performances, from movies like Black Mass to her Emmy-winning performance in Mare of Easttown. Julianne and Marc talk about their shared Boston connections, taking on heavy roles, and Julianne’s tender new film Janet Planet. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 35 min
When Paul Scheer was on WTF back in 2010, he spoke about things in his past that he never before spoke about publicly. That conversation with Marc started Paul on a journey of self-discovery that continued as he built a family, grew his career and dealt with the relationships in his life that had deeply unresolved issues. All of this culminated in the writing of his new book, Joyful Recollections of Trauma. Paul and Marc also talk about some of the other traumatic events in the book, most of whi...
Jul 01, 2024•1 hr 38 min
Gareth Reynolds was struggling in show business as a comic, a writer, an actor, you name it. But not unlike Marc, he finally broke through when he started hosting a podcast along with fellow comic Dave Anthony, The Dollop, where Dave tells stories from history that Gareth knows nothing about. Gareth and Marc talk about what led to the creation of that show ten years ago, as well as Gareth’s years before, growing up in Milwaukee to British parents but absorbing a thoroughly Midwestern personality...
Jun 27, 2024•1 hr 32 min
Jewel Kilcher left her troubled home life in Alaska as a teenager, hitchhiking her way across the country and living in her car before becoming a music superstar known globally by her first name. Jewel talks with Marc about how she used creativity to overcome anxiety, how Bob Dylan factored into her breakthrough, and how she feared becoming a statistic when she was offered her first record deal. They also talk about her new art exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum and the mental health programs she...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 32 min
As bassist and lyricist for Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler has a lifetime of rock and roll stories to tell. From the band’s working class roots in Birmingham to their early days as a traditional blues band to their transformation into the quintessential heavy metal group, Geezer tells Marc how he brought it all together with Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward and Tony Iommi, how it eventually fell apart, and how they picked up the pieces. They also talk about Frank Zappa, the Beatles, and the true meaning o...
Jun 20, 2024•1 hr 30 min
Jude Law and Marc made a movie together but they never actually got to meet during it. They remedy that at the production offices of Jude’s latest project, as he sits down with Marc to talk about the elasticity of time, having a runaway imagination, the traveling life of an actor, and Michael Caine. They also talk about the preparation Jude puts into his portrayal of historical characters, including his recent turn as Henry VIII in Firebrand. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives a...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Comedian Ali Siddiq draws from his life experiences to create his comedy shows. Now in the midst of a four part comedy special called The Domino Effect, Ali is exploring everything from his tough upbringing to his time spent in prison to the early comedic stylings he displayed while working at the Sunglass Hut. Marc and Ali compare notes on their storytelling styles and share an appreciation of the power in sitting down while performing standup. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archive...
Jun 13, 2024•1 hr 44 min
Ed O’Neill’s his early days working in an Ohio steel mill and contemplating a potential career hustling for mobsters didn’t seem like a path to Hollywood. Nor did his days playing football and coming up short during NFL tryouts. But his working class Irish background wound up making Ed the perfect portrayer of Al Bundy, a performance partially based on his own uncle. Ed talks with Marc about everything that led up to Married… with Children and Modern Family, and why he was determined to say no t...
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 30 min
Larry David says he regrets saying yes to everything right after he agrees to do it. But it’s too late to back out of the garage now, so he’ll try to convince Marc that he actually has a much better disposition than the Larry David character on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry talks with Marc about his early days at Catch a Rising Star, how he found his familiar character while working on Joy Behar’s Lifetime show, his fights with network executives, and the origin stories of Seinfeld and Curb. Sign ...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 24 min
After twenty-four years and twelve seasons as Susie Greene on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Susie Essman’s life has become strangers seeing her on the street and asking her to curse them out. Susie tells Marc the ins and outs of making Curb and why so many people have trouble separating the characters from the people who play them. They also talk about Larry David, doctor fathers, making depressed parents laugh, her new History of Curb Your Enthusiasm podcast, and why Susie is glad to be done with stand...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Despite a family name that goes back to the dawn of Hollywood, Tony Goldwyn’s father did not want him to get into the family business. It took Tony achieving his own success and landing a lead role in the movie Ghost for his father to accept this career path. Tony tells Marc the hardscrabble immigrant story of his grandfather, the man who became Samuel Goldwyn, before sharing his own ups and downs in the business and why he moved from acting into directing. They also talk about his new movie Ezr...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 24 min
There was a time when Molly Ringwald knew she had to get out of America for a while so she didn’t have to be That Girl anymore. Now, with a career that includes being a jazz singer, a novelist, and a translator of French literature, Molly is much more than That Girl. Molly and Marc talk about her early days on The Facts of Life, her global stardom in the John Hughes movies, and her current day projects, including the recent season of Feud: Capote vs The Swans. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the fu...
May 27, 2024•1 hr 30 min
In a role reversal for WTF guests, Steph Tolev thought Marc didn’t like her. And as Marc usually finds out when he assumes another comedian dislikes him, Steph discovered that Marc is actually totally intrigued by who she is and interested in how she developed her unique comedic style. So Steph explains that it has a lot to do with Canada, highland dancing, sketch comedy, spite, pissing off the wrong people, farting, and Bill Burr, roughly in that order. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full sho...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 37 min
Daniel Stern made a radical decision in show business after achieving success and financial independence: He decided to stop. After culture-defining projects like Home Alone, The Wonder Years, City Slickers and more, Daniel tells Marc why he decided to devote more time to his family, farming, sculpture and public service, all based on the example set by his co-star Jack Palance. Daniel also explains why he wrote a memoir despite having no interest in selling it or making money off it. Sign up he...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 29 min
When Marc saw Billy Strings play live on stage at Willie Nelson’s birthday show, he watched a born performer make bluegrass music vital to a modern audience. Billy talks with Marc about his joy of guitar playing as an adolescent in Michigan, how his family helped shape his musical sensibilities, and how substance abuse in and around his life worked hard to crush his dreams. Now invested more in playing than in partying, Billy also talks about the music he loves and the musical heroes he’s been h...
May 16, 2024•1 hr 37 min
Before discovering comedy, A. Whitney Brown dropped out of the eighth grade, bounced around reform schools, had a criminal record, and spent time in jail. Now, after a career that saw him do standup on Carson, write for SNL during its late-‘80s renaissance, and help launch The Daily Show, Whitney says he’s happy to be out of show business. Marc caught up with Whitney at his home in Austin, Texas to talk about his life, his leisure and Mark Twain. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archiv...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 34 min
Joe Mande’s past appearances on WTF involve him being a sort of merry comic prankster, like back in the heyday of Twitter when he was trolling politicians and corporate brands on a daily basis. But in today’s polarized social environment, Joe and Marc talk about how tricky it is to be a modern day troublemaker. They also discuss their shared love of Michael Clayton, courtside basketball, and Joe’s hand in the making of the show Hacks. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekl...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Chris Pine is in the position to offer Marc some advice. As the first-time director of the new movie Poolman, Chris gives Marc practical tips as Marc entertains the possibility of directing a film. But Chris also provides Marc with some insight into why people like them still feel a need to keep going despite their clear measurements of success. They also talk about Star Trek, Hell or High Water, Chris’s dad Robert Pine, Denzel Washington and the eclipse that was happening during this conversati...
May 06, 2024•1 hr 31 min
Before Tiffany Haddish rocketed to stardom with Girls Trip, she saw Marc at the back entrance of The Comedy Store and told him that she was going to be on his podcast one day. Today is that day. Tiffany and Marc talk about who she was in those days before worldwide fame, how she came up in the foster care system, how she found her voice at comedy camp, and how she wound up navigating the new world of being a major celebrity. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus ma...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 33 min
While watching Neal Brennan’s new Netflix special, Crazy Good, Marc learned new things about Neal despite knowing each other for 30 years. They sit down to figure out how things have changed for them, whether they are truly feeling better in their lives, and why they are still pursuing some version of success they can’t quite pinpoint. Neal also shares some insight he received directly from Bono that might answer some of their questions. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and we...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Nearly 30 years ago in the alt-comedy scene of New York City, Marc crossed paths with an evangelical country singer named Tammy Faye Starlite. She’s the alter ego of lifelong New Yorker Tammy Lang, who stormed the city’s cabarets and clubs with her own form of performance art and musicality. Tammy and Marc reminisce about the days at places like Luna Lounge, the creation of the Tammy Faye Starlight character, and why she started performing as real singers, like Marianne Faithfull and Nico. Sign ...
Apr 25, 2024•1 hr 27 min
Paula Pell is often celebrated as one of the funniest people alive by some of the other funniest people alive. The world is finally getting to see what they mean thanks to Paula’s standout role on Girls5eva, but for years she was comedy’s best kept secret, writing legendary SNL sketches, doing punch-up and script doctoring for major movies, and contributing to hit sitcoms and award shows. Paula tells Marc why it took her a long time to feel comfortable being in the spotlight as a performer. Sign...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 29 min
When Marc asked Jimmy Carr to be a guest on WTF years ago, Jimmy admits he wasn’t ready for it. He was already an established comedian at the time, but he felt like Public Jimmy was one thing and Private Jimmy was another. Now years later, Jimmy believes that age and experience have allowed him to get out of his comedy comfort zone and explore more personal truths, as he does in this talk with Marc and in his new Netflix special, Natural Born Killer. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show ar...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 22 min
When Malcolm McDowell left behind Liverpool to pursue acting in London, he didn’t imagine it would be the start of 60 years as a performer. Malcolm talks with Marc about his extraordinary career, including his work with Stanley Kubrick on A Clockwork Orange, the pornographic fate of Caligula, and stories about Lawrence Olivier, Alan Bates, Peter Sellers, Robert Altman, Mick Jagger and more. Malcolm also explains why he fell hard for Newfoundland while making the series Son of a Critch. Sign up h...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 27 min
